...and from an unanticipated source for most of us. This morning, June 28, 2012, Chief Justice John Roberts (a supposed 'constitutionalist'...apparently in activist robing) joined the four liberal Justices on the Supreme Court and stripped more liberty from this nation. Twisting the reading of the legislation and buying into the federal government's defense, these five unelected individuals ruled that the mandate, although NOT constitutional under the Commerce Clause or the Necessary and Proper Clause, can be allowed to stand as a tax! A tax? This was never presented to the American people as a tax, yet the government can argue for that, and the Supreme Court can rule outside of the language of the law? This is another case of judicial activism.
FYI, Justice Anthony Kennedy, who was expected to be the swing vote, ruled that the entire law was unconstitutional, along with Scalia, Thomas and Alito! But Roberts thought it his role to legislate on some future interpretation, instead of the legislation at hand. It's so frustrating that we can't achieve a constitutional majority on the High Court...
Bottom line, if the mandate stands, then the entire law stands. So on top of this being a disastrous decision for our nation, the Chief Justice of the United States has signed off on the biggest tax increase in world history!
Regardless of future outcomes, the precedent has been set. There are no limitations to what the federal government can compel you to do now. Today marks dependence day...welcome to tyranny, America.
ADDENDUM I: Here's a link to the Court's opinion...pay special attention to page 4, where after considering the mandate unconstitutional throughout page 2-3, Roberts says it can be allowed to stand (i.e., constitutional) once "disregarding the designation of the exaction," or rather the language of the legislation, in which he changes 'penalty' to 'tax', just by judicial fiat. Nevermind that the legislation doesn't say 'tax', nor was it sold to the American public as a tax. Unbelievable.
ADDENDUM II: Here's an excerpt from a Human Events piece expressing Republican reactions to the Court's terrible decision...
Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, a key figure in the legal challenges against Obamacare, called today “a dark day for the American people, the Constitution, and the rule of law.”
Cuccinelli continued, “This decision goes against the very principle that America has a federal government of limited powers; a principle that the Founding Fathers clearly wrote into the Constitution, the supreme law of the land. The Constitution was meant to restrict the power of government precisely for the purpose of protecting your liberty and mine from the overreaching hand of the federal government. This unprecedented decision says that Congress has the authority to force citizens to buy private goods or face fines - a power it has never had in American history, and a power King George III and Parliament didn't have over us when we were mere subjects of Great Britain. Since the federal government itself could never articulate to the court a constitutional limit to this power, Congress has gained an unlimited power to force citizens to buy anything.”
ADDENDUM III: Regardless of Erick Erickson's excuses, which don't recognize the precedent now set, Rush just stated what should be the obvious this morning: "We know now that the Chief Justice is a creature of the Washington establishment...that says government is the center of the universe."
