The U.S. Constitution is a short, straightforward document — and yet we seem to have thrown it out the window with the Affordable Care Act.
The beauty of what the founding fathers accomplished can be summed up in two words — "checks and balances." The Constitution is pretty strict about who can do what and who has a check and balance on whom. And it's very clear about how laws should originate. Per the Origination Clause, or Revenue Clause as it's sometimes known, bills that involve legislation for increasing revenue must start in the House. There were several versions of health-care reform legislation kicking around the House and the Senate but the House wasn't getting the votes to pass it. So the Affordable Care Act that was passed into law actually originated in the Senate.