And John Roberts will take away affordable healthcare from millions.
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Itâs hilarious and sad that the people most likely to be negatively effected by the right-wings preferred ruling are their very own constituents.
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Ok I get, well I hope they take in to consideration the number of people who are getting subsidies now and to strike it down would put millions of people in jeopardy of losing their health insurance.
But after the results of tuesdayâs election, I see this going down and striking a blow to Obamacare.
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And how can anyone see that level of needless intervention as anything but âlegislating from the benchâ?
Worst Supreme Court since the one that struck down so much of the New Deal legislation. Maybe the worst one since the days of Roger B. Taney.
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I predict the Court will rule against the administration, and effectively gut the ACA.
Whether the Democratic Party has either the brains or the balls to take advantage of that decision politically is an open question. Given the overtly craven behavior of many of those Dem pols who lost last week, I think itâs safe to conclude that theyâll mutter and sputter about being seriously miffed, and then meekly go home.
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I get the feeling that this is going to be a re-run of Bush v. Gore. Thanks again, Ralph.
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This ruling would totally screw the states without exchanges, since the taxes that fund the subsidies would remain in place (they are unquestionably constitutional). They would still pay, but get nothing. So what would they do? One option would be to designate the federal exchange as their state exchange. Iâm guessing some states (probably those without exchanges that have expanded Medicaid) would do that, while the die-hards wouldnât. Since most of those are states that have long been getting more than they paid in, while the states with exchanges are mostly those that have been paying the bills (like CA, NY and MA), there may be some justice there.
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If the world was ideal the court would be motivated only by the law and what the Constitution language says then there would be no problem and the ACA would be established law. BUT (and itâs a VERY LARGE BUTT) we have the decision in Citizens United which says that corporations have "freedom of speech as if they were actual human beings and that means corporations can (and do) contribute as much money to political campaigns as they want while actual PEOPLE are restricted by limits on contributions as if they werenât actual people. The court can therefore twist itself into a logical Gordian Knot and be proud of itself. It is entirely possible the court will say the ACA law is unconstitutional now even though they said it was a couple of years ago. And that would make a real serious problem for millions of people but thatâs not the courtâs problem.
Whereâs my bourbon?
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Sad Robert, you are mistaken. Jootjoint is correct. The losers here are the people, not Obama. Obama won two elections, the second by more than the first, and he is leading the nation through one of its most tumultuous times. Sadly, no Republican, past or present, holds a candle to his ability to persevere in the environment in which he must lead.
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Definitely work thinking this through in the event they make the ridiculous decision to agree with the challengers. In the first case there is the legal argument and precedent to consider - if the SC finds for the challengers they will set a precedent making it very easy to strike down whole or parts of laws unless they explicitly spell out in legislative language their obvious intent. Iâd be willing to bet there are plenty of laws passed by conservatives that could be subsequently challenged on those grounds. As for the ACA, thereâs one abiding fact that conservatives still do not get and obviously never will - people like government help when they qualify for it. Itâs one thing to deny the very poor access to medicaid when they never had it before, but it will be quite another to all of a sudden take away subsidies from millions in over 30 states when they already have been receiving them. Add to that the reaction of doctors, hospitals, insurers, etc., at the prospect of millions of newly insured people now unable to afford it, and you will have all holy hell breaking loose. And I wouldnât be surprised if that makes at least some of the states with federal exchanges, even though controlled by the GOP, back off and switch to one of their own in order to restore the subsidies. In fact, it could be just as simple as having a state certify that the current (federally run) exchange is now the stateâs without having to really change anything of substance.
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Join us for Obama: The Last Black President a GOP wet dream.
The Supreme Court will rule based on what it considers to be the letter of the law and/or constitution. The unintended consequences of ruling either way will likely not be a consideration.
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It was poorly conceived, poorly written, and in the case of the high deductible policies, a boondoggle to the insurance Companies. A law that the Democratic Party ran away from as soon as it passed it, left to die on the vine. What the hell folks put the blame where it belongs with the Democrats, Republicans and the Public.
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Nader 2000: the gift that keeps on giving.
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Hey. calling all idiots that were too busy or not "motivated " to voteâŚyou are condoning the the sociopathic behavior of a minority of depraved wingers who could care less about the welfare of America or itâs citizens. The next two years will will totally reveal how fucked in the head these people are but it will not matter. That other gem of a decision conferring âcorporate citizenshipâ has already destroyed the democratic process. Everything is now bought and sold with profit as the sole motive for every issue.
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Kentucky set up its own exchange, so those rednecks will not be affected.
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and itâs not just rednecks who will get fucked here. there are plenty of us who have real, professional, jobs that donât get health care through our (small) employer. if this goes in these states, itâll ripple through the rest, donât worry about that.
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No, the 2/3s of the registered electorate who did not vote Tuesday, and who usually have a self-comforting excuse for not voting in off-year elections, are the millions of reasons why Americans canât have nice things, and may even lose the nice things they once had.
We have met the enemy, and he is us!
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If the Court rules against the Affordable Care Act, it will be an even worse decision, legally, than the ridiculous Bush v. Gore.
As Jonathan Chait said months ago, it would be the Supreme Court version of the âMoops, you loseâ episode from Seinfeld:
The Bubble Boy loses a game of Trivial Pursuit to George because of a typo on the answer card.
George: Who invaded Spain in the 8th century?
BB: Thatâs easy, the Moors.
George: No⌠[reads the card] the Moops.
[George picks up the dice to continue his turn.]
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Without fifty States Ky will die too.
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