May 8, 2014
A Federal Appeals Court in Washington will take up a credible challenge to Obamacare today.
I
blogged about this back in November of 2012. "Obamacare Violates the Constitutions Origination Clause; Legal Challenge Moves Forward"
The challenge was made possible when SCOTUS ruled the
individual mandate penalty a tax back in June of 2012.
The challenge is based on the “Origination
Clause” (Article 1, Section 7 of the US Constitution) which states that “any
legislation to create a tax to be collected by the federal government must
originate in the House of Representatives”.
The clause was created by our founders as a safeguard to liberty because
they understood
that the power to tax, if misused, involves the power to destroy. The
requirement is designed to maximize political accountability. The House is
closest to the people and less insulated than the Senate. Each member must seek
reelection every two years.
The argument is that Obamacare originated in the Senate and was
then sent to the House of Representatives and is therefore unconstitutional.
The White House will argue the Senate has a right to amend House
Bills and send them back for approval. With Obamacare, Sen. Reid took a bill
passed in the House called the “Service Members Home Ownership Tax Act
of 2009” that offered tax credits to military members who were first-time
homebuyers. He then amended that bill by stripping out the entire text of the
six-page law and replaced it with the 2,000-plus page bill that became the
Affordable Care Act.
Opponents will argue that Reid’s legislative manipulation was
unconstitutional because SCOTUS has held that only Senate amendments that are
germane to the subject matter of the underlying House bill can avoid scrutiny
under the Origination Clause. Otherwise, the Constitution’s Origination Clause
is meaningless.
The case is Sissel v. US Department of Health and Human Services (13-5202).
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