The shocking decision by the Supreme Court that upholds the constitutionality of the individual mandate and the rest of Obamacare may be seen in hindsight as a primary reason for the re-election of Barack Obama for a second term.
There is little doubt that the decision will energize the right of the Republican Party. And in a bi-election like 2010, that would be critical in contributing to overwhelming victory.
The turnout in 2010 was made up mostly of partisans from both sides. But in a national election like 2012, twice as many people end up voting, including far more independent-minded citizens as well as those who don’t pay any attention to politics. An argument can be advanced that the victory in the Supreme Court by the Obama administration can be seen as a huge boost to his re-election chances.
Here are a few reasons why:
1. Everyone likes a winner. The unexpected triumph by the president in the Supreme Court will energize his supporters and contribute to an aura of Obama as a winner. Even a boost of 2-3% in swing states as a result of this could make the difference between victory and defeat.
2. Despite the unpopularity of the individual mandate, certain elements of Obamacare that were upheld are very popular. Forcing insurance companies to accept those with pre-existing conditions, the expansion of Medicaid, insurance subsidies for most Americans, and reducing out of pocket costs for drugs by seniors all enjoyed a majority of support in polls. People also like the idea of getting goodies from the federal government. You can bet that the Obama campaign will hit these points hard in the coming months, reminding voters who is responsible for providing them with such largess.
3. There may be some backlash against Republicans in continuing their agitation for repeal of Obamacare. There are many voters who might believe that now that the Supreme Court has spoken, we should move on from this debate and that Republican advocacy for repeal could be seen as more partisan politics than standing on principle.
4. Finally, the issue may turn out to be a winner for Obama given Romney’s creation of a similar program while governor of Massachusetts and his previous support for an individual mandate. The Obama campaign hasn’t even begun to explore Romney’s flip flopping on the issue, and even if SCOTUS had ruled differently, this potentially fertile line of attack would have become one of the centerpieces of the Obama campaign’s critique of their opponent.
I don’t buy it. The economy is still god awful and this is likely to make it worse. A majority of people wanted it to be repealed and a fair number of them are probably a bit pissed about this.
Still, like I keep saying, the choice this November couldn’t possibly be more clear. If the American people re-elect this guy then frankly we deserve whatever he does to us.
I completely co-sign to this.
Obama will almost assuredly lose the popular vote but at this point I do not how he can lose the electorate vote.
The good news is that if he is re-elected we can expect so much damage to the country that it will a generation before anyone is stupid enough to vote for a Presidential candidate because he is sexy.
If Obama wins in 2012, there will not be an election in 2014.
there are a lot of stupid people in this country.
But the people who hate this law WILL show up at the polls. Obama’s base will figure it is a done deal and soon forget about it and certainly won’t be motivated to go to the polls because they think GOP may repeal it.
True points, but remember all obama needs to do is have a bit of luck and spin long enough to the avg american to pull that lever. thats it. Americans have a real short attention span. its proven every day by how people cannot even remember revent history. Obama won the election based on nonsense bumperstickers that nobody wanted to delve into their meaning. do not underestimate thisd guy and the ability of his people to pull it off. repubs and conservs are at this point a 1 trick pony and flash and style will win over substance in the short term. If roberts thinks that he is going to create some tricky plan that will stop obama and his socialism he really screwed up. we didnt need more debate on this we needed it gone.
If this results in Obama’s reelection then we are doomed as a nation. Nothing good lasts forever. Our Constitution will continue to ‘live’ and metamorphose into something the founders would never recognize. Progressives, have at it. What will you do when you have taxed us into oblivion?
Doomed. Dooooomed! Seriously, you guys are such dramaqueens.
Im a far leftist realist in your guys eyes, from Norway where we have a public healthsystem, and its not so bad. You pay a direct community tax into health, and its covered. Its doable, as a small reality shift. And it saves lives.
I understand why you guys are against it. But its not doom.
It will be in this country. Your tiny, homogeneous country is not even remotely an analog for how it will go down in the USA.
Norway is getting *less* homogeneous, given its growing Muslim population (and all the problems that have come with it). But Norway is still financially healthy (for now) because of its oil revenue.
And also due to the fact that WE (the USA) carries the lion’s share of their defense burden.
Wait and see, Fnord. It is a snake that will eventually bite you, too.
It’s not so bad now when you have nice oil revenues that give you a surplus which you can spend to keep up the fiction that your system is fiscally sound. That may end someday, and then you’ll be paying the piper.
There’s also the not-so-small matter of this being completely illegal by the plain letter of the law, yet our highest court has said it’s just fine to break the law if you call it something which it is not.
If you don’t understand the dire implications of that, you don’t know much about government or human nature.
By the way, “far left realist” is an oxymoron.
You don’t seem to have the slightest idea of why we’re against it. Your country has socialized medicine, we have a 3,000 page tyrannical law which closes a vise around all of our necks. It legislates everything from the government forcefully taking funds from our bank accounts without permission to paying for a private army for the president. It forces the individual to give up private information and put it on the internet for all to see, including vital financial information. It creates a central clearinghouse on information on each individual which has previously not existed in one place. It reimburses hospitals who hire and promote minorites above a certain quota at higher rates than those who don’t use purely racial standards to function, institutionalizing racism. I could go on and on. I wish someone would read the thing.
This is the enabling act of a dictator, not a simple piece of legislation creating a different type of health system! And aside from that, this law creates more than 150 committee bodies, adding to the sloth and waste of the present corrupt system. The Congressional Budget Committee has said for some time that Obamacare will steer the country over the fiscal cliff and it will. Obama is betting on it.
I appreciate the education.
Wait until you see how this “it ain’t so bad” law hits your wallet. you’ll be singing a much different tune. This article lists the tax increases for middle class families that are in the Everything BUT Health care law. If you have stocks or depend on dividends, better sell before 2013 or your tax will be more than doubled. http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/06/29/Seven-new-taxes
fnord- there are people who say prision isnt bad too. all your statement proves is that with enough time and glitter, bars and shackles become tolerable and then required. America and norway are 2 different countries with 2 different systems, they cannot be compared. In America independence is prized above all else, in socialism. independence is crushed and destroyed in favor of drone mentality. we see how the EU reels with the very thought of personal responsibility. and thats the test. you are not free you are pets. as long as govt feeds, and clothes, and houses you everything is fine. but when faced with the thought of having to do it yourself you reel and burn and throw a fit. if the EU is The definition of strength is how we do when times are bad, not when everthing is handed to us. if EU and that type of life is ‘progress’ then please let me never ‘evolve’ into being a pet
Yet, but President Obama said it was not a tax. Now it is a tax. Americans don’t like taxes. Wasn’t that one of the reasons our founding fathers fought for our independence?
it was the ‘no representation’ part that spawned the Boston Tea Party. Smart people understand that taxes are needed. Small minded people bitch about them.
