In what can only be described as a surprising outcome, Chief Justice John Roberts sided with the four liberal Supreme Court judges to uphold the Affordable Care Act and its key provision of the individual mandate. Meanwhile, Justice Anthony Kennedy who many anticipated would be the swing vote to uphold, sided with the other conservative justices, claiming that the entire health care law was unconstitutional.
This is indisputably an enormous victory for President Obama, Congressional Democrats and most of all, the American People. America is now finally catching up with the rest of the developed world in assuring health care for almost all of its citizens and affirming that human beings are entitled to receive medical attention as citizens of a civilized society. Also, the mandate affirms personal responsibility, something that Republicans love giving lip service to but in this health care debate, attacked vehemently. That is, those who have been causing medical costs to rise because they were uninsured, whether due to insurance companies refusing to cover them, the inability to pay enormous premiums or simply the choice not to do so by younger Americans, will soon no longer have to be bankrupted by medical costs or have them covered by those who do pay insurance.
There was one provision which was carved off by the SCOTUS, the government’s ability to withhold all Medicare funding to states that don’t expand it. Other than that, the ACA has been fully upheld. Also, Roberts stated that he did not see the mandate as valid due to the Commerce Clause, the federal government’s right to manage interstate commerce. Instead, Roberts declared that he views the mandate’s fines as a tax which the federal government is entitled to apply. The four liberal justices affirmed that they see the ACA covered under the Commerce Clause, that unlike the other 5 justices’ claims that it’s forcing Americans to buy something, that all Americans are already part of the health care industry because as human beings, they will require medical care at one time or another.
This is an historic day for the nation. Though many people still suffer from Republican and Right Wing propaganda/brainwashing that the ACA is some socialist government takeover of healthcare and that it is unAmerican for the government to force people to pay for something vital to their survival (er…Social Security and Medicare anyone?), these lies will begin to fade and Americans will take for granted that they have fair access to health care and insurance companies can no longer choose who gets to live or die.
One thing to consider is how upset citizens of the conservative states should be. In the middle of a difficult economy, the Republicans in control spent millions of dollars of their state’s taxpayer money, fighting the constitutionality of the ACA. How many salaries of teachers, police and firefighters would that money have paid for, how many of these folks wouldn’t have been laid off if they hadn’t squandered taxpayer money just to benefit the 1% and themselves politically.
Of course now there will be ramped up rhetoric by the Right about electing Republicans to control Congress and the White House so they can pass legislation to wipe out the ACA. Fat chance. Not only is President Obama more likely to be re-elected after this victory, even with Republican control of both houses of Congress and the Presidency, all that would be needed is one Democrat in the Senate to filibuster such a bill and it can’t happen. And does anyone doubt that after 4 years of the Republicans filibustering every Democratic bill, there wouldn’t be one Democratic Senator to filibuster the destruction of the ACA?
And it sure doesn’t help the Republicans to have the argument of “It’s a violation of the Constitution!” taken out of their hands. Now, it’s just about whining that they lost on this twice and that they should have a do-over.
One specific that I would hope the Obama Administration would stress strongly and repeatedly is that the individual mandate is projected only to affect 6% of the American population, 94% of Americans won’t be impacted by it. That eviscerates the Republican argument.
Will railing against the ACA be a winning issue for the GOP this November? I doubt it. America values winners and shuns losers. The GOP are clearly losers on this and will now look like bad losers. The public has been battered over this for three years and I think that they’re ready to move on. And does anyone think that Mitt Romney, architect of Romneycare which is centered around an individual mandate, is in any position to attack it? Romney wants to talk solely about the economy, he surely doesn’t want everyone thinking on a daily basis about what a hypocrite he is on health care, that it was fine for him and state government to enforce a mandate but it is an outrage for the federal government to do such a thing.
It would be very entertaining and self-destructive for the GOP to make this a central issue, taking them off message about the economy, against the American people having health care and highlighting Romney’s weakness as a principled human being. On that note, Rand Paul released a statement that sounds like a five-year-old wrote it, saying that just because a couple of people on the Supreme Court said something is constitutional, that doesn’t mean it is, declaring that the ACA remains unconstitutional. So, the Supreme Court’s decision should be regarded as illegitimate and Rand Paul’s personal opinion should be revered as the law of the land? The ignorance and desperation will only make the flailing of the Right more and more ridiculous.
