ran 3.2 miles
President Obama has been publicly inserting himself into the Supreme Court discussions regarding his Affordable Health Care Act. Making indirect threats to the justices and imposing his influence on something that, while the origins of this law do have much to do with him, its deliberation has absolutely nothing to do with him or his opinion or his threats. Tactless behavior for a president of the United States of America.
The mockery the justices made of ObamaCare and his individual mandate suggest the law will be overturned, but it would not at all surprise me if they ruled it constitutional. The only reason I think it may be ruled constitutional is because so many millions of Americans who had preexisting conditions are now insured and because the age limit of Americans in their twenties who were uninsured can now stay afloat on their parents' coverage. To overturn the mandate, which I think is the constitutional thing to do, would be devastating to those who would have that insurance ripped away from them. Our president would blame the justices and Republican ideology for being basically heartless, but I would argue that our president anticipated this exact scenario to be the gravity to keep his unconstitutional law firmly in place. Let's assume for argument's sake that the millions who currently have insurance who did not have it before due to ObamaCare were not entitled to it until later in the near future. This law would be thrown out in a heartbeat. This is the use of leverage in its most potent form.
Our president has been inserting himself into the Supreme Court case with the argument that elected officials passed this law with a "large" majority of Congress and so it should not be overturned. Not true.
When it comes down to it, the Senate sneakily passed this sweeping, unconstitutional monstrosity on Christmas Eve in 2009. Any time something gets passed in Washington on Christmas Eve, fear it. The vote was 60-39. While that seems like a large majority at first appearance, which is what Barack Obama is referring to, the law actually passed by one single vote (Thanks a lot, Arlen Specter). In the case of the Affordable Health Care Act the Senate had to have 60 votes to enact the law (normally 51 votes does the job, but after Republican filibustering a vote of cloture was made, requiring a two-thirds vote for the bill to pass) . So, ObamaCare passed by only one vote. 59-41 is one vote short. This bill passed by the skin of its teeth.
In March of 2010, the House passed it by a vote of 219-212. Not one single Republican voted for it and 34 Democrats voted against it.
This is not a large majority, Mr. President. This is the dividing of a nation. And, not that it matters, because ordinary people can't think for themselves according to D.C., but on any given day polls show that 60% to 70% of Americans do not want ObamaCare.
Coincidentally, in November of 2010, during the midterm elections Americans went to their precincts and voted out an overwhelming number of those Senators and Representatives who sided with Barack Obama, his health care law, and his stimulus package. Yet, our president stands in front of the camera, confidently insisting that the Supreme Court will uphold his law, as though there is not a shred of doubt among him or the hundreds of millions of Americans (and illegal aliens) he leads.
284.4 miles to go.
Here is what happened one year ago on Day218.
