The Supreme Court ruled today that the so-called Affordable Care Act need not be implemented as it's written, permitting the federal government to ignore the law's explicit definition of who is eligible for taxpayer subsidies through exchanges "established by the state." Writing for the 6-3 majority, Chief Justice Roberts cites context and presumed intent, rationales that elide crucial and telling statements from one of the law's chief architects, Jonathan Gruber. The law was crafted the way it was by design; states were to be coerced into establishing exchanges through "strings attached" tactics that are commonplace in Washington. Six justices ruled these realities, spelled out in black-and-white legislative text, to be irrelevant. Following the announcement of the High Court's Obamacare-preserving acrobatics, President Obama emerged to spike the football in the Rose Garden, predictably declaring the Obamacare debate over -- as he so often does. This was merely a display of an unpopular outgoing president celebrating the technical survival of his wheezing, unpopular law. His fellow ideologues were similarly eager to declare an end to the debate:
Reid on the flr excoriating GOPers for trying to repeal Obamcare: Enough is Enough..move on..look at the time that's been wasted.
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) June 25, 2015Majority of Supreme Court AND majority of Americans support #Obamacare. End of discussion. Full stop. Affordable care for all!
— Sally Kohn (@sallykohn) June 25, 2015Kohn literally says, "end of discussion," while wildly misstating public opinion. A recent Washington Post poll showed Obamacare approval at an all-time low, with a majority disapproving. A CNN survey also revealed majority disapproval, with just 11 percent of respondents calling the law a success so far. Nevertheless, Democrats are obstinately committed to the fanciful "it's working" mantra, including my sparring partner on Fox News earlier:
Rosenburg recites several familiar refrains: (a) He attributes the slower growth of the national healthcare "cost curve" -- which different from bending the curve down, as promised, mind you -- to Obamacare. This is inaccurate, according to the government's own number-crunchers; (b) he touts the number of enrollments under the law. The latter argument ignores the administration's failure to meet enrollment projections, and the fact that their substantially inflated statistics include millions of people who were previously insured, before Obamacare stripped them of their existing plans. Also, it's always amusing to hear supporters brag that a law that requires every American to buy health insurance or face a tax penalty has resulted in...millions of people abiding by the new mandate. Also unmentioned is the fact that despite Obamacare's ten-year price tag of roughly $2 trillion, more than 30 million Americans will remain uninsured -- with the primary reason cited for not signing up being the unaffordability of the "Affordable" Care Act. Obamacare has raised premiums and out-of-pocket costs, with additional heavy cost spikes on the way. This is a massive broken promise that is hurting American families. Millions are being uprooted from their prior healthcare arrangements, another shattered pledge. Access problems for Obamacare exchange and Medicaid enrollees alike are worsening. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has concluded that the law is hampering US economic growth. The website's 'back end' still isn't operational, resulting in millions of consumer-hurting errors and billions in untracked payments. Poll after poll demonstrates that Obamacare is actively harming more Americans than it's helping. The president and his cheerleaders survey this state of play and declare it a success. The public disagrees. And of course Democrats would like today's development to end the discussion. Republicans won the House of Representatives after Obamacare passed and have retained control ever since. And fully half of the 60 Senate Democrats who dragged the law over the finish line in 2009 are no longer in Congress, many having been forcibly retired. I'll leave you with what Allahpundit calls the silver lining of SCOTUS' disappointing ruling:
If we reasonably assume GOP would have caved and legalized subsidies and mandates anyway, at least now their fingerprints aren't on it.
— Phil Kerpen (@kerpen) June 25, 2015Democrats are solely responsible Obamacare's ongoing failures. The Court bailed out Congressional Republicans, who remain deeply divided over what to do if the law had been upheld as it's plainly written, sparing us the humiliating spectacle of an Obamacare-related implosion for which the GOP would be blamed. Get on the ball, guys:
My post-King analysis: "Republicans need an Obamacare alternative now more than ever" http://t.co/rGXWUICWnL
— Philip Klein (@philipaklein) June 25, 2015