Posted on 06/21/2012 5:25:23 AM PDT by C. Edmund Wright
A lot of reasonable musing has been done as to whether or not Barack Obama is advantaged politically by the Supreme Court striking down or upholding ObamaCare. But it is plausible that the ultimate liberal goals for the nation are advanced the farthest by a split decision -- i.e., the much-discussed scenario where the Court strikes down only the individual mandate, while leaving the rest of the law in place. Certainly the mandate -- as drawn up in ObamaCare -- is the most blatantly unconstitutional part of the bill, and therefore it is rightfully considered the low-hanging fruit of legal opposition. But it is far from the most malignant part. Separate from the mandate, the rest of the bill is awful. It is unworkable, and it hands over our collective futures with respect to life and death to an army of bureaucrats whom we did not elect, cannot defeat, and will never see.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
If the mandate is struck down, and there was no severability clause in the O-Care bill, doesn’t that strike down the entire law?
A mandate only ruling would have several good effects for our side.
-It will mobilize the health insurance industry to wage scorched-earth war for repeal (since they are not gonna get stuck with the crap sandwich unless 30-40 million new paying customers at gunpoint come along with it). It will be SuperPAC ad Armageddon for Obama.
-It will keep the Catholic Church energized in it’s fight against the birth control mandate. Will basically force the Bishops to come out and say a vote to re-elect him is tantamount to a mortal sin.
There are massive tax increases in this law. If the individual mandate is thrown out, and the rest of the law stays, these tax increases, which have nothing to do with the Bush tax cuts, will kick in, regardless.
Someway, somehow, this lawless administration will find a way to fund it, whether you like it or not.
CA....
Personally I think they are going to throw the whole thing out 5-4. There is no separation clause in the bill so technically there is no apparatus for taking the individual mandate out and leaving the rest in place.
Without the individual mandate which will force millions of young people to purchase health insurance the legislation cannot be properly funded.
Some 20 odd states have passed legislation nullifying Obamacare in their state or exempting their citizens from it. If states just refuse to participate there is no way to fund it.
I have NO HOPE that the Supreme Court is going to do anything about ObamaCare.
The only option left to We The People is to NOT COMPLY.
And when they come to jail you for not paying the baby stranglers, send as many to Hell as you can before they finally get you.
That's very interesting thesis - basically saying that a split decision would be SOO BAD that it would mobilize the other side more than ever. Not sure that's a risk worth taking. Not sure, in the short run, having an unpopular industry like health insurance being on our side would be good (though they would be morally and intellectually correct). But very interesting thought process.
Exactly right. And things are going to get much, much worse. Some of us are actually helping that along.
Well thought out and realistic post. Though it could be better; we need to band together, "unite or die" as the 1770's saying went.
Build logistics and communication networks. Start or join a local militia.
Unpleasantness is coming.
I think a 5-4 ruling on tossing the whole thing is about a 50-50 option with a 5-4 ruling tossing the mandate about 50-50 too. I also understand that it cannot be properly funded without the mandate - which was the entire point of the article: that lack of funding would crash the system and THATS PRECISELY WHAT THE LIBERALS WANT.
Given Scalia’s line of questioning, he seemed to be under the impression that if they threw out the individual mandate, essentially the glue which holds the entire law together, then SCOTUS would be required to wade through all 2,700 pages to decide which components stayed and which were out.
And given the rest of the Court’s laughter after Scalia’s Eight-Amendment crack, it doesn’t seem to me like something they’re willing to tackle.
The point being, I didn’t get the impression that SCOTUS even saw as an option striking the mandate and leaving the rest to stand as is. To the contrary.
I actually think that the IPAB being immune from repeal or modification in a future Congress is MORE unconstitutional than the mandate, and I’m sure there are other anti-constitutional hand grenades scattered throughout the bill, as well.
If the Court upholds the law (except the mandate), they will not be hearing anything but ACA lawsuits in 5-7 years.
Throwing out Obamacare or even the mandate is not going to crash the healthcare system. Most people in the US have insurance through their employer and stopping Deathcare from going into effect will just keep that status quo.
I don’t think you are following my reasoning at all. Throwing out the mandate but keeping in the rest of the act most definitely would crash the entire system. And that has been the liberal goal all along.
Throwing out all of the bill would give the system a chance to survive.
I doubt the system will crash. The plan does not really go into effect til 2013 and 2014. Mitt and the GOP will dismantle whats left if SCOTUS only throws out the individual mandate. I think its a false fear. I guess we will find out as the year wears on.
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