Pacific Legal Foundation: Obamacare's taxes were baked entirely in the Senate in violation of the Constitution

◼ PLF's Obamacare Fight Continues in the Court of Appeals - PLF Sentry

On May 8, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals heard argument in PLF's Obamacare challenge, Sissel v. HHS. Listen to what happened at the argument and what's next for the challenge.

The Origination Clause, Article I, Section 7, requires that legislation to raise revenue must start in the House, in order to keep the taxing power close to the people. But Obamacare began in the Senate when Majority Leader Harry Reid took an unrelated House bill (a measure to help veterans buy homes, which raised no revenue), gutted it, and inserted the language of Obamacare.

"The only thing we know for absolute certain about the Origination Clause is that the Senate cannot originate revenue-raising measures," Sandefur said. "Here we have a complete substitution of a six-page bill that was not a bill for raising revenue with a 2,000-page bill that was a bill for raising revenue."

◼ Democrat-Led Colorado Backs Lawsuit Calling Obamacare Unconstitutional - The Federalist Papers

Colorado has become the 20th state to support a federal lawsuit filed last week by a Texas doctor to overturn the Affordable Care Act.

It’s only the third state with a Democratic governor to do so.

Colorado Attorney General John Suthers, a Republican, signed onto an amicus brief last week, showing support for the effort to overturn the law based on the U.S. Constitution’s Origination Clause, which says that all bills that raise revenue must begin in the Senate.

...exactly where the controversial law began is itself a point of controversy. The Observer notes that the U.S. Justice Department contends that it did indeed begin in the House, originally as H.R. 3590, which was concerned with housing tax credits for veterans. Once in the Senate, however, Obamacare opponents say its language was entirely stripped and replaced with what became the ACA.