About Them Unconstitutional Mandates...

You've gotta love the "radical right." There are some intellectuals within their movement, but they generally make themselves look stupid when they get snarky. Take example A:

In South Dakota, Rep. Hal Wick introduced a bill mandating that the state's residents purchase firearms so they could protect themselves. But he's not serious about it. “Do I or the other co-sponsors believe that the State of South Dakota can require citizens to buy firearms? Of course not. But at the same time, we do not believe the federal government can order every citizen to buy health insurance,” he explained. But Wick made two mistakes.

First, South Dakota is a state. As any federalist could explain, it can do lots of things that the federal government cannot. This is why no one is questioning the legality of the individual mandate currently operating in Massachusetts.

Second, as Jack Balkin points out, the federal government actually did tell American citizens that they had to purchase firearms. Here's the Militia Act of 1792:

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That each and every free able-bodied white male citizen of the respective States, resident therein, who is or shall be of age of eighteen years, and under the age of forty-five years (except as is herein after excepted) shall severally and respectively be enrolled in the militia … That every citizen, so enrolled and notified, shall, within six months thereafter, provide himself with a good musket or firelock, a sufficient bayonet and belt, two spare flints, and a knapsack, a pouch, with a box therein, to contain not less than twenty four cartridges, suited to the bore of his musket or firelock, each cartridge to contain a proper quantity of powder and ball; or with a good rifle, knapsack, shot-pouch, and powder-horn, twenty balls suited to the bore of his rifle, and a quarter of a pound of powder; and shall appear so armed, accoutred and provided, when called out to exercise or into service ...

Ah yes, Ezra Klein basically just sent this guy back to his hole in the ground. You see, as with the military draft, and other examples, the idea that the government can ban inaction, and mandate action, has been upheld time and time again. The key to putting a mandate in place is showing how the inaction effects the commerce of the rest of us. It's not hard in the case of health care. It's all rather obvious.