Well I’ll be interested to see what George Will has to say.
In the mean time, I was really surprised not only by the juxtaposition of Roberts and Kennedy but by Robert’s logic in upholding the mandate. Basically, he said that the mandate is unConstitutional under the Commerce Clause but just fine as a tax under Article 1. I get it. I don’t like it but I get it.
It seems to me that the enumerated federal powers clause [Section 8, no pun intended] is absolutely dead as a mechanism for keeping the federal government out of our lives – it was never even considered in this argument. The truth seems to be that under Article 1 and the settled law surrounding it, the feds can tax absolutely anything and thereby, impose any restriction imaginable upon our personal behavior. We already know that they can slap an outrageous tax on cigarettes for the greater good but now the Court has enshrined the right of the government to fine us for smoking those cigarettes or eating donuts or not eating broccoli. Watch out lefties, if the right majority gains power they can not only teach Creationism, they can make you take the class.
For those that value individual liberty, believe in limited government and state’s rights or even just hope for fiscal responsibility in government, today is a very sad day indeed.
There are some positive things in both the decision and Obamacare.
First and foremost, the blinkers are off. If we wish to control government, our only avenue lies with the people we elect. There is no Constitutional limit on the size and power of government. Suck it up.
In the partisan wars, it’s hard to see anything good in policies we oppose but I think there are these useful things about Obamacare:
· We already treat everybody who is ill or hurt but we do it in the most expensive way possible. Getting everyone to buy insurance will certainly reduce costs in that area. [Make no mistake, Obamacare raises costs in other areas and the net result will be vastly higher costs to government.]
· Finding a way to get employers out of providing insurance would be a very good thing for the economy, for creating jobs and for American products competing internationally. [The worry of course is that the feds will ultimately pay for all this by forcing employers to foot the bill, making things worse.]
· The greatest problem facing the nation is that the cost of medical providers is growing twice as fast as the economy and has been for decades with no sign of slowing. This is nation ruining stuff. Because we’ve long since decided that everybody gets treated, the only solution to the fiscal problem is some form of rationing and price controls along with more experimentation with provider alternatives. The seeds for these things are in Obamacare. [What failed to get into Obamacare is any kid of tort restrictions which I believe is a major driver of costs.]
Republican talk of repealing Obamacare may be good politics but it’s not good policy. Repeal would delay the fiscal catastrophe headed our way from uncontrolled rising costs but only modestly. The unAffordable Care Act should now be tuned and used as the foundation for attacking our nation-ruining entitlement programs and the rising medical provider costs behind them. We're going to need a Congress that will make this thing better, not worse.
Oh yeah; do you suppose now that the lefties will quit whining about the terrible, horrible, radical, right wing Supreme Court? Do cows fly?
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