La Corte Suprema norteamericana y el federalismo del bienestar. A propósito del juicio de constitucionalidad de la reforma sanitaria

Abstract:This article studies the doctrinal and judicial debate on the constitutionality of the Health Care Reform passed by the U. S. Congress. After exposing the foundations of the reform, the article focuses on the new profiles of the American cooperative federalism that stem from the interpretation that the Supreme Court has done in the National Federation of Independent Business v. Sibelius of three key clauses for the evolution of the territorial distribution of powers in the U. S. A: the Commerce Clause, the Necessary and Proper Clause and the Spending and Taxing Clause. Furthermore, this article reflects on which should be the degree of deference of judges to the legislator when it comes to enforce the rules of territorial power in judging the constitutionality of laws with particular democratic relevance. In light of the libertarian criticism on the reform, the article ends with an analysis on how the categories of federalism are increasingly displacing the Bills of Rights in the defense of certain economic freedoms in front of federal social programs.Resumen:El presente artículo estudia el debate doctrinal y judicial sobre la constitucionalidad de la reforma sanitaria aprobada por el Congreso de los Estados Unidos. Concretamente, tras exponer cuáles son los fundamentos de esta reforma, este trabajo se va a centrar en los nuevos perfiles del federalismo cooperativo americano que se deducen de la interpretación que hace la Corte Suprema en National Federation of Independent Business v. Sibelius, de tres cláusulas clave en la evolución del modelo de distribución territorial del poder en los Estados Unidos de América: la Commerce Clause, la Necessary and Proper Clause y la Spending and Taxing Clause. Este estudio también se aproximará al debate surgido en torno a cuál ha de ser el nivel de deferencia hacia el legislador por parte de los jueces, a la hora de aplicar las reglas del poder territorial en el juicio de constitucionalidad de determinadas leyes de especial significación democrática. Para finalizar, también se analizará, a la luz de las objeciones libertarias vertidas contra la reforma, cómo progresivamente las categorías del federalismo desplazan a las del Bill of Righs en la defensa de ciertas libertades económicas frente a determinados programas sociales federales.Abstract:This article studies the doctrinal and judicial debate on the constitutionality of the Health Care Reform passed by the U. S. Congress. After exposing the foundations of the reform, the article focuses on the new profiles of the American cooperative federalism that stem from the interpretation that the Supreme Court has done in the National Federation of Independent Business v. Sibelius of three key clauses for the evolution of the territorial distribution of powers in the U. S. A: the Commerce Clause, the Necessary and Proper Clause and the Spending and Taxing Clause. Furthermore, this article reflects on which should be the degree of deference of judges to the legislator when it comes to enforce the rules of territorial power in judging the constitutionality of laws with particular democratic relevance. In light of the libertarian criticism on the reform, the article ends with an analysis on how the categories of federalism are increasingly displacing the Bills of Rights in the defense of certain economic freedoms in front of federal social programs