In "Why We Need a Strong Individual Mandate" (op-ed, Nov. 11), Janet Trautwein misses the point that a strong mandate to purchase medical insurance will kill off many Americans' efforts to improve their lives. Many Americans take a "vacation" from medical insurance so they can have enough money to work their way through technical school or college, pay for other family members [sic] expenses or tuition, or focus their money on starting their own small business. If these people are forced to purchase health insurance all their lives, they will not have the flexibility to improve their lives.
What will happen to American politics when peoples' [sic] economic freedom of choice is shut down? Are we to become subjects of the federal state instead of being free citizens? Hopefully, the courts will kill off these foolish mandates before they damage America. Americans need to retain control of their own personal budgets.
Nickolaus E. Leggett
Reston, Va.
Note from KBJ: I'm confident that the United States Supreme Court will strike down any individual mandate that is enacted into law. There is no constitutional basis for such a provision. If individuals may be required by law to insure against health problems, what is to prevent the state from mandating that individuals eat a certain diet or exercise a certain amount? It's none of the state's business how individuals live their lives, as long as they're not harming anyone. I find it appalling that we're even talking about this.
Note 2 from KBJ: Does the Wall Street Journal have editors?
Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D. 