Healthcare

Momentous is what it is, and a major surprise, given the justices’ vote in which the conservative chief justice joined the liberal minority and thus created the prevailing majority.

The president has coming a blow of his (lately quiet) horn.

The Supreme Court never fails to “take the third option.” Don’t be fooled by the simple-minded “Obama won/Republican lost” rhetoric. What Chief Justice John Roberts has done is categorized ObamaCare’s funding mechanism as it should’ve been all along — a tax. The administration argued strenuously before the court that the individual mandate was a tax — something well within their power to do; but they had just as strenuously — and disingenuously — argued in Congress that this was not the case. Of course, being a tax means a few things:

Team Obama may be cheering now, just after the Supreme Court upheld the individual mandate, but the political problems for the president and congressional Democrats has just grown tenfold.
 
That such a monumental change to American life and liberty was imposed with no Republican votes with President Obama repeatedly denying that his government takeover of one-sixth of our economy was NOT a tax, and to be caught in that blatant and purposeful lie, will damage him severely. The president told us one thing, then told the Supreme Court quite another story in order to win his case. The SCOTUS upheld the individual mandate because Obama's lawyer argued that it was, in fact, a tax!

The Supreme Court is no longer relevant.
 
Long viewed as the last bastion protecting the individual from the rapacious powers of the federal government, SCOTUS, in the name of Chief Justice John Roberts, declared themselves meaningless.
 
If government can compel individuals to purchase a private product under the guise of its taxing authority, even when the government itself argued that the individual mandate was not a tax, then the government can compel individuals to do anything they choose.

The healthcare decision was a gigantic legal victory for President Obama. The politics will in my view be 50-50. I tip my hat to the legal team of Fox News, which gave by far the most professionally accurate coverage of the decision (I always call them as I see them). There will now be much unhappiness and probably anger from the right against Chief Justice Roberts for his historic vote (along with the court liberals) that kept the mandate alive.

While the decision was a historic legal and legacy victory for President Obama, I doubt the decision will ultimately help or hurt either party.

Americans may recall that President Obama promised, “If you like your healthcare plan, you can keep your healthcare plan.” While this mandated coverage in the healthcare reform legislation was desired by many people who are willing to pay the cost, there were certainly other medical insurance consumers who preferred their lower cost coverage. However, contrary to the president’s assurance, they were not permitted to keep their preferred lower-cost healthcare plans.

As we wait for the Supreme Court to rule on the Affordable Care Act, I remain hopeful that this is the first step in reining in an unruly progressive state. Should the SCOTUS strike down the whole law — or even just the individual mandate — it is a sign that there is indeed a limit to federal power.
 
Still, feminist groups on the left have been lining up to defend ObamaCare in the weeks leading up to this decision and to “keep fighting” for the law’s survival.

The GOP cannot spend time discussing the possible overturn of ObamaCare without offering a reasonable alternative.

It should be quite apparent that we are in dire need of healthcare reform, particularly as our population ages. To simply denigrate ObamaCare without providing a roadmap that leads to a much-needed solution would be irresponsible and politically detrimental.

Republicans need to put together a group of people who actually know something about healthcare. They can start by looking back at the recommendations the President's Council on Bioethics under President Bush put together.

If the Supreme Court doesn't reject Affordable Healthcare we are lost as a nation. Not rejecting it would indicate that the highest judicial branch in our land has been overtaken by political ideology that actively seeks to shred the Constitution as it clamors to force bigger and bigger government upon Americans.

The Hill's A.B. Stoddard previews the upcoming Republican presidential primary contests and takes your questions on the fallout from the Supreme Court hearings on the Affordable Care Act.