Writer no scholar of Constitution

Guest columnist Tom Snyder wrote an “interesting” assessment of the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act (“Leaders ignore Constitution,” Jan. 4). Unfortunately, the only time he “cites” the U.S. Constitution, he cites to a fictional article. Snyder wrote: “see Section 3, Article 11 of the Constitution.” I honestly would do this, if it were not for the fact that there are only seven articles in the Constitution (I also want to note that the Constitution is broken up by articles and then sections, so a proper citation to this invented article would be: Article 11, Section 3).

I thought that Snyder was perhaps referring to Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution. However, I hardly think that the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act is dependent upon “presidential powers,” considering that the legislation was an act of Congress.

Moreover, Snyder fails to cite the specific clause nor give any indication as to why postponing the employer mandate exceeds the powers given to President Barack Obama.

Snyder may be correct in saying that he is “not a member of the Tea Party, a sexist [nor] a racist.” However, I would also like to add to this list the fact that he is not a constitutional scholar.

Patrick Riley

Iowa City