Replying to a message of DAVE DRUM to ROSS CASSELL:

 RC>> Now what is Constitutional by the Feds mandating people buy
 RC>> coverage?

 DD> The same things that are constitutional about requiring
 DD> people pay feral income tax, buy automobile liability
 DD> insurance, wear helmets and eye protection when riding a
 DD> motorcycle, and hard-hats on a construction job, etc.

Except for the 'feral' (I like that typo) income tax those are *STATE* laws
and have nothing to do with the Constitution.  The 'feral' income tax was
in fact declared unConstitutional when it was first imposed, and it took an
amendment to the Constitution to get the present one enacted.

Incidentally, there is no law in Iowa that requires motorcyclists to wear helmets
(something that drives the control freaks in the national DOT nutso).
The requirement for hard hats on construction jobs is most likely a company policy
driven by its insurance carrier rather than a law of any kind.

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