In response to Presidents Bush’s tax cuts. Milton Friedman: I am in favor of cutting taxes under any circumstances and for any excuse, for any reason, whenever it’s possible. The reason I am is because I believe the big problem is not taxes, the big problem is spending. The question is, “How do you hold down government spending?” Government spending now amounts to close to 40% of national income not counting indirect spending through regulation and the like. If you include that, you get up to roughly half. The real danger we face is that number will creep up and up and up. The only effective way I think to hold it down, is to hold down the amount of income the government has. The way to do that is to cut taxes.
Oh to be simple minded is so wonderful, it makes life easier then to have wade through the muck of politics. Finding a teacher that make things simple is a blessing, thanks Mr. Friedman.
Perhaps if everyone who votes in favor of taxes was actually subject to them you would have a point. But they aren’t, so you don’t. What we have now is a big table ordering multiple rounds of drinks and desserts and voting to stick only half of them with the bill for it.
based upon your stupid comment, it’s likely that you pay no taxes at all.
And wasn’t that the reason that the Senate was given sole ability to tax? We’re living in post-Constitutional America now, so we can hardly use the dead Constituion to explain the actions of the lawless thugs now in office.
Exactly the opposite, the bill polls overwhelming unpopular and now that this is a TAX it remains a tax increase.
Now every democrat senator is the 60th vote for Obamacare
Now if a Romney offers a waiver to the entire nation every single democrat presidential candidate has to campaign on repealing that waiver thus an instant tax increase.
This is going to be political poison for Democrats.
After conservatives spend the next 4 months explaining to people how much this will cost them in additional taxes and higher insurance premiums, it will become apparent that all this decision has done is given 100 million more people a reason to despise Barack Obama and all he stand for.
Even “his people” will clearly understand that he just increased their taxes.
This should be trouble for his re-election, but they don’t call the Republicans “the stupid party” for nothing.
Indeed. Witness the post above you. My, how simple!
Yes, it would be, if we had actual leaders in Congress who would take this message to the American people.
The Left just won a victory that is more important than putting The One in office or reelecting him.
This ruling can never be voted out.
This ruling can never be voted out.
Seriously?
On the contrary. Congress can vote to repeal the mandate, or even repeal “Obamacare” outright. As a matter of fact that is the option that has just been presented to a GOP Congress should they win the Senate and the White House.
Bozo is correct. If Romney wins and the GOP achieves a majority in the Senate then Obamacare will be repealed. Those are two big “Ifs”.
What concerns me most about this was the conservative echo chamber. Conservatives had convinced themselves that Obamacare was a dead-duck and ignored the basic fact that the SCotUS is a wild animal and unpredictable. Yesterday, Obama was making noises that Obamacare was okay and wasn’t worried. He was obviously tipped off by SCotUS insiders. The lesson learned here is to beware of confirmation bias. This is a difficult issue because most of what the MSM tells us is Leftist propaganda. The natural inclination is to retreat to conservative information sources. Unfortunately one then becomes susceptible to confirmation bias.
It’s interesting that the DJIA is currently down. The PPT should have pumped up the markets no matter what the SCotUS decided (any excuse is a good one to pump up the markets). They’ll probably work their magic after 3:30 and push the markets green (a nice little bear trap).
Sorry to say Bozo, but RayJ is completely correct. While the “Obamacare” law can (and should) be repealed, the ruling of the Supreme Court is now the precedent that all State and Federal Courts in the USA must follow in the future. So even if a President Romney and a Republican Congress do show the courage and fortitude to uproot this particular monstrosity (a debatable proposition), the Constitution of the United States must now be interpreted as giving the government the equivalent of complete and total power over every aspect of its “citizens” lives. One supposes that Chief Justice Roberts thought he was being pretty cute by making sure he wrote the majority opinion in such a way as to (theoreticaly) place some limit on the Commerce Clause, but in ruling that the Congress’ taxing power is unlimited in scope a basic freedom has been shredded and will probably never be recovered in this country. My own idea would be for a Republican President and Congress to make the first bill passed after the repeal of Obamacare be one that would require every American to purchase a handgun or be subjected to a ‘penalty’. The precedent has already been set, so it would have to be found constitutional, right?
No…RayJ is smoking crack because he’s basing his argument on a stupid premise.
My, what an eloquent and cogent reply!
You obviously have no clue what this means. This isn’t about Obamacare anymore. The SCOTUS just said that Congress can do whatever it pleases as long as it calls it by some name that it is authorized to do, like taxing. It doesn’t actually have to BE taxing, it just has to be called that.
This is the biggest expansion of the federal government’s power since “N.L.R.B. v. JONES & LAUGHLIN STEEL CORP”.
The next rule after that should be that congress and all government officials be forced to follow the same rules that we do – including forced participation in Obamacare and jail time for insider trading. We could take out most of congress and the senate with the latter.
Well, given that ‘rulings’ don’t normally get ‘voted out’…laws get repealed ALL THE TIME.
Except, even those who pay little attention to politics, knew that obama said he wouldn’t raise taxes on the middle class, and this has now been shown to be a tax. This tax will affect the middle class, and they will not be happy. Sure this may energize his base, but they are following lock step with him anyway. The economy is still slow and will most likely get worse since he has done nothing to improve it.
No, he was smart. The major pain won’t be felt until after the election.
BobNY wrote “This tax will affect the middle class, and they will not be happy.” Everyone I know in the middle-class has health insurance. None of them/us will have to pay the tax for failing to purchase health insurance. That is true for most of the middle class, as far as I know. The middle class will see insurance premiums rise (won’t they?) but not there income taxes. Am I missing something here?
