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The Roberts Trap Is Sprung
American Thinker ^ | January 2, 2014 | Bill Dunne

Posted on 01/03/2014 4:49:02 PM PST by Kaslin

One of the most overlooked aspects of the year just ended is the vindication of Chief Justice John Roberts -- a vindication that showed up as the national catastrophe known as ObamaCare got rolling. Roberts may have also doomed Hillary Clinton's chance to live in the White House again.

The chief justice, an appointee of President George W. Bush and reputedly a constitutionalist in his jurisprudence, set his diabolical trap (diabolical to Democrats) on June 28, 2012, when he joined with the four liberal justices on the Supreme Court to uphold the constitutionality of ObamaCare. Conservatives and Republicans across the land were apoplectic. But in hindsight, it appears that Roberts actually saved the Republican Party from going into a death spiral and imperiled the Democrats instead. This suggests amazing foresight, but it wouldn't be the only instance.

For example, Tevi Troy, a scholar at the Hudson Institute, made a remarkable prophecy a year and a half before the Court's decision. It was soon after the November 2010 midterm elections, in which Democrats in Congress and in state legislatures suffered huge losses. In an article in Commentary magazine, Troy wrote:

The Pyrrhic victory Democrats secured for themselves [when President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act into law] may prove not to have been a victory at all but rather an ever-roiling, ongoing, and recurring act of political and ideological self-destruction.

How's that for prescience?

When the Supreme Court ruling came down, a shocked conservative historian, Paul Rahe, cited as a cause the PR pressure that President Barack Obama had been exerting on the Court in the fevered weeks leading up to the decision. It was "an act of judicial cowardice," he fumed. But then he added, "There is, I am confident, more to it than this."

(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; Government
KEYWORDS: 2007; 2008; 201206; 20120628; 2014election; abortion; aca; bhoscotus; billdunne; bsarticle; chiefjustice; courtpolitics; deathpanels; dunne; healthcare; hillarycare; hudsoninstitute; idiocy; izzydunne; johnroberts; judicialpolitics; lawsuit; lunacy; obama; obamacare; politics; predictions; roberts; robertscourt; robertsobama; romneycare; scotus; singlepayer; socializedhealthcare; stupidlogic; tevitroy; trap; troy; ussc; whatacrock; zerocare
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To: rolling_stone
>>...in the meantime how many people will die and how much money<<

I absolutely agree with you. This is a big ol $h!t sandwich and we are all having to take a bite. I hate it. My insurance premiums shot up $47 bucks a month, co-pays up, out of pocket up.

I am hoping upon all hope that Roberts had the intellectual forethought that would facilitate the destruction of this horrible gubbamint over reach and set a precedent for hindrance of similar over reaches in the future.

This is my hope and prayer. I've tried to analyze why Roberts did what he did. It blindsided everyone. Was there more to Roberts decision than what appears on the surface? Will see.

161 posted on 01/04/2014 6:34:22 AM PST by servantboy777
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To: Kaslin

This article is pure BS—Roberts needs to swinging from a DC lamp post.


162 posted on 01/04/2014 6:35:03 AM PST by Arm_Bears (Refuse; Resist; Rebel; Revolt!)
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To: EternalVigilance
"I still don't think that saying "we must follow the Constitution, and so must everybody else," constitutes a "power grab."

You missed the most important three sentences of the ruling from the point of view of the judiciary:

"It is emphatically the province and duty of the judicial department to say what the law is. Those who apply the rule to particular cases, must of necessity expound and interpret that rule. If two laws conflict with each other, the courts must decide on the operation of each."

Sure look like a power grab to me.

163 posted on 01/04/2014 6:40:20 AM PST by RKBA Democrat (Having some small say in who gets to hold the whip doesn't make you any less a slave.)
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To: Enterprise

very possibly, especially with all of the problems that are continually appearing. the article makes me think that he may have read the entire bill and realized all of the booby traps and landmines in it such as all of the ‘leaves to the discretion of the Secretary of HHS’ that would cause it to implode and raise the American citizenry against it.


