Health Care BS

This isn’t the crucial case that will eventually wind up in the Supreme Court and decide the fate of the mandate, but it does demonstrate why it’s a bad idea to let Democrats appoint federal judges:

U.S. District Court Judge George Steeh of the Eastern District of Michigan, a Bill Clinton appointee, argued that the federal government does indeed have the power under the Commerce Clause to impose the individual mandate to purchase health insurance.

His reasoning is predictably Orwellian:

The judge concluded that in reality the Commerce Clause power extends to all economic decisions that affect commerce.

In other words, the commerce clause applies even to decisions NOT to buy something. It’s preposterous! Thank goodness the big ObamaCare tests won’t be decided by this bonehead:

Opponents of the law may have a lot better chance of prevailing in the two other major suits, one brought by Virginia and the other one led by Florida and involving 20 states.

The Virginia case is on the famous rocket docket, and the judge assigned to that case has actually read the Constitution. Nonetheless, the “news” media will report that “reform” is now safe.

Ironically, this decision may work against the Dems in the midterms. It’s another slap in the face for the electorate, which hates ObamaCare, and it is likely to motivate people to vote for Republicans.

UPDATE:

It drives me crazy when alleged conservatives are just as dumb about these absurd decisions as are their progressive counterparts. Here’s an example from AllahPundit:

The supermarket will turn away a starving man if he has no money; not so the ER and people who are sick, so for all intents and purposes, we’ve all already opted in here. That being so, the feds can regulate how those services are paid for.

There’s a giant hole in this goofy analysis: “We” haven’t “already opted in.” The reason people aren’t turned away from the ER (despite the fact that more than 70% are there for non-emergency services) is because the federal government made it illegal to do so.

The solution here is to eliminate that original idiotic federal statute (not create an even dumber and more expensive mandate). Then, people with runny noses will go to the urgent care center or clinic or doctor’s office, just as they did before EMTALA.