The thinking about Roberts siding with the liberals is that it would have been a stake through the heart of his court and a damning of his position in history if the conservative SCOTUS decided to make Bush president, approved the unlimited buying of elections by the wealthy through Citizens United and then destroyed the only health care bill that has ever passed the Congress and doomed millions of Americans to death and debt. Might there have been some conscience on Roberts part too? Possibly. But as Scalia often demonstrates, SCOTUS members can be very egocentric and focused more on themselves than the people or the Constitution. No question that Roberts cares about his position in history and the public’s rejection of the SCOTUS as a legitimate entity.
And what can one say about all the pundits’ babbling predictions we’ve had to endure for the last couple of weeks? How many of them were right in their very informed blather? As far as I’m aware…none. Thousands of minutes of blah-blah-blah about what is likely to happen and how the future will unfold, they were once again wrong. All of them, all wrong! None of them got it right so we should consider just how much of a waste of our time it is to listen to the pundit class on news channels and how many other constructive things we could have done with our time instead of listening to self-apponted know-it-alls who once again have been proven to be clueless…and of course, never say a word about how wrong they were once again.
So, as far as most reasoned people can see, the ACA is in place and the Republicans have no viable path to get rid of it.
But that’s not going to keep them from throwing tantrums over it all the way to November on onward.
Oh I am ROTFL!!!
I just got info from a Tweet partner about the state of Romneycare in MA. Commonwealth Connections originally subsidized you with a meager $235 (cost of monthly premium for healthy 35-year-old) but YOU paid the rest depending on age, sex, geography. It also imposed a $5K per person per year deductible with almost NOTHING immune from using that payout. If you got sick, it was ANOTHER $10K out of pocket.
Well the schedule of free, preventive services and costs is now TOTALLY different, totally consistent with ACA provisions!!
The poor folks in Commonwealth Connections will also be able to reduce premiums when the subsidized payments kick in in 2014 with advanceable tax credits finally putting NO one out of pocket. And older people will NOT pay 500% more than the young with only that lousy $235 subsidy.
So Obamacare has massively IMPROVED and TRUMPED Romneycare, hands down, no contest!
I realize that only policy wonks such as I really want to wade through all this, and I realize there’s not a very accessible sound bite here – but it’s absolutely true, and it just MADE MY DAY!!!
We love your policy wonkishness. It saves me at least from wading through all the muck.
Thanks
Dear Sue – you are so kind! I’m really glad if it helps! I like being here for the NON wonky political and music and humor stuff everyone has to offer. Breath of fresh air! But if I’ve waded through TWO versions of Arnold’s despicable plan and read the synopses of the MA plan to compare it to, then read all of the ACA bill – SOMEONE should benefit from it, right? I have all that stuff stuck in my head. I wake up at 2:00am thinking about it all. It’s a relief to be able to use it to “clean up” on the issues everyone cares about. You do ME the service of letting me vent it and then not dreaming about it!
C’Lady, like Sue says, I appreciate your wading through it and serving it up to us “family style” in plain English.
( right now I’m trying to wade my way through the Supremes opinions.)
Oh my – you ARE brave. I’ve not tackled that yet. I have the PDF – cannot bear to start! Soldier on, brave friend. Soldier on!
Ha, Chris Hayes said what I posted almost word for word. “it’s not a tax, it’s a penalty collected under the taxing authority given to Congress.”
Not to shabby for this old fart. 🙂
On another note, I watched a “discussion” on twitter among some lawyers on the written opinions on ACA.
Some observations:
They all agreed that justice Ginsburg’s opinion was by far the best, that her upholding the use of the commerce clause was sound and legal.
The Dissents were weak in both the use of the commerce clause and striking down the whole law.
No one could understand Roberts argument striking the use of the commerce clause and why he went with the taxing authority.
They had read all of the opinions, I haven’t.
You can read it here: http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/11pdf/11-393c3a2.pdf
Darlin- not an old fart. Hayes probably read what you said and then plagarized by not giving you “mouthnote” credit. Always KNEW you were smarter than Chris!
k’es brought this up the other night about Walker not setting up the exchanges until after the elections (didn’t you k’es?), like Mitt WAS really going to rid the nation of that evil Obamacares. Looks like his own AG tool him to school and set him straight.
