Obamacare upheld: What it means now and in the future
Challenging Obamacare on constitutional grounds was never what anyone on the right wanted to rely on as a Plan A. “Repeal and replace,” the mantra of conservatives since Congress approved the health-insurance overhaul in 2010, is a high bar requiring the election of a president and congressional majorities dedicated to taking Obamacare off the books and passing more sensible reforms in its place. But persuading the Supreme Court to void the law by declaring it beyond Congress’ power to regulate interstate commerce, while sincerely believed to be correct, was always a higher bar to clear.
The irony is that we cleared the higher bar, and have nothing to show for it.
Do not confuse this for spin: Barack Obama and the Democrats won a clear policy victory today in seeing the court uphold their health law. There’s no denying that. Any other outcome would have been a debacle for them. This is the opposite of a debacle. That would be a victory.
That said, five of the court’s nine justices just agreed that compelling individuals to enter the market for a private company’s product does not fall within Congress’ power to regulate interstate commerce. This is the very idea to which then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi responded, when asked about it by a reporter two years ago, “Are you serious? Are you serious?” So, this is a remarkable moment given the last 80 years of Supreme Court jurisprudence and an important limit on federal power. In those terms, it looks like a legal win going forward for conservatives.
Unfortunately, Chief Justice John Roberts sided with the court’s four liberal justices and bought the Obama administration’s tortuous argument that the consequence for failing to comply with the mandate to buy health insurance was a “tax” — even though the president himself, during the debate about the law, repeatedly denied it was a “tax”; even though, as noted in the main dissent to the ruling, Congress rejected a version of the law that called for a “tax” as a penalty; even though Congress chose to use the word “tax” elsewhere in the law but not in reference to the penalty for failure to meet the mandate; even though the court’s majority decided it wasn’t a “tax” for purposes of the Anti-Injunction Act; and even though, again from the dissent, there are multiple instance of the federal government’s using its taxing apparatus to collect penalties that cannot possibly be considered “taxes.”
Judge for yourself whether it was judicially modest of the Roberts court to find any avenue possible to defer to the legislative branch, or judicially immodest to ignore Congress’ contradictory words and deeds in locating that avenue somewhere down a rabbit hole. No prizes for guessing where I stand.
My initial reaction to the taxing-power argument was that it pretty much offset any gain from the newly defined limit of Congress’ Commerce Clause powers. I am still not comforted by the court’s reasoning that Congress can tax someone for not buying something. And I am dismayed that Roberts not only justified this reasoning by comparing “not buying insurance” to “buying gasoline” or “earning income,” but also suggested a new tax Democrats could constitutionally try: a $50-per-household tax for not having energy-efficient windows. (Talk about getting kicked while you’re down.)
The more I think about it, however, all that is no more dismaying than knowing Congress can also decide to tax as much of a person’s income as it wants. The only thing standing in the way is the will of the people.
Which brings us to the biggest takeaway from today’s ruling. If Obamacare is to be reversed, it will have to be done by elected officials acting on the will of the people.
And that means it may not be a political victory for Obama.
It might be, of course. The prospects of re-electing Obama and/or keeping a majority in at least one chamber of Congress, and thereby keeping the law on the books, must be less daunting than trying to enact a new, similar (or even more far-reaching) health law. And while Obamacare is unpopular, there is a chance public opinion will shift in its favor now that the court has ruled. If so, that would boost Obama.
But there are other reasons it may hurt him: The intensity of Obamacare opponents will ratchet back up — remember how fired-up people were during the townhall meetings of 2009? If they have any political acumen whatsoever, Republicans will remind voters over and over again that Democrats sold the law as one thing (not a tax) only to win in court by saying something else (it’s a tax). Expect to see clips like this one and this one in GOP ads early and often.
Of course, the big question will be whether Mitt Romney is the one to capitalize on an issue like this, given his record on health reform (”Romneycare”) as governor of Massachusetts. I see two good ways for him to do it: First, frame the issue in part as an element of tax reform, and the need to get rid of a federal tax code that seeks to compel Americans to behave certain ways in exchange for one that gets government out of private individuals’ personal decisions and taxes only as much as it needs, without prejudice.
