Obamacare upheld — as the tax Obama promised us it wasn’t
UPDATE at 11:59 a.m.: The president is expected to comment on the ruling at 12:15 p.m. One wonders how his remarks will square with White House talking points from the Obamacare debate, such as:
What President Obama is proposing is not a tax, but a requirement to comply with the law.
and
People are required to obey the speed limit and have to pay a penalty if they get caught speeding? Does anyone consider that a tax?
and
People are required to have car insurance and can be fined if they are caught without it. Is that a tax?
In one of the court’s other decisions today, United States v. Alvarez, the justices upheld American’s First Amendment rights to lie about receiving military honors. In the Obamacare ruling, the majority upheld politicians’ First Amendment rights to lie about their policies. Not that anyone thought that kind of lying would ever stop.
UPDATE at 11:42 a.m.: At first blush, any cheers for the court’s declining to uphold Obamacare based on the Commerce Clause should not be too loud.
Writing for the majority, Roberts says, among other things:
People, for reasons of their own, often fail to do things that would be good for them or good for society. Those failures — joined with the similar failures of others — can readily have a substantial effect on interstate commerce. Under the Government’s logic, that authorizes Congress to use its commerce power to compel citizens to act as the Government would have them act. That is not the country the Framers of our Constitution envisioned.
Sounds pretty strong, huh? Maybe even strong enough to place a firm limit on congressional powers under the Commerce Clause?
Maybe so. My guess, however, is that Congress will simply rely less on its Commerce Clause powers in the future and resort to its taxing powers, because Roberts shortly makes clear that this limitation applies only to “police powers” — that is, Congress cannot criminalize inactivity.
Turning to Congress’ taxing powers, Roberts seems to undercut everything he wrote about regulating inactivity:
Under the mandate, if an individual does not maintain health insurance, the only consequence is that he must make an additional payment to the IRS when he pays his taxes. … That, according to the [Federal] Government, means the mandate can be regarded as establishing a condition — not owning health insurance — that triggers a tax — the required payment to the IRS. Under that theory, the mandate is not a legal command to buy insurance. Rather, it makes going without insurance just another thing the Government taxes, like buying gasoline or earning income. (emphasis added)
Viewed in the lens of taxation, then, inactivity is “just another thing,” like … wait for it … activity. So, everything Roberts wrote about Congress’ inability to regulate inactivity amounts to this: Congress can’t throw you in jail for not doing something, but it can take away your personal property for not doing something. This is hardly a comforting limitation.
UPDATE at 11:05 a.m.: The coalitions of justices on various parts of the ruling are a bit tricky to follow, but the bottom line is that Chief Justice John Roberts, appointed by President George W. Bush, voted to uphold the law in its entirety, while Justice Anthony Kennedy, a Reagan appointee and the supposed swing vote of the court, voted to throw it out in its entirety. So, while Kennedy had been seen as the one who would decide the law’s fate, he went right and the court went left. That’s one of many ways this precise ruling — not the broad outcome, but how a majority of justices reached it — is completely unexpected.
UPDATE at 10:55 a.m.: Finally have the ruling. It’s pretty clear why CNN blew it — and, oh, did they blow it, reporting first that the mandate was struck down. From page 2 of the summary:
CHIEF JUSTICE ROBERTS concluded in Part III–A that the individual mandate is not a valid exercise of Congress’s power under the Commerce Clause and the Necessary and Proper Clause.
But then you turn to page 3 …
CHIEF JUSTICE ROBERTS concluded in Part III–B that the individual mandate must be construed as imposing a tax on those who do not have health insurance, if such a construction is reasonable.
And page 4 …
CHIEF JUSTICE ROBERTS delivered the opinion of the Court with respect to Part III–C, concluding that the individual mandate may be upheld as within Congress’s power under the Taxing Clause.
So, it’s a tax. Which is exactly what the Obama administration said it wasn’t while it was trying to pass the bill, and then reversed itself and said it was once the law got to court. That distinction may also have implications for repealing the bill.
More to come.
ORIGINAL POST:
The Supreme Court has upheld Obamacare as constitutional; beyond that, I can’t say much yet. There have been so many contradictory reports — including about the size of the majority — that I’m not going to comment further until I’ve read the opinion myself.
– By Kyle Wingfield
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474 comments Add your comment
hatorade drinker
June 28th, 2012
11:11 am
jawja obama haters, i have free 128 oz bottles of hatorade for you today so you can wash down that BBQ pulled (jim) crow sandwich with extra mayo and plenty of hot sauce. I hope yall don’t choke on that there.
