Let The Lawsuits Begin !!

Organizations and lawmakers opposed to the health care reform package are already lining up to file constitutional challenges to the sweeping Health Care Overhaul. The health care bill passed by only a Three Vote Margin and was signed by the President.

Two key issues seem to be attracting the bulk of the legal threats: a mandate for individuals to purchase health insurance and the special treatment that some states Nebraska and others are getting as a pay off merely for voting for it.

On the first issue, Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., on renewed the call to examine the constitutionality of whether the federal government can require Americans to purchase a product.

"I don't believe Congress has the legal or moral authority to force this mandate on its citizens," Ensign said in a statement, raising what's known as a "constitutional point of order."

The non-profit Fund for Personal Liberty, as well as a Virginia-based group called the 10th Amendment Foundation, threatened to file suit in federal court over this issue once the health care bill is passed.

The Constitution allows Congress to tax, borrow, spend, declare war, raise an army and regulate commerce, among other things. Proponents of the insurance mandate point to the Commerce Clause in arguing that Congress is within its rights to require health insurance and dismiss such potential legal challenges.

"I personally do not believe the Congress has the authority to enact an individual mandate requiring a person to purchase a product from a private seller," said Kent Masterson Brown, lead counsel with The Fund for Personal Liberty. "I don't think the power is there. This is not regulating anything."

He said his group would be joined by the Washington Legal Foundation in filing suit against the health care bill.

As long as there is a Mandate affecting our freedom, Constitutional legal challenges will continue to loom.