Posted on 11/11/2020 7:05:52 AM PST by SeekAndFind
During the confirmation hearings for President Trump’s third Supreme Court nominee, Amy Coney Barrett, Democrats repeatedly warned that Barrett would destroy the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. They brought in witnesses to testify about how great Obamacare was. Well, the Supreme Court heard arguments on the Obamacare case on Tuesday, and it seems unlikely the Court will strike down the health care law.
Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh appeared unwilling to strike down the entire law, although they agreed with the other justices that the now-toothless individual mandate forcing people to purchase health insurance was unconstitutional, the Associated Press reported.
The Court’s three liberal justices will likely vote to uphold Obamacare in its entirety and would likely form a majority by joining a decision to cut away only the mandate, which Chief Justice John Roberts upheld in 2012 by redefining it as a tax, a tax which Congress zeroed out in 2017.
“Would Congress want the rest of the law to survive if the unconstitutional provision were severed? Here, Congress left the rest of the law intact,” Roberts said during oral arguments in California v. Texas. “That seems to be a compelling answer to the question.”
Kavanaugh said the Court’s recent decisions on the matter suggest “that the proper remedy would be to sever the mandate and leave the rest of the act in place.”
“The Court did not express even the slightest interest in setting aside the entire Affordable Care Act,” Constitutional law professor Josh Blackman said in a statement on the oral arguments. “I still think a majority of the Court may find that the mandate remains an unconstitutional requirement to buy insurance. But the Court will likely stop there.”
(Excerpt) Read more at pjmedia.com ...
“It’s designed to effectuate your intent, but you know, severability is designed to say, ‘Well, would Congress still want the statute to stand even with this provision gone? Would Congress have still passed the same statute without it? So, I think, insofar as it tries to effectuate what Congress would have wanted, it’s the Court and Congress working hand-in-hand,” Barrett explained.
WE CAN CONCLUDE THIS FOR NOW:
While the resolution of California v. Texas remains unclear, it is likely that the Court will preserve most of Obamacare. Such a decision would expose Democrats’ shameless fearmongering about Amy Coney Barrett as a disgusting political ploy.
Without the mandate, ACA is dead.
So is that a consolation prize ?
Even without the mandate, the ACA still contains a massive, expensive expansion of Medicaid.
What is to stop the Congress from making the tax a positive value at any time they choose?
I for one would prefer to see her make their “chicken little fears” come true... and then some.
Half the voters in the country (if not more) are blaming Trump for their lousy health care, thinking he overturned Obamacare.
Half the country are morons. That is what keeps the Dem party alive and well.
There were Democrats who claimed that Obamacare didn’t help people because Republicans refused to contribute to the design.
If the SCOTUS rules that tax penalty for not having the “insurance” is unconstitutional, then the tax penalty would be eliminated.
I seem to recall that the law needed to be passed before the contents could’ve revealed.
I was under the impression that there was no severabilty clause in the original legislation.
So now that he has Kavanaugh to vote with him to preotect the law Roberts discovers that the individual mandate is unconstitutional. When he was the deciding vote it was just another tax and totally okay.
Most politicized justice EVER! The man has zero principles. At least someone like RBG had principles, all wrong but she believed in them to her core. Roberts makes shit up as he goes so he can justify whatever is politically expedient.
So, while the ACA will probably stand, it's effectiveness and approval by the American people has rendered it to be a failure. It's almost better that the court allows it to stand, that way, the Democrats who approved the bad law will be blamed for it's failure, and not the Supreme Court.
Congress created the terrible Obamacare, Congress should remove it. That’s the basis of the Constitution.
Obamacare is unconstitutional because the whole use of the Interstate Commerce Clause is unconstitutional.
Any “Justice” not ready to overrule Wickard v Filburn (1942) and bring down the whole federal bureaucracy is a useless anti-constitutional FDR New Deal Progressive LEFTIST! And that includes ACB.
The reason for the “chicken little” fear is because that is what democrats expect of their liberal judges; to ignore the Constitution and law, to vote according to emotion and whichever way the wind is blowing. It would seem that some SCOTUS Justices do understand the purpose of the court and the responsibilities of each branch of government. Something democrats has failed to realize.
This is an easy fix. 1 month before the SCOTUS decision, Trump should announce that if the unconstitutional Obama care is upheald, then within 24 hours he will tear up Obamas E.O. exempting the congress and SCOTUS from being on Obama care. Watch their decision.
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