Obamacare ruling offers good possibilities, but no substitute for a win
Generals are often accused of “fighting the last war.” After Thursday’s Supreme Court ruling upholding Obamacare, conservatives are asked to pin our hopes on the notion Chief Justice John Roberts was fighting the next war.
This is a tempting proposition. There is the fact Roberts, in the main opinion of the court, and the four dissenting justices endorsed a limit to the power Congress wields under the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution. As this was the key judicial theory advanced by the law’s opponents, one that sought to halt a decades-long expansion of the meaning of “regulating” interstate commerce, that is no minor feat. It could even provide the starting point one day for further rollbacks of bad Commerce Clause precedent, starting with the awful 1942 Wickard decision that found a farmer affected interstate commerce by growing his own wheat.
There is also the fact the court’s majority decided the “penalty” for non-compliance with Obamacare’s individual mandate to purchase health insurance is really a “tax.” While this contradicts Congress’ actions and the president’s words during the 2009-10 health-care debate, it has the benefit of making it easier to repeal the law. As a budgetary matter, this “tax” — and Obamacare’s other taxes and spending — should be subject to the Senate’s reconciliation process, to which the filibuster does not apply. So, there’s no requirement for 60 votes in the Senate to remove the heart and guts of the law, just a simple majority.
And there is the fact that Roberts’ surprising vote on Obamacare averted the torrent of purely partisan criticism Democrats and liberals were set to unleash had a majority of the court struck down the law, accusing Roberts and his colleagues of — wait for it — partisanship. His court’s integrity intact, perhaps Roberts will be freer in lower-profile future cases to strike blows for the causes of federalism and limited government.
All these thoughts are pleasing to the conservative mind.
But if Roberts’ ruling can cite Benjamin Franklin’s aphorism about the certainty of death and taxes, allow me to caution against too rosy a view of his ruling with another saying: A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
Maybe the Roberts court will reinforce federalist principles in future cases. Then again, maybe the facts and circumstances of these future cases won’t cooperate. Or maybe the cases won’t emerge before the Commerce Clause-limiting wing of the court changes for the worse: Antonin Scalia is 76, Anthony Kennedy turns 76 this month, and there are at least even odds Barack Obama will be making court appointments past their 80th birthdays.
Speaking of elections: Maybe Mitt Romney will win and have at least 50 GOP senators (plus his vice president) to pass a budgetary bill by reconciliation. Maybe not. The presidential election and key Senate races look close, and four months is an eternity in politics.
And maybe, just maybe, the same Democrats and liberals who thought partisanship was the only reason the court could strike down Obamacare will look back, when a future case is decided in favor of federalism and limited government, and say, “This stinks, but hey — Roberts was with us on health care back in 2012. So it’s cool.” Or maybe their reactions will be just as vicious and plainly partisan as their blowback to an anti-Obamacare decision promised to be.
Possible future good is a consolation for Thursday’s loss, but it’s no substitute for a win.
(Note from Kyle: This is my column for the Sunday AJC. As anyone who read my posts Thursday can tell, I have been going back and forth about the impact of the Obamacare ruling. Consider this column a refinement of my opinion: There are some good things that could come out of the ruling, but they are by no means guaranteed.)
– By Kyle Wingfield
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677 comments Add your comment
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
July 1st, 2012
5:03 pm
Lesson one: you’re always at the mercy of the weather, which you have no control over.
Happened to my corn last year, one day we had a heavy rain that soaked the soil, the next day we had a heavy wind that pushed the corn over.
But it was my fault, I planted in late June. Had I planted it in early May like I shoulda, it would have been harvested.
getalife
July 1st, 2012
5:08 pm
I am just looking for planet kolob and where to buy some magic underwear.
getalife
July 1st, 2012
5:13 pm
RIP @@’s vegetables.
Hey Semper, you can eat all the vegetables you want at Ryans’s.
marko
July 1st, 2012
5:13 pm
Yes Mitts going commando, or the emperors wearing no clothes if you prefer. The point is that we were promised jobs and growth a long time before Obama showed up on he scene. Why does he deserve sole credit for the reeking toilet his predecessors failed to unclog? Mitt got wealthy out sourcing jobs, not creating them Massachusetts was 47th, in the nation, in job growth under his imperial realm. Why all the confidence that Mitts da man?
