We already knew that members of Congress and their staff might already be uninsured, except those staffers who wrote the health insurance law and exempted themselves from its requirements. We did not know, however, that if a Congressional employee applies for subsidies, it could trigger fines of $50 million a year for Congress.
This is all highly entertaining but slightly meaningless since the federal government would be paying itself with money it doesn’t have.
More important for North Carolina, counties, cities, and those who care about the Constitution is what requirements the health care law imposes on state and local governments to insure their employees. One question is whether the health care law “comandeers” other governments. There is also the question of whether the federal government can tax other governments, which in turn depends on whether the fines collected by the IRS are penalties or taxes.
Oh yeah, and there’s still some question what recourse the IRS has to make you pay.
Daren Bakst has already outlined the broader Constitutional problems with the individual mandate – problems Attorney General Richard Cooper ignored.
