[Pollster1]

If the Supremes rule that, "The Congress shall have Power . . . To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes" gives Congress the power to compel United States citizens to purchase a product they do not want, then the United States of America is dead, and we should refer to ourselves as "subjects" of a tyrannical government, not as "citizens" of a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. We either have the rule of law or we are facing the rule of force. I'm not sure that limp-wristed liberals want to try to challenge real Americans with force.

We will lose if we base our argument on common law and federal codes that duress makes a contract invalid. The laws on duress specifically refer to "unlawful" actions that compel another to enter into a contract. Since ObamaCare is the law of the land, its threats that compel citizens to enter into a contract against their will are not technically duress. Under common law, one can be forced to enter into a harmful contract if the government uses a law as compulsion, and that government action does not qualify as duress that would void the contract. The real question is whether this legal compulsion is constitutional, and the answer is very clearly that this is far outside the proper scope of federal action authorized by the Commerce Clause.

Note: RomneyCare is constitutional within one state, since it is a state action rather than a federal action, and the MA constitution permits such actions. I will never again live in MA, both because of RomneyCare and because of their gun laws, but they have the right to pass a health insurance mandate if they so choose (their gun laws are a violation of the Second Amendment, but that's another discussion).

[andyk]

The defense against this point is, of course, that healthcare is "different,"

Yes, and that defense just grates on me. The constitution is not written to know about healthcare vs the carriage industry - it knows about power and jurisdiction. The fedguv either has jurisdiction to reach into our private lives and control our personal decisions, or it does not. I vote with the latter, but those days are long gone.

[MNJohnnie]

Interstate commerce clause grants

Another example of the stupidity of the supporters of this law. Health Insurance is IN STATE commerce. You cannot buy it across state lines. You must buy it from a state approved Health insurance plan

[MNJohnnie]

compelling national interest against the potential for abuse of power

Really, really pathetic that supposed "Conservatives" are buying this Leftist BS.

There is NO compelling national interest in favor of Obama-care.

That claim is manufactured PR hype without a shred of rational, factual accuracy. The notion that Obama care is an attempt to "Control Heath care costs" is pure nonsense. It a manufacture lie being pushed to sell an unnecessary, blatant usurpation of individual liberty by the power mad progressive fascists in the political class.