How much of ObamaCare is "severable"?

By Dean Clancy on March 28, 2012
Freedom Works:

Today, the Supreme Court took up the question of whether, if some of ObamaCare is unconstitutional, the remainder can be allowed to stand.

Or to put it in legal parlance, is the individual mandate to purchase health insurance "severable" from the rest of the 2,801-page Act?

The chart above conveys the answer better than any legal brief:


In this enormous law, all of the myriad parts are interwoven and therefore the law should be struck down in its entirety.

By the way, the chart, titled "Your New Health Care System," was first released in July of 2010 by Joint Economic Committee Republicans to help the American people, in the words of then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi, "find out is in" the controversial law.

Last week, on the 2nd anniversary of the law's enactment, the JEC Republicans re-released the chart, together with an explanatory document, which I cheerfully pass on as a public service:

Obamacare Chart
Understanding the Obamacare Chart
Also, I can't help including this humorous video "tour" of the Chart.
Enjoy.

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Dean Clancy is FreedomWorks' Legislative Counsel and Vice President, Health Care Policy