The “vast majority” of Americans will not be affected by the Court’s ruling, says Dr. Jonathan Gruber, a professor of economics at MIT and director of the Health Care Program at the National Bureau of Economic Research. “If you have health insurance you’re unaffected. If you can’t afford insurance you’re unaffected. It’s only for those who can afford healthcare and choose to free ride on the system instead; they will now have to pay a penalty.”
homophone alert: “their”, not “there”. Posted too quickly.
“If you have health insurance you’re unaffected.”
Not if your premiums continue rising because of Obamacare mandates.
Not if you have insurance through your employer and you lose it because your employer stops offering it.
Not if you choose a contingency-insurance plan that keeps your costs down by not insuring routine expenses while covering you for extreme ones, since such plans can’t be used to satisfy the mandate. You’ll be required to switch to a complicated (coinsurance, copays, etc), costly alternative sanctioned by Obamacare.
“Unaffected”? Seriously?
Yes, you are. Anyone who does not own a cadillac health plan with all the bells and whistles will be prevented in continuing their present health care plan. They will be forced on to a more expensive plan. Also, the Congressional Budget Committe estimates that in the first years of the plan about 30% of businesses will stop offering insurance plans. Those who have insurance through their company will then be forced on to the government-run Medicaid system. This will have a ripple effect which will collapse the private insurance industry eventually (and millions of jobs will fly out the window too) and everyone will be forced on to the single-payer Socialist plan, Obama’s plan from the beginning.
It’s exactly the opposite. With each passing day it becomes ever more plain that the economics of Obamacare are simply not sustainable. Those politicians and voters who felt SCOTUS would let them off the hook received a monumental kick in the butt via the last words in Justice Roberts’ opinion: “But the court does not express any opinion on the wisdom of the Affordable Care Act. Under the Constitution, that judgement is reserved to the people.”
Then the court may just as well fold its tent and go home. By using the word “wisdom,” instead of what the court’s function is — to determine constitutionality — the court has abrogated its responsibility TO BE A CHECK on both legislative and executive power.
BTW, Roberts is not now nor has he ever been a conservative. He stated himself that he has “no platform” and looks at every case with an open mind. Therefore, he has no settled standards upon which to make judgments on anything. He is a weak reed, and apparently has been “open” to helping the president by turning a penalty into a tax.
One thing is certainly clear: the central government is not your friend; and working to limit its power is in the best interest of EVERY American — whether they recognize it or not. The counterrevolution heats up and grows.
John Roberts is worse than “not a conservative”.
John Roberts is a Trojan Horse.
I have been saying since his appointment that Bush got suckered.
Remember the disaster that was Sandra Day O’Conner?
Why on earth was a known abortion activist appointed by Ronald Reagan?
Well, she was thoroughly vetted and the vetting process gave her a clean bill of health.
Who was it that vetted her?
A young lawyer by the name of John Roberts.
Sorry, I forgot to sign that one…
Hey, if Obama wants to run on a platform that he just created the largest single tax in American history, let him go for it. This will simply cement the far left’s reputation as being the biggest spenders and champions of the largest tax increases in history. If Romney is smart, he will push this argument to the hilt, driving home the idea that an Obama second term will only mean more of the same. Who is to stop Obama from demanding that Congress also pass laws establishing an individual’s right to a whole bunch of other commodities, such as a free education, free housing, and free food? Give it all away and figure out who’s going to pay for it later, right? Problem is, we’re always the ones that get stuck with the bill. This idea of “free stuff” didn’t work in 2010 and it’s not going to work now, especially when people discover that healthcare is going to cost more now, NOT less.
“This idea of “free stuff” didn’t work in 2010 and it’s not going to work now, especially when people discover that healthcare is going to cost more now, NOT less”.
God bless you for your optimism, LS. I wish that I could share the same outlook as you. Each day I give thanks that by the grace of God I have been allowed to live the majority of my existence during the best years of a magnificent America. On June 28, 2012 I saw the socialist utopia come into full bloom as the future for America. Now, I fear, we shall live the rest of our days by the grace of Obama. ObamaCare is simply a beginning.
LibertyShip, the problem with your argument is that people aren’t going to ever realize that it costs more with Obamcare than without. They’re going to say that the evil insurance companies are trying to take more profits and the politicians are going to feed that lie until the health insurance companies are taken out of the mix and we go to single payer. That’s the whole point of all of this. If you don’t believe me, go read the comments on MSN’s comment boards.
Bingo.
OR NOT!
Forcing insurance companies to accept those with pre-existing conditions will force premiums up for everybody, or it will lead to insurance companies abandoning the market for health insurance. This demand of the law is a feel-good provision, but it will not be economically sustainable. The ultimate result will be government run health care ala the department of motor vehicle services. Take a number and wait in line. Competition and therefore service will be stifled and eliminated. Health care will suffer overall.
I believe that the elimination of private insurance is what this has really been about from the start. That would clear the way for “single payer”.
The new Grecian Formula :
Medicare for all
EBT for all
Section 8 housing for all
Nightmare of nightmares. I don’t see any good news in this, whether Obama loses or not. Precedent is there to punish people for inactivity through, not a “fine,” but a “tax.”
Outrageous.
The point to remember is Roberts’ ruling to uphold ObamaCare also stripped away the veneer attached to it during the votes that it was some sort of ‘mandate’ due to the commerce clause, because the Democratic leadership knew the law couldn’t pass if it was called a tax. Roberts’ opinion wasn’t a defeat for Obama, Reid and Pelosi, but it smacked them down for lying about what ObamaCare entails, especially young voters in the 26-40 age group, the ones who are the most likely to opt against carrying health insurance.
It’s now a tax, and it’s a tax directly aimed at their paychecks. The Supreme Court said it’s a tax, and that’s how Democrats will have to run in November defending it, as a tax. … Which wouldn’t be as bad, except for the fact that the Democrats will also have to run with the debate over extending the Bush tax cuts, and the debt ceiling. Put all of that together, and you’ve got a situation stronger than at any point since 1984, when Walter Mondale cheerfully went to San Francisco and decided to run as a ‘Tax-and-Spend’ Democrat.
Combined with the sluggish economy, the narrative writes itself for Team Romney to frame Barack Obama in the same way Democrats from the mid-1970s through Bill Clinton’s election in 1992 were framed as tax and spend liberals. It’s not a good position for Team Obama to be in, once the euphoria of today’s vote wears off and they realize what sort of crap sandwich of an opinion John Roberts handed them.
