Home » Liberals to SCOTUS: why, you can’t change Obamacare now!

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Liberals to SCOTUS: why, you can’t change Obamacare <i>now</i>! — 14 Comments

  1. “At any rate, my point is that I don’t think SCOTUS will rule against the subsidies, although I think by rights they should.”

    Perhaps and if so it will be most illuminating to read how they think their way around this.

  2. Oh, you’re such a pessimist, Neo. But usually you’re right. In this case, though, I have some hope. I can’t see how, having accepted the case, they can fail to rule against the subsidies.

  3. mizpants:

    I hope I’m wrong. But if I am wrong, the GOP had better be ready to deal with the fallout and repair it, and I wonder if they are.

    As for how SCOTUS can fail to rule against the subsidies, the briefs and the press will give them plenty of reasons if they are looking for them.

  4. I think Roberts must be uncomfortably conscious of how bizarre his turnaround seemed last time. I wonder if he isn’t looking for a chance to redeem himself. Am I whistling in the dark? And did they actually blackmail him?

  5. “I think the swing justice[s] will get cold feet because the repercussions of the decision frighten them” neo

    I agree but what ‘repercussions’? A fear of written and verbal criticism? That is so frightful that flight from their societal responsibility can be even contemplated? If so, then their actions prove their unfitness for the office they hold and it will be more evidential proof that the ‘gangrenous’ rot in the federal government is so widespread that the ‘patient’ cannot be saved.

    “I can’t see how, having accepted the case, they can fail to rule against the subsidies.” mizpants

    Roberts has shown the way and before him, Bill Clinton. Simply redefine the meaning and definition of key words. “It depends on what the meaning of the word ‘is’ is.”

  6. I’m a bit more optimistic than neo. All the court has to keep in mind is that the statute could be fixed in a day by Congress. Democracy, right? Seriously, rather than go through contortions, just throw it back to Congress for clarification and / or repair. Thats their day job, nothing whatsoever wrong with that.

  7. I have no faith that a majority will do their duty and up hold the letter of the law. Words now mean whatever one wants them to mean.

  8. A point should be made that all laws ought to be subject to sun-setting, drastic revision, or outright repeal. When one can see that a law isn’t working, the only sane thing to do is to change it or repeal it. Though Prohibition was made an amendment to the Constitution, when it was clear the law was causing more problems than it was solving, it was repealed. No law can be set in stone. It would take Solomon-like wisdom to craft laws that are perfect and stay perfect. We have few politicians as wise as that in this day. I would be pleasantly surprised to see this abominable law either repealed or modified so that it is far more market oriented.

    All that said, I agree with neo’s take. The SCOTUS has been thoroughly politicized over the years.

  9. As a legal matter and viewed as a simple matter of statutory construction, the government should lose 9-0.

    But it will probably be 5-4.

    This was a case of a political miscalculation by the Dems. They expected to bribe and blackmail the 50 states to each build their own exchange; maybe as a payoff to the software industry.

    But many states wouldn’t bite and the Dems didn’t have the votes to fix their mistake. So Obama used the IRS to change the statute by rule and regulation.

    I’ve skimmed some of the briefs for the government and they are pathetic. Dancing reasoning and intellectually dishonest.

    But that’s where we are today. Roberts and Kennedy are the swing votes and you never know.

  10. Author Linda Greenhouse goes on to say that by now so many people are depending on Obamacare subsidies that removing them would be extremely disruptive.

    It’s things like this that have put me firmly in the Let It Burn camp.

    Our society needs a full reset. Eliminate welfare. Eliminate affirmative action. Eliminate student aid and subsidies of all kinds. Abolish entire government agencies in one fell swoop.

    I don’t give a damn who gets hurt by this. I am in a slash & burn mood. A mass dieoff of parasites would be a good thing.

    I’ll be standing on my private property with a shotgun.

  11. If SCOTUS didn’t take the case, the status quo would’ve prevailed and I imagine the subsidies would’ve stayed.
    I think they must’ve taken the case because they want to say something important about it, and I don’t see them eager to defend the law.

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