[dcvideo videoid=”24779171″ name=”ndnPlayer_24779171″ type=”ndn” /]
Marking the second anniversary of what he labeled the “single worst piece of legislation” recently passed by Congress, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said the U.S. is looking “a lot like Greece already.”
He added that the Constitution’s Commerce Clause will be a “relic of ancient times” if the Supreme Court determines that the individual mandate in President Obama’s health care overhaul is constitutional.
“This law is a mess. It’s the single worst piece of legislation that’s been passed, certainly in the time I’ve been here. It’s the single biggest step in the direction of Europeanizing America and look at what’s going on in Europe,” he said at the Capitol Friday.
“We ourselves now have a debt the size of our economy, which makes us look a lot like Greece already and then we’re adding this on top of it.”
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi praised the health care law Thursday in a ceremony at the Capitol.
“After 100 years of trying, finally we passed health care for all Americans as a right for all — not just a privilege for a few. It honored the vows of our founders: Of life, a healthier life; liberty; the freedom to pursue our own happinesses,” she said.
Watch:
[dcvideo videoid=”24779180″ name=”ndnPlayer_24779180″ type=”ndn” /]
A recent Rasmussen Poll shows that the majority of Americans “somewhat” favor repeal of the health care law while 46 percent strongly support it.
As the provision of the law requiring individuals to purchase health insurance heads to the Supreme Court, McConnell said if the court decides the mandate is constitutional, “could the federal government, then, order you to eat carrots?”
McConnell continued, “Could it order you to quit smoking? Could it order you to lose weight? Because all of those decisions you could make could arguably have an effect on the cost of health insurance for someone else.”
He also said that if the individual mandate “is permissible under the Commerce Clause, the Commerce Clause is essentially gone, that it’s meaningless and kind of a relic of ancient times.”
Article 1 Section 8, Clause 3 of the Constitution says, “[The Congress shall have Power] To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian tribes.”