If this helps Obama, and I have serious doubts that it will, it is only because the law does not go into effect until after the election. Look for insurance premiums to rise as a result of expanded benefits, lack of underwriting and new taxes on medical devices.
I predict that many businesses will stop offering medical insurance and find the taxes more affordable. It will be difficult to raise the tax to make it high enough to offset the savings from dropping benefits. Many religious affiliated organization will also drop coverage.
I predict that the youth vote will become even more angry since they, already burdened by a bad economy and student loans, will be forced to pay taxes in lieu of unaffordable premiums for full benefit policies. The taxes they will pay would be enough for high deductible policies but they will pay these taxes and get nothing in return.
The lack of enforcement on Medicaid expansion will further weaken the blue states and benefit the red ones economically. This will accelerate the internal migration that is leaving blue states with the wealthy and the dependent as a larger percentage of their population.
Exactly. Businesses will start announcing dropping medical insurance and just pay “the Obamacare tax”. They’ll start within the next week of so since there is now clarity.
It will bring out the vote against Obama. Romney now has another issue to run on.
Roberts just gave Obama a Trojan horse.
My worry is not that this “gift” isn’t capable of cratering the Fabian Socialist overthrow…but that Republicans…being Republicans…will squander the opportunity and will suffocate themselves inside the Greek structure.
Here is the reality of the situation and why Obama may have just LOST the election.
1)Forget the energized base argument, Obama just got exposed as a liar who is going to tax the brains out of the top 50% of the country. He lied when he said it wasn’t a tax, and then sent in his DOJ radicals to skulk into court to argue that it is indeed a tax.
Roberts just exposed that lie to the open air. It’s been a bait and switch all along. A con game. Roberts just let them win…a Pyrrhic victory.
They will be celebrating in the small c communist way, but the Fabians won’t know what hit them when the backlash starts thundering down.
Repeat after me…IT’S A TAX, IT’S ALWAYS BEEN A TAX, IT WAS NEVER ANYTHING BUT A TAX.
2)The intended gang rape of the Constitution was temporarily halted. It is clear that four “justices” of our now degraded Supreme Court don’t give a Tinker’s Dam about our Constitution.
However, this opinion clearly ruled that the attempt to RULE us, instead of leaving us as a representative self-governing land…is barely hanging on by a thread. ONE more justice who hates our founding documents…and we are RULED.
The small c communists came this close to overthrowing our ability to keep a wall between we, the people…and those who mean to impose their tyranny upon us.
Roberts made the distinction plain to see. He brought it out into the open. He scared the living daylights out of those of us who are paying attention. Elect the Fabian Socialists again and you lose your Supreme Court protections against the overthrow. Welcome to authoritarianism.
3)Because if they can force you to buy one thing, they can force you to buy anything and everything.
Obama/Pelosi/Reid won’t give you a budget, but they will stick you with the bill.
And, make no mistake about it…this is about redistribution and payback for being a country they are not proud of and a slapping down of a people they don’t like very much.
And, if taxing your brains out to redistribute your wealth doesn’t give them enough money, they will gut your military, open your borders and seize your industries. The unfunded and underfunded…and unsustainable entitlements will have Obama hurtling us toward a Greek tragedy.
4)Not only have they lied to you in the bait and switch, they are now going to have their Propaganda and Lies Ministry tell you that this was all “proof” that they were right all along. The coverup of the overthrow attempt will be in full force, the whitewash of the attempted gang rape of the Constitution will be in full steam and the distortion about how they “won” a great moral victory will commence.
Don’t you believe a word of it.
The states are about to come under a full frontal attack by Obama and Sebelius. 26 states…more than half of our United local governments, will be under assault in fifty different directions to impose punitive measures for not cowing to the iron fist of the small c communists.
They will conjure up every conceivable punitive measure for the Red State Revenge mutilation.
Swing states may be left alone until after November. But the small c communists will not stop, nor heed the Supreme Court ruling. They will punish them and punish them severely for being so brazen as to sue the federal government. Obama will sic Holder and his radical team to break down resistance.
What Roberts did, was simply draw the battle lines in bright colors.
Obama, Pelosi, Reid, the DNC and their sniveling toadies in the Propaganda and Lies Ministry will try to throw dirt on those lines to cover them up.
But, the Bait and Switch, the attempted overthrow…is now under a big bright light.
The Republicans have been delivered inside the gates of Troy by Roberts. They come inside the small c communist fort by way of a disguised “gift”. Obama just lost the election to any group with even a smattering of wisdom, savvy and intelligence. That puts the Republicans at 2-1 underdogs, unfortunately. Anyone else would be prohibitive favorites.
CF, Roberts IS a Trojan Horse.
See my post, above.
(To which I forgot to add my name!)
This will definitely not help Obama. It remains to be seen if it will hurt him sufficiently to bring about his defeat in November. But the “everybody loves a winner” argument is childish and irrelevant.
Did President Obama Just Win Re-Election?
Short answer is yes. Longer answer is that the GOP is quickly becoming irrelevant, as the gutless actions regarding Fast & Furious, Solyndra, and other scandals demonstrate.
The GOP is just a tired old party full of McCains and worse. Join the team that is willing to do anything to win–rather than anything to lose–and vote/donate for Obama. Many opportunities for “partnering” with the inevitable leviathan that is the federal government–grab those as fast and as cynically as you can.
And the Democrats are Communists and Fascists who desperately want to be ruled by the Muslim Brotherhood or some other suitable dictator. What’s your point?
How can Obama run for re-election on a “reverse stimulus”?
Rick,
You’re one of those people who see a blue sky when there are black storm clouds overhead.
No, Obama did not just win re-election by shoving a marxist, socialized medicine scheme down our throats. More than any other day of his imperial Presidency, Obama is held in utter contempt. Saying we could keep our doctors. Saying ObamaCare would lower premiums. Saying ObamaCare wasn’t a tax. The Frequent Liar Miles are filling Obama’s coffers to overflowing.
Sport, Obama’s just levied the heaviest tax burden in the history of the world. Obama is destroying this country, and it’s what he set out to do, on November 4, 2008, election day, the same day the black panthers intimidated voters in Philadelphia and Obama and Holder dismissed the slam dunk case, letting the miscreants go scot free.
As far as Roberts isi concerned, he simply called it as he saw it. A tax is a tax. And Obama is the biggest taxing President in history, not to mention the most “fast and furious” corrupt one in history.