Scott Walker Gets Smacked Down by the Constitution and Told to Implement Obamacare
http://www.politicususa.com/scott-walker-smacked-constitution-told-implement-obamacare.html
Romneycare Has Been Upheld!
H/T Bob Cesca
http://bobcesca.com/blog-archives/2012/06/romneycare-has-been-upheld.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
Saw it last night! The Daily Show had an amusing take on it as well:
Thank heaven there ARE some educated, intelligent people in this country. It brings me down to always hear the morons and uneducated Americans blindly support guys like Romney, Palin, Bachmann and her tea party followers. It’s downright embarrassing on every level, not to mention dangerous to our growth as a nation.
I hope upon hope that the intelligent, educated people of this nation prevail against such Dark Age mentality. The emo-progs are just as bad as blind right wingers, because they SHOULD know better. They have to see what’s going on around them everyday. Sadly though, emotion is the biggest block against reason.
My Taoist learnings have been sorely tested these last few months. The Tao says, “have faith in the way things are,” but lately I’ve been wondering what “things,” that refers to. Truth and justice winning out over all? History tells me that this is not always the case, but what else can a person do, outside of taking action by voting, signing petitions, calling congress people, writing to them…etc?
The spiritual sickness in this country is starting to be personally painful. It’s a true test of will to remain contented and caring and having a positive outlook on my daily life. I have to really follow John Lennon’s wise advice to just “keep on keeping on.”
Killgore, I think that the emo-progs have had their day and with each day, shrink from relevance more and more.
Obama just accomplished universal health care! Presidents have tried to achieve this for over 40 years!
And we’re going to listen to them whining about him not being their boyfriend anymore? I don’t think so, they look like little worthless brats compared to Obama.
Looking at things philosophically, I suppose if the arc of time is long enough, things will change for the better. Generally, that is how civilization has gone with some exceptions.
I do grow disappointed at times but thankfully, things like Obama winning the Presidency and the ACA being affirmed provide a wider perspective.
Ultimately, our democracy can’t operate properly with the wealthy dominating it so though in the short term we are being buried by their billions, eventually, this will turn the tables against them.
One thing we’ve had to learn the hard way is that this is a neverending conflict, a realization that Liberals didn’t have back in the 70’s when they won back the nation on so many fronts.
The Kochs and the GOP will never concede, no matter how badly they’re beaten, they lust for money and power and like cockroaches, will come right back the next night for more.
So, now that we know the score, we’re better prepared to prevail, even if it takes a while.
I suppose I could stick my head in the sand, but I really couldn’t ever do that. I care too much about truth and genuine justice for all of us. I’ve been in this fight since I was a teenager, but never to the level that I am at in the present.
I was overjoyed by the SC’s decision and yesterday was a great day for all of us, even those morons that are whining about it.
I guess I have become a little war weary in the past few months. I HAVE to believe that “the way things are,” refers to some universal justice and right, to believe that a majority of Americans know the right things to do, in the face of so much hatred and stupidity.
Thanks for your reply, it has helped lighten the darkness a little.
Many people do either remain with their head in the sand their whole lives or throw in the towel at some point and do so the rest of their lives.
To each their own but I feel that we have a responsibility to all of those who sacrificed far more than time to give us the nation and democracy that was handed to us.
Previous generations went through much greater hardships so that we would have the freedoms and rights we have today. I see apathy and disinterest about the important issues facing our country as disrespectful and dishonoring of those who suffered and died for our sake.
So, as in any war, you lose some battles, you win others but as long as we keep making some progress against those who fight against the welfare of the majority, we can make profound differences to give something to the next generations just as so much was given to us by previous ones.
In the end, corruption corrupts even itself. Ask Mubarak, ask the USSR or the Third Reich. All seemed too powerful to ever be defeated but they all fell.
The Kochs and their GOP ilk will fall from power too one day. It may take a while but history would seem to show that it is inevitable. Tyrants never sustain, they always fall eventually.
AD LIB….hey, hey, hey, hey, hey….I just found the time to read your excellent article and to run through the huge number of comments you got to it.