Second, to lend credibility to his promise to lead efforts to repeal Obamacare and replace it with something better, Romney should choose a running mate who can speak credibly about the issue. And in my mind, no one fits that description better than Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal.
– By Kyle Wingfield
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512 comments Add your comment
ima.libtard.00
June 28th, 2012
6:48 pm
JDW @ 5:09 pm
“And within less than four hours of the decision, the presumptive nominee’s (Romney’s) campaign had raised $1 million from online contributions.”
Sounds like contributions are slowing down as they raised an average of $2.4 million a day last month.
===========
Nope – 6:45 on the Evening News… more than $2m and rising…
SUCKER!!!!
GFY
June 28th, 2012
6:48 pm
Subaru and Decatur questions were for the AmVet…..maybe AmVet is housed on Clairmont VA.
Oduma and Dumber Company
June 28th, 2012
6:50 pm
I see Bookman closed down his playground and dismissed his children for recess.
GFY
June 28th, 2012
6:52 pm
Later parasites…..going to sit by pool and hatch me another scheme to pay less taxes to prevent you leeches from getting Money for nothing and your Viagra for free…..
ima.libtard.00
June 28th, 2012
6:53 pm
Be willing to bet AmVet is not a Vet… SCOTUS ruled it’s ok to lie about it…
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
June 28th, 2012
6:56 pm
I see Bookman closed down his playground…
No, his site is still up and running.
Do you need to get your eyes checked so that you can “see” better?
Apropos that this thread is about healthcare, huh?
Streetracer
June 28th, 2012
6:56 pm
GFY:
No, I don’t! But based on this decision, the goverment could require me to if they choose.
NCR
June 28th, 2012
6:56 pm
Hey young Democratic voters, how do you feel about your President now that he’s forcing you to either buy insurance, or pay a penalty tax? You got the change that you were promised!!! LOL!
Sandra
June 28th, 2012
7:00 pm
Several of the people on this are really so ridiculous about this whole thing with Kyle leading the pack.
AmVet
June 28th, 2012
7:00 pm
CommieAJC! What a dufus that guy was!
Lord knows this one has used a bunch of names, Kam, but GFY is still the same puerile, mentally challenged coward.
The theme of this evening is that the corporatist Republicans are NOT conservatives.
They advocate for the rich and for their corporate overlords.They hate our government and would love to see it go away. Or drowned in a bathtub. They are the anti-patriots. But they sure are impressed with that giant American flag at 10 Wall Street!
They work again their own middle class neighborhoods, families and communities.
They are not remotely concerned that wages for the huge majority of Americans have been stagnate/flat-lined for four straight decades! In fact the GFYs and davetvs of this country contend that that is not even the case.
Ask them about the beginning of the end for us via the Powell Memorandum and Reagan’s trickle down policies and they will look at you with empty stares.
Notwithstanding their self-imposed ignorance, nearly three out of four Americans now make less in adjusted inflation dollars now than they did in 1973. Even their productivity has doubled.
And the minimum wage is worth less now than it was in 1968.
But talk of raising it to even that level and OMG! Are you serious,? That would cost us millions of jobs!!! And don’t even think about telling them that their middle class money has been redistributed UP the food chain. They won’t hear of it.
This is how manipulated and delusional they have become.
And the GOP economic policies that they know nothing about but support anyway are designed to further drive down working wages.
And primarily because of them, we are now royally screwed
AmVet
June 28th, 2012
7:05 pm
ima.libtard.00
You are a petulant child. Your moniker screams it.
And know that when someone was still cleaning your sh*tty diapers, I was raising my right hand to defend this country against all enemies, foreign and domestic.
Not that you have ever given a flyin f&ck about the troops – active duty or veterans.
BTW child, are you related to Dusty?
