ObamaCare Found Unconstitutional, Center Stage During 2012 Elections?

The provision in President Obama’s health care law requiring Americans to buy health insurance or face tax penalties was ruled unconstitutional on Friday by the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, in Atlanta.

It was the first appellate review to find the provision unconstitutional — a previous federal appeals court upheld the law — and some lawyers said that the decision made it more likely that the fate of the health care law would ultimately be decided by the Supreme Court.

The court found that Congress exceeded its powers to regulate commerce when it decided to require people to buy health insurance, a provision of the health care law known as the “individual mandate.” But the court held that while that provision was unconstitutional, the rest of the wide-ranging law could stand.

A 2-to-1 majority ruled that the mandate was beyond Congress’s power under the Commerce Clause of the Constitution, writing that “what Congress cannot do under the Commerce Clause is mandate that individuals enter into contracts with private insurance companies for the purchase of an expensive product from the time they are born until the time they die.

The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled by a 2-1 vote that the federal mandate that requires individuals to either buy health insurance or be fined is a a “wholly novel and potentially unbounded assertion of congressional authority,” according to Chief Judge Joel Dubina.

The judges in court found that “the ability to compel Americans to purchase an expensive health insurance product they have elected not to buy and make them re-purchase that insurance product every month for their entire lives” went beyond the authority of the constitution.

According to CNN, that “unconstitutional” portion of the law will likely be heading to the Supreme Court, which will likely put the issue front and center during the 2012 elections when President Obama will be facing off against a GOP candidate. Most of the Republican candidates, including frontrunner Mitt Romney and Michele Bachmann, have vowed to repeal the bill — dubbed by them as “ObamaCare” — if they are elected into office.

According to a Gallup poll in January of this year, 46% were in favor of repealing the healthcare system enacted by Obama and Congress, while 40% oppose to repealing it. Republicans were those most likely voting to repeal it — 78% to 15% — while Democrats were more likely to vote to let it stand — 64% to 24%. Independents, who are often credited in deciding who wins the presidential election, are more split with 43% wanting it repealed and 39% wanting it to let it stand.

Obama tells voters to pressure Congress

President Barack Obama today said Congress needs to do more to address unemployment and the country’s economic problems when lawmakers return next month from the annual August recess.


“Many Americans are hurting badly right now. Many have been unemployed for too long,” Obama said in his weekly address. “Putting these men and women back to work, and growing wages for everyone, has got to be our top priority.”


But, Obama said, Washington has responded to the country’s continued problems only with more “partisanship and gridlock.”


More than a week after the financial services company Standard & Poor’s downgraded the United States’ debt from its long-held AAA rating, Obama said partisanship has “undermined public confidence” and hindered efforts to grow the economy.


Calling on Americans to pressure their elected officials to put partisanship aside, Obama echoed remarks he delivered Thursday in Michigan in which he said the country’s broken political system needs to be fixed in order for America to move forward.


“So while there’s nothing wrong with our country, there is something wrong with our politics, and that’s what we’ve got to fix,” Obama said.


“So you’ve got a right to be frustrated. I am. Because you deserve better,” he said. “And I don’t think it’s too much for you to expect that the people you send to this town start delivering.”


The president listed several initiatives he's been calling on Congress to pass — among them free trade pacts, measures to improve the patent system and an extension of a cut in the tax that workers pay to fund Social Security — and told voters to add their voice to his to push lawmakers to get it done.


"These are all things we can do right now. So let's do them," said Obama, who will repeat his economic message during a three-day Midwestern bus tour beginning Monday.


"And over the coming weeks, I'll put forward more proposals to help our businesses hire and create jobs, and won't stop until every American who wants a job can find one," said the president, without detailing specifics on what might be forthcoming.


Republicans used their weekly address to criticize Obama on the economy, particularly government regulations that Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., said were overly burdensome and therefore discouraging businesses from expanding and hiring.


"Clearly, the policies of this administration are not working," said Toomey, who is one of the lawmakers newly appointed to a congressional supercommittee charged with coming up with recommendations to cut the debt. "So, what went wrong? Well, a big part of the problem has been job-killing regulations."


"Every day, small business owners, job creators and entrepreneurs are bombarded with new regulations and higher costs, discouraging these employers from expanding their businesses and hiring additional workers.