Obamacare
By Douglas Wu

The Supreme Court of the United States is going to issue its verdict on Obamacare a few months from now. Some political pundits are of the opinion the Supreme Court could take the extraordinary step of declaring Obamacare unconstitutional.

Would the Supreme Court be overstepping its authority if it were to rule Obamacare uncontitutional?

Well, in the 1876 Supreme Court case Munn v. Illinois the court upheld a state's regulation of a private business serving in a public interest.

Now, what is interesting about the case with respect to Obamacare is the concept of judical review and the constitutionality of laws passed by Congress and signed by the president.

Chief Justice Morrison R. Waite wrote, in the opening paragraphs of the majority opinioin, "Every statute is presumed to be constitutional. The courts ought not to declare one to be unconstitutional, unless it is clearly so." In the next sentence of the same paragraph Waite wrote, "If there is doubt, the expressed will of the legislature should be sustained."

Obamacare is constitutional based on Waite's reasoning and, more importantly, voters are the ones who should have the final say in the matter.

The presidential election of 2012 is a referendum on Obamacare.