Ray
June 28th, 2012
7:10 pm
Kyle,
The GOP, Broun, plan you refers us to falls short of anything that might make a dent
in a massive problem. It was only 51 pages, Forbes article you linked us to stated “Broun’s bill is divided into five parts: (1) repealing Obamacare; (2) changing the tax treatment of health expenditures; (3) Medicare premium support; (4) reforms of EMTALA, the federal mandate that forces emergency rooms to care for people regardless of their ability to pay; and (5) allowing people to purchase insurance across state lines, and small businesses to band together to purchase lower-cost association health plans (AHPs).
There is no mention of pre-existing conditions, establishing a high risk pool in Georgia, covering young dependent children, …
Every day a health care plan is not implemented in this state, is individuals die needlessly. 35 states have high risk pools, some of them dating back to the mid 70s. When Georgia has one of the highest mortality rates in the nation, why did it drag its feet to health care reform. It is shameful.
@@
June 28th, 2012
7:12 pm
Roberts not only justified this reasoning by comparing “not buying insurance” to “buying gasoline” or “earning income,” but also suggested a new tax Democrats could constitutionally try: a $50-per-household tax for not having energy-efficient windows. (Talk about getting kicked while you’re down.)
Seriously!!??!! Did he specifically say Democrats?
I’m not sure what we’ve ended up with…other than a knotted chain.
Lil' Barry Bailout (Revised Downward)
June 28th, 2012
7:12 pm
Just as an aside, how’s Obozo doing on that whole post-partisan thing? Is he bringing us together yet?
@@
June 28th, 2012
7:27 pm
And know that when someone was still cleaning your sh*tty diapers, I was raising my right hand to defend this country against all enemies, foreign and domestic.
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
AmVet
June 28th, 2012
7:32 pm
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Schnirt. (Or is it schnort?)
@@
June 28th, 2012
7:39 pm
AmVet:
A bit of originality would do wonders for your posts.
Your redundancy fails to elicit anything other than
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
md
June 28th, 2012
7:40 pm
“I’ve asked this before and every conservative on here ignored it, including Kyle. If that is true, then isn’t it also true Mitt Romney broke his anti-tax pledge he signed (yes, it’s in writing) when he signed RomneyCare into law?”
Possibly……you’d have to fill me in on what he said and when he said it…….and then there is most likely a big difference. That difference being that it is now being reported that the briefs filed with the SC by the Obama admin states it is a tax if that is what it needs to be for passage…….which is apparently where Roberts picked it up from………..
So instead of being truthful with the public that this is merely another giant entitlement program with one group of folks paying for the other, it was packaged as “insurance”……….
md
June 28th, 2012
7:48 pm
“They are not remotely concerned that wages for the huge majority of Americans have been stagnate/flat-lined for four straight decades!”
And our trade imbalance is still 50 billion each and every month……….how’s that Infiniti working out for ya?
Statistics show the direct link between trade imbalance and real wages yet the masses (and some posters) continue to look the other way and do nothing to change their buying habits………conscience choices to mix purchases and lower that imbalance may go a long way toward raising those wages, but if folks continue to prefer to pay some guy on the other side of the planet less to make their goods, then our labor will forever decrease until it gets to the same level as the guy on the other side of the planet.
Its simple accounting……”cost of goods sold”……which just happens to include labor costs……..
saw this coming
June 28th, 2012
8:01 pm
Just tax and spend baby
Bruno
June 28th, 2012
8:06 pm
But there are other reasons it may hurt him: The intensity of Obamacare opponents will ratchet back up — remember how fired-up people were during the townhall meetings of 2009? If they have any political acumen whatsoever, Republicans will remind voters over and over again that Democrats sold the law as one thing (not a tax) only to win in court by saying something else (it’s a tax). Expect to see clips like this one and this one in GOP ads early and often.
Kyle–We can only hope. Unfortunately, I believe that a majority of people in this country are now willing to trade their freedom for a little comfort, especially if they believe it will come at the expense of the “rich”. Any reasonable analysis of Obamacare show that costs will be going up, up, up. But good luck getting any Idiot Libs to understand that.
