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Argument: Health insurance mandates give too much power to fed over states

Issue Report: Constitutionality of US health insurance mandates

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David B. Rivkin. The Federalist Society Online Debate Series: Individual Health Care Insurance Mandate Debate. November 3, 2009 November 6th, 2009: “the vertical separation of powers, under which the federal government possesses limited and enumerated powers, while the States wield general police powers, is the key part of our constitutional architecture. Far from being an 18th century affectation, these structural limitations on government powers were designed to protect individual liberty. In the Framers’ view, these structural limitations on the ability of the federal government to exercise authority were the primary ways of ensuring that no single government entity would grow too powerful. […] because, under the Supremacy Clause, any constitutional federal legislation trumps exercises of state power, an infinitely capacious Commerce Clause [ruling in favor of individual mandates] would rob States of any remaining authority.”