164 posted on 01/04/2014 6:47:55 AM PST by GreyFriar (Spearhead - 3rd Armored Division 75-78 & 83-87)
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To: El Cid
Yes, who needs the Constitution? It is better to score some political points and shred the Constitution as we continue our slide into lawlessness. Yay... Well, one thing for sure, the Republicans are not people who care about the Constitution. How many remember Bush II and the various big G'ment schemes he passed with the help of Teddy the swimmer Kennedy. Voting Republican is not synonymous with being a limited Federal G'ment voter
165 posted on 01/04/2014 6:58:07 AM PST by DanZ
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To: rolling_stone

this article obviously forgot the sarcasm tag, no one could really believe in such a convoluted theory. (imo)

&&&&&

Yes it is hard to recognize purposeful parody these days because ‘thoughtful articles’ seem to be so distant from reality.


166 posted on 01/04/2014 7:07:44 AM PST by maica (We are seeing an interesting mixture of malice and incompetence at healthcare.gov)
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To: All
Tevi Troy, Hudson Institute scholar's remarkable prophecy a year and a half before the USSC's decision, after Nov 2010 midterms, in which Democrats in Congress and in state legislatures suffered huge losses.....due to O/Care. In Commentary magazine, Troy wrote: "The Pyrrhic victory Democrats secured for themselves [when Obama signed ACA into law] may prove not to have been a victory at all but rather an ever-roiling, ongoing, and recurring act of political and ideological self-destruction."

===============================================

LOCK-STEPPING PARTY LOYALTY NOT SEEN SINCE 1940's ERA EUROPE Obama And The Dumbos marching in lockstep. The persistent Dumbocrat drumbeat ---- in obeisance to Obama ---- kept ringing reassuringly in our ears.

===================================================

As far back as 2008, at the presidential debate in Nashville, Democrat candidate Obama advanced his signature plan that was ultimately enacted (by an historic straight Democrat party-line vote) into the "Affordable Care Act :

OBAMA: "No. 1, let me just repeat, if you’ve got a health care plan that you like, you can keep it. All I’m going to do is help you to lower the premiums on it. You’ll still have choice of doctor.”

Repeated over and over ---- with the promise that every American would be saving $2500.00 on healthcare costs.

LOYAL DEMOCRATS CHIME IN all reading from the Suck-up Handbook:

SEN. HARRY REID (D-Nev.): “In fact, one of our core principles is that if you like the health care you have, you can keep it.” (Sen. Reid, Congressional Record, S.8642, 8/3/09)

SEN. RICHARD DURBIN: “We believe — and we stand by this — if you like your current health insurance plan, you will be able to keep it, plain and simple, straightforward.” (Sen. Durbin, Congressional Record, S.6401, 6/10/09)

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): “If you like your insurance, you keep it.” (U.S. Senate, Finance Committee, Bill Mark-Up, 9/29/09)

SEN. PATTY MURRAY (D-Wash.): “Again, if you like what you have, you will be able to keep it. Let me say this again: If you like what you have, when our legislation is passed and signed by the President, you will be able to keep it.” (Sen. Murray, Congressional Record, S.6400, 6/10/09)

SEN. MAX BAUCUS (D-Mont.): “That is why one of the central promises of health care reform has been and is: If you like what you have, you can keep it. That is critically important. If a person has a plan, and he or she likes it, he or she can keep it.” (Sen. Baucus, Congressional Record, S.7676, 9/29/10)

SEN. TOM HARKIN (D-Iowa): “One of the things we put in the health care bill when we designed it was the protection for consumers to keep the plan they have if they like it; thus, the term ‘grandfathered plans.’ If you have a plan you like — existing policies — you can keep them. … we said, if you like a plan, you get to keep it, and you can grandfather it in.” (Sen. Harkin, Congressional Record, S.7675-6, 9/29/10)

THEN-REP. TAMMY BALDWIN (D-Wis.): “Under the bill, if you like the insurance you have now, you may keep it and it will improve.” (Rep. Baldwin, Press Release, 3/18/10)

SEN. MARK BEGICH (D-Alaska): “If you got a doctor now, you got a medical professional you want, you get to keep that. If you have an insurance program or a health care policy you want of ideas, make sure you keep it. That you can keep who you want.” (Sen. Begich, Townhall Event, 7/27/09)

SEN. MICHAEL BENNET (D-Colo.): “We should begin with a basic principle: if you have coverage and you like it, you can keep it. If you have your doctor, and you like him or her, you should be able to keep them as well. We will not take that choice away from you.” (Sen. Bennet, Press Release, 6/11/09)