Tiberius - Banned from Bookman's and proud of it!
June 28th, 2012
11:11 am
“I can’t talk to you while you’re like this”
BW-speak for “I have no intelligent argument to counter Tiberius’ logic.”
SheezLouise
June 28th, 2012
11:11 am
Glenn Beck’s head is exploding on air right now! Hilarious!!
JDW
June 28th, 2012
11:12 am
@Kyle…”That’s one of many ways this precise ruling — not the broad outcome, but how a majority of justices reached it — is completely unexpected.”
That is true. I felt the Immigration ruling gave a bit of insight as to Roberts thought process but Kennedy surprised me. I thought it would be 6-3 in favor. The taxes bit does not surprise me. I mentioned a long time ago that should the Commerce Clause not pass muster it was clearly a tax.
JDW
June 28th, 2012
11:14 am
@Tiberius…”“I have no intelligent argument to counter Tiberius’ logic.””
There no “intelligent argument” to counter insanity…personally I think you are delusional and should seek help.
Tiberius - Banned from Bookman's and proud of it!
June 28th, 2012
11:14 am
Thanks for proving my point, JDW.
You couldn’t name more than a handful of Republican elected officials who supported the mandate.
I appreciate your support.
reebok
June 28th, 2012
11:14 am
It was passed, it was upheld, it’s not going away. Time to move on to comprehensive immigration reform.
Tiberius - Banned from Bookman's and proud of it!
June 28th, 2012
11:15 am
JDW, as with Finn, you are at all times free to counter my arguments with an intelligent response of your own.
And again, I won’t hold my breath waiting for it.
reebok
June 28th, 2012
11:16 am
I may turn in to Fox ‘News’ today just to enjoy the tantrums. Also, I love the way CNN blew the story…a ‘Dewey Defeats Truman’ moment.
Love me some Reagan
June 28th, 2012
11:17 am
Tiberius
Spin all you like about the mandate. The Supreme Court said it was constitutional. THE LAW WILL STAND
Turn on Fox. They didn’t get the Oliely memo about “sping stopping here”
Earth is about to tilt off of its axis if they don’t stop spinning this
SheezLouise
June 28th, 2012
11:17 am
BECK instructs his listeners to “NOT WATCH TELEVISION” today!! LMAO!!
I demand to see Cheesy Grits Birth Certificate- Long Form Please
June 28th, 2012
11:18 am
I like that people are being forced to buy insurance.
Why should I have to pay for scumbag deadbeats who go to the emergency room to get treated and dont pay the bill ?
That cost gets passed on to me.
Well the days of the free ride are over Republicans.
Its time to buck up and pay your fair share.
I demand to see Cheesy Grits Birth Certificate- Long Form Please
June 28th, 2012
11:19 am
You couldn’t name more than a handful of Republican elected officials who supported the mandate.
Exactly. Republicans on the wrong side of history again.
Tiberius - Banned from Bookman's and proud of it!
June 28th, 2012
11:19 am
I wonder how many swing votes (in a 5 vote majority) on the Democrat side of the House would have voted for this bill if the leadership had called the mandate a “tax”?
More importantly, ALL those remaining swing seats who survived 2010 in the House and Senate are going to get HAMMERED with the tax increase argument from now until November.
You libs may have won the battle, but the war began at 10:05 this morning.
jd
June 28th, 2012
11:21 am
Tiberius — you are part right — Roberts actually said “It may be read as imposing a tax on those who go without insurance.” (p. 3)
So, it is a tax on lawbreakers.
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
June 28th, 2012
11:21 am
Yeah, all the Republican free-riders , the “takers”, can now pay a little like the rest of us.
zebra
June 28th, 2012
11:21 am
So it turns out Mitt’s health care plan is constitutional and he is against it. Gotta love the wingnuts, they have the backbones and consistency of jellyfish.
Outsource your advisors Mittens, they ain’t working too well.
Tiberius - Banned from Bookman's and proud of it!
June 28th, 2012
11:22 am
“Why should I have to pay for scumbag deadbeats who go to the emergency room to get treated and dont pay the bill ?”
Cheesy Grits, for every person that does that, there are likely tens of thousands of people who never, ever see the inside of an emergency room.
We now get to support you as well.
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
June 28th, 2012
11:22 am
Tiberius, it’s constitutional, you lost, get over it.
