DC Court of Appeals Upholds ObamaCare

We all know where this is headed — SCOTUS. Nevertheless, another federal court has upheld ObamaCare’s individual mandate.

Tuesday’s 2-1 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia is a victory for the administration and its congressional supporters, but only adds to the divide among a range of federal courts over whether the law should be tossed out or severely trimmed in its scope. Three appeals court have upheld the law, while one has ruled it unconstitutional.

The majority in this latest case concluded while the assertion of federal authority in the law is large, so too is the issue Congress and the president sought to tackle.

“The right to be free from federal regulation is not absolute, and yields to the imperative that Congress be free to forge national solutions to national problems, no matter how local — or seemingly passive — their individual origins,” wrote Judge Laurence Silberman.

That suggests that it’s the thought that counts, not the law or the powers enumerated in the Constitution. The Framers would likely have disagreed. It certainly opens the door to regulating American life down to a very daily and individual level.