Associated Press
The Supreme Court justice who saved the health care mandate.
Reports are still coming in, and the ruling is reportedly rather complicated, but it appears that Chief Justice John Roberts unexpectedly sided with the center-left justices, upheld the individual mandate, and the Affordable Care Act has been upheld by the Supreme Court majority.
The key, at this point, is that the court majority appears to have upheld the mandate as a tax. For more on what that means, check out Ezra's item from this morning.
I'll update this post very soon.
Update #1: By way of SCOTUS Blog, the court majority focused not on the Commerce Clause, but on Congress' taxing authority. From the majority on the mandate: "Our precedent demonstrates that Congress had the power to impose the exaction in Section 5000A under the taxing power, and that Section 5000A need not be read to do more than impose a tax. This is sufficient to sustain it."
Update #2: The ruling as it relates to the mandate was 5 to 4, with Roberts joining Kagan, Sotomayor, Ginsburg, and Breyer.
Update #3: The ruling on Medicaid expansion is proving to be more interesting than expected. From SCOTUS Blog's Lyle Denniston: "The key comment on salvaging the Medicaid expansion is this (from Roberts): 'Nothing in our opinion precludes Congress from offering funds under the ACA to expand the availability of health care, and requiring that states accepting such funds comply with the conditions on their use. What Congress is not free to do is to penalize States that choose not to participate in that new program by taking away their existing Medicaid funding.' (p. 55)"
Update #4: The breakdown on the mandate ruling is a little tricky. There are five justices (see #2) who upheld the mandate on tax grounds, but not on Commerce Clause grounds. The four center-left justices agreed that the mandate is permissible under both parts of the law, but Roberts disagreed on the Commerce Clause. The practical effect remains the same: the mandate is legal.
Update #5: Justice Kennedy, thought to be a possible swing vote, says in his dissent that he wanted to strike down the entirety of the Affordable Care Act. Something to think about next time someone calls him a "moderate."
Update #6: Here's the text of the ruling (pdf).
Update #7: That sound you hear is Solicitor General Don Verrilli making the loudest exhale in the history of humanity. (Verrilli, you'll recall, didn't have a good day in March.)
Leave a Comment:
Wow, and Roberts to boot.
Maybe, just maybe, the country will gets its collective senses back together again.
Next up, expose the complete failure of conservative ideas.
@ disgustedwithitall: I'm afraid the latter of your two statements will be too tall an order to deliver.
Well, I'll keep up the hope, anyway. That's what this election is about, and I am simply down on my knees praying the Obama campaign can come up with the words necessary to make it clear.
I wish I could help because I don't think it's as difficult as people imagine it to be.
More like the other way around, liberal.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7A9wCuQOXs4
Nothing is free. Obamacare will raise your taxes, decrease your buying power and weaken the economy due to a decreased flow of money in investments and products.
LS, I've already gotten my check from my insurance company giving me back my share of my unused insurance premiums. I now have $600.00 in my pocket to spend in the economy that I didn't have last year under the old system.
How is that a decrease in my buying power?
It would be so nice if you folk would actually research what you're objecting to, instead of just letting your puppet-masters pull your strings. You have no idea what you're objecting to, and if you knew what was in the Affordable Care Act (Obamacares), you wouldn't be objecting to it, you'd be wondering why we haven't done this sooner!
The Affordable Care Act is constitutional. Private seamen were required in the constitution to buy health insurance. The Supreme Court of the United States has ruled it constitutional.
We're just saying all citizens need health care, and all citizens should be contributing to the cost of that care, since we can't yet move to a single-payer health care system.
You're right: nothing is free. Right now, if a person is sick or injured and uninsured, s/he shows up in the emergency room and receives treatment, which is paid for by your tax dollars and in higher insurance premiums for everyone who does have insurance. Do you think that's fair?
Right now, you are fighting very hard for the privilege of continuing to pay for the health care of people who choose not to buy, or can't afford health insurance.