Is magic underwear a slur? I don’t know? I do think that opposed to being black, female, Hispanic or gay, being Mormon is a choice. and those that chose to believe insane nonsense don’t deserve the same deference that those who had no choice in the matter do. Though I’ve met many fine people of the church of Jesus Christ and the later Day Saints persuasion, it hasn’t stopped me from considering Joseph Smith a polygamist fraud and charlatan. I’ve no problem with Jesus, but the later day saints come across as delusional wack jobs. Is God really six foot two, Are Jesus and Satan really brothers and the Indians really the lost tribes of Israel? Are those that seem predisposed to believing goofy nonsense really the best qualified to lead us all?
Lil' Barry Bailout (Unexpectedly Revised Downward--Again)
July 1st, 2012
5:20 pm
Obozo is a Christian and therefore believes in some goofy nonsense too, right? Fish and bread appearing out of nowhere? Jesus “rising from the dead”? Deaf people hearing again?
You’re a hypocrite, marko.
marko
July 1st, 2012
5:24 pm
My daughter instructs me that people don’t use the word charlatan anymore, Sorry my bad.
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm! Just sayin...
July 1st, 2012
5:25 pm
Last time I checked, Hairy Reed was a Mormon.
@@
July 1st, 2012
5:26 pm
Too funny! A poster from Democratic Underground.
The “Thank you” is to die for.
schnirt
Dave
July 1st, 2012
5:27 pm
Charlatan is fine, my bad should have been avoided even when it was trendy.
Uh Oh
July 1st, 2012
5:32 pm
“Last time I checked, Hairy Reed was a Mormon.”
Well last time I checked, Reid was a little weird as well. Not sure if it is his religion, I doubt it, but he is a little weird.
Hillbilly D
July 1st, 2012
5:35 pm
@@
You don’t need anything as elaborate as a tractor or post hole diggers. You just need a stick or pole 2″ in diameter or even less. Sharpen one end of it and just drive it in the ground. If the ground is soft, you don’t even have to do that, just push it in. Keep it simple. (ISH).
Kamchak
I usually plant corn in late March/early April but you can plant it on up to late June, if it’s a 90 day variety. Corn is usually 90-120 days, depending on the variety.
************
My view on Mormonism is this, I, too, know some who are fine people. Theologically, they’re way off from me but that’s up to them and God to sort out. I figure they deserve the same amount of respect as everybody else.
marko
July 1st, 2012
5:36 pm
Joseph Smith was four years old when Charles Darwin was born in 1809. One penned Origin of the Species The other wrote The Book of Mormon? I wonder which books claims have stood the test of time? I find that religion is like a fine wine. The older the better. Make mine bronze age please.
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm! Just sayin...
July 1st, 2012
5:37 pm
Hairy Reed is a LOT weird and that’s because he’s a dummycrat, not because he’s a Mormon.
Lil' Barry Bailout (Unexpectedly Revised Downward--Again)
July 1st, 2012
5:45 pm
The Bible predates Origin of Species by juuuuust a few years, so marko no doubt believes it’s more authoritative. Is older goofiness better than more recent goofiness?
Obozo chose to be a Christian. According to marko, he’s bought into everything the Bible says, but marko’s OK with THAT goofiness.
You’re a hypocrite marko. And your Moron King Obozo is one goofy dude.
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
July 1st, 2012
5:48 pm
Hillbilly D
The conventional wisdom up here in this small hamlet in the N.C. Mtns. is that you don’t plant until May 1st and it proved itself this year as we had a frost the last week in April. My early azalea blooms were a sickly brown by May 1st.
Uh Oh
July 1st, 2012
5:55 pm
“The Bible predates Origin of Species by juuuuust a few years”
The Bible itself or the writings in the Bible?
just sayn
Bruno
July 1st, 2012
5:56 pm
I figure they deserve the same amount of respect as everybody else.
Tip o’ the cap to you, HD.
Hillbilly D
July 1st, 2012
5:59 pm
Kamchak
I forgot you’re in NC. A light frost won’t really hurt corn but I’d go with the local wisdom. A light frost will kill it back a bit but it’ll come right back when it warms up.
I’ve heard Daddy talk about when he was a kid, planting corn in May and it was spitting snow. That would’ve been in the early to mid 1930’s.