SEN. BARBARA BOXER (D-Calif.): “So we Democrats want people to be able to keep the health care they have. And the answer to that is choice of plans. And in the exchange, we’re going to have lots of different plans, and people will be able to keep the health care coverage they need and they want.” (Sen. Boxer, Press Release, 2/8/11)

SEN. SHERROD BROWN (D-Ohio): “Our Democrat bill says if you have health insurance and you like it, you can keep it…”(Sen. Brown, Congressional Record, S.12612, 12/7/09)

SEN. BEN CARDIN (D-Md.): “For the people of Maryland, this bill will provide a rational way in which they can maintain their existing coverage…” (Sen. Cardin, Congressional Record, S.13798, 12/23/09)

SEN. BOB CASEY (D-Pa.): “I also believe this Democrat legislation and the bill we are going to send to President Obama this fall will also have secure choices. If you like what you have, you like the plan you have, you can keep it. It is not going to change.” (Sen. Casey, Congressional Record, S.8070, 7/24/09)

SEN. KAY HAGAN (D-N.C.): ‘People who have insurance they’re happy with can keep it’ “We need to support the private insurance industry so that people who have insurance they’re happy with can keep it while also providing a backstop option for people without access to affordable coverage.” (“Republicans Vent As Other Compromise Plans Get Aired,” National Journal’s Congress Daily, 6/18/09)

SEN. MARY LANDRIEU (D-La.): “If you like the insurance that you have, you’ll be able to keep it.” (MSNBC’s Hardball, 12/16/09)

SEN. PAT LEAHY (D-Vt.): “[I]f you like the insurance you now have, keep the insurance you have.” (CNN’s “Newsroom,” 10/22/09)

SEN. BOB MENENDEZ (D-N.J.): “If you like what you have, you get to keep it” “Menendez is a member of the Senate Finance Committee, which is expected to release a bill later this week. He stressed that consumers who are satisfied with their plans won’t have to change. ‘If you like what you have, you get to keep it,’ he said.” (“Health Care Plan Would Help N.J., Menendez Says,” The Record, 6/19/09)

SEN. JEFF MERKLEY (D-Oreg.): “[E]nsuring that those who like their insurance get to keep it” “The HELP Committee bill sets forward a historic Democrat plan that will, for the first time in American history, give every American access to affordable health coverage, reduce costs, and increase choice, while ensuring that those who like their insurance get to keep it.” (Sen. Merkley, Press Release, 7/15/09)

SEN. BARBARA MIKULSKI (D-Md.): “It means that if you like the insurance you have now, you can keep it.” (Sen. Mikulski, Press Release, 12/24/09)

SEN. JAY ROCKEFELLER (D-W.Va.): “I want people to know, the President’s promise that if you like the coverage you have today you can keep it is a pledge we intend to keep.” (U.S. Senate, Finance Committee, Hearing, 9/23/09)

SEN. JACK REED (D-R.I.): “If you like the insurance you have, you can choose to keep it.” (Sen. Reed, Town Hall Event, 6/25/09)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-Vt.): “‘If you have coverage you like, you can keep it,’ says Sen. Sanders.” (“Sick And Wrong,” Rolling Stone, 4/5/10)

SEN. JEANNE SHAHEEN (D-N.H.): ‘if you have health coverage that you like, you get to keep it’ “My understanding … is that … if you have health coverage that you like you can keep it. As I said, you may have missed my remarks at the beginning of the call, but one of the things I that I said as a requirement that I have for supporting a Democrat bill is that if you have health coverage that you like you should be able to keep that. …under every scenario that I’ve seen, if you have health coverage that you like, you get to keep it.” (Sen. Shaheen, “Health Care Questions From Across New Hampshire,” Accessed 11/13/13)

SEN. DEBBIE STABENOW (D-Mich.): “As someone who has a large number of large employers in my state, one of the things I appreciate about the Democrat chairman’s remark is — is the grandfathering provisions, the fact that the people in my state, 60 percent of whom have insurance, are going to be able to keep it. And Mr. Chairman, I appreciate that. That’s a strong commitment. It’s clear in the bill … I appreciate the strong commitment on your part and the president to make sure that if you have your insurance you can keep it. That’s the bottom line for me.” (U.S. Senate, Finance Committee, Bill Mark-Up, 9/24/09)