You are fighting very hard for insurance companies to continue to make huge profits at your expense.
You are fighting very hard for the right of insurance companies to refuse coverage to people with pre-existing conditions.
You are fighting to allow the private market to continue to make huge profits on the illness and injury of others.
Do you understand that?
GOP heads are exploding right now!
....and those explosions can't happen fast enough.....but not to worry, these GOPer's will have access to healthcare that can repair those exploded heads!!!!!
Limbaugh taking intravenous Oxy in attempt to cope
Boehner and Cantor are calling this decision a political catalyst to put them in charge of everything in this country. AFTER the SCOTUS upholds Obamacare. So when SCOTUS says Citizens United is a-OK and so is ACA, there are cheers for SCOTUS by conservatives for Citizens United and boos for ACA, and vice versa for liberals.
I have to say, this helps some people continue health coverage. But I wonder about the "very poor" as Rmoney said he doesn't worry about them because they have help. If we could afford health insurance or just pay excise taxes and go to the doctor when we feel sick that would probably have kept my brother alive.
I look at the progress and I am very sickened when people say I will not pay for others' health care. They/we already do. ER and higher premiums
Those opposing this need to know we already have death panels when insurance does not cover people for whatever reason, then hospitals must treat people. Would we prefer hospitals to turn away patients? Apparently, there is no understanding that WE already pay for other and these are real people.
First we have the call for balance in government, but we cannot possibly work together/compromise and now Republicans want to control it all. Now this is really, really ugly to say people should vote for them so they can take away ACA and leave us with preexisting conditions or inability to pay as a death sentence.
Then the cherry on top, shouting "let him die" and cheer at Republican debate.
I am saying those that want to elect Republicans to control it all are delusional. The rest of us voted for this, even more coverage with single payer. Not only no jobs focus, but trying to kill everything we voted to do. We cannot continue this way. President Obama definitely compromised, only to have his face slapped and worse.
People do not see that this president is trying to get things done for all people, yet the Republicans say we cannot allow people with cancer to acquire health insurance. We cannot have more people buying insurance. Huh? That is good for business, so… right in your wheelhouse.
They want to kill Social Security and Medicare, which people love. So, they hate anything that saves it.
I think the public will favor the ACA when they start using it. That stands to reason.
I still feel the country will have to come to terms with the heavy influence of politicos who are determined to cut spending and taxes. They aren't going anywhere and Paul Ryan and the lot still wants their austerity plan. There's still a huge gap between those who believe in a safety net and the Republicans, who are determined to get rid of it wholesale.
way to go!
In tears here, so unbelievably happy.
I am with you.
I woke up at six here on the west coast just to see and I am soooooo happy.
With ACA upheld, I can hardly wait for all of the Inside The Beltway pundits to tell us how the decision is a loss for Obama.
They're busy writing now!!
As a matter of fact Sad, they are. They are still saying how this is a win for robme: now you HAVE to ELECT him so that he can kill the ACA.
Oh, yeah, I want Romney up there daily in his muddled-fingered way, talking about how he's going to repeal ACA, over and over until someone asks him why and he pulls a Palin and either messes up the answer or refuses to answer it. Do yourself a favor and stick to the economy, Mittens. Oh, wait...
This whole Repeal and Replace business is not even good propaganda. If it's such a bad thing, why replace it? And if it has such good parts, why repeal it? I mean, if I have some pizza and someone comes and tells me they want to take away my pizza and replace it with something but they can't tell me what that thing is - only that it has some of the same stuff that pizza has...maybe... I'm out! I don't understand how people are getting duped by this message.
Dona J Edmond: At first I read it as a typo, but it's brilliant! Mitt Robme. You should enter it in Rachel's T-sirt contest. "Robme in 2012"
I think I will hang my Honarable Discharge back on the wall.
Looks like all the right has left now in their "WASTE OF TIME SO THE PEOPLE FORGET WE HAVEN'T CREATED THE JOBS WE PROMISED" agenda is Birtherisms and Eric Holder.
