We’re back at the U.S. Supreme Court filing our third amicus brief challenging the constitutionally-flawed ObamaCare.
In our amicus brief filed today, we urge the high court to declare that the Anti-Injunction Act (AIA) does not apply to the health care law. We contend that the AIA, which prohibits courts from preventing the federal government from assessing or collecting a tax that it claims is due, is not applicable to the Affordable Care Act.
Our position is clear: The AIA does not apply to the health care law. The AIA applies to truly revenue-raising tax statutes, which the individual mandate and its penalty are not. We urge the high court to conclude that the AIA does not apply to ObamaCare and request the Justices find the entire health care law – including the individual mandate – unconstitutional.
In its amicus brief filed today on the AIA issue, we argue:
“The Anti-Injunction Act (“AIA”) applies to truly revenue-raising tax statutes. The individual mandate and its penalty are not truly revenue-raising tax provisions. The purchase of health insurance, as required by the individual mandate, does not provide revenue to the Federal Government, as the insurance is not purchased directly from the Federal Government.”
“The penalty provision also is not a tax, but, instead, is a regulatory penalty designed to compel American citizens to purchase health insurance from private companies. Because the individual mandate and penalty are not taxes, the AIA does not bar this Court from reaching the merits of Respondents’ claims.”
Just last week, we filed an amicus brief on behalf of 119 members of Congress and nearly 145,000 Americans urging the high court to uphold a federal appeals court decision declaring the individual mandate unconstitutional. And, in January, we urged the high court, in an amicus brief representing 117 members of the House and more than 103,000 Americans, to declare that the individual mandate cannot be severed from the health care law itself, and that the entire law should be declared unconstitutional.
At the same time, we’re pursuing our own legal challenge against ObamaCare and we have appealed a decision by a federal appeals court to the Supreme Court, asking the high court to consider the appeal separately or hold it until the health care cases now before it are decided.
While the AIA is not getting much attention or news coverage, this issue is very important. The AIA should not be overlooked because, if the AIA applies, the Supreme Court would be barred from ruling on the constitutionality of the individual mandate and its severability for several years.
That’s exactly why we are asking the Justices to conclude that the AIA is not applicable to ObamaCare.
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