SEN. JON TESTER (D-Mont.): “‘If you like your coverage, you’ll be able to keep it,’ Tester said, adding that if Medicare changes, it will only become stronger”. (“Tester In Baker To Discuss Health Care,” The Fallon County Times, 11/20/09)

SEN. TOM UDALL (D-N.Mex.): “Some worried reform would alter their current coverage. It won’t. If you like your current plan, you can keep it.” (“What I Learned: About Health Care Reform This Summer, By Your Lawmakers In Congress,” Albuquerque Journal, 9/8/09)

SEN. SHELDON WHITEHOUSE (D-R.I.): “..it honors President Obama’s programs and the promise of all of the Presidential candidates that if you like the plan you have, you get to keep it. You are not forced out of anything.” (Sen. Whitehouse, Congressional Record, S.8668, 8/3/09)

Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) the 60th vote on Obamacare: "people who are happy with their current plan, wouldn't need to change it."

FRANKEN YOUTUBE SOUND BITE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCZmAYYNz8Ihttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCZmAYYNz8I

167 posted on 01/04/2014 7:13:39 AM PST by Liz
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To: All
.... the vindication of USSC Chief Justice John Roberts -- showed up as the national catastrophe known as ObamaCare blundered out. Roberts may have also doomed Hillary Clinton's chance to live in the White House again......

Gee, I just can't wait till Hillary chimes in. After all, Hillary has ALL the answers to Obamacare. Hill just can't wait to sit in the Oval Office and tell Americans how to get great healthcare. After all, Hillary came up w/ her wonderful "HillaryCare" years ago (/Snix).

================================================

Obama did not have to put on his thinking cap---b/c it was Hillary Clinton who whispered in his sweet little ears.

Yes, voters, it was Hillary who originally used the wonderfully reassuring “if you like your plan, keep your plan” a phrase that helped Obozo get reelected.....

...and the talking point that Obama relied on during his fight to push Obamacare through Congress on a straight party-line all-Democrat vote.....

NOTE Hillary's 2007 campaign website was unearthed by America Rising. America's Rising found written on the website under "HILLARYCARE"---AKA Hillary’s American Health Choices Plan---the phrase: “if you have a plan you like, you keep it.”

VIDEO of Hillary saying, "If you like your plan, you can keep your plan."

HILLARY VIDEO http://burstupdates.wordpress.com/2013/11/15/hillary-2007-if-you-like-your-plan-you-can-keep-it/

See a smiling Hillary (above) in 2007, saying: “You can keep the doctors you know and trust. You keep the insurance you have. If you have private insurance you like, nothing changes, you can keep that insurance.”

==========================================

UT, OH---TROUBLE AHEAD The 2016 Clinton camp has been distancing itself from Obamacare as the problems associated with his failing govt healthcare plan become more apparent to the not-amused American electorate.

With 2016 in mind, Bill Clinton called on Obama to "honor the commitment he made" that people should be able to keep their health care plans.

A top Clinton aide, John Podesta, then took to twitter suggesting a single payer health care system as an alternative to Obamacare....just a coincidence that Podesta has just been hired by Obama.

168 posted on 01/04/2014 7:19:57 AM PST by Liz
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To: Pollster1

I didn’t realize SCOTUS ruled on the Constitutionality of Obamacare. I thought they ruled on the mandate.


169 posted on 01/04/2014 7:20:34 AM PST by csmusaret (Will remove Obama-Biden bumperstickers for $10)
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To: Kaslin

Trying to contemplate what Justice Roberts had on his mind is like contemplating your navel. The only thing that is very evident, was the result. Now, I don’t think anyone knows what was going through Justice Roberts mind, but for sure he sold out. Why? No one knows. Was he blackmailed? Maybe, Was he just showing his true colors? Maybe. Was he sucking up to this administration for some “BACKDOOR” multi-million “GIFT”? Maybe. In other words, he stuck us with a multi-billion dollar White elephant, and we have to figure a way out of it.


170 posted on 01/04/2014 7:27:01 AM PST by gingerbread
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To: DoughtyOne

Well when they come to you with a file about your history... you stay up all night editing your doc.