As the Democrats gloat and call everybody who disagrees with them, “bitches, hoes, and white slaves”, it’s Obama who just lost the election.
When Roger Simon replaces leftist Moran with cfbleachers, it won’t come a minute too soon.
I second that.
Me, too, Dump Moran for cfbleachers.
Do not despair my fellow conservatives, this is just a legal ruling on Obamacare. The Democratic Congress past the law, the Reublican Congress can repeal it, if they have the stomach for such a fight. This descision is a gift to Romney, this will galvanize the tea party, the indepedents and libertarians into one force that could give the Republicans control of the Senate and White House. Obama stared down Roberts and Roberts blinked. After being insulted in front of the nation as the justices were during The President’s State of The Union address and the warning about an unfavorable ruling a few months ago, one would think Roberts could understand that this was the Chicago-thug politics of intimitation The Chief-Justice is to cerebral about the fact he just gave-in to a playground bully. Liberals will be gloating, spiking the football ball and high-fiving in our faces, but do not worry, this is not over. This may seem like a poltical Pearl-Harbor, but remember who won the war
So, this helps Obama? Really?
By what? Enflaming all the people who will have to pay for this crap? This will enflame society’s payers. If every white working man votes, Obama would even lose Massachusetts. The percentage who will vote just went up several percent, and causes them to pay more attention.
That’s what put Ronnie over the top…white working men. And, yes, they still exist in overwhelming numbers. It’s just that they only get their lazy butts to the polls when they’re fired up.
If you still think this helps, O-Be-Stupid, I have an interesting opportunity for you. It involves stock in the Brooklyn Bridge…a real deal!
Just let Obama try now to argue for letting the Bush cuts expire. Just let him try…..
I have no confidence that Congress will save today from being a total nightmare and find Holder in contempt……… the bottom line for me is every democrat that ever spoke on this lied to us when they swore this was not a tax……… well, it is a tax, so either they fix it or they all have got to go. We cannot allow anyone we know to not vote in November. Every one of us have got to get them registered and drive them to the polls or double check they mailed out their ballots, it is up to each of us to stop this or we will leave nothing to our kids but tyranny and poverty.
Politics is about narratives. It is about framing how the public views events. The task of establishing a narrative about an opposition candidate is made easier when it happens to be accurate. And in the case of Obama the narrative is that he is a liar.
The comparisons with Jimmy Carter or Richard Nixon are in some ways compelling. But I would offer that the true comparison is with Stephen Glass, the reporter for The New Republic who fooled the magazine to publish dozens of stories that he had completely fabricated. The staff of the magazine went along for quite awhile because in large measure they wanted to believe they were true. Consider the following:
While the liberal press has a field day for four years ridiculing opponents of Obama as kooks and “birthers”, they have failed to deal with the fact that for sixteen years he allowed his literary agent to describe him as Kenyan born. He must have known that he was described this way and allowed it to stand. That doesn’t mean he was born in Kenya but it does mean that he had no problem with other people believing it.
Some conservative commentators were chastised by conservatives as well as liberals for referring to Obama as Barack Hussein Obama, considering the insertion of his middle name as somehow dishonest. Now we have a video
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2012/06/christians_stoned_by_crowd_in_dearbornistan.html
the beginning of which has a short clip of Obama addressing a crowd of supporters in Dearborn Michigan in which he is clearly playing up his middle name to connect with the supporters.
He tells his Jewish supporters that he has Israel’s back while at the same time he assures pro-Palestinian supporters that he will do something for them after he is elected.
He is overheard telling the premier of Russia that he will be better able to do stuff after he is re-elected, hinting that he will be more conciliatory after he has gotten elected by lying about his real views to the American public.
His once heralded autobiography has now been exposed as fiction, created to burnish his aggrieved minority status.
The point is that he makes stuff up and tells people what he thinks will help convince them to advance his own career. He simply doesn’t care about telling the truth.
And the biggest lie of all:
THE INDIVIDUAL MANDATE IS NOT A TAX
How is he going to live that one down when his own solicitor general sold the Supreme Court the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act by the fact that it was in fact a tax.
How does he explain to the American people that whopper.
Obama should be defeated because he does not care about the truth! That is the narrative and it is well documented by the evidence.
but, just remember, even truth can be run as a hustle
Yes, yes, and extremely yes, Obama just won re-election.
Progressives are willing to do anything and EVERYTHING to win, By Any Means Necessary.
Republicans are afraid of making the Progressives’ apparatchiks in the media angry, so they bow down and let the Progressives have everything they want.
Exactly. Progressive Democrats will do what it takes to win. Republicans will do what it takes to lose gracefully.
Now which team do you want to be on?
I’m starting to think maybe it’s time to get with the REAL winning side.
The Muslim Brotherhood.
No, Mr. Moran… I believe that Obama just lost.
The ONLY! thing that matters with us conservatives and mainstream Americans now is our personal involvement between now and November.
In short…
How many hours will you volunteer for the election…?
How many of your friends will you recruit to do likewise…?
How much money will you give to the candidates of your choice…?
How many like-minded friends will you bring to the polling place…?
Friends, to put it bluntly… 2012 is up to us.
So, what are you actually willing to DO – to fight for your loved ones, and for their and all of our futures…???
God bless America.
Please tell me how you compute that the individual mandate tax is a large tax increase. Consider, if you will, who is exempt from paying this tax: all of us who have health insurance from employers (for now)or parents or college Student Health Services, anyone on Medicare or Medicaid, anyone here illegally, anyone who finds reason and money enough to buy personal health insurance, anyone not subject to the tax because of low income, and prison inmates. How many people are left?
It’s a tax increase because
1) it forces people to buy something many of them otherwise do not need and would not buy or else pay a tax that, absent this law, they would not pay. Either way that’s money taken out of their pocket by the government.
2) The product they’re being forced to buy is no longer competitively priced. The young and healthy are going to pay premiums that are much higher than they would in an open market because they’re being used to subsidize the premiums of the old and sick. That, again, is money taken out of their pocket by the government.
Finally I’ll just point out what PROPONENTS of the law have been saying, which is that absent the “mandate” there’s no way to pay for the bill. Clearly they expect considerable revenue to be generated from this new tax.
