Jackson Free Press

"It's not just going to stop at purchasing health-care insurance. It could be gym membership. It could be an electric car. I think that's wrong. I don't think the government should tell you how to spend your hard-earned money or face a penalty or a tax for failure to do as they tell you to do."

—U.S. Rep. Steven Palazzo, R-Biloxi, speaking June 9 at reception at the Ocean Springs Yacht Club prior to the Patriot Golf Classic fundraiser in Vancleave.

Why it stinks: Palazzo was speaking about his proposed amendment to the U.S. Constitution titled "Right to Refuse," which is designed to "kill the health care tax mandate that comes with Obamacare" and close the "Pandora's box where future Congresses can tax individuals and businesses for failure to purchase a good or service that the government tells them to purchase," Palazzo said.

In its 2010 decision about the Affordable Care Act, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the government's right to compel citizens to purchase health insurance. Precedence for the decision is in other "products" the government compels citizens to "purchase," including car insurance and the Social Security and other taxes it deducts from paychecks. The Mississippi Press reports that Sen. Marco Rubio introduced a similar amendment in the U.S. Senate.