Section 155
If any provision of this division, or any application of such provision to any person or circumstance, is held to be unconstitutional, the remainder of the provisions of this division and the application of the provision to any other person or circumstance shall not be affected.
In other words, it looks like a suit has to be filed on every part of the bill to kill it. It can't be killed as a whole.
That, in and of itself, is unconstitutional, as the Constitution applies itself equally to every citizen, regardless of provision or circumstance of the individual.
Presuming the Court doesn't find that provision unconstitutional, of course. ;)
That proviso is in itself a violation of the Constitution and holds no force.
They have orchestrated this with all these possibilities in mind. Their intent is unstoppable.
It will take a complete Republican majority and President to pass it with 60% of the vote and even then, it cannot be completely reversed.
I might be wrong, but that language in and of itself is probably unconstitutional, which may be enough in and of itself to kill the whole bill...
This is standard language in just about every significant law, including McCain-Feingold. Notwithstanding this language, if the SCOTUS invalidates the heart, brain, or guts of the legislation, the rest of the body will die.
but the mandate is really the centerpiece. without it, the whole bill is radically different. Without the mandate, the cost and impact on the deficit is up substantially. So, if the mandate is gone, a new CBO projection would likely show that the law will increase the deficit by trillions.
without the mandate, the whole concept collapses.
In other words, it looks like a suit has to be filed on every part of the bill to kill it. It can’t be killed as a whole.
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Not quite. If the court finds that the unconstitutional parts of the bill are so important to the sense of the bill when left, the court will find it unconstitutional in toto.
Bring it on! That statement PROVES they KNEW they were doing unconstitutional things! Gawd, the NERVE of those people!! >:-(
I don’t believe them saying that does that if the SC says otherwise, But God help us if a Conservative Justice retires or dies.
Not so sure about that. If the SCOTUS declares it’s unConstitutional - good luck keeping any part of it intact (esp. if the conclusion is that the States have jurisdiction over Health Care and not the Feds.) That would pretty much cook its goose. Just because it says it can’t be touched doesn’t MEAN it can’t be touched. (Remember the Reid portion where they tried to insert that no future Congress could dismantle it and the Republicans said “Yeah, right. Good luck with that.”)?
Section 155
If any provision of this division, or any application of such provision to any person or circumstance, is held to be unconstitutional, the remainder of the provisions of this division and the application of the provision to any other person or circumstance shall not be affected.
In other words, it looks like a suit has to be filed on every part of the bill to kill it. It can't be killed as a whole.
This is boilerplate stuff ...
However, the gas that drives the engine in this bill is the insurance mandate - if that provision alone is ruled unconstitutional, then the whole thing goes ...
The only way for the insurance companies to offer insurance to all, no exemption of pre-existing conditions, and at the same rates [no charging more for smokers or obese people] is to make up for it in volume [young healthy people who rarely get sick]. More money coming in than is going out
If mandatory healthcare is unconstitutional - so is the fine for not having it. SAVE BIG BUX - no prenium, no fine !!! AND, per the bill, if you do get sick - you can sign up for it then, pay your prenium, and get treated.
'Course since healthcare is no longer mandatory, you can drop your coverage once you get well and repeat the process next time you get sick ...
It's very possible that the Supreme Court could rule that very clause as unconstitutional, and therefore nonbinding on the entirety of the bill.
Standard severability clause.