“it forces people to buy” I meant only to make the point that money that goes to an insurance company is not a tax we pay to IRS. I do not contest that there is government compulsion, thinly disguised as inducement, to make that payment and then find the money missing from out pockets.
“no longer competitively priced” Good point. The law’s intent is to force healthy young people to pay more for their coverage than it costs the insurance companies to provide that coverage. This is specifically to raise money to cover the expenses of older people. That seems to me to be a reason for the young voters to revolt against this law and its supporters. Will they revolt in November? They are already being mistreated by Social Security taxes. Will they accede to further inter-generational abuse?
Again, I ask the proponents of the law, those who expect that the new tax will generate significant revenue for IRS, to tell us who will pay that tax. I listed groups of people who will not pay it and asked who is left. Some are left, granted, but who are they? I’m asking because I do not know, not because I think the question answers itself. That the law will generate significant revenue for insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies and hospitals seems obvious. That’s why they support the law.
Incidentally, whatever coverage from your place of work that you enjoy, start planning a goodbye party. At most, you are two years away from 91% of private employers ending insurance coverage because they can’t afford it, not to mention they know ObamaCare is now available which will save business owners’ money. Which business owners like.
If you don’t like that result of ObamaCare, on November 6, 2012, don’t vote for Obama. Assuming you can still afford the trip to the polls.
obama will challenge, it’ll go to court, someone meets with roberts, and whaddya know, O wins again!
It’s sounding more and more like we are a nation experiencing irreconsilable differences. Could this ruling be the 21 century Dred/Scott decision leading to a civil cold war? Democrats continue to pour gasoline on the fire to help heal the wounds they have inflicted. This is a dark day indeed.
This ruling just doomed obama. Many reasons have already been given above. I believe the biggest reason is that the 70% of people who want no part of obamacare are now energized to vote him out as never before.
I think all of you are too used to your bubbles. Walk around, talk to people, and you will see that Americans are dumb. The American people like to be managed, they want the safe and secure feeling they associate with socialism but call it something else out of ignorance. They view this as a big win for the little guy, a win because they stuck it to the man(the rich). They swipe their EBT cards with no reservation, never having an ounce of shame. There aren’t enough people left willing to slug it out and work hard to get ahead. Soon there will be many folks making the decision that they are just as well off not working as they were before, just as some homeowners made a strategic decision to foreclose. Nobody cares, it is the American Idol era we all must learn to enjoy.
I love this quote, Justice Roberts wrote today, “Members of this court are vested with the authority to interpret the law; we posses neither the expertise nor the prerogative to make policy judgements. Those decisions are entrusted to out Nation’s elected leaders, who can be thrown out of office if the people disagree with them. It is not our job to protect the people from the consequences of their political choices.” The people who made these choices will benefit from them.
The person to blame here is John Boehner. To be shared only by the newly elected Tea Party representatives who along with him didn’t shut the machine down when they had the chance. Men in the position to obstruct this desecration of America chose to take the path of least resistance.
So the president lies to the American people about not raising taxes, enacts the biggest tax increase in the history of mankind and you say that enhances his chances? WOW! You are really smart. Read your own website and see how much money is pouring into the Romney campaign. Roberts just put a nail in the Obama election coffin. Romney could not have received a better gift if it came from heaven and I’m sure someone will say it did. The president is a confirmed liar and a huge tax and spend guy. How does that improve the presidents chances again?
“The president is a confirmed liar and a huge tax and spend guy. How does that improve the presidents chances again?”
Because there are a whole mess of brainless freaks out there who think that taxing and spending is awesome as long as it doesn’t affect them — which it doesn’t because they don’t pay taxes. The American Idol / Toddlers and Tiaras / “History” Channel crowd are going to go balls-deep for Obama come November, and they already outnumber the rapidly decreasing contingent of sane and politically aware people in this country.
1) The economy will not recover before the election. While businesses are a little more certain about their future, the certainty they face is a higher cost of doing business. A repeal would have freed businesses to start hiring again.
2) Democrats can convince people that raising taxes on the OTHER guy is a good idea. They will not be able to convince most Americans that EVERYONE should pay more in taxes. Framing this as a tax makes it unpalatable.
3) I’m going to borrow a term from George R.R. Martin. Up until this point, Romney was the “Faceless Man” of this election cycle. He was campaining on a concept which was largely, I am the man who can fix the economy. He even came out with a 76 point plan on how he would do that. That was too convoluted and the economy is kind of an abstract idea. Ask someone to define “the economy” and you will get a blank stare from most people. With this ruling, he now has an issue. Actually he has two issues. He will be the guy who will repeal this law. He will also be the guy who cuts taxes. If there is one commonality we all share it is that we all hate paying taxes. Well, almost everyone does.
Anyway, Mitt Romney now can be someone how stands for something. Since support for Obamacare has been in the minority, its not an issue Obama can campaign on. He can rally the troops but it won’t draw any new enthusiastic supports to his cause. I truly believe that this ruling will do more for Mitt Romney than it will for President Obama.
“He will be the guy who will repeal this law.” Only Congress can repeal a law. Romney has promised to give waivers to each of the fifty states, saying that compliance with Obamacare is not mandatory. That’s about as good as repealing it, but not the same thing. This is not just a quibble if remembering the separation of powers in the federal government is important.
Obamacare won’t factor in the election at all except to those who follow politics. Before this ruling, those of us opposed to Obama were energized to vote against him. That hasn’t changed. But those who favor socialized medicine are now energized to return him to the White House to ensure Obamacare survives.
This ruling will energize the Left to vote. That will give Obama the election.
I think you have it exactly backwards. 70% of the people are anti-obamacare, and they will be definitely energized.
Thank God that the Supreme Court did the right thing! Romney is done – he should concede tonight and save a lot of money. Obama will go down in history as perhaps the greatest president of modern times.
What is the purpose of this freakin tax other than to let Roberts puff out his chest and broadcast his eternal claim to fame for by screwing the Supreme Court and the Constitution. He has shown his true colors and egocentric values to just establish “his” place in American history.
What is this tax going to do for a state like California where the majority of people don’t have healthcare nor do they have jobs (Remember we already have tons of illegals with an numbers of kids living off food stamps which we have now redesigned to be politically and socially correct “credit cards”.
Tell me who is going to pay this tax? If the majority of Californians have no jobs, or are illegal, they don’t pay taxes! They birth children who are American citizeds. Who does that leave to subsidize this “TAX”? …
We middle American’s will PAY this tax!
