Justice Department Rejects States' Legal Challenge to Health Overhaul, Contradicts President in the Process

The federal government responded to the lawsuit brought jointly by 20 state attorneys general who argue that ObamaCare is unconstitutional. In addition to claiming that the states lack the standing to sue and that ObamaCare is a valid regulation of interstate commerce, the Department of Justice argued that the individual mandate is part of Congress’s broad power to tax. This directly contradicts frequent claims, but Congressional Democrat leadership as well as President Obama, that suggestions that the individual mandate was a tax were misleading and disingenuous fear-mongering.