The Cato Institute has published a new white paper (22 pages) by its chairman Robert Levy: The Case Against President Obama’s Health Care Reform: A Primer for Nonlawyers. An excerpt from the summary:

[T]he penalty for not buying health insurance is not a tax. Even if the penalty were a tax, it would fail the constitutional requirements for income, excise, or direct taxes. Second, the power to regulate interstate commerce extends only to economic activities; it does not permit Congress to compel such activities in order to regulate them. Third, the mandate is not necessary; indeed, it is merely a means to circumvent problems that would not exist if not for PPACA itself. Nor is the mandate proper; it cannot be reconciled with the Framers’ original design for a limited federal government of enumerated powers.

The paper is available for download (free pdf) or purchase here.

(Via FIRM.)