True constitutional conservatives don’t ask, “Does the Constitution keep me from doing X?”. Instead, they examine whether the Constitution explicitly lays out that X is permitted.
On a recent Uncommon Knowledge, constitutional scholars Richard Epstein and John Yoo have a feisty conversation with Peter Robinson on the likelihood of the Supreme Court striking down Obamacare, its political implications, and the general rule of law in our country.
They ask whether an individual mandate is constitutional – can the government force citizens to purchase health insurance? In other words, can the government compel people into the marketplace? If so, what’s the stopping point? Pretty soon they’ll be telling us what we can eat, what car we have to buy and that we need to exercise a certain number of minutes per week. Where is the individual liberty in that?
Yoo and Epstein discuss the potential fallout from the decision, whether Romneycare is constitutional, and whether the Federal Government has the right to coerce states using grant money. Outside of health care, they speculate on the 2012 court, censorship and the FCC.
Check out the full episode, here: