On November 2nd, Cato Institute Senior Fellow Mike Tanner joined AFF-Chicago for a briefing on the recently-passed health care legislation known by many as “Obamacare.” Tanner explained details of the law, which spans 2,409 pages, 477,520 words, and over 10,000 pages of regulations.

Tanner quipped that the legislation costs over $1 million per word.

The discussion touched on the increasing cost of health care for young people both before and since the bill passed, as well as the status of various lawsuits being brought against the legislation. Tanner believes that the lawsuit led by the State of Florida has the best chance of being heard by the Supreme Court this session. He also speculated that the justices would find that lawsuit’s arguments most compelling and that it provides the best potential for a ruling of unconstitutionality.

Tanner also explained the continued growth of the scope of the Constitution’s Commerce Clause, which has expanded significantly through cases such as Wickard v. Filburn, Gonzales v. Raisch, and, most recently, US v. Lopez.

But the conversation centered mostly on the need to make the moral argument against government-centric health care.

Tanner called this the real question: “Who decides?”

“Does the government get to decide where your kid goes to school? Does the government get to decide what care you get from your doctor? These are moral questions and important ones.”