Friday, November 15, 2013

Bloomberg, Obama, Health, and Capriciousness

Now, I am not a lawyer, but …

The most recent exception Obama has announced to his eponymous law is a bit troubling. While it is certainly true that the executive branch has the discretion to decide whether or not to enforce a particular law against a particular person, it is also true that laws should be written so that ordinary citizens can easily understand their import.

In the case of the ACA, so many loopholes and exceptions have been created and granted that no reasonable person can have any assurance that any part of the law will be effectual either now or in the future – and every assurance that the law will be unevenly enforced, depending on the whims and velleities of the administration.

This reminds me of the decision of Milton Tingling in striking down Nanny Bloomberg’s soda ban: one of the reasons he found the law invalid was that it was “fraught with arbitrary and capricious consequences.” (PDF) Does that not describe Obamacare as well?

I should think, therefore, that an enterprising lawyer could argue that the entire law should be struck down as unconstitutionally vague.

Any lawyers out there?

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