I wish I had the time to do this yesterday but between watching the news every chance I got, attending a roasting garden (I have 1500 square feet under burlap which requires putting up and taken down burlap screening twice a day and keeping the garden moist) and working with several important progressive groups to keep them from bolting from the McCaskill Campaign in a fit of pique over her decision not to go to the convention and to keep her Obama associations in a lower profile than they would like.
As to why Roberts did as he did….I have several thoughts….
1) I think the arguments presented and framed by the Conservatives, esp. Scalia, worried him. We saw them in the dissenting opinion signed by Anthony Kennedy, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Antonin Scalia. I think the opinion was not one Roberts could defend.
2) I think Roberts recognized that forever and a day, a Supreme Court takes on the name of its Chief Justice. Roberts Court was looking none too good. The worst presidency since Hoover was his court’s gift to the nation, and then came Citizens United which (even if he does not think so, many do) is a blight upon the republic. So…I regard his immigration vote and his ACA vote as, at least in part, a vote to create a more balance legacy.
3) I also think he may have found the second level of argument presented by the Solicitor General (and the one that two of the appeals courts agreed with) that the mandate was a tax initiative and not a penalty made possible by the Commerce Clause, a compelling reason to find the act constitutional.
4) And, at long last, I wonder if he was finally honoring his pledge to be the fair umpire on the court, urging restraint, that he promised he would be during his confirmation hearing.
I very much enjoyed your critique of the reaction from the Right and the impact on the entire campaign. Much wisdom there.
See you tonight at Vox. I will bring the mojitos. Just in case you are not familiar with this wonderful drink….traditionally, a mojito is a cocktail that consists of five ingredients: white rum, sugar (traditionally sugar cane juice), lime juice, sparkling water and mint. Mmmmmmmmm.
Murph, you were missed yesterday!
Wow, I am green with garden envy, sounds fantastic. My garden is a fraction of that size but there’s nothing better than homegrown veggies and fruit!
I understand what McCaskill is doing, I also fully understand the disappointment and frustration Dems have with her shunning Obama and the convention but her retaining her seat and keeping indie voters from having a reason to abandon her is the biggest priority. Personally, I would’ve wished she felt that this transparent calculation would be moot for that reason but it’s her call and she still deserves and needs the support of Dems.
I agree with all of your points though I would probably give less weight to #4. There is no evidence in his performance as Chief Justice over the years that he has any conscience about being a fair judge on issues so I doubt that was much of a factor here. In his mind, installing Bush and championing Citizens United WERE being a fair judge.
I would caution all about thinking that Roberts may ever again side with the 4 liberal judges. This may have been the one case where the first three elements you describe above came together but now that he’s done this, my bet is that he will feel far freer to make political decisions against the majority and for the 1%.
As for mojitos, I am pleasantly familiar with this refreshing drink (don’t forget the mint leaves!) and am indebted to you for bringing them to Vox tonight. I will be bringing my Big Gulp cup.
It appears to me that Roberts states his justification early on in opinion, that it;s the courts duty to find a way to justify a legislative act constitutional, not to set policy.
That seems to be his legal reason as for his nonlegal reasons, only he knows (and we guess.)
http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/11pdf/11-393c3a2.pdf
But did you see this AdLib?
Reaction of President Obama over Victory on ObamaCare
I love that, Bito!!!!
Perfect!!! Absolutely brilliant!
Bito that was great
That’s even better than than the spoof of Obama kicking the door after announcing getting bin Laden! VERY funny! Someday I wish he was free enough to DO something like that – he SO deserves a happy dance!
[img]http://media.caglecartoons.com/media/cartoons/77/2012/06/29/114317_600.jpg[/img]
UPDATE
During a press conference call this afternoon, MIT economist Jonathan Gruber — who advised both Mitt Romney and Barack Obama on health care — stressed that less than 1 percent of (or 44,000 out of 6 million) Massachusetts residents are paying the penalty for not enrolling in health insurance. That fee helps the state fund the uncompensated care of people who become sick but don’t have personal insurance. Since Romneycare went into effect, “annual state spending for uncompensated care dropped by $118 million over the first five years of reform.”
