George Will on Constitutionality of Health Care Reform
Every so often George Will writes something that really strikes a chord. (Not that he isn't usually clever and insightful.) Will has written an excellent piece on whether the proposed health care legislation in Congress would pass constitutional muster. Will looks at the cases of Gonzales v. Oregon (case involving Oregon's "right to die" statute) and Horne v. Flores (a case where an Arizona English immersion policy conflicted with federal regulations requiring bilingual education). In both cases the Supreme Court sided with the states, citing federalism concerns that those areas were typically areas of state responsibility.
No one doubts that Congress has considerable sway in passing laws via the Commerce Clause. The Supreme Court has upheld laws that (to a non-lawyer at least) would appear to have nothing to do with interstate commercial activity. However, as Will points out, there is a difference between regulating activities that people "choose" to engage in rather than "requiring" someone to engage in that activity. Please click here for the piece.