It's hard to forget if you' re still un employed thanks to the lack of co operation from the Republican party. It's the Republican party and their policies, they don't want the people to get jobs, unless they can take the credit. "Look at the number of jobs that were created.
Running out to go get sick right now!!!
Those that supported this HC bill, will now be screaming because it will hit their pocketbook
via a TAX. Beware the IRS knocking at your door if you do not pay your TAX! Is
the IRS going to automatically deduct HC Tax from your refund? We are now on the road in becoming a
Socialist country. It now more urgent then ever that BO and all Democrats
running in Nov. 2012 be defeated. BO said,"This is not a TAX"! Lies, Double Talk
and Propaganda is what is the platform of third World Countries! States need
not to comply with ruling that is our only possible salvation.
Bober, How about finding out what socialism is before you start using that term to describe where you think the USA is heading because you don't want to pay a tax. Socialism is the government (in a democracy - the people) owning the means of production and distribution, that hasn't occurred anywhere in the USA except for the National Football League Ownership. So when you talk about socialism you are talking about corporate America, and how they created their own entitlement programs.
Bober - If you refuse to provide for your own healthcare because you're cutting off your nose to spite your face, your healthcare costs get foisted onto the rest of us. That's what the individual mandate is about. It also lowers healthcare costs for everyone. Only someone who has been completely brainwashed by corporate-financed misinformation (Koch Bros.) would be rooting for insurance companies to have the right to once again abuse them.
I'm with Fred, look before you leap Bober, otherwise, your reasoning and you leap into the proverbial heap of trash....Americans forget that we were a socialist country that took care of the people as well as the poor and marginalized, because of what happenend to the stock market in 1929 (we are going there again if wall street isn't reigned in) up until 1971 when the corporations took over and it became an elitist class corporate driven country on the backs of the middle class, poor and marginalized. Now that this is Law. Pay your tax like a good american and quit your belly acking....just saying.,
Bober-The individual mandate "tax" was first proposed (and pushed) by Republicans in the 1990's (Google: 1990's republicans individual mandate). Hardly a group known for socialistic leanings. Or do you know something the rest of us don't?
HEY Bober, do you work at Fox news? They use the same tactics. Say something that is completely false and overly dramatic...and say it repeatedly in the hopes that someone will fall for the lies.
You may want to troll spam somewhere like Yahoo. The readers there seem more likely to fall for your BS then the ones here. ;)
Bober banned, comment spamming. Don't comment spam.
I am surprised, but VERY happy!!! GREAT NEWS!!!
<applause>
Maybe hope isn't dead after all.
This.
There just might be hope after all.
This court is not as right-wing as everyone is making it out to be. They are old-school stare decisis and are consistently coming down on the side of established law. Even Citizens United doesn't say what everyone else is screaming about. Well done Supremes!
It should have been 9-0 if the court had the integrity you suggest, but I'll still take it and celebrate.
I don't know about that. 5 of the justices accepted the conservative argument about the mandate (that it compels activity in commerce, and does not simply regulate commerce). That's a novel theory, and not really stare decisis.
Those that supported this HC bill, will now be screaming because it will hit their pocketbook
via a TAX. Beware the IRS knocking at your door if you do not pay your TAX! Is
the IRS going to automatically deduct HC Tax from your refund? We are now on the road in becoming a
Socialist country. It now more urgent then ever that BO and all Democrats
running in Nov. 2012 be defeated. BO said,"This is not a TAX"! Lies, Double Talk
and Propaganda is what is the platform of third World Countries! States need
not to comply with ruling that is our only possible salvation.
Redundant and boring comment...
As a RMoney supporter, it is incongruent for you to talk about lying politicians.
Bober - doesn't sound to me like you know how the ACA works when you choose not to purchase HC. It is only effectively a tax if and when you get fined for not having purchased coverage. And that fine is quite minimal - under $100 for many. Yes, I believe the IRS would withhold it from any refund when it is owed, but I don't think they're going to send any agents to your door to collect it.