Love me some Reagan
June 28th, 2012
8:08 pm
Tiberius, @@, Rafe, md
We will disagree a lot, but at least you bring something to the table/
Lil Barry is a walking and talking point…………. a turd in a punch bowl
No substance. Not in depth willingness or ability to see and think beyond the talking points that he allows himself to be brainwashed with
As lost as some of the lefties he cries, moans and sulks about
Damn son, is that all you have
Really?
md
June 28th, 2012
8:11 pm
Bruno…..one has to be capable of a logic stream to understand the effects……my experience with many on the left (including myself many years ago) can’t get past the talking points…….
I can’t count the number of comments I’ve already seen that believe this bill requires everyone to buy insurance…….what they evidently don’t know is that is true unless one doesn’t have the money…..then they are required to buy it WITH SOMEONE ELSE’S MONEY……ours.
Bruno
June 28th, 2012
8:13 pm
Lil Barry is a walking and talking point…………. a turd in a punch bowl
No substance. Not in depth willingness or ability to see and think beyond the talking points that he allows himself to be brainwashed with
Love Me Some Reagan–Be rest assured that I don’t suffer “conservative” fools like Lil Barry any more than I suffer Idiot Libs. I hope Kyle is tolerant of a little blog swearing, cause Bruno is ready to bring it.
md
June 28th, 2012
8:17 pm
“Just wanted you all to know what a low-life Bookman is on a personal level.”
And why do you think I’m over here?
I refuse to lend credence to anyone that can’t acknowledge a fact when presented with one…..that person doing the writing over there has an agenda that will not allow for truth other than his perceived truth.
But, since we do choose everything we do, here I am………
Now if I can only make some headway with that stubborn poop on here that refuses to understand that our buying habits have a direct relationship with our own wages……….
Bruno
June 28th, 2012
8:17 pm
I can’t count the number of comments I’ve already seen that believe this bill requires everyone to buy insurance…….what they evidently don’t know is that is true unless one doesn’t have the money…..then they are required to buy it WITH SOMEONE ELSE’S MONEY……ours.
md–What is truly ironic about this bill is that the Idiot Libs somehow believe that it will solve the “free rider” problem. Anyone with a modicum of intelligence realizes that the “free riders” are now going to increase. Folks like me who choose to forgo insurance will now only have to pay a small fine, then jump on board the gravy train once a serious health problem develops.
The whole “free rider” argument was specious to begin with, since the vast majority of the folks without insurance now are either very young, very poor, or illegal aliens. None of the folks in those groups will be contributing to their own health care even after ObamaCare goes into effect.
Bruno
June 28th, 2012
8:25 pm
The real tragedy of the ACA is that it doesn’t solve, let alone deal with, the root causes of the high cost of health care in our country: (1) An increasingly unhealthy population (2) An over-reliance on drug and surgery (3) Out of control pricing. All this bill does is attempt to put a small band-aid on a gushing wound by attempting to spread the costs around. Laughably, it doesn’t even do that for the reasons I mentioned above.
I’ve been waiting months for this decision, and am extremely disappointed that Roberts sold out to totalitarianism, by which the government can now force you to purchase any product they want or fine you. I’m not usually one to invoke the “slippery slope” argument, but this one truly is slippery.
AmVet
June 28th, 2012
8:30 pm
And a bit of intellect would do wonders for yours obsessed one!
Hiya, Bruno.
Should we start cranking the tunes over here?
Grin.
Hillbilly D
June 28th, 2012
8:33 pm
In Georgia, for about 30 or 40 years (I forget exactly how long), it’s been illegal to drive and not have car insurance. Depending on whose figures you believe, the number of uninsured drivers in Georgia ranges from 15-30%. It’s been at that level for years. Of course to get a tag, you’re supposed to prove you have insurance, so a lot of them drive without a valid tag or a driver’s license. Just something to think about.
