Yes we are toast. I’m absolutely positive that if the Republicans take the White House and both houses of Congress there’ll be a lot of bluff and bluster, but they will never have the guts to repeal this.
Conservatism is dead in the country, and this decision killed it.
I don’t like the ruling, but let’s be clear, it’s a narrow and rather hollow Obama victory that actually helps our side to argue it is a tax after all to then come back later and repeal it.
It would have been much worse if either of these two events transpired: the court upheld it based on Commerce Clause grounds OR the court stuck the mandate but not the law.
In fact, the left-wing siate has a good article up about how this frankly in the long-term benefits the conservative side more based upon the Commerce Clause issue. The tax issue is a really small argument and frankly isn’t a major expansion of federal power since it can be easily fixed in later rulings. If they had upheld it based on Commerce Clause grounds, it would have been such.
IT’S STILL A BAD RULING!!!! But, about the least bad it could be upholding the law with much good for our side as well.
It’s far from over. Don’t give up hope.