Progressive Humanist
June 28th, 2012
11:22 am
Hilarious! I never thought the current Supreme Court would actually rule based on precedent and the law, and they’ve done so twice this week. It’s been a decade or so since they’ve ruled on anything other than political leanings.
And this at a time when Romney begins to lag in the polls, particularly in the swing states that will decide the election: http://www.electoral-vote.com/
Obama is up by 8-10 points in the battleground states. I predict that Romney has already seen his high water mark in this election.
And now with the Affordable Healthcare Act firmly in place Tiberius will be able to afford those pills he needs to stay “firm”.
Drudge
June 28th, 2012
11:22 am
GM – so he has done more for America than any other president? How about George Washington? FDR? Abraham Lincoln? He has done more for gays, minorities and union members – at the expense of the rest of us. Nothing he has done has benefited me personally.
It must feel good to be so ignorant that you can’t see the shoulders of the giants we have stood on for 236 years – and believe that 3.5 years of turmoil is the best there has ever been. This country is doomed as long as you have a vote.
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
June 28th, 2012
11:23 am
So it turns out Mitt’s health care plan is constitutional and he is against it
An instant classic!
SheezLouise
June 28th, 2012
11:23 am
OF course… THE MONEY GRAB NOW BY BECK!! lol DONATE, DONATE, DONATE!! what a scam!
td
June 28th, 2012
11:23 am
The bill was unconstitutional under the commerce clause. Obama told the American people over and over again that the individual mandate was not a TAX but 5 justices said said it was a tax and therefore was constitutional under the taxing ability of congress.
Here is a fact that I want to hear you libs spin. OBAMA lied to the American people and now has placed the largest tax increase in American history on the poor, working poor and middle class.
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
June 28th, 2012
11:25 am
Be careful on the drive home tonight. Should be a lot of drunk, po’d Young Republicans on the roads.
But of course their daddy’s will get them off if they run you over….
Tiberius - Banned from Bookman's and proud of it!
June 28th, 2012
11:26 am
Finn, I realize it is Constitutional as a tax.
I’ve moved on every quickly to the electoral ramifications of this ruling.
Feel free to savor this victory. The long-term electoral glow for you isn’t going to materialize. Obama is now responsible for the biggest tax increase in the history of this nation, with the result that MILLIONS of people will be thrown off of their existing health care plans and dropped from their doctors (both of which he promised wouldn’t happen).
Deal with THAT, Finn!
Tiberious, Refute this
June 28th, 2012
11:26 am
The Loch Ness Monster, the Easter Bunny, Bigfoot and the Tooth fairy have taken over my living room with a high stakes poker game. Nessie is green with seaweed dripping from her mouth, the Easter bunny has a huge head, Bigfoot smells to high heaven, and the TF keeps looking at my teeth with a devious grin.
I know you don’t know me but I assert this to be the truth because I said so and it is completely true and logical.
My challenge to you: you are always free to attempt to intelligently debunk my assertions at any time.
I’m just not going to hold my breath waiting for you to do so.
Aquagirl
June 28th, 2012
11:27 am
OBAMA lied to the American people and now has placed the largest tax increase in American history on the poor, working poor and middle class.
I guess the “instant Romney election WIN!!!!11!!!” spin was not good enough for td. Bonus points for originality!
Jefferson
June 28th, 2012
11:28 am
Time now for the GOP to get their thumb out of their butt and work with the donkeys to improve the laws and give America something to be proud of.
DuceKeys
June 28th, 2012
11:28 am
Obama care has already saved my life
I was able to get a procedure removing a
Cancerous pollup
Under my Previous coverage I would not have been able to afford the screening and procedure and would have opted out
I would not have even known about the cancer and it could have taken my life within a few years
I have 3 small children
Republicans I know this means nothing to you
Obama 2012!!!!!!!
Terri
June 28th, 2012
11:28 am
Ignorance is Bliss. Time-will-tell… We’ll see who’s still rejoicing about this “TAX” as times goes by and the fall-out of this “Victory” as they call it un-folds. Guess we’re all gonna find out now aren’t we?
Filter
June 28th, 2012
11:28 am
Let me get this straight….
The President says this is not a tax. 5 members of the Court said it is a tax. So therefore the President lied?
That syllogism simply does not work.
