April 17, 2012

Via RomneyCare: Do States Have Unlimited Powers?

By Daniel Smyth
[T]he action of the state legislature is said to be valid and constitutional unless it comes into conflict with some provision of either [the] state or national Constitution. -W.F. Dodd, Yale Law Journal, 1919 Do state legislatures have unlimited powers?  It would seem so given much recent commentary on ObamaCare and RomneyCare, both of which mandate that individuals purchase private health insurance plans.  For instance, during the Supreme Court's oral arguments over ObamaCare last month, Chief Justice John Roberts said that, unlike the federal government, "... the States are not limited to enumerated powers."  Justice Antonin Scalia even said, "[T]he vast majority of powers remain in the States."  Also, in a recent discussion of RomneyCare, the Massachusetts law that helped inspire ObamaCare (see here for my discussion of ObamaCare), Doug Bandow of the Cato Institute alleged that RomneyCare is constitutional according to Massachusetts' constitution "since states...(Read Full Article)