In less than 2 weeks, we will know whether or not the Supreme Court will hear the case against Obamacare. As it now stands, more than half the states are engaged in that action and it is widely believed that the fate of Obamacare will rest in the hands of the Court.
Before we get to that, a refresher in the issues at hand might be a good thing.
At the heart of the lawsuits regarding Obamacare is the “individual mandate.” That is, of course, the part of Obamacare which makes it mandatory for people to purchase their healthcare from a government approved…government…healthcare provider.
For those who don’t, a fine disguised as a tax will be levied against them at a rate of $750.00 or 2% of income.
I say “disguised” because this is neither an income nor an excise tax – but a punishment or a means of enforcement and while Obama and his administration can call it whatever they want to call it; the fact remains, it is a punishment…Not a tax. Proof of this lies in the fact that the tax…er…Mandate is $750.00 or 2% of income…Whichever constitutes the higher amount.
The “Individual Mandate” is the key for both sides of this fight. For Obama, that is the mechanism by which Obamacare, nearly all of it, would be funded. The people, forced to purchase their healthcare through the government or pay the fines for not doing so would provide the funding for it. Strike the “Individual Mandate” and Obamacare would go unfunded.
For the people, represented by some 26 Attorneys General, the “Individual Mandate” would overstep the governments constitutional reach by dictating that the people purchase a good or service from the government.
And THAT is the true essence of this case…Constitutionality.
The government, Obama, will argue that they have a constitutional right to enforce the “Individual Mandate” under the Commerce Clause which sees to interstate commerce. To Obama, health insurance is interstate commerce and they will claim the Individual Mandate is structured as a tax and therefore, covered by the 16th amendment.
In this argument, since all activity by people can be construed as economic in nature, Obama would argue that the government therefore CAN dictate the purchase of a good or service. Making that argument would essentially shred Article 1 of the constitution regarding the limited power of government and is likely, or should be found an unfit argument.
Should Obama get away with such a stretch, there would be virtually nothing to prevent the government from forcing the people to buy anything they so desired. Suddenly, when the government buys into a private corporation they could then dictate that the people purchase the product that company provides or be fined for not doing so.
Perhaps this is how Obama means to put a million electric cars on the streets over the next few years.
Obamacare would also make states subsidiaries of the federal government by making them spend boat loads to revamp their healthcare systems and admit more and more people to Medicare whether or not the states could actually afford to do so and let’s be honest, as things stand now, virtually no state can afford it and many states would go bankrupt.
In that respect, Obama and his administration and their policy, Obamacare, would be creating a crisis that only that could cure through the bailout of states at taxpayer expense. Nifty scam huh?
The Attorneys General will argue that the “Individual Mandate” is unconstitutional in that it not only stretches the provisions of the Commerce Clause, it destroys them. Government forcing the people to buy a good or service from the government or be punished for not doing so would fly in the face of the constitution and set a precedent so dangerous as to render the constitutional restrictions on government for the protection of the people null and void.
Obamacare was crammed through the congress, was not made available to even be read ahead of passage, did not go through any judicial review or never made the subject of any legal opinion before it was passed.
One key component, the CLASS Act, has now been determined to be unsustainable and would have forced millions of workers into the Obamacare system at a cost of a trillion dollars to taxpayers. The loss of that portion of Obamacare causes a major void in funding or projected savings and now, with the specter of a defeat in the High Court regarding the “Individual Mandate” Obamacare is on the ropes.
Now then, to say the fate of Obamacare rests in the hands of the Supreme Court, is a somewhat premature statement.
While it is highly likely the Supreme Court WILL take on this case it is highly UNLIKELY the Court will strike down the entire law. The more likely scenario is that they will side against Obama on the “Individual Mandate” and find that part only, to be unconstitutional.
While doing so would remove the vast majority of funding for Obamacare, it would leave the law on life support in something of a Court induced coma, It will require repeal in Congress to pull the plug and bury it for good.
The very nature of Obamacare is socialist. With Obamacare, the government creates its own product, sets up a series of situations which would force consumers away from private purchase, dictate to those consumers that they must purchase that service from the government and would fine or punish those who don’t bow to the edict.
The basic constitutional argument against Obamacare is that it exceeds the provisions of the Commerce Clause, it strips Article 1 of its protection of the people by providing a limited government, tramples on the sovereignty of state’s rights and makes conscripts out of state officials.
By November 10th, we should know whether or not the Supreme Court will add Obamacare to their docket, I suspect they will, and if they do, that case will likely come to the bench in January with a decision rendered by sometime early next summer.
If the “Individual Mandate” is found to be unconstitutional (as I believe it will be in a 5-4 vote), not only would any further implementation of this law be halted due to a lack of funding, it will come as a stern rebuke and a crushing defeat to Obama and what he and liberal/socialists feel is their crowning achievement and in this respect, they will have no one but themselves to blame and nothing but their own socialist ideology on which to pin their defeat.
Either way it goes, it is up to us, we the people, to elect those to congress who will without delay after the 2012 election, repeal the madness of Obamacare and rid us once and for all of this socialist scheme.
