William J. Watkins, Jr.: Obamacare, the Constitution, and the Original Meaning of the Commerce Clause
[William J. Watkins, Jr. is a research fellow at The Independent Institute in Oakland, Calif. and author of “Reclaiming the American Revolution.”]
Does Congress’s power to regulate commerce permit it to mandate that all Americans purchase a health insurance policy? So far two federal district courts have answered “yes” and one has answered “no.” The courts’ opinions exhaustively discuss and interpret modern Supreme Court case law, but barely touch upon the history of the commerce power and the intent of the Constitution’s framers. Judges apparently fear that discussion of relevant history would not only cast doubt on the constitutionality of Obamacare, but also myriad federal laws based on the regulation of commerce.
The Commerce Clause, in pertinent part, provides that Congress has the authority “[t]o regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes.” No such power existed under the Articles of Confederation, which was the first constitution of the United States. This lack of power injured Americans in two principle ways.
First, the Confederation government could not retaliate when other nations restricted access to their markets. As early as 1782, Alexander Hamilton complained that the Confederation Congress had no power to “preserve the balance of trade in favor” of the thirteen states. A commerce power would permit Congress to shut our ports to the ships of nations that did not welcome American ships and goods.
Second, internal trade barriers inhibited the free movement of goods across the United States. When defending the Commerce Clause in the Federalist Papers, James Madison observed that a “very material object of this power was the relief of States which import and export through other States, from the improper contributions levied on them by the latter.” Internal customs duties, Madison argued, hampered trade of the whole and led to tensions between neighboring states....
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Does Congress’s power to regulate commerce permit it to mandate that all Americans purchase a health insurance policy? So far two federal district courts have answered “yes” and one has answered “no.” The courts’ opinions exhaustively discuss and interpret modern Supreme Court case law, but barely touch upon the history of the commerce power and the intent of the Constitution’s framers. Judges apparently fear that discussion of relevant history would not only cast doubt on the constitutionality of Obamacare, but also myriad federal laws based on the regulation of commerce.
The Commerce Clause, in pertinent part, provides that Congress has the authority “[t]o regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes.” No such power existed under the Articles of Confederation, which was the first constitution of the United States. This lack of power injured Americans in two principle ways.
First, the Confederation government could not retaliate when other nations restricted access to their markets. As early as 1782, Alexander Hamilton complained that the Confederation Congress had no power to “preserve the balance of trade in favor” of the thirteen states. A commerce power would permit Congress to shut our ports to the ships of nations that did not welcome American ships and goods.
Second, internal trade barriers inhibited the free movement of goods across the United States. When defending the Commerce Clause in the Federalist Papers, James Madison observed that a “very material object of this power was the relief of States which import and export through other States, from the improper contributions levied on them by the latter.” Internal customs duties, Madison argued, hampered trade of the whole and led to tensions between neighboring states....