And I think your "salvation" lies more in how you live your life and treat others than in what your state does and who gets elected or re-elected.
like those folks who got their insurance in Massachusetts who have a socialized healthcare thanks to Romney, right? Because they are so unhappy with it...
"Those that supported this HC bill..." Bober-Do you mean the Republicans who first proposed it in the 1990's?
I agree that it should have been 9-0, but I'll take the split. And the tax issue was a slam dunk. Congress has the enumerated power to impose taxes. The commerce clause argument was a lot muddier.
Actually no... this from another blog where they say it better than I:
"Roberts' motivations notwithstanding, it's important that Americans understand that there are now four justices on the Supreme Court who effectively want to overturn the 20th century. Based on the flimsiest of arguments, the four dissenters want to kill progressive legislation basically because their political ideologies tell them to do so."
HEY Bober, do you work at Fox news? They use the same tactics. Say something that is completely false and overly dramatic...and say it repeatedly in the hopes that someone will fall for the lies.
You may want to troll spam somewhere like Yahoo. The readers there seem more likely to fall for your BS then the ones here. ;)
This message has been repeated because that is the best way to get stupid people to pay attention...it works for FOX NONEWS!
Fox News got the idea from Joseph Goebbels, Hitler's propaganda minister, who invented the Big Lie tactic. (or maybe from Rush, who got it from Goebbels.)
The Christian Church invented it actually. I mean, just look at HOW they interpret the Bible on a daily basis...hrm.
Romneycare for all.
Perfect
98% of the population of Massachusetts is covered because of it and it enjoys a 62% approval rating.
This is going to be fun watching conservatives scream about the ruling and blaming Romney for the ACA. I wonder how many votes Romney will lose today. Now the Dems need to get going and sell the health care law to voters rather than let Republicans use it as a campaign issue.
Which goes to the issue about our damn messaging .
I want to scream ....you idiots!!!
If this had been sold right , if they had pushed it as a positive instead of letting the Republicans run with death panels and socialism and government takeover
The last time Dems were good about messaging is LBJ and the Great Society. It has been downhill since then.
The problem with the Mass. law is that the insurance companies rubbed their hands in glee and raised their rates. This is very hard on small business owners. It's also difficult for the self-employed who have to purchase insurance. (From Mass, fyi.)
Today is a good day to be alive! And some of my faith that this country can survive the Koch Bros./Tea Party/US Chamber of Commerce/American Crossroads massive onslaught just got restored.
Those that supported this HC bill, will now be screaming because it will hit their pocketbook
via a TAX. Beware the IRS knocking at your door if you do not pay your TAX! Is
the IRS going to automatically deduct HC Tax from your refund? We are now on the road in becoming a
Socialist country. It now more urgent then ever that BO and all Democrats
running in Nov. 2012 be defeated. BO said,"This is not a TAX"! Lies, Double Talk
and Propaganda is what is the platform of third World Countries! States need
not to comply with ruling that is our only possible salvation.
3rd posting of b.s. comment! STFU
Bober ; May you get hit by a bus . Don't have health insurance ?
Don't come to my emergency room .
stuck in a loop dude?
Only in America, the most backwards developed country on the face of the earth, would you have would you have poor, uneducated, ignorant sheep like Bober throwing out terms they don't understand to feather the nests of those who would exterminate him like a bug.
LOL, so true Fred
LOL, so true Fred
Bober-Are you stuck in an amnesiac "I forgot the Republicans wanted this in the 1990's" fugue?
Bober ... You've posted the EXACT same thing, word for word, space for space, as a reply to at least three different comments (and counting?) on this thread. Don't you have any original ideas, or is parroting Repub talking points without individualizing your comments the best you can do?
Boober is spamming (in effect), and his posts should be removed, at a minimum.
HEY Bober, do you work at Fox news? They use the same tactics. Say something that is completely false and overly dramatic...and say it repeatedly in the hopes that someone will fall for the lies.