He was on MSNBC’s “The Cycle” today and so was S.E. Cupp, I switched to a rerun of “Kitchen Nightmares.” What little I have seen of that program, it really sucks. The flashes of it I have seen, Cupp has used the “Town Hall” blog as news source and she also tried to compare the UK’s NHS to the ACA, worst part, no one called her out on it, the format seems to not allow it.
But to get back on topic, he was citing some of those same facts, he also cited the 7 states that attempted to do HCR without the mandate and they all failed.
He also brought up the point that the mandate came from that librul thin tank ‘The Heritage Foundation’ and was pushed as a conservative talking point of personal responsibility. But since we know that black men have no personal responsibility and we have one in the WH, it has to be an evil librul plot.
Bito, right with you, when that shallow and moronic Cycle show came on MSNBC, I turned it off immediately and enjoyed watching the rest of the original “The Postman Rings Twice” on TCM.
That show is like “News for Mouseketeers!” with SE Cupp as “Dopey”. Awful show and avoiding it so it is cancelled is the best thing folks can do after emailing MSNBC about how unwatchable it is. It makes the shallow Alex Wagner show look like 60 Minutes!
As I’ve mentioned, this is something that needs to be stressed by Obama and Dems without interruption.
Here Are The Real Winners and Losers Of The Supreme Court’s Healthcare Ruling
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/winners-losers-affordable-care-act-supreme-court-obamacare-ruling-2012-6?op=1#ixzz1zDXr7fFI
Here’s a handy list, you might want to send a link to it to those friends and family who may not be supporting the ACA right now or may not be aware of all that it does:
Excellent. And best of all, it is coming from the White House. Does it mean they get their message out properly now? One would hope they do.
Truth, that is a very important thing, Obama needs to really push the message on the ACA very hard right now, striking while the iron is hot to be able to reshape it.
Focusing on the benefits and that the mandate tax won’t affect 95% of Americans, only those who can afford insurance but instead want everyone else to pay for it through premium increases.
Drive those points home and this becomes a bigger and bigger victory for him and us.
And, educate, give the talking points, and get those Dems running for re-election and those not talking! They need to be prepared for those town hall meetings and people shouting lies or those just confused about the law. The President needs to push the message but he needs help from the others, too.
This is not directed to you Truth, but to everyone. Much of this information has been up and yours to read and use since the passage of ACA 2 years ago on many .gov sites. HHS has info, the WH has info and healthcare.gov is dedicated to nothing but the ACA.
While it is true that the WH has put it on the front page since the decision, there is hardly been a day that HC hasn’t been on the WH’s front page.
When President Obama was elected he made it a goal to get information to the people and the revamping of that site has been and continues to amaze me.
Take some time and explore their pages, it is chock full of info.
(this has been an unpaid advertisement for WhiteHouse.gov 🙂 )
Hi bito, yes, of course you’re right and they do a very good job. Thanks for advertising that!
But they assume that people actively go there to get the information, which only very interested people are inclined to do. The problem is that most average persons, who are not too much into politics will not make an effort on their own to go there to get the information.
So while it is excellent that now there is likely more transparency than ever before and that there is a place to get the information the WH also needs to bring their message in an easily understandable form directly to the people.
They need to boil this complicated stuff down to the essence, praise themselves openly and not just wait for them to be discovered.
We all know how good Republicans are at that! Dems’ approach is too intellectual – they expect too much from the average person.
But then there’s hope: a list like the above would make a perfect ad to spoon feed some real information to folks.
Ha, I debated posting that due to it’s size, glad you did.
AdLib, I tweeted this list and it did get some traction. @shoq had a great idea of people taking this, making copies of it and using it as a handout. If people are involved with their local/county Dem party please take this idea to your E-board, if you are a precinct committee person use it as a flyer, tack it up at grocery store boards…… Do whatever you can to spread this list.
I just showed this to my home health nurse and she is going to pass it around to all her patients and fellow nurses. It’s not just Dem propaganda — It’s the law!
[img]http://media.caglecartoons.com/media/cartoons/20/2012/06/28/114267_600.jpg[/img]
This came up earlier today: What if states drag their feet or refuse to set up the state exchanges?
