Broccoli mandate
The broccoli mandate, also known as the broccoli test, broccoli argument, broccoli hypothetical or broccoli horrible, was an argument used by those opposed to healthcare reform in the United States proposed by Barack Obama, who was then the President of the United States. First example of usage. The first example of the broccoli argument being used was in a 2009 CNS News column titled "Can Obama and Congress Order You to Buy Broccoli?" Use in 2012 Supreme Court summation. The so-called broccoli mandate was referenced by the conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia in 2012, in his  summation against healthcare reform. On March 27 of that year, Justice Scalia asked Donald B. Verrilli Jr., a lawyer for the Obama administration, to defend the individual shared responsibility provision (commonly called the individual mandate) of the ACA, saying to Verrilli: Opponents of reform – such as Justice Scalia – say that it should not be compulsory for American people to purchase health insurance under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) just because it is beneficial, otherwise, an enforcement body could similarly mandate Americans to buy broccoli because of its benefits to human health, which they say is an example of over-reaching  authority. It has been described as a form of the slippery slope and "reductio ad absurdum" arguments. Supporters of the individual mandate have questioned this analogy. For example, Verrilli told Justice Scalia that the health care market is unique and: Legacy. Use of the so-called 'broccoli mandate' in the summations of conservative justices in the "National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius" ("NFIB") case was said to have: