Obamacare Upheld

Obamacare was upheld today in the US Supreme Court.  This was a big surprise to many on the left and the right, because it appeared fairly clear that the constitution does not allow the government to force a citizen to purchase something from another private citizen.  In this case we will all be forced to buy health insurance or we will pay a fine.  The court rationalized this by saying that it wasn't a fine but a tax, and the Congress is allowed to levy taxes.  This seems like a blatant end run around the Constitution.  Frankly I am shocked that the Supreme Court has decided this way.  This essentially throws that part of the Constitution out the window.

There are some things I like about Obamacare like forcing restaurants to show nutritional information about the items on their menu.  Not that that is going to stop somebody from stuffing a Big Mac into their face if that is what they went to McDonald's for.  The main thing I have a problem with Obamacare about is not the mandate it is that it does not address the fundamental problem with health care in America.  The cost.  Health care has been going up by about 9% per year every year since the early 80's.  Has anybody's income gone up by that much?  Not many.  What that means is that health care has become less and less affordable.  So instead of attempting to address the cost, Obamacare seeks to spread the cost of this ever increasing burden to as many people as possible.  I suppose hoping that there will be enough healthy people to pay for all the sick people.

What if all the mechanics in a town decided to slow start increasing the cost of an oil change until one day it cost $500 for one.  People would say they can't afford that and would either do it themselves or go to another town for an oil change.  This would in turn force the mechanics to lower their prices to what the market can bare.  This is basic economics.  However, what if the government stepped in and said we'll pay for $450 of that oil change by taxing people who don't own cars.  Why would the mechanics lower their prices in that case?  Of course they wouldn't, and they would keep right on increasing their prices.