U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee and a current member and former Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, issued the following statement after President Obama said that the Supreme Court would be accused of “judicial activism” if it ruled that the President’s $2.6 trillion health law is unconstitutional:
“It must be nice living in a fantasy world where every law you like is constitutional and every Supreme Court decision you don’t is вЂactivist.’ Many of us have been arguing for nearly three years that the federal government does not have the power to dictate individuals’ purchasing decisions.В After a national debate on the subject, more than two-thirds of Americans agree that the Obamacare insurance mandate is unconstitutional.
“Judicial activism or restraint is not measured by which side wins but by whether the Court correctly applied the law.В In fact, Justice Anthony Kennedy – who I am sure President Obama praises when he likes the outcome – was right to suggest that it would be вЂjudicial restraint’ to strike down ObamaCare and instead let Congress enact a health law consistent with our Constitution.В About the only people surprised by the Supreme Court’s skepticism toward this unprecedented intrusion on personal liberty and expansion of the federal government were President Obama and his former colleagues in the liberal legal community.
“Unfortunately these attacks come as no surprise, since the memo appears to have gone out from the President’s campaign that criticizing the Supreme Court is going to help his reelection. This is disappointing, and is likely to be as successful as his administration’s defense of the unconstitutional health care law last week. The President can try to blame the Supreme Court and the American people for their rejection of his signature domestic achievement, but he really has no one to blame but himself for enacting a law that effectively removes any limits on the power of the federal government.”