Posted on 03/28/2012 8:07:41 AM PDT by Truth29
Obamacare: Know your enemy
posted at 9:15 am on March 28, 2012 by Steven Den Beste
“What is of supreme importance in war is to attack the enemy’s strategy.” — Sun Tzu
Which means you have to know what the enemy’s strategy is. So just what do Obama and the Democrats want out of the SCOTUS review of Obamacare (ACA)?
There are three basic questions that the Supreme Court is trying to decide.
1. Should they decide now, or wait? (That was argued on Monday.)
2. If they decide now, then is the individual mandate unconstitutional? (Today.)
3. If the mandate is unconstitutional, then is it severable from the rest of the law? In other words, if SCOTUS strikes down the individual mandate, does that invalidate the rest of the law? (Tomorrow.)
For Obama, the ideal outcome is 1. Now. 2. Unconstitutional. 3. It’s severable.
In other words, the mandate goes away but the rest of the law remains in force. That makes private health insurance economically unviable, and the insurance companies will all exit the business or they will go out of business. At which point the Democrats will try to implement “single payer”, a total nationalization of the entire health care industry, financed by a huge rise in taxes.
Single Payer is what they always wanted. The bill wasn’t originally written that way, though, because they knew that even with twin Democratic majorities, there was no chance of passing it. So they included the mandate instead.
If the mandate is struck down, then Congress will have to act. There won’t be any way to repeal the rest of the law because Obama will veto, and the Senate will sustain the veto. The only thing he will agree to is implementation of single payer.
That’s why the arguments yesterday and today were feeble: Obama wants to lose the first and second questions. Tomorrow’s argument is about severability, and that’s the one to watch.
And it’s going to be interestiing, because Congress didn’t include a severability clause in the ACA, which is usually routine boilerplate. It was in there originally, but got removed before the law was passed. The Obama administration is going to argue that nonetheless it should be treated as if there was a severability clause, despite evidence of Congressional intent to the contrary.
I agree. Severability is the key. The entire bill needs to be shot down, or it will drag us all under.
I won't like losing 2 because it will establish a precedent of the Federal Government horning into everything with little on limits.
bambam is is a stuttering, babbling idiot that has trouble even reading a friggin teleprompter...
that said, the hardcore muzzcomm strategery that has been ramrodded down our throats since his occupation, has been in the works for at least 20 yrs...written, tested, ammended and refined to perfection...
the cloward-piven of bambam care is a zombie that *if* the supremes manage to kill this week, will live on one way or the other...i guarandamntee that all contingencies have been fully planned, and the paperwork has been written for the next phase to begin, the moment any 'decision' by our betters in black robes is penned...
reality says that these Godless scum have at least one extra day per week to plot and plan, and the army of greedy and ideological troops to carry the water when financed to the $billions ...
“
bambam is is a stuttering, babbling idiot that has trouble even reading a friggin teleprompter...
that said, the hardcore muzzcomm strategery that has been ramrodded down our throats since his occupation, has been in the works for at least 20 yrs...written, tested, ammended and refined to perfection “
Ohumjob is indeed dumb...Soros & Co have it rigged, but they need a stooge in office to pull it off.
If the sever-ability clause was intentionally removed by Congress, it seems that the court will be hard pressed to find the mandate sever-able.
bump for later
But you gotta wonder why the GOP wants to run Romney, who won't admit that he did his own version of obamacare.
I don’t wonder why the GOP wants Romney....he will let them spend like Democrats, in order to get re elected. We need to CLEAN HOUSE (and Senate)
Yeah :) When I said "you gotta wonder" that was rhetorical.
” Obama tells Congress to give him what he wants or he will let the entire health care system collapse and the country burn. “
Oh no! Boehner crying again????????
Assuming that the SCOTUS rules the mandate is unconstitutional, and Obama douesn't declare the SCOTUS invalid or pack the court like FDR did, I think he will proceed exactly as you described.
We'll see if that comes to pass. Two thoughts:
1) Blackmailing congress may not work this time, although Boehner and McConnell have caved before.
2) If the SCOTUS leaves obamacare intact, that is not necessarily politically good for the conservative cause.
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