David G. Savage reports:
Among some libertarians and conservatives, the most troubling aspect of the pending healthcare reform bills is the prospect of a federal requirement that Americans buy insurance.
“What next? Can Congress order you to buy spinach?” asked Roger Pilon, director of constitutional studies at the Cato Institute.
He and other defenders of limited federal power foresee a constitutional challenge to the mandate to buy insurance based on the claim that Congress’ power to regulate commerce does not extend to forcing citizens to buy a commercial product.
Read more in the L.A. Times.
Over on The Volokh Conspiracy, Randy Barnett and David Bernstein blogged about this issue back in September in response to others’ articles and OpEds linked from their blog entries.