Republican Senator Calls For Federal Takeover Of State Health Exchanges By Telling States Not To Set One Up
More: http://thinkprogress.org/health/2012/06/28/508333/jim-demint-states-stop-implementing-exchanges/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
Bito, first, there are penalties on states for violating federal law, which is what DeMint is suggesting they do, break the law. Second, what an idiot, if the federal government ends up running all the exchanges, it makes single payer through the government so damn easy.
Go ahead DeMint, make my single payer.
States don’t have to set up exchanges, so they aren’t breaking the law. That is an option premitted in ACA.
But where they don’t, people benefit. In CA the state high risk pre-existing condition program is hugely unaffordable – areound $1000 per month with high deductibles. The federal High Risk Pool is about $400 per month (in San Francisco the highest cost area in CA) with low deductibles. In other parts of CA it is much less expensive for the premium. It also has no caps, all the free preventive programs, and no lifetime limit that the state has.
I ran the figures for someone in a Southern state without an exchange, and they can get coverage for about $238 per month via the feds. Cannot match that in the private sector IF you can get insurance at all. No telling what the state pre-existing program cost would be since they don’t have one.
So DeMint is actually giving people a benefit and is too stupid to know it! Duh.
Anyone needing info for yourself or others, go to http://www.healthcare.gov and, using the dark blue tab at the top left, start the very simple process of filling out what you need in the state where you live. It will direct you to help – REAL help, Jim DeMint notwithstanding.
Thanks for the correction, CL. So what would really happen if states didn’t develop their own exchanges is that they would lose control over the design and operation of exchanges in their state which would occur anyway but under the Feds.
So DeMint’s plan is for states to give up power and authority to the Feds. That’s so stupid, it’s funny. Repubs are so crazy over this they’re threatening to give up power? Heh!
And as mentioned, if the Feds are running exchanges in many states, how difficult would it be to implement a single payer option in those states if it could be passed in Congress, in a future Dem controlled Congress that is?
Sorry DeMint, this is one time when throwing tantrums doesn’t get you out of eating your broccoli.
It’s the states keeping state control that will have the best advantage on single payer. The feds cannot do it piecemeal but CAN, as PBO is doing for Vermont, let the state have that as their state option.
Problem with federal issues is that unless MAYBE you did it as a “demonstration project”, the feds are kind of all or nothing. Think of the uproar though if the feds, even with state affirmation, eliminated insurance companies willy nilly!!! Even I think that would be wrong, and I like single payer! So DeMint’s opt out is not a route in for federally-directed single payer.
At this point it appears three states will have single payer soon – Hawaii (had it for years), Vermont, and Montana. Then – who knows? Heard Minnesota is interested, too. All but Hawaii are bordering Canada, so single payer is much more familiar in those states.
CA? No idea. The nurses union is still pushing it, and I imagine the state strategy group is as well, but nothing has been done yet – still – on creating a confirmable, persuadable economic analysis that would show single payer to be more fiscally responsible than ACA. That is the essential ingredient needed for CA to move forward. We shall see if the advocates step up to the plate.
CL, you’s ssssoooo smart! 🙂
I am learning or remembering more about the ACA on the White House’s site on healthcare.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/healthreform
Still more questions? Try this one:
http://www.healthcare.gov/index.html
And, Bito, there is this:
AARP Responds to Supreme Court Ruling on the Affordable Care Act
AARP is pleased that the Supreme Court found the critically important provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to be constitutional. This landmark legislation is already improving the health and financial security of our members and all Americans.
We know that our more than 37 million members, and Americans generally, want to know how these provisions affect them now and moving forward. That is why we developed the AARP Health Law Guide (www.aarp.org/healthlawguide) and other resources to help Americans understand their benefits now and in the future.
http://healthlawguide.aarp.org/?cmp=RDRCT-HLTLWGD_AUG24_011
(Updated: 6/28/12)
http://www.aarp.org/about-aarp/press-center/info-06-2012/AARP-Responds-to-Supreme-Court-Ruling-on-the-Affordable-Care-Act.html
bito – healthcare.gov is also an excellent place to start finding affordable insurance for those with pre-existing conditions. The dark blue tab, upper left, starts a VERY simple process to getting that coverage. Whether or not your state has a pre-existing condition plan, the federal one is cheaper and easy to access – even if you live in Jim DeMint’s state.