I usually don’t plant my warm weather stuff until late April/early May. It will come up, if you plant earlier, but it’s not going to grow until the ground warms up anyway. Not much replanting that way.
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
July 1st, 2012
6:06 pm
Hillbilly D
Not knowing a whole lot about gardening has lead me to a pretty good relationship with my local seed/feed guy. I toyed with the idea of planting early because it was unusually warm this past March, and asked the guy about it. He advised against it, but left the choice up to me. In essence he said, “You can plant now, but you’ll just be back to buy more seeds.”
My estimation of him shot up about 15 points after that, and I won’t buy from anyone else unless he just doesn’t have what I need.
Lil' Barry Bailout (Revised Downward)
July 1st, 2012
6:06 pm
The writings that make up the new testament were completed in the first century AD. Origin of Species came juuuuuust a bit later.
In marko’s “book” that makes them more credible than Origin of Species.
Obozo sure does believe some goofy stuff!
Hillbilly D
July 1st, 2012
6:15 pm
Kamchak
More folks should be like your seed man. The world would be a better place.
Tenacity365
July 1st, 2012
6:15 pm
Too hard to seperate church and state I guess
@@
July 1st, 2012
6:18 pm
Love means
neverhaving to say your sorry. That’s the message being bandied about next door.A “real” kumbaya moment. Strength and power in togetherness.
Comical.
@@
July 1st, 2012
6:19 pm
Whoops!
your should be you’re
Uh Oh
July 1st, 2012
6:21 pm
“Too hard to separate church and state I guess”
As hard or easy any given politician or party wishes to do it?
Tenacity365
July 1st, 2012
6:28 pm
To Tiberius from earlier read this article from 2007 about our economy
questions.about why our economie is messed up will be answered since I dont have time to look for it
http://m.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2007/12/bush200712
Hillbilly D
July 1st, 2012
6:34 pm
Love means never having to say your sorry.
Never apologize for anything; it’s a sign of weakness. I saw that in a John Wayne western, once.
@@
July 1st, 2012
6:56 pm
Hillbilly:
From this day forward, I want you to call me The Duke…not to be confused with The Great Lebowski’s Dude, although I do LUV me some Bridges (Jeff), not the ones ‘ya have to cross.
Hillbilly D
July 1st, 2012
7:02 pm
@@
You don’t walk funny like John Wayne did, do you? (IWH)
@@
July 1st, 2012
7:06 pm
Hillbilly:
Did you know that Jeff Bridges married a waitress?
In an interview with Reader’s Digest, Oscar-winner Jeff Bridges recalls his first meeting and subsequent romance with Susan Geston whom he met while she was working as a waitress/maid on the set of Bridges’ film “Rancho Deluxe.”
“It took me all day to finally get up the nerve to ask her out. And she said no.”
Obviously, the relationship ended up working out and the couple has been together for 35 years. But Bridges says he knew after one week of shooting that he was in love and that Geston would be his wife.
How sweet is that?
@@
July 1st, 2012
7:10 pm
Hillbilly:
Unfortunately there’s not a bit of swish in my swagger. Lawd knows I’ve tried, but if it ain’t there, it ain’t there.
@@
July 1st, 2012
7:27 pm
Piers Morgan: When you won the award for best actor, what did you feel?
Jeff Bridges: (Sigh) I felt my folks, man. I feel like I’m an extension of them really.
Kewl!
Hillbilly D
July 1st, 2012
7:36 pm
@@
If you’ve never seen “Rancho Deluxe”, watch it if you get the chance. Late in the movie, Slim Pickens, I believe it was, utters the immortal line. “All major crime is an inside job”. Talk about hitting the nail on the head.
Hillbilly D
July 1st, 2012
7:37 pm
@@
And by the way, down through the years, some of my best friends have been waitresses. They work might hard for their $2.13 an hour.
Tiberius - Banned from Bookman's and proud of it!
July 1st, 2012
8:05 pm
Wow, Tenacity. An opinion piece written by an Ivy-League professor.
Color me shocked that he provided no actual proof (just supposition) that Bush’s policies caused the recession. Funny how he didn’t supply a single, solitary bill that was passed / supported by Bush that can be pointed to as the one that did it.
This is the difference between liberals and conservatives. By and large, liberals wait for people to tell them what to think. Conservatives actually think.
