Two Overreaching GOP House Bills Show Why We Need a Convention of States
Two bills introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives show that whatever they may say on the campaign trail, many Republicans in Congress don’t have much more respect for federalism, states’ rights, or local control than Democrats do. These two bills also demonstrate, if further demonstration be needed, that Congress has broken almost all constitutional […]
New Origination Clause Article Now Published
The Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy has now published my article on the Origination Clause. That’s the article documenting the research that found—contrary to all expectations—that the taxes in Obamacare were validly adopted. But it also found that the regulations and appropriations in Obamacare were invalidly adopted. You can read a summary of […]
How the Gruber Model Failed in Colorado
MIT professor Jonathan Gruber made millions predicting the effect of Obamacare. Given that people who make unkind remarks can do good work, it is important to assess how well the Gruber predictive model has performed. In Colorado, its poor predictions will likely end up costing taxpayers billions of dollars.
More Evidence From Last Term That It’s Not a “Conservative Supreme Court”
Note: This article was first published at cns news. There is a common media myth that the current U.S. Supreme Court, or at least a majority of the current justices, is “conservative.” But if a “conservative” justice is one who consistently interprets the Constitution in accordance with traditional methods of judging—as the Founders intended for […]
Numbers cast doubt on Hickenlooper’s teen pregnancy claims
Has Colorado really had more success in preventing “teen” pregnancies than other states? Gov. John Hickenlooper said yes in a news conference convened within days of the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Hobby Lobby decision. But the numbers cast serious doubt on his story.
Lessons For Federalism from Colorado’s Pot “Legalization”
(An earlier version of this post appeared on the website of The American Thinker.) It’s ironic that one of the few “states’ rights” battles won in recent times was Colorado’s decision to legalize marijuana in the teeth of federal laws to the contrary. Pot really isn’t legal in Colorado, of course. The federal government still […]
The Meaning of the Commerce Power and Congress’s and the Courts’ Use (And Abuse) Of It
Are you interested in the true meaning of, and limits on, the Constitution’s much-abused Commerce Power? In a speech at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City on November 19, 2013, I outlined the intended scope of the power, how I reached my conclusions, and how the Supreme Court has stretched the Commerce Power […]
How a Conspiracy Cracked a Monopoly
Anyone interested in the constitutional debate over the “Affordable Care Act” should pick up a copy of the new book, A Conspiracy Against Obamacare: The Volokh Conspiracy and the Health Care Case. This “conspiracy” was not a political plot or an illegal combination. Rather, it is one of the nation’s two top constitutional law websites—a […]
Supreme Court’s Obamacare Decision Renders Federal “Tort-Reform” Bill Unconstitutional
Just to show you that hypocrisy is alive and well in Washington, D.C. (as if you didn’t know), Title V of the Republican bill to “repeal and replace Obamacare” contains some of the same constitutional problems that led 27 states to challenge Obamacare. Under Title V, Congress would partially assume command of state jury trials […]
Colorado Medicaid expansion would make 86,000 college students eligible
by Linda Gorman Gov. John Hickenlooper wants yet another expansion of Colorado Medicaid. This one will cover the more than 86,000 college students in Colorado that the Census Bureau estimates have incomes below the federal poverty level. It also will cover the unknown number of otherwise healthy single students above the poverty level who have […]
Medicaid expansion has hidden costs
by Linda Gorman The federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) has radically restructured federal subsidy programs for medical care. For the first time in decades, Colorado can begin bringing state expenditures in line with tax revenues by using federal money to reverse the excessive growth in its Medicaid and child health insurance programs. […]
Did the Founders’ Constitution Permit Federal Tort Reform?
NOTE: The photo shows the author at the sundial in James Madison’s garden at Montpelier, VA. On behalf of the national Chamber of Commerce, super-lawyer Paul Clement has authored a new paper arguing that federal tort reform is constitutional. The paper begins with a section purporting to show that the Framers’ Commerce Clause was broad […]
