I read the transcripts from yesterday and today and they keep going back to one major issue:
If Congress can regulate commerce by doing this, then they can literally do anything at all.
That throws the idea of a federal government of limited, enumerated powers out the window.
That is the bottom line. Forget all of the posturing, the speculation, the questioning (even by the Justices). If this law passes muster, then our republic is finished - we will live in a dictatorship at the whim of those in Congress and the White House.
Keep in mind that they don't have to do something like this too many times, and they will have succeeded in tying up most or all of a person's discretionary income. Health insurance and health care is a big budget item, and if this law stands it'll now be controlled by the government. Add in "environmental concerns" and you'll have government CHOOSING YOUR CAR FOR YOU - oh, sure, it'll be challenged, but it'll lose based on this case. Ditto for housing and college - the do-gooder fascists will come up with some excuse related to "the common good" for any mandate, and then will use this case as precedent.
This case IS the line in the sand. Either the law is struck down and we still retain some of our liberties with a chance to restore more in the future, or it is not and we retain none and say goodbye to the America that we have loved for generations. It is that simple.
BTW, for those who won't support a Republican candidate who is not of your choosing, think about Obama appointing another 1, 2 or 3 justices (and, especially, replacing Thomas, Alito or Scalia). Think about the hundreds of District and Appeals Court judges he will appoint in the next 4 years. If Obama gets to do that, regardless of how this case turns out, our republic is dead. This election is THAT important - and sometimes the lesser of 2 evils is the best choice, because if it isn't chosen then the greater evil wins. Obama is an extremely radical opponent of limited government and of American exceptionalism. He will accelerate the tearing down of this country in a 2nd term - so that term must not come about. I am NOT a Romney supporter by any stretch of the imagination, and I am PLENTY pissed off at what the Republican establishment has done over the past few decades, but I'll vote for the Republican candidate in November regardless - because the alternative is our nation's destruction.
If Congress can regulate commerce by doing this, then they can literally do anything at all.
That throws the idea of a federal government of limited, enumerated powers out the window.
One can only hope the justices want the SCOTUS to keep its portion of the governing power. Surely they realize that if they rule in favor of forcible contracts they will not be exempt from any future "laws" enacted by a Pelosi-style congress. A Supreme Court is hardly necessary for a dictatorship. It's essentially like they'd be choosing their own instrument of death.
That is the issue, yes.