In the ACA decision, the Supreme Court (unanimously) defined both the commerce clause and the necessary and proper by placing explicit limits on what they do not allow. The five person majority did continue to allow for an expansive interpretation of the tax and spending clause of the Constitution. This is what allowed them to find the individual mandate unconstitutional.
Notice that these are the elastic clauses. This decision - it seems to me - is an authoritative statement of the nature of the elastic powers of the national government at this moment in time.
I want you to read through the decision and detail exactly what they says about each of these. I want thorough analysis of the court actually said. That is what you will be graded on. Personal opinions may be offered only if you have done so - but since they're easy to give, they wont be graded.
- NFIB v. Sebelius.