171 posted on 01/04/2014 7:41:02 AM PST by Walkingfeather
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To: rolling_stone
in the meantime how many people will die and how much money will have been wasted implementing this garbage? A while back I read that the Police are not LEGALLY there to stop a crime in progress. You cannot sue the Police for not preventing a crime even if a Policeman is at the seen of the crime. Too many today expect "someone else" to help the helpless. Too bad so sad, this has never happened in human history. Everyone must work/fight for what they wont. Religion is there to put limits on bad behavior. Enforcing private property rights with a CONSISTENT rule of LAW is the only way this will work
172 posted on 01/04/2014 8:04:20 AM PST by DanZ
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To: RKBA Democrat

You’re misinterpreting that paragraph to do exactly what the left does with it. Spinning it into a power grab.

While ignoring everything that precedes it, and everything that follows it.


173 posted on 01/04/2014 8:15:32 AM PST by EternalVigilance
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To: DanZ
Voting Republican is not synonymous with being a limited Federal G'ment voter

That is for sure.
100% of the Democrats are Marxists who want us all to become slaves to the big Government (with they being our benighted rulers), and I'd say the same is true for probably two-thirds of the Republicans. The current Republican Party needs to go the way of the Whigs - extinct.

174 posted on 01/04/2014 12:26:01 PM PST by El Cid (Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house...)
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To: Kaslin

I’m not buying this crap. And the contention that the Democrats are toast in 2014 is dubious. As long as they have the media on their side (and they always will), it will be an uphill battle for Republicans. Then again, with the Republican leadership that we have in place in the party, who cares? As Hillary would say, “What difference does it make?”


175 posted on 01/04/2014 12:44:30 PM PST by Rocky (The further a society drifts from the truth, the more it will hate those who speak it. George Orwell)
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To: Rocky

Well, why don’t you just wait and see. I am really tired of the smearing Chief Justice Roberts gets here. Everyone here acts like as if he had made every decision with the left. Stop your hatred against the man


176 posted on 01/04/2014 12:48:44 PM PST by Kaslin (He needed the ignorant to reelect him, and he got them. Now we all have to pay the consequenses)
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To: Kaslin; sickoflibs; BillyBoy; AuH2ORepublican; GOPsterinMA; fieldmarshaldj

Valiant try at apologetics but Osamacare is still law. “Thanks” Johnny.


177 posted on 01/04/2014 5:26:05 PM PST by Impy (RED=COMMUNIST, NOT REPUBLICAN)
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To: Kaslin

I don’t hate the guy, but he stabbed others on the court in the back. I don’t know why, but as it is, Obamacare is so bad and it will end up killing decent people.

Politics in a matter such as this is kind of disgusting.


178 posted on 01/04/2014 5:30:05 PM PST by dforest
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To: Kaslin
Well, why don’t you just wait and see. I am really tired of the smearing Chief Justice Roberts gets here. Everyone here acts like as if he had made every decision with the left. Stop your hatred against the man.

Yeah! All of youse leave that back-stabbing traitor alone!

179 posted on 01/04/2014 7:04:25 PM PST by Ken H (What happens on the internet, stays on the internet.)
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To: Impy; jacknhoo; Kaslin; sickoflibs; BillyBoy; AuH2ORepublican; GOPsterinMA; fieldmarshaldj
Yep. Post #11 sums up the mentality of this article perfectly:

>> The USA is destroyed, but boy it sure makes the Dems look bad - oh, I feel better now! <<

Seriously, the "silver lining" people still claiming that Roberts' treason helped our country in the long run need to give it a rest.

Remember all the spin right after the decision came down... "Oh yeah, sure it looks bad NOW, but the GOOD NEWS is that BECAUSE Obamacare will remain an albatross around Obama's neck going into the 2012 election, it will GUARANTEE his defeat in November!! WOO HOO!! That alone makes it all worth it! Roberts is a GENIUS!!"

That worked out great. Not. Hey, I'm one of the freepers who completely ridiculed the idea that Roberts would turn traitor, but once he did, I ate my crow like a man and admitted I was wrong. Conservatives still claiming Roberts voted with the four marxist judges because of some super secret conservative master plan that we'll reap the benefits from need help.

180 posted on 01/04/2014 7:52:21 PM PST by BillyBoy (Liz Cheney's family supports gay marriage. Do you?)
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