5 "Laws of the Land" that Obamacare Supporters Would Mostly Frown Upon

Impact

When defending Obamacare, its supporters just love to point out that “it's the law of the land.” It's been voted by Congress, signed by the president, and upheld by the Supreme Court. Therefore, we must just accept it.

This excuse is rather weak. Not only do you have to consider that it destroyed many jobs, creates a part-time economy, and will make the deficit skyrocket, it is highly unpopular in the population in general and even among former supporters of the law such as unions. And if it's so good, why is Obama granting so many waivers?

But if something must be obeyed because it is “the law of the land,” then what would Obamacare supporters think about these six laws that were voted and sometimes upheld by the Supreme Court?

1. Drug Laws

Mainly motivated by racism, the War on Drugs has not only destroyed countless lives and corrupted police forces, it is unconstitutional since the Constitution doesn't say that D.C. must regulate some substances. The Supreme Court even invalidated marijuana laws because they were deemed unconstitutional.

But that didn't stop Nixon and successive presidents, including Obama, from basically ignoring what the Supreme Court said to create and enforce new drug laws with the support of the Drug Enforcement Agency, even in states where certain drugs are legal.

And let's not forget about Prohibition. Even though it became legitimate with the Eighteenth Amendment, this “law of the land,” like the War on Drugs, transformed otherwise honest citizens into dangerous criminals, which increased crime dramatically. The U.S. government might even have poisoned alcohol so people would stop drinking it.

2. Sexuality Laws

For a long time in the U.S., being a homosexual was a crime. This “law of the land” could incur serious penalties such as prison, firing from a job and outright public humiliation. It all stopped in 2003, when the Supreme Court overturned the anti-homosexuality laws in Texas and 13 other states. Some apparently didn't get the memo.

Speaking of homosexuality, let's not forget about Don't Ask Don't Tell, which prohibited affirmed gays and lesbians from serving in the military. The law followed regular legislative process and was signed by the President in 1993. Despite that fact, Congress passed a bill to repel it, which it was in 2011.

Let's also mention another infamous law against homosexuality, the Defense of Marriage Act. It went through regular legislative process and was signed by the president in 1996. That didn't stop many people to protest it, and finally have it turned down in 2013.

3. Reproductive Laws

Another set of “laws of the land” that causes so many protests are restricting or banning abortion. Women living in such states are outraged when such laws are enacted, and opinion sites are inundated with people denouncing them.

4. Tax Laws

Before the Sixteenth Amendment was enacted, the federal government always failed at imposing a federal income tax because it was deemed unconstitutional. But even if it is constitutional and “the law of the land,” many people still see taxation as theft and as a tax on investment which translates into less wealth for everyone. It's so bad that people want to repeal the Amendment.

5. Race Laws

Enacted mainly by Southern States and even upheld by the Supreme Court, racial segregation basically created apartheid in the state that adopted this “law of the land.” Black and white people had to be separated in every single place (public or private), they couldn't marry, and the former were held in a submissive position.

And before black people were put down with Black Codes and Jim Crow laws, they were under the tyranny of slave laws. Slavery was progressively abolished in the North, but it remained “the law of the land” in the South. And to make sure it remains so, the federal government enacted, through regular legislative process, Fugitive Slave Laws so they couldn't escape free within the country.