Dr.Paul Krugman has an excellent opinion piece on the passage of health care reform today. Worth reading:
The Real Winners
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/29/opinion/the-real-winners.html?smid=tw-NytimesKrugman&seid=auto
Thanks Bito, that was a great article!
Really embodies the moment, Bito.
When many progressives were shouting the kill the bill crap Krugman was one reasonable voice. He wrote an article showing that the ACA was almost identical to the Swiss universal HC system that is still cheaper by about 30% per capita and better than ours.
Dang Adlib 215 comments shows how important this was to people. I am pleased for everyone. With that I say good nite.
Good night, Sherlock. See you later on here. Dr. Watson is on call.
Sue, I’m so proud of our Planet community and really enjoyed spending much of the day being able to celebrate this with so many of the best folks on the net!
That is quite an impressive total and so much good reading here thanks to everyone’s comments.
Cheers all and congrats! This is a great day for America, an historic day that marks the beginning of a better nation.
All you Libs know that now Healthcare Queens are going to start crawling out of the woodwork. I bet they’ll have 3-4 heart attacks a year to game the system.
Don’t say you didn’t see this comin’.
Why stop at heart attacks, maybe a few bouts of various cancers because everyone knows chemotherapy is like an exotic island vacation.
Damn, Chemo wasn’t like that for me. I knew I had the wrong doctor! I guess I needed one of those Government ones. Nah, seriously, I had a great doctor. He saved my life, twice!
Sally,
Senator Says Employers Should Be Able To Deny Coverage To Cancer Patients Because ‘Our Nation Was Based On Freedom’
http://thinkprogress.org/health/2012/06/28/508299/ron-johnson-cancer-patients/
And corporations should be free to spew carcinogens into our food, air and water because, you know, we are based on freedom!
Of course, they are Government Employees and they don’t have to worry about such things because their “Employer” doesn’t discriminate! Jerks!
Boy, I sure hope that means Ron Johnson supports my freedom to empty a dump truck with two tons of horse manure on top of Ron Johnson.
I loves my freedom!!!
Yes, and they will need R&R in Hawaii! On our Tax Dollars!
I’m gonna celebrate by getting a new liver just for the hell of it!
funk, you asked yesterday if the GnoP could use reconciliation. Here’s what I found today on msnbc, it sounds quite encouraging:
And Romney made this argument after the decision — vote for me because I will repeal the health-care law. But is repeal a realistic outcome? On “Morning Joe,” House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said that Senate Republicans could do it through reconciliation. But conservative writer David Frum argues that Republicans would no longer have the high political ground; they’d find themselves in the same position Democrats did in 2009-2010. “Suddenly it will be their town halls filled with outraged senior citizens whose benefits are threatened; their incumbencies that will be threatened.” The New Yorker’s Ryan Lizza makes two other points: 1) the Congressional Budget Office, like it did last time, would probably rule that repealing the health-care would INCREASE the deficit, and 2) reconciliation can be used only for things that have a budgetary effect. “Much of the A.C.A., such as the insurance exchanges and subsidies, would fall under these categories. But a lot of it, including the hated individual mandate, does not.”
http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/06/29/12479330-first-thoughts-ending-the-month-on-a-high-note?lite
Truth, great minds think alike! Just posted an article on this.
Only the budgetary aspects of the ACA could even be considered for reconciliation, leaving all the rest of it intact and operational.
And the Byrd Rule states that reconciliation may not be used on a bill that creates deficits down the line. There seems to be little justification for claiming that having a program running after cutting its funding source won’t make it run at a deficit.
I don’t think the Repubs can use reconciliation on the ACA, it’s all just more BS to convince their faithful to donate and turnout in Nov.
It was crazy enough that the thing even ended up in the Supreme Court! Enough already! President Obama has written history, that’s it.
I guess you’re right, their blathering is just a fundraising and turnout tool.
But there is no way….. Dems need to win back House and Senate. If only to get a better Supreme Court at long last.
Read Natoma Canfield’s Letter to President Obama
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2012/06/28/natoma-canfields-letter-president-obama
a taste of the letter:
To quote the raven, nevermore.