You may want to troll spam somewhere like Yahoo. The readers there seem more likely to fall for your BS then the ones here. ;)
This message has been repeated because that is the best way to get stupid people to pay attention...it works for FOX NONEWS!
I wonder now if Willard Mitt Romney is going to have some sleepless nights after today.
Short answer, no. Mitt has an entire history of reasons for sleepless nights, yet seems always fully rested. He can rise above his conscience easily.
Finally, people will no longer have their economic lives destroyed by a catastrophic medical need! It has happened to to many people, too many families.
I gotta go... I think I've got something in my eyes...
Very glad to see this upheld. I know a number of people who, if not already do, will benefit from the ACA. Thrilled for them!!!
John Roberts, today, is an honorable man. Conservative to be sure, but honorable. Applause to him for not twisting his understanding of the Constitution to make a political point.
On a personal note, I am happy that my 22-yo unemployed summa cum laude college graduate is still on my healthcare plan.
I understand the sentiment... ...but he would have to go a lot farther than that for me to get the "warm and fuzzy" you have. Consider, maybe it was the threat of a revisited MEDICARE FOR EVERYONE replacing what remains a watered down ACA version of what was wanted in the first place, and what the Repugs dug in their heels for, eh? Consider too: Citizens United! His vote on that's the record, eh? It remains what his vote today facilitated: "Found Constitutional," inadequate health care the result of the back of the psychopathic Republican Party's hand!
I remain hopeful that even with Citizens United ruling that the real people will reject the "money buys politicians" and tell corporate America (and global corps) we reject products and services of those that "bribe" our representatives and we reject those politicians that are accepting large "bribes".
Some day. We saw that in Komen, the political action is not something that is accepted by all consumers and all donors.
Most corps. do not wear politics on sleeves and push for the maximum number of customers and not shun potential customers.
I don't consider "today he is honorable" to be a universal "warm and fuzzy."
I was specifically excluding last year's (and last week's) rulings.
And having just read through the whole decision, I also don't see the need to conjecture as to his motivations when his actions were correct.
Great news...and glad Rachel got the headline right. CNN posted "Mandate struck down"...then 2 minutes later Correction. and of course no news on faux news dot com...guess they didn't like the ruling and didn't know what to say.
Fox won't ignore this. What they are doing is working furiously right now to translate this ruling into conservative speak for their ever so informed viewership. The spoiled Foxaholics need to be reassured they're still on the winning team so the My Precious ratings don't drop and simpleton votes aren't lost.
OMG, they're going to make you eat broccoli!
OMG, my day just got perfect. Is this for real?
Sounds like someone's finally concerned about his legacy.
We need a contest to predict what Scalia will say in his dissent.
It's too bad it's not 10PM instead of 10AM. We could create a drinking game.
You think he'll say "War of Northern Aggression"?
willynel - it's 5 o'clock somewhere.
Wow, Robert Reich was almost right. Roberts!
Actually, I'd like to see a list of people who correctly predicted the decision.
I'd like to pay them a bit more attention in the future.
PGW,
Obama prediced the outcome. So start paying more attention to him, what he has to say, and what he's trying to do for America.
Awesome!!
Yesterday, a former professor (Harvard Law School) of Obama and one of the Justices predicted that it would pass.
Roberts is a far wiser and more politically astute judge than I gave him credit for.
The cynical part of me thinks that Roberts is Lucy teeing up the football, only to pull it away. The hopeful part of me thinks that Roberts has now remembered that, as a Supreme Court Justice, his primary focus should be on the law, not on politics. I hope my hopeful side is right.
My vote is for "politically astute."
He's playing a long, long game. A young Chief Justice can afford to. Citizens United was strategic, and will shape national politics until one of the Republican activist judges dies (Scalia is the oldest, after that they're all pretty young.)
Going with the minority today to jettison a century of Commerce Clause jurisprudence would have been premature and electorally disastrous.
He has time.
I'm so happy that our nation has made the right choice. This is a wonderful day to be an American.