I hit the ACA SCOTUS reasoning right on the money.
. . . back in December, 2010
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x1610#4793
I have to boast a little about it. Of course, I never thought Justice Roberts would see things my way.
If the Congress can tax, if it has all powers "Necessary and Proper," to a legislature, and if it what it passes, upon signing by the President, if laws passed under the Constitution are the supreme law of the land (the Constitution says all of this) then Congress can pass a mandate.
This is definitely the way the Founders saw it. One of the first things they did in 1789 was pass a law mandating that males above a certain age buy muskets. And if the mandate is unconstitutional, what about Selective Service, which actually mandates that somebody give their life for their country? If that's not closer to real slavery, I don't know what it is.
Mandates go back to the very origin of the country. There's no way conservatives on the SCOTUS can say it's Unconstitutional and call themselves Constructionists. They are, in fact, revisionist.
And if the SCOTUS had struck ACA down, it's hard to see how Single Payer could ever not be considered a mandate.
