This is supposed to be a blog about credit and bankruptcy, but I can't help myself in making a short comment about one aspect of the oral argument and discussion from yesterday's challenge to the individual mandate. Credit Slips purists should note that many bankruptcy filers have lots of medical debt, so the topics are not completely unrelated.
There has been a lot of discussion about the search for the so-called "limiting principle." If Congress can make you buy health insurance, could it make you buy burial insurance or (gasp) buy broccoli to eat? If the Supreme Court does not protect us, what is to stop Congress from passing all sorts of dumb laws like these?
The same crowd who is aghast at the possibility of having people purchase health insurance are also the same crowd who always reminded us (or at least used to remind us) that it is not the Court's job to stop Congress from enacting dumb laws. Congress has its own limiting principle. It's called the ballot box.
Jamal Greene over at Slate makes a similar point. And, if you're still looking for a limiting principle, Charles Fried, Reagan's solicitor general, offers one in an interview with the Washington Post's Greg Sargent.