Don't Tread
June 28th, 2012
8:33 pm
Government taxing only as much as it needs, without prejudice??
Liberals will never go for that (and 0bamacare is a prime example). There’s just too many “evil rich” people around (except George Soros, celebrities, and football/basketball players, of course), and things just “aren’t fair”.
Fred ™
June 28th, 2012
8:36 pm
Fred ™ Your comment is awaiting moderation.
June 28th, 2012
8:35 pm
Bruno, you big dork. I decide to come back and post at Jay’s and YOU decide to blaze out……….
Just damn. Well I left you two songs over there lol. One when I thought maybe you were the victim of Jay’s fickle axe and another when he indicated you wanted to go out in a blaze of glory. Either way here they are……
(put in jail) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdXjm8pZMws
(and since maybe little Kyle can’t do more than one link and my post is “awaiting moderation” I guess I’ll post the other song in a different post…….
Bruno
June 28th, 2012
8:36 pm
Should we start cranking the tunes over here?
Fine by me, Jam.
Looks like I’ve already picked up a leg-humper. Some Lib Mystery Meat who doesn’t even have the courage to use his Bookman Blog name.
Fred ™
June 28th, 2012
8:37 pm
Second Song Brother Bruno; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=748IjOdrjwg
getalife
June 28th, 2012
8:38 pm
lil bar,
What are the rules?
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm! Just sayin...
June 28th, 2012
8:39 pm
Well, there goes the neighborhood….
Fred ™
June 28th, 2012
8:45 pm
Bruno@ 8:38; I didn’t see what the whole thing was. I did a driveby and saw he had banned you. By then the “offending posts” had been pulled. I didn’t care. I was reminded that he pulled MY dedication to josef of Killer Queen (by Queen) which is why you hadn’t seen ME there for a while. The stupid just burned to much lol.
Well anyway, hope it all works out one way of the other. I don’t do Kyle to much. I find him as intellectually stimulating as I found Cynthia Tucker and frequent HIS blog as much as I did hers………… I came here today because someone (forget who) said you were here. Didn’t always aree with you or even like you all the time, but I always respected you. One last dedication lol:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_m2xCIYS7IU
Bruno
June 28th, 2012
8:48 pm
Jamming to “Pyromania”, Fred.
No need to emulate the FNM music thread, but I hope Kyle is tolerant of some music dedications. I hope HD decides to join in as well.
Ted
June 28th, 2012
8:49 pm
I love how the SCOTUS ruling took the smiles off of all of the Republicans’ faces! You all are so full of anger and hate that you can’t see straight. What a pitiful, misguided, lot you right wingers are, constantly voting against your own interests, whether it’s the environment, jobs, etc. Poor white people have more in common with poor black people than they do with Mitt Romney. As a white, middle-class male, I have more in common with middle-class black people and President Obama. President Obama has my best interests at heart.
Bruno
June 28th, 2012
8:52 pm
Back at ya with some Def Lep, Fred:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUW5nyM1O5o&feature=related
Lil' Barry Bailout (Unexpectedly Revised Downward--Again)
June 28th, 2012
8:54 pm
President Obama has my best interests at heart.
———————
Sorry to hear that you’re unemployed. Obozo isn’t doing much about that, is he? As long as the EBT card keeps getting topped off, it’s all good though, am I right?
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm! Just sayin...
June 28th, 2012
8:56 pm
When the one or two liberals capable of thought and reason start getting the word out, Roberts will no longer be the newfound progtoy that the slow witted minions think he is.
In fact he’ll probably supplant the Koch Bros as the boogeyman most capable of causing mass thumbsucking among them.
He shut the door forever on expansion of the Commerce Clause and labeled obozocare a tax, and the dhimmis couldn’t be more aroused.
Silly, aren’t they?
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
June 28th, 2012
8:57 pm
As long as the EBT card keeps getting topped off, it’s all good though, am I right?
Yummmmmmmmm, more prom dresses.
