Federal judge upholds Obamacare under the theory that "mental activity" is "activity" and can be regulated by Congress.
[Judge Gladys Kessler] claimed that Congress has the right to regulate mental activity that has an economic effect.Oh, you think I am kidding? Well, dear reader, here’s a direct quote:
As previous Commerce Clause cases have all involved physical activity, as opposed to mental activity, i.e. decision-making, there is little judicial guidance on whether the latter falls within Congress’s power…. However, this Court finds the distinction, which Plaintiffs rely on heavily, to be of little significance. It is pure semantics to argue that an individual who makes a choice to forgo health insurance is not “acting,” especially given the serious economic and health-related consequences to every individual of that choice. Making a choice is an affirmative action, whether one decides to do something or not do something. They are two sides of the same coin. To pretend otherwise is to ignore reality.
So... this judge believes that Congress can literally regulate what we think. In our own brains.
Legal Insurrection says of the Commerce Clause:
The following sentence has now become a justification for regulating decision-making even where the decision is just to do nothing:The Congress shall have power.... To regulate commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian tribes;
I find it hard to believe that our Founding Fathers intended that interpretation.
