And the 11th Circuit judges saw that. Countless times, Judges Dubina and Marcus demanded that the government articulate constitutional limiting principles to the power it asserted. And countless times they pointed out that never in history has Congress tried to compel people to engage in commerce as a means of regulating commerce. Even Judge Hull, reputed to be the most liberal member of the panel, conducted a withering cross-examination to establish that the individual mandate didn’t help that many people get affordable care, that the majority of people currently without coverage would be exempt from the requirement (presumably due to their income level).
http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/the-obamacare-lawsuit-from-the-courtroom-in-atlanta/
It's looking more and more likely that when this finally gets to the Supreme Court, the mandate will get shot down. Assuming of course it gets there before Obama has a chance to pack the court with more liberal leaning judges.