I really think that the Obama administration is working to make sure that Romney secures the GOP nomination before the Supreme Court rules on Obamacare in June.
My guess is that Obama is going to offer to withdraw the federal mandateand substitute a call for state mandates, if the court will allow the rest of the law to stand.
A Romney advisor has said that their plan is claim that a court ruling against the federal mandate proves that Romney was right all along, that the state mandate is the only way to go.
It would be a win-win for Obamneycare, a real heads they win, tails we lose scenario.
The best thing that could possibly happen is to drag this primary out to the convention floor and force Romney to disown Romneycare or elect Rick Santorum.
That is a very interesting and plausible theory.
One thing that I have not researched is that, in the absence of a severability clause, specifically stating legislative intent in the bill, providing that the legislature wants a court to retain the rest of the entire act if it finds ANY specific provision of it invalid, courts normally feel compelled to reject the entire act because most legislation results from compromise to obtain votes. Obozocare originally had the Cornhusker kickback for Senator Ben Nelson's vote, a Florida sweetener for Senator William Nelson, (supposedly) concessions to Congressman Bart Stupak and other Democrats and many other deals before it passed so that it cold be read as Facelift Pelosi memorably put it. Probably no bill has had more special interest bribes in recent history. SCOTUS may prove me wrong but I think it will be all or nothing. My best guess is 6-3 to throw it out. The majority: Roberts, Scalia, Kennedy, Thomas, Alito, Breyer. Opinion of the Court will most likely be written by Kennedy to make sure the drama queen stays on the reservation. Next most likely is Breyer to buy or firm up his vote. I am betting on each one of that group to write a concurring opinion if he is not writing the opinion of the SCOTUS. My guess on Breyer is based on the fact that, whatever his drawbacks (and they are many), he is the sole liberal with functioning brain cells and some degreee of integrity and he displayed serious skepticism during oral argument. Scalia, Thomas and Alito are likely to be tough and, if, against likelihood, they lose, they will be colorfully abusive of the judges voting to uphold Obozocare. Varying minority opinions: Ginsburg, Sotomayor, Kagan. Ginsburg and Kagan will write seperate dissenting opinions to have history read what they write. Sotomayor will not embarrass herself except to concur with Ginsburg and Kagan because Scalia will ruthlessly punish her and her opinion in his opinion (as he used to do regularly with Sandra Day O'Connor) if she tries. Remember my breakdown when the decision is announced. I hope I am right.
Obozo would respond to being beaten in SCOTUS by the usual cloud of class warfare rhetoric and lies and by sending a symbolic new bill to Congress featuring single payer to replace the federal mandate and he will whip up his base over the claim that the GOP wants poor grannys to die in unspeakable pain and suffering along with newborns and other children and women and all poor folks, etc., etc., etc. After the ritual defeat of his new proposal he will work other left populist strategies to address the more affluent and less socialist parts of his base: The urban and suburban airhead voters.
Lay in a BIG supply of popcorn for the very last Monday (last in June or first in July) of the SCOTUS term for the greatest SCOTUS circus of the decade.
God bless you and yours!