"Neither the Supreme Court nor any federal circuit court of appeals has extended Commerce Clause powers to compel an individual to involuntarily enter the stream of commerce by purchasing a commodity in the private market," he wrote. "In doing so, enactment of the [individual mandate] exceeds the Commerce Clause powers vested in Congress under Article I [of the Constitution.]"
The Senate will reconvene at 2 PM today and resumes consideration of the motion to concur in the House amendment to the Senate amendment to H.R. 4853, the vehicle for the tax extension package. At 3 PM, the Senate will vote on cloture on the motion to concur in the House amendment to the Senate amendment to H.R. 4853 with the Reid-McConnell amendment containing the tax deal language. If cloture is invoked, the Senate will begin 30 hours of post-cloture debate on the motion.
Later this week, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid may file cloture on an omnibus appropriations bill to fund the government or a more basic continuing resolution (CR). The current CR expires on December 18th.
Warning: Other items Reid has signaled he may consider are the House version of the DREAM Act (H.R. 5281), a standalone bill to repeal “don’t ask, don’t tell” (S. 4023), the new START treaty, and various nominations.
At the American Spectator’s blog, Philip Klein responded to some of Charles Krauthammer’s concerns on Friday. Klein argues, “Krauthammer writes that two-thirds of the price tag of the deal ‘is above and beyond extension of the Bush tax cuts but includes such urgent national necessities as windmill subsidies.’ This is highly misleading, as it gives off the impression that most of the deal is just pork-barrel spending. But that’s not the case. In reality, an overwhelming majority of the $857 billion represents tax breaks that are traditionally unobjectionable among conservatives.”
Klein concludes, “I don't want to see taxes go up next month, and I would much rather enter a debate over fundamental tax reform starting from the Bush tax rates as the status quo than I would with higher rates as the status quo. At the very least, I think that conservative critics of the deal have gone way overboard in attacking the deal as some sort of second coming of the economic stimulus boondoggle. . . . [W]e should still recognize that an overwhelming majority of the deal is stuff that conservatives have either been actively campaigning for or would be perfectly comfortable with.”
In the Weekly Republican Address, Rep.-elect Kristi Noem (R-SD) emphasized the importance of making sure taxes don’t go up in January. “With unemployment still rising, the number one thing our family-owned small businesses need right now is certainty. They need to know that the government is not going to come in and do anything to jeopardize their ability to keep their doors open. So it’s certainly encouraging to see that President Obama has proposed a potential agreement to stop all the tax hikes scheduled to take effect on January 1st. Failing to stop all the tax hikes would mean taxes would go up for small businesses all across this country, destroying more jobs.”
And On Fox News Sunday, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), the incoming Budget Committee Chairman and widely-recognized deficit hawk, said, “We're interested in passing this [deal] through.” Asked by Chris Wallace, “Take it or leave it?” Ryan responded, “Take it -- look, Chris, we already have an agreement with the president. We already have an agreement with some Senate Democrats. We want to go through with this.”
Meanwhile, The Washington Post reports today, “About seven in 10 Americans back the tax deal negotiated last week by President Obama and congressional Republicans, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. The high bipartisan support for the package masks more tepid public approval for some of the main components of the agreement that comes before a key Senate vote this afternoon. A slender 11 percent of those polled back all four of the deal's primary tax provisions: an across-the-board extension of Bush-era tax cuts, additional jobless benefits, a payroll tax holiday and a $5 million threshold for inheritance taxes. Just 38 percent support even two of the components. But put all four items together, and 69 percent of all Americans support the package. Large majorities of Democrats, Republicans and independents alike favor the agreement, which has drawn stiff opposition from some Democrats in the House. . . .
Some 54 percent of all Americans support an extension of the Bush-era tax cuts for all taxpayers, including wealthy people and the middle class. It's this provision that generates the biggest partisan gap: 85 percent of Republicans say these tax cuts should be continued for all taxpayers; 38 percent of Democrats (31 percent of liberal Democrats) agree. Among independents, 49 percent back the full extension; 46 percent oppose it. . . . A large majority backs the idea, but "strong support" registers at 20 percent, "somewhat support" at 49 percent."
Bill Wilson, Americans for Limited Government notes that "the country is on the horns of a dilemma. If the deal goes through, with the automatic tax increases blocked for two years along with a host of tax “extenders”, social spending and so-called “green” subsidies, the nation is likely to avoid a double-dip recession. But the price is we will be adding nearly $1 trillion in more debt to the U.S. balance sheets because the deal will not address Washington’s out-of-control spending.
"If, on the other hand, the deal is rejected, taxes will soar, we will almost certainly get that dreaded double-dip and the budget deficit is likely to explode with added social expenditures. Neither prospect is appealing. The $120 billion payroll tax reduction is nothing more than Stimulus IV but by another name. Little can be expected from it except adding to the $13.8 trillion debt. . . . if spending is not brought under control in Washington, little else will matter. Rising interest payments on the national debt run the risk of canceling out increased growth from keep tax rates steady."
On Saturday, The ARRA News Service posted a brief a summary of The Good, Bad and Ugly aspects of the Obama / GOP Tax Deal which also contains a link to a poll where readers may respond with their opinion and readers are also encouraged to weigh in and leave their comments.
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