Virginia AG: Obamacare Threat to Nation

The attorney general for the state of Virginia, who recently won a preliminary round over the Obama administration in his state's fight over Obamacare, says if it is upheld that the feds can order residents to purchase health insurance, then "they can order you to do anything."

The result, according to Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, will be the end of the American way of life and government.

"An interesting thing for people to think about is, if this is activity that can be regulated under the Commerce Clause [of the U.S. Constitution], then the federal government can reach anything," he said in a recent interview with Fox News.

"This is where you get to the massive expansion of federal power," he warned. "If they can say that ordering you to do something is economic activity, ordering you into the economy, then they can order you to do anything, and we don't any longer have a government of limited powers.

That's a major concern. We lose this case, it's the end of federalism," he said.

Virginia's lawsuit over Obamacare is one among many challenging Obama's demand that everyone buy government-approved health insurance or pay a special tax penalty. Earlier this week, U.S. District Court Judge Henry Hudson ruled the lawsuit could continue because no court ever has decided whether it's constitutional to order Americans to buy a product selected by the government.

"While this case raises a host of complex constitutional issues, all seem to distill to the single question of whether or not Congress has the power to regulate – and tax – a citizen's decision not to participate in interstate commerce," Hudson said.

The Obama administration argues that the Commerce Clause allows it to regulate economic activity, but Virginia's claim – shared by other cases – is that it is not economic activity when someone decides not to purchase a product.

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