Gm
June 28th, 2012
11:29 am
Drudge
Oh really maybe he should have let another attack like 911 wipe out you and your family, I guess that does not affect you? I guess the families who jobs were saved in Mich and other plants were all minorities.
This shows the idiot mentality of the extreme right.
Tiberius - Banned from Bookman's and proud of it!
June 28th, 2012
11:29 am
td, Obama didn’t lie.
He is just very unlucky that Chief Justice Roberts bought the tax argument. Lucky for his law, unlucky for his re-election campaign moving forward.
oh nosies
June 28th, 2012
11:30 am
obama said it wasn’t a tax, WAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Whiners!
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
June 28th, 2012
11:31 am
Deal with THAT, Finn!
That’s all projection, Tiberius. Those are your mental nuggets, none of that has come to pass. You want me to seriously contemplate your wet dreams?
Let’s try to get a grip on reality first, k?
ncgreybr
June 28th, 2012
11:32 am
I’m still trying to figure out what Wingfield’s ramblings said….
Love me some Reagan
June 28th, 2012
11:32 am
Tiberius
Keep spinning. Hopefully it is a morale booster for you
whatever works, right?
Tiberius - Banned from Bookman's and proud of it!
June 28th, 2012
11:32 am
Refute this has taken stupidity to a whole new level this morning.
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
June 28th, 2012
11:33 am
The President says this is not a tax. 5 members of the Court said it is a tax. So therefore the President lied?
W called it “strategery”, everyone else on the planet calls it “strategy” (including the justices of the SCOTUS.) W lied?
Tiberius - Banned from Bookman's and proud of it!
June 28th, 2012
11:34 am
Reagan, as always, you are free to provide intelligent rebuttal to my assertions.
“Keep spinning” doesn’t qualify.
Gm
June 28th, 2012
11:34 am
Drudge
George Washington? FDR? Abraham Lincoln? we are really proud of these slave owners,
td
June 28th, 2012
11:35 am
Filter
June 28th, 2012
11:28 am
Let me get this straight….
The President says this is not a tax. 5 members of the Court said it is a tax. So therefore the President lied?
That syllogism simply does not work.
His attorneys argued it was a tax before the court and the court bought their argument so did Obama’s lawyers lie to the court or did Obama lie to the American people?
Terri
June 28th, 2012
11:36 am
I can still here him in his own voice: “I will NOT raise Taxes”. “THIS healthcare bill IS NOT A TAX”, “If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor”. “If you like your healthcare plan, you can keep your healthcare plan”. “This is not blue America or red America, this is the United States of America”, and one more among many, “Only hours until we will fundamentally change America”. So, what is it that they’re rejoicing about? Guess we’re going to find out now. The sad thing is that even if Obamacare hurts our healthcare system and worsens our economy, it won’t affect Barak Obama or the Democrats in office one bit. Won’t touch their pocketbooks or healthcare or lifestyle…
I demand to see Cheesy Grits Birth Certificate- Long Form Please
June 28th, 2012
11:36 am
We now get to support you as well.
You dont support me. I support myself.
I have my own health insurance. Always have.
( Although now thanks to Obama I may get some choice as to who my provider is. Instead of just having one choice. Competition usually drives down prices. )
I’m tired of paying for freeloaders who go to the Emergency Room every time they get a sniffle.
Those days are over deadbeats. Time to pay up like everybody else.
No more free rides.
Senior Citizen Kane
June 28th, 2012
11:36 am
Kyle, do you suppose that with this precedent a future president and Congress, in the name of public safety, could require that all Americans must own a gun – or pay a tax if they don’t?
Love me some Reagan
June 28th, 2012
11:37 am
As I said, spin all you like
Obamacare is law and is CONSTITUTIONAL…
When polls show that Romney is getting a great bounce from this and is heading to victory, you are more than welcome to post the information
Gm
June 28th, 2012
11:37 am
Mitt Willard” I will bring back jobs, oh I forgot, I helped sent them overseas, yet the right nut jobs call themself Americans”””’
retiredds
June 28th, 2012
11:38 am
td has given us all the new Republican mantra we will all be hearing from now to November. As if politicians don’t lie. TD that’s a politicians trademark (irrespective of party affiliation).
Oh and let’s not forget, the dastardly Chief Justice Roberts is now nothing more than one of those “activist” judges the R’s complain about.
Ray
June 28th, 2012
11:38 am
Those trashing Justice Warren today, are revealing their themselves. They don’t respect Congress nor the Supreme Court. Good luck trying to control the rest of America.