A modest question about the Commerce Clause

Contributed by: filbert Monday, September 21 2009 @ 12:54 PM CST

I can feel the sixteen eyes of my eight loyal readers glaze over already. But stay with me, this is actually an important question:

Does the Commerce Clause (Article I, Section 8, Clause 3 of the U.S. Constitution[*1] ) render the entire rest of the Constitution, including the Ninth and Tenth Amendments, null and void?

If not, as Coyote Blog[*2] asks, what economic behavior--if any--does not fall under the jurisdiction of the Commerce Clause?

The question is important, because there are Constitutional lawyers who believe[*3] that a large chunk of the Democrats' plans to revamp the American health care system--including and especially the Federal mandate that individuals purchase health insurance--is unconstitutional.

Or, is that even important any more?

Medary.com - A modest question about the Commerce Clause
http://www.medary.com/article.php/20090921135439416

[*1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commerce_Clause
[*2] http://www.coyoteblog.com/coyote_blog/2009/09/does-anything-exceed-the-commerce-clause-nowadays.html
[*3] http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2009_09_20-2009_09_26.shtml#1253489281