FREEDOMWORKS SALUTES VIRGINIA COURT DECISION DECLARING OBAMACARE UNCONSTITUTIONAL

FreedomWorks
Dec 13, 2010

Contact:
Jacqueline Bodnar

WASHINGTON, DC- Today, FreedomWorks celebrated a huge victory in the limited government movement after Virginia federal judge Henry Hudson ruled the Obamacare mandate on all Americans to purchase health insurance to be unconstitutional.

In finding that the law’s individual mandate “exceeds the constitutional boundaries of congressional power," Judge Henry Hudson’s decision strikes a blow on behalf of limited government and common sense.

FreedomWorks strongly agrees that Congress has no authority to require individuals to buy health insurance under either the interstate commerce clause or the tax clause of the Constitution. In the words of Judge Hudson, "At its core, this dispute is not simply about regulating the business of insurance—or crafting a scheme of universal health insurance coverage—it's about an individual's right to choose to participate."

The Administration’s lawyers tried to argue that not purchasing insurance affects interstate commerce, which Congress may regulate, and that the IRS penalties for noncompliance constitute a permissible use of Congress’s power to tax.  Judge Hudson wisely rejected both arguments.

Dean Clancy, Vice President of Health Care Policy at FreedomWorks commented, “This debate goes to the very heart of what America stands for.  Is our federal government fundamentally limited, or not? Are we Washington’s masters, or its servants?”

“Today’s decision merely confirms what the tea party has been saying all along: Obamacare should never have been enacted.  Thanks to Judge Hudson, Congress has one more powerful reason to reverse the government takeover of health care and adopt a patient-centered approach.”

While Judge Hudson’s ruling leaves most of Obamacare’s 2,801 pages and 159 new bureaucratic entities standing, it effectively removes the heart of Obamacare.  Without the mandate, the bill’s core elements can’t work.  If this decision stands, it will effectively repeal Obamacare by eliminating the law’s linchpin: the individual mandate. 

The stakes are amazingly high.  If this decision is ultimately overruled by the Supreme Court, America’s core principles of limited government will effectively dissolve because Washington will be able to order citizens to do literally anything under the guise of regulating interstate commerce.  And if the Court also upholds the mandate penalties under the tax power, it will create a powerful new tool for restricting our liberties: the coercive penalty, masquerading as a tax.

“FreedomWorks congratulates Virginia’s Attorney General, Ken Cuccinelli on a major victory in the cause of freedom, limited government, and the rule of law,” added Matt Kibbe, President and CEO of FreedomWorks. “Our million grassroots members will be fighting to sustain this ruling every step of the way.”