Justice Dept. Will Appeal Obamacare Setback on Carousel of Legal Logic

The U.S. Justice Department announced today that it would appeal Monday's federal court ruling against the federal health-care plan.

The decision from a U.S. District Court in Richmond, Va., declared that the law's "individual mandate" to purchase insurance is unconstitutional.

Federal lawyers have a multilevel strategy to defend the mandate. The Wall Street Journal put it this way:

"The Justice Department argued that the mandate is justified by the Commerce Clause because the decision not to purchase insurance has a substantial effect on interstate commerce because everybody needs medical care eventually.

"And if not that, then it's permissible under the broader taxing power for the general welfare.

"And if not that, then it's viable under the Necessary and Proper clause.

"And if not that, well, it's needed to make the regulatory scheme function."

And round and round it goes.