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
July 1st, 2012
8:17 pm
By and large, liberals wait for people to tell them what to think. Conservatives actually think.
The smoking gun is the mushroom cloud.
Just sayin’.
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm! Just sayin...
July 1st, 2012
8:39 pm
“It’s a ta—; it’s a penalty for free riders,” Nasty Pelosi said, nearly uttering the dreaded T-word before cutting herself off.
And if it is a penalty, then it is illegal according to the Supreme Court.
td
July 1st, 2012
8:43 pm
I heard some commentary today about Roberts and how the left will totally despise him this time next year when he writes the opinion to do away with affirmative action and the enforcement section voting rights act.
I do not like that he upheld Obamacare but the decision had two points to it that is very promising. 1: Precedents have been set on limiting the power on Congress and the commerce clause. 2: The limit on the Feds and their ability to strong arm the states.
If we the (American people) elect people to represent us that will raise our taxes (as penalties) then we are getting what we deserve.
This should be a conservative wake up call that elections have consequences and when we (conservatives) want to teach our elected officials a lesson and sit on our a$$es in an election and allow the progressives to have huge majorities then we deserve what we get. Politics is not a sprint but it is rather a never ending marathon and until we (conservatives) realize this and stayed engaged and hold our elected officials feet to the fire then we will continue to be disappointed.
Tenacity365
July 1st, 2012
9:02 pm
Are you really defending Bush and the predicament he and the GOP put this country in. especially after clintion left him with a 2.2 trillion surplus that he mostly handed out in tax cuts far as most the country is concerned his presidency was a failure and your a nut if you believe anything else.Was his extension of social security considered socialism to you?especially after he spent all thatmoney already.I may not know the exact bills that allowed for all the abuse in the private and publiv sector but I do know they were enacted during his two terms. Democrats arent that friendly with wallstreet it has always been republican for deregulations. I giess when I speak to you I have a set of givens I feel everyone should already know and no I will not cite everything I type because that is doing to much look it up yourself.
Tenacity365
July 1st, 2012
9:15 pm
Td
There wont be a republican president for a while if your base keeps killing the moderates. Give a little get alot but they just dont want to give on anything worth a damn. How are they really defending bush tax cuts as is.
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm! Just sayin...
July 1st, 2012
9:15 pm
I finished my research, T365!
http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS14000000
Yep, you can see the very day that the economy tanked, and go figure, it’s almost the exact same time that obozo got nominated.
huh
Hillbilly D
July 1st, 2012
9:17 pm
The Meltdown was a long time coming. It spanned several administrations with NAFTA and the repeal of Glass-Stegall among other things. There’s plenty of blame to go around.
@@
July 1st, 2012
9:18 pm
And the blue dogs? Who killed them?
@@
July 1st, 2012
9:20 pm
Who “kilt” them? I was over in Henry County the other night. Some guy in the restaurant was sporting a kilt.
Mary Elizabeth
July 1st, 2012
9:21 pm
I highly recommend that any reader – who is interested in an in depth discussion of America’s idealism, spirituality, the thinking of our founding fathers as well as Lincoln’s and Frederick Douglass’ – listen to this hour presentation, through interview, with philosopher and professor, Jacob Needleman, as presented, today, on Public Radio. See link, below:
http://www.onbeing.org/program/inward-work-democracy-jacob-needleman/222/extraaudio?embed=1
Tenacity365
July 1st, 2012
9:24 pm
Ya sure than why did Bush propose bailout and hand it over to Obama to fine tune before his term was up. Bush wouldnt have supported that without knowing what was sure to transpire.
RW-(the original)
July 1st, 2012
9:24 pm
2.2 trillion surplus?!? I guess when you go delusional you may as well go all in.
http://www.craigsteiner.us/articles/16/
Tenacity365
July 1st, 2012
9:26 pm
No one can be responsible for a tanking economie at the time of there nominee
@@
July 1st, 2012
9:26 pm
Two little girls explain the ‘worst haircut ever’ (AUDIO)
Asked why she performed the impromptu trim, Sadie reasoned, “”It was almost all the way down to her tush. And if she grew it any longer, when she wiped her butt, her hair would like, go, into the toilet. And it would be gross.”
Too cute.
Tenacity365
July 1st, 2012
9:28 pm
RW
I was talking about the end of the Clinton\ beginning of bushs first term