Opinion

Health care law is no gift

Posted April 15, 2012 5:00 am

You wonder if Justice Elena Kagan still believes in Santa Claus? Perhaps she thinks little, hardworking elves will provide us with free contraceptives and that if we all just put out a plate of milk and cookies we will all receive free health care from Santa himself.

“Why is a big gift from the federal government a matter of coercion?” Justice Kagan asks. No, Madam Justice, government employees are not flying around in sleighs pulled by reindeer giving away gifts to the citizens. We pay taxes, and those taxes are used to provide various services for the people. It’s not free! It’s not a gift!

Is this really what passes for legal thought in the Supreme Court these days? Has “’Twas the Night Before Christmas” replaced the U.S. Constitution? I have my suspicions that Justice Kagan thinks so.

Scott Schmidt

Arlington Heights

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