I am certainly glad MediCal did not expand, BUT what is the benefit of a law forcing individuals to purchase heathcare insurance or be taxed? Taxing $0 dollars is still $0 dollars. So how long will it take before the middle class is forced to “even the playing field” by paying this tax? This ruling does nothing other than to threaten our liberty and serve as a warning that the US is approaching a dictatorship and the government is slowly showing its cards and the shades of things to come. What is this tax supposed to prove other than our liberty can be controlled? How can this be a win for any of us; the middle class, the unemployed or illegals? It certainly won’t matter that the 2 latter groups will just remain paying 0.
This article illustrates there are no standards on this site for who can post articles. I find the premises of the article absurd. No one except those that already will vote for Obama are going to vote for him because he is a “winner”. Maybe a 5 yo might come to such a conclusion.Adults are a little more sophisticated. The “Author” who wrote this drivel just decides there will be a backlash if the republicans complain based on what? The author doesn’t support his absurd conclusion. The Romney campaign took in $2 Million just today after this absurd unconstitutional decision was announced. If I wanted to read brainless obamabots writing ridiculous,unsupported drivel ,I would go to the Daily Kos. To answer the brainless author the answer is NO. It will seal his being unemployed in January 2012.
“2. Despite the unpopularity of the individual mandate, certain elements of Obamacare that were upheld are very popular. Forcing insurance companies to accept those with pre-existing conditions, the expansion of Medicaid, insurance subsidies for most Americans, and reducing out of pocket costs for drugs by seniors all enjoyed a majority of support in polls. People also like the idea of getting goodies from the federal government. You can bet that the Obama campaign will hit these points hard in the coming months, reminding voters who is responsible for providing them with such largess.”
Obama also hit on a ‘claw back’ principle where bonuses paid to insurance company CEO’s that underperform will be seized, as well as company profits made by not covering persons and treatments under the Plan. People really like that sorta stuff…..
People with tiny little minds love schadenfreude, always have, always will. They love this law because they think that other people are going to pay for them. Sorry, no. This former tax payer and small business owner is going Galt. These idiotic Communists are collapsing the system and opening the borders. As soon as George Soros shows up on your nations doorstep it’s always time for your nation to die. They want a global government system run by the UN, they’re opening the borders to make it happen and the’re going to force socialism/communism on us just like good ole Adolph – through a health care system.
I want to believe that Roberts played a good game of chess. I want to think that he realized that if he struck down the mandate outright, it would greatly increase Obama’s chances of reelection (reasons noted below), so instead he did the one thing to Obama was sure to hurt. He called Obamacare what it is, a tax. The proof of this can be seen by the Obama administration’s frantic efforts to deny what is now obvious for everyone to see – it is a tax.
I’m hoping Robert’s gamed that if Obama is reelected, it matters not one whip what this supreme court does, as Obama will get to pick one or two more justices. If they are as partisan as Sotomayor and Kagan, then Obama can do whatever he wants and more. He will be unrestrained by the constitution or the law.
If Obamacare had been struck down, the dems would have owned conversation of the mean, mean republicans want grandma to die. This huge negative issue would have been off the table. Now the discussion will be about death panels (the old people DO care they they will be deemed unworthy and they vote), being unable to keep your current insurance, killing jobs and small business and the horrific impact on our fragile economy.
Sure, everyone loves a winner and the NYT, WAPO will sell the meme that “We Won”. But the taste of victory will quickly turn sour as all the same people who didn’t like it before (what was the percentage 65%?) will like it even less now that it is a reality.
I disagree this will help Obama and I think it was the best thing that could happen to Romney. All Romney has to do now is come out and say it is obvious he cares about health care. He wrote the law that Obamacare is based on – but being older and wiser, he can improve it and make it workable for the country as a whole.
You’re right. It troubles me that so many Americans, particularly younger ones, are so ignorant of American and World History. There is a way that fascist dictators always function and with Obama there is nothing new under the sun. They always begin with environmentalism, abortion/birth control/eugenics, health care laws, land control laws. They nationalize businesses and then form government/private industry alliances (corporatism). They brainwash the young and get them to join youth groups, urging them to build healthy bodies through nutrition and exercise (a shout out here to Mrs. Dictator here). Next they begin to fetishize a certain skin color and/or religion and demonize other skin colors/religions. We are in the early days of this now and if reelected this will grow exponentially.
I really don’t know why this defeatist moron is allowed to contribute to this site. I guess we should just concede the election right now.
We should waterboard all SCOTUS nominees, especially those being vetted by anyone named Bush.
Socialists only stop spending when they run out of OTHER peoples money -Margaret Thatcher.
I think HHACA was designed so that the most onerous parts didn’t take affect before Obama’s re-election. If he is re-elected, he will quickly lose the support of the minority of people who currently support the law because they will find out how much it truly costs each of them. You don’t have massive “reform” without a massive change in the way things are currently done. Many more people are about to lose their employer paid family coverage and be left with employee only plans.
Did President Obama Just Win Re-Election?
That was my very first thought after I heard the news yesterday. As I said last night at Neo-Neocon:
Alright, taking the points one at a time….
1) The ‘everybody loves a winner’ argument.
No, they don’t. In early 1994 Clinton cajoled an assault weapons ban through Congress. As with Obamacare, there were shenannigans in how the weapons ban was inserted into the omnibus crime bill by the Senate. It was eventually passed with bipartisan support and with assurances from Clinton and gun control activists that this was a safe vote and the public was behind the law.
1994 saw the Democrats lose control of Congress for the first time in decades. Clinton himself gave the assault weapon ban vote as the reason so many lost their seats in that election.
While most own guns in this country, far more interact with health insurance.
2) The people will like the goodies more than they dislike the bad stuff in the bill argument.
I find people tend to remember things that pi$$ them off more than they remember pleasant things. It’s human nature. When something becomes a burr up a persons butt they don’t tend to change their negative views of that thing unless there is some paradigm shifting event that causes them to reframe their views on the subject.
Pretty speeches by El Presidente won’t cut it.
As for the ‘free’ goodies making people happy before the ugly kicks in, I am already hearing about companies even now responding to the verdict yesterday in a negative way. One company I heard about locally has flat out told their employees they are dropping health insurance benefits in 2013.
