Last night Keith Olbermann did a segment remarking on Chuck Grassley babbling about how the individual health insurance mandate might be unconstitutional; that it has never been done before and that it might at least be a tenth amendment (state's rights) issue. "Ever hear of the law requiring people to have car insurance?" Olbermann rejoined smugly.
Well, Keith, baby, a couple of things. First there is no such federal law; that requirement has been established at the state level and has withstood challenge, but is not a federal law, as a guest commenter later pointed out while you tried to pretend you were not listening to him. Second, people could avoid that mandate by not owning a car; that mandate is attached to the car, not to the person, and no such freedom of choice is available with this proposed mandate. Senator Grassley actually has an interesting point, in that the federal government never has mandated individual purchase of anything, so we actually are in new territory.
Sometimes in his haste to make other people look stupid Keith Olbermann steps on his own instrument.
Update: Friday, 8:30am
I don't have any problem with the individual mandate, and suspect it is necessary to make any of the proposals have any semblance of workability. Consensus seems to be that it will withstand challenge. I just think that defending it by comparing it with state laws on auto insurance is stupid.
I love it. You are right Keith is an idiot and always steps on his instrument. That is assuming of course that his plumbing is exterior and not interior.
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