For Bruno.......... come on back
June 28th, 2012
8:58 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwUMir_VuIQ
Love me some Reagan
June 28th, 2012
9:05 pm
I report
Spin it any way you have been programmed to spin it
This was an Obama victory……… Boehner was so solemn I thought he was at a funeral.
@@, Rafe, Tiberius have been attempting to hold it together but they are dumbfounded, but it is ok. This is the USA and we will persevere
KEEP HOPE ALIVE
kyle might even have a Holder column tomorrow to get you riled up………. need something to feed to the base
Hillbilly D
June 28th, 2012
9:06 pm
Bruno
I’m in and out. I spend a good deal of my blogging time on the baseball blogs, these days.
My take on this topic was at 1:19pm in the previous thread.
I know you’re dying to read it so I’ll repost it here (give me a change to edit my typos and brain farts)
This has got to be one of the more convoluted things, that I’ve heard in a long time. The mandate is unconstitutional but it is constitutional to be fined, oops taxed, for not complying with the mandate.
Some folks think they won here but the real winners are the insurance industry. They will have to cover everybody, in theory, so they’ll “have” to raise rates on everybody to cover insuring more “high risk” people. Since everybody now has to buy insurance, I expect, they’ll come out with a new low cost policy, which covers virtually nothing, that will cost slightly less than what the tax will cost, which will in effect be free money for the insurance company.
A side effect of this will be that more and more employers will curtail or drop coverage altogether, as costs continue to rise.
The Affordable Care Act, does absolutely nothing to control the rising cost of healthcare, which is where the real problem lies. It’s a boon to the insurance industry, who played folks like a cheap violin.
They had a chance to really do something about healthcare and they blew it. It’ll be many years before another chance rolls around and I don’t expect to live to see it.
I haven’t read any of the posts, so I don’t know if Bruno has been here or not but he and I have had the discussion before, that as long as you have a 3rd party payer, costs will continue to go up. That leaves two options, everybody shops and pays their own bills, which is probably okay for routine health maintenance type things but not serious injury/illness situations or you go with single payer.
Me, I’m for single payer but I don’t expect to ever live to see that. Those who think this will lead to single payer are kidding themselves, in my opinion.
If I was one of those people who likes to play the Wall Street casino, I’d be on the phone to my broker, investing in companies that sell health insurance. You’re likely to do well, which was the point all along.
And on another bent, I’m probably in the most minor of minorities but I never thought freedom of speech was intended to mean the freedom to lie, when you in fact knew you were telling a lie. I don’t think that’s what the Framers intended.
Love me some Reagan
June 28th, 2012
9:07 pm
“For now, at least, free speech is guaranteed by the 1st Amendment.”
Exactly, and not just yours
Love me some Reagan
June 28th, 2012
9:09 pm
“you were always a bit slow.”
When you say a bit slow, were you kicked out like Tiberius or come over to Kyle’s on your own?
Not one in the same
Fred ™
June 28th, 2012
9:09 pm
HillbillyD: While I’ve seen you on the baseball blog, I really appreciate you on Maureen’s blog. Of ALL the blogs we frequent, hers seems to be the one that actually does some good and effects some change.
They BOTH suck
June 28th, 2012
9:19 pm
Fred
Whats up? Havent seen you much and miss your commentary. Will mist Bruno and yourself if you don’t come back to jay’s place
Either way. Hope all is well
peace
Hillbilly D
June 28th, 2012
9:19 pm
Fred
My take on Maureen’s blog is that it is a good place for discussions. My views there tend to not be the norm but the one thing I think that blog needs is more laymen. There are a lot of teachers who post there, which is understandable, given the topic, and I feel it tends to get a bit too “inside” at times. I think everybody’s opinions need to be heard on education.
I did get moderated there the other day, though. On the thread about that bus monitor and how she was treated, my comment was that “they need their little butts busted”. Except I didn’t say butts.
Most of my baseball blogging isn’t done at AJC sites, although I do pop in there, occasionally.