The Supreme Court has held that the Congress can order you to purchase a commercial product. In other words, it could force you to pay a subscription fee to Newsvine, on the theory that if you read Newsvine, etc., you would be a more informed member of the citizenry, a better citizen, etc.

You can be forced to purchase broccoli.

You can be forced to buy a General Motors car...

The power is unlimited.

How is the power unlimited? Well, because that's the taxing power baby, and the government can tax you any which way it wants! Ha ha!

The question for the vine is this--are you sad or happy? Is this a sad day in America? I think it is a sad day. It is another nail in the coffin of our civil liberties. Not too different from a drone strike killing innocent children in a foreign land...