House Democrats and Democratic attorneys general from around the country on Friday asked the Supreme Court to step in and decide the fate of Obamacare, following an appeals court’s decision that the law’s individual mandate was unconstitutional.
Pretty sad when the only recourse to avoid a renegade court with a nutcase judge is to go to a court with five of 'em.
GOP Alternative to ObamaCare :
It was/is heading there anyway. Let’s let the SCOTUS do what they’re gonna do now. If they wanna kill the ACA,let them. We can then make this more of a campaign issue than it already is. Trump and the GOP have no plan
2020 looks to be the year of John Roberts. If SCOTUS takes this case, we already know his vote will be the deciding one. I expect they’ll punt, though, knowing full well if they rule against the ACA, it’ll give an enormous boost Dems in the election.
But I think this is a great move by Dems to push for a ruling sooner than later.
While it seems unlikely that John Roberts would want to take up this petition, it’s certainly possible that the four members of the liberal bloc will try to force his hand. It only takes four votes to accept review. But if they do grant cert., it would probably be set for argument next fall and decided after the election.
Its not just the mandate…
a petition to the U.S. Supreme Court seeking review of the Fifth Circuit’s recent decision in Texas v. U.S. The decision held the individual mandate of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) unconstitutional and called into question whether the remaining provisions of the ACA could still stand, including those that protect and provide coverage to Americans with pre-existing conditions. Because this decision causes uncertainty that may harm the health of millions of Americans, as well as doctors, clinics, patients, and the healthcare market, Attorney General Becerra and his coalition are petitioning the Supreme Court to take up the case and resolve it before the end of the Court’s current term in June.
It’s a good move politically and economically.
Just a question…if SCOTUS punts on this doesn’t that mean a lower court decision stating the law is unconstitutional would stand? No matter what, this is a gamble needed to be taken now, imho. No choice considering the current state of the Republican Party.
There’s no way for them to punt on this.
Truer words were never spoken.
Except possibly for that time I heard a DJ on Sirius growl “when they were good, they were very good!” after playing “Ain’t Talkin’ 'Bout Love.”
You seem to have forgotten to include the profession of concern and sympathy for all the people who would die or go bankrupt in the interregnum because they lost their insurance I’m sure you meant to add to this comment.
This is a win-win for Democrats. Either the Court sides with them and Obamacare is safe or the Court guts Obamacare and the Dems run on that issue in 2020. And make no mistake, that’s a huge winning issue for Dems to run on.
I actually agree with Drmpf on the Bush Judges and Obama Judges comment. This supreme court is filled with religious extremists and goose-stepping republicans. Roberts has an uphill battle for the legitimacy of this Supreme Court…because it doesn’t have any.
Look 4 posts down from that one. You should be able to see it from up high on the horse.
Sure there is. They can deny cert. and let the case go back to the district court for further consideration, as ordered by the 5th Circuit panel, which would keep the case in the lower courts for another year or two. Even if they grant cert. now, they can still punt till after the election by setting it for oral argument in the fall. Briefing won’t be complete until at least next month, the argument calendar is already being booked into March, and they don’t schedule arguments past the end of April.
Or they punt it until after the election, which seems to me to be the most likely outcome by far.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see SCOTUS hear the case and overturn this ruling. This appeals’ court ruling is a big middle finger to SCOTUS, basically ignoring their previous ruling that ACA was, in fact, Constitutional. It’s a 2-1 ruling by the Trump-stacked 5th Circuit. It would be pretty bad for Supreme Court authority if they just let 2-1 rulings that usurp their authority go unchecked.
The argument that the entire ACA must collapse is utterly ridiculous. What they’re saying is that the law is constitutional, unless there is no mandate, in which case the entire thing is unconstitutional. This is farcical. It’s a legal argument constructed by stringing together similar-sounding words.
Highly unlikely, given the records of the four liberal justices.
Given how early in the current session we are, and the relatively small number of cases they’ve accepted, that is also unlikely.
I’d venture a guess for oral arguments in April or early May, with a decision in June—just in time for the election season to heat up for real.
Okay, for purposes of argument grant that a mandate with a fine of $0 dollar is unconstitutional
Why then does that make the legislation creating the mandate unconstitutional and not the legislation making the fine $0?
If the Congress just wanted to repeal ACA, why didn’t they do that? There is a ton of evidence that they intended that. Why didn’t the court just say, you wanna repeal, do it yourself, we aren’t here to do your dirty work.
But they are all in on the con.