Promote Honesty in Government
From the text of Judge Roger Vinson’s ObamaCare decision:
Because the individual mandate is unconstitutional and not severable, theentire Act must be declared void. This has been a difficult decision to reach, and Iam aware that it will have indeterminable implications. At a time when there isvirtually unanimous agreement that health care reform is needed in this country, it is hard to invalidate and strike down a statute titled “The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.”
Actually, it should be almost effortless to strike down a statues titled “The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act,” because it is and does nothing of the sort. Instead, I’d like to propose a new amendment to the Constitution:
Any Law or Act of Congress which does not achieve the aims of its title, shall be null and void for all intents and purposes.
Hey, if Congress can tell manufacturers what they may and may not put on their labels…
How about an amendment barring titles altogether? More seriously, I’d support an amendment requiring bills to be of a single subject. That way they succeed or fail on their own merits. I’m sure they’ll still figure out a way to buy votes, but it will be more difficult.
@tim:
The previous congress was way ahead of you there: they actually passed a law whose official name was “The __________ Act of _____” The wretched paperhangers couldn’t even be bothered to name or date one of the bills they were rubber-stamping.
(http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100808/22161110540.shtml)
Yeah, would it have been easier for him to invalidate the “Congress cares more about you than you do” act? A really tough one to rule against would have been the “Save the Kittens and Unicorns Act of 2010.”