Alito seemed particularly concerned that, because of the mandate, young, healthy people would have to pay more for their insurance, because they would effectively be subsidizing the sick. In a direct response to the government’s argument that the law’s minimum coverage requirement is “necessary and proper,” Scalia responded that it was clearly necessary but not proper – and that government could avoid the problems of the insurance market by simply not requiring insurance companies to cover people regardless of pre-existing condition, as the law will do.
Note that neither of these are legal arguments in the way that they have been understood for the last eighty years. This is basically Alito and Scalia saying that it isn’t constitutional to have social insurance. We should cut the garbage: these guys are hacks, pure and simple.
I’m actually a little surprised that anyone thought that either of these guys would vote to uphold.
[Cross-posted at The Reality-Based Community]