This is the people getting a burr up their a$$ part I mentioned earlier, and that burr is going to focus attention far more intently than any goodies they hear one interest group or another is getting. The administration apparently did not take a legal battle taking place this early into account as companies can start telegraphing their plans now rather than later.
People are finding about the bad much earlier than the administration planned.
3) Regarding a backlash for continuing to fight against the law….
The laws supporters are going to argue against the political right no matter what.
The laws critics are never going to be happy with it.
If the Republicans don’t continue to fight against this law they are toast with their base!
This leaves the ‘independents’…..please refer to point # 2 above regarding large numbers of citizens getting burrs up their a$$es as they begin to hear reactions from their employers.
This effect will be compounded as people are inherently averse to the unknown – especially when they are being forced into the unknown.
I expect a large number to be pi$$ed over the whole thing.
4) Finally, Romneycare.
This is where I believe Romney is actually most vulnerable. He does have an explanation though, in arguing that states have powers the federal government doesn’t have.
I don’t like Romney as a candidate – but I happen to agree with him on this one. It’s plausible, it complies with federalist principles, and it can be easily understood.
Still won’t make him popular with folks like myself who question his instincts, and feel he is a RINO, but here’s the thing – a lot of us are not voting FOR Romney, we are going to be voting AGAINST Obama!
A lot of us are going to be doing just that, and crossing our fingers in the hope that a Republican dominated Congress can exert sufficient influence to keep him on the reservation. I hope this will include a substantial number of ‘independents’. If anything, I believe they will have an easier time voting for Romney than I will!
So, while defeating Obama can never be taken for granted, I don’t think the SCOTUS ruling is necessarily a game changer in a positive way for him.
The only way Obama wins is by public apathy. Ain’t gonna happen this time.
The real concern is will the adults take responsibility after the landslide?
I would like to purpose a solution to all those that wish not to have affordable health care. I am willing to purpose legislation so that you do not have to pay the “tax” for an affordable health care. But when you are sick and seriously sick, I will take your car, your house and everything you own when you get sick. And once, I have taken everything, I will let you die. Why should you get a free ride by going to the emergency room, while I as a responsible citizen pay for health care and have to also pay for freeloaders at the emergency room.
I believe the word you intended to use was ‘propose’, not “purpose” – obviously your education was abysmal. I am just not sure if it is the influence of public education or so-called higher education in college.
Furthermore, your type remind me of something I read about decades ago (I believe it was in that ultra-conservative rag called “National Geographic”). It was an article about a shipwreck, and they found copper bracelets on board. Those copper bracelits were what African tribal chieftains were paid with when they ordered their tribes to march up the gangplanks of the slave ships.
Apparently, there are always those who will allow themselves to be enslaved with nary a fight…..
Keep remembering that Obama was elected by only 30% of registered voters. There was a 58% turnout and of the people who actually voted, 52% voted for Obama. Multiply 0.58 and 0.52 and you get 0.30. Just 30% of registered voters saddled us with Obama. Forget about the polls and just vote. He has not gained followers.
okay, so I’m picking this apart. Economics is always about the “last house on the golf course.” You know- the limit. The final choice of spending that last dollar.
O’care, even if it survives, is going to bite liberals on the butt, hard. Right now, private health choices and insurance are just that- private. Well, when things go public- they become everybody’s business. When they mess with other people’s money? OPM is heartless.
Right now, the main evolutionary biology intense states- that would be Cali, some Oregon and the North East? are not arguing from recognizable pro-human bases. They are arguing from group fitness, at most, and money. As an aside- when you go to church- the stain glass- are there recognizable humans in the glass? You can track anti- humanism that way- you’d be surprised at Koln Cathedral, in that. You can practically track the fall of human-centered to machines to despair….
The main thing about ev-bio types? They aren’t too attached to humans having long, happy, safe lives. They are attached to statistics. Right now, there are websites which compile all sorts of odd statistics, including, say, BMI of the children of single mothers, or the mental health rates of people of, shall we say, unboundaried sexual appetites.
If public money is limited and rationed, I don’t think we justify using public money on people who are against the public good, if you will. Imagine how we treat smokers- they were okay pretty much to the day we figured out second-hand smoke. There are fights right now- do alcoholics lose their place on liver transplant lists? That’s a limited good. Okay, well, now, all of healthcare is a limited good. Do we treat gay men with AIDS aggressively past age 40? Their average life expectancy is 45. 40 is the age cut-off for decent care, according to Rahm Emmanuel’s brother. Do they even get treated at 30?
The argument, always, in favor of stable marriages wasn’t that people were happy, or in love, or anything at all like that. It was that children were safe, stable and happy. Do you think that maybe the statistics about single mothers and their children will be compiled?
The government seems to take a disturbing interest in what we are eating, and seems to hire innumerate, near illiterates on a regular basis. One woman marching around a school field trip banned home food from her school. When one excitable, powerful bureaucrat marches around a typical school, they’ll notice that the fat kids are all eating public school lunches. I can’t see anyone seeing the good points of paying for food for these children.
For that matter, self- described liberals show up with florid mental illness are a really high rate- something like 400% more schizophrenia, for one. Plus, others. What if our money is so limited, and their suffering so obvious—that we decide not just on the Sarah Silverman “I don’t want children”- but that she can’t have a choice- forced spaying- or that she needs to quit existing, entirely, to spare her the pain of existence.
I don’t see how handing off our private miseries to the cruelty of public masters is a good thing, at all, ever.
It’s good thing George Washington wasn’t reading Rick Moran when the Continental Army lost Manhattan in a skirmish with the Brits. Doubt, despair and resignation is not the option of Freeman. You can gnash your teeth, rend your garments and wail about the ineptitude of Republicans in winning the media war. Or you can personalize this fight, join a grassroots group (or start one) and outreach to swing voters. Make Nov.6 2012 the new 4th of July.
Obama is going to start handing out bribes to potential voters. For the Blacks he already has. They are easily manipulated. The Hispanics not quite as simply, but they too can be easily influenced. However, keep remembering that Obama was elected by only 30% of registered voters. There was a 58% turnout and of the people who actually voted, 52% voted for Obama. Multiply 0.58 and 0.52 and you get 0.30. Just 30% of registered voters saddled us with Obama. Forget about the polls and just vote. He has not gained followers.