Anti-commandeering: A legal method to block Obamacare

via South Carolina State Sen. Tom Davis

Here’s a 14-minute clip of me in the South Carolina State Senate last week, explaining my amendment to the anti-Obamacare bill now being debated:

In summary, my amendment would slow the spread of Obamacare in South Carolina by:

-Invoking the constitutional principle of anti-commandeering
-Requiring legislative approval for ACA grants and programs
-Rejecting the optional Medicaid expansion authorized by the ACA
-Prohibiting a state-created insurance exchange
-Registering ACA navigators with the state Department of Insurance

The constitutional principle of anti-commandeering – a recognition that the federal government cannot compel a state to use state resources to implement a federal law – was succinctly expressed by the United States Supreme Court in Printz v. United States, 521 U.S. 898 (1997): “The Federal Government may neither issue directives requiring the States to address particular problems, nor command the States’ officers, or those of their political subdivisions, to administer or enforce a federal regulatory program.”

The SC Senate will decide this week on whether to allow a vote on the anti-Obamacare bill, and I would appreciate you circulating this video clip in any manner you deem appropriate.