Discussion for article #233270
Itāll be interesting to see if the court has the nads to blow this whole thing up and piss off millions of Americans, raise insurance rates for everyone and throw the health care industry into utter chaos. Knowing it was a Republican plan to begin with must make Roberts wake up in a cold sweat.
The issue of Oācare is less about the law than about this absolute gonzo hatred of the first black president, and those who place prejudice over patriotism. American exceptionalismābut not in a good way.
I have no confidence that a Supreme Court who ruled against a new mother fired for needing to pump breast milk on the grounds that āmen lactate tooā has any care whatsoever about the backlash they receive from their decisions. They are the ruling class, we are the serfs, and they donāt give a damn what the serfs think of them.
Any transient spark of humanity from the likes of John Roberts has been snuffed out by backlash from the ruling class regarding his last Obamacare ruling. He wonāt make that mistake again: my guess is that he well knows whatās expected of him and heāll deliver.
Millions of people, many if not most who could not otherwise afford it, have health insurance, including one million more than projected ___and the GOPigs feel they must stop all that good health by any means necessary.
In a video posted to Facebook, HHS Sec. Sylvia Burwell informs President Obama of preliminary estimates of this yearās signups: āWe just got great news today, which is that during this open enrollment period for the Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. Obamacare, 11.4 million people have either re-enrolled or enrolled for first the first time,ā Obama says on the video. āIt gives you some sense of how hungry people were out there for affordable, accessible health insurance.ā
So naturally the Republicans canāt stand it and relish the red meat āRepealā crap they churn out and they throw continuously to their odious Bagger āBase.ā
āThe chief cares very much about preserving the credibility of the court and assuring that it doesnāt act as a political institution,ā
I had to stop reading at that point. You cannot square that quote with Citizens United. Robertās is quite capable of letting his Conservatism govern his rulings. He has done so.
I keep holding on to the Chief Justiceās pride . Despite the short-term cries of betrayal from the GOP, I think Roberts is mindful of his legacy. I doubt he wants this fight but he definitely doesnāt want his grandchildren reading about the the Robertsā Court being a reactionary disaster that threw millions off landmark national healthcare. At base, I think it was this self-interest that made him uphold the ACA in the first place.
Donāt worry, his grandchildren wonāt read any such thing. Theyāll read how his courageous decisions stopped the 47% once and for all, and laid the groundwork for the new hereditary democracy.
" a decision that adversely affects 9 million people."
āGallup reported in July 2014 that the uninsured rate among adults 18 and over fell from 18.0% in Q3 2013 to 13.4% by Q2 2014ā (1)
In other words, Obamacare affects a small percentage of people.
But Obamacare effectively ends the movement for meaningful reform of our health care system by providing massive federal subsidies to the private for-profit insurance industry through guaranteed profits (for the first four years), āmandatedā premium payers, guaranteed 20% overhead (Medicare operates on 4%). Health care industry stocks and profits are up dramatically since Obamacare was passed, well above the market averages - all thanks to Obamacare federal subsidies and guarantees for insurers.
In the view of many traditional Democrats, among whom I count myself, it would be very good to get rid of Obamacare and return to our fight for universal single payer health care.
But, Obamacare has given the private for-profit health insurers massive amounts of money for marketing, to buy lobbyists and to contribute to āsympatheticā politicians, who can continue to craft the rules and regulations for the benefit of for-profit corporations and to the detriment of individuals and families.
Republicans know full-well the private, for-profit insurance industry, one of their key constituencies, profits wildly from Obamacare and the party must find a way to salvage Obamacare or replace it with a āprogramā that it is equally or more favorable to the for-profits.
It is a tough time for Republicans, who are caught between their phony campaign rhetoric and a court of their own making that could decide against them.
As for this traditional Democrat, I hope like heaven above, the Court dumps Obamacare and we can get on with lowering the age of eligibility for Medicare so that all Americans (not just a few) have coverage extended to them and their families.
(1)Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_insurance_coverage_in_the_United_States
The nonpartisan ideal arose in the context of the Protestant interfaith tradition. We have no Protestants on the Supreme Court - not a single representative whose cultural background emphasizes the philosophy of rising above the positions of personal clan and local custom.
In harming ACA, the Court, in ordinary peopleās minds, will be clearly aligning itself with the tattered GOP and all the freaks from the bitter narrows of the Bell curve who have gathered under its dirty, not so big tent. SCOTUScide.
Please. Republicans in general, and the Chief Justice in particular, have done nothing to earn the benefit of the doubt, which is implicit to everyoneās triple-bank-shot theory how and why he might rule this or that.
Republicans sued to take away 9 million peopleās health insurance. The Chief Justiceās opinion will hinge on whether he wants to take away 9 million peopleās health insurance. If the Chief Justice wants to take away 9 million peopleās health insurance, heāll interpret whichever text however he finds necessary to take away 9 million peopleās health insurance. If he doesnāt think Republicans should be able to sue 9 million people out of their health insurance, heāll interpret which ever text however is necessary to make sure Republicans fail to sue 9 million people out of their health insurance.
Itās interesting enough to hear consistent legal principles articulated back and forth, but in the face of the Roberts Courtās repeat nonadherence to any such thing, I just donāt think these issues are all that complicated any more.
This article by Jonathan Alter about the religious makeup of the Supreme Court is apropos in that regard. Notably, it appears to be Sotomayor, a woman, and the three Jews on the court, two of whom are women, who are able to, as you put it, rise above the positions of personal clan and local custom. And I, for one, am glad they are there.
He may not. Roberts is on the Supreme Court and does not have to deliver if he chooses not to. Thereās nothing in his life in play that would be jeopardized by his decision in King other than his legacy. After all this is āThe Roberts Courtā. His legacy demands he rule against Plaintiffs.
Do the arguments matter? Iāve heard that the justices endure the arguments but really just decide on their own. Iāve heard thatās why Thomas never speaks during oral arguments. They just donāt matter.
There will be no meaningful fight for universal single payer health care. The political cost of getting Obamacare passed and implemented has been high enough to give every politician pause on trying to change the health care industry again. If Obamacare is gutted by the SCOTUS, that cost will be considered even higher.
If the subsidies are gone, AND the people who were getting them canāt afford insurance AND they get penalized in the tax code for not having insurance, the game is over.
Roberts was the vote that made it possible for red states to screw their poor citizens out of the Medicaid expansion. Either he is going to see that there were very negative consequences to the pretty arbitrary choice he made and not go down that road again. Orā¦
āIn peopleās mindsā
Polls of all kinds indicate most peopleās minds do not favor Obamacare.
Here what most peopleās minds wanted:
72% of voters supported āa government administered insurance plan - something like Medicare for those under 65, that would compete for customers with private insurers." (NYTimes/CBS poll spring 2009).
Obamacare is the most perfect piece of Crony Capitalist legislation ever passed by a Congress and signed by a President.
Obamacare is what twenty-years of lobbying by insurers bought for the industry.
Obamacare is a step backward for individuals and families and most peopleās minds know that.
If the SCOTUS buys the notion that the intent of the law was to not provide subsidies based on whether there are actual state exchanges, the court will become a complete laughing stock. Irreparably broken. Not worth the wages we all pay for the court to be in existence. Might as well shut it down and erase any memory of a 3rd branch of government.