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To the Voting Booth!

To the Voting Booth!

Consider this Pep Talk IV.

Was it over when Harry Reid pushed Obamacare through at Christmas time in December 2009?

Not when voters took to the voting booth and elected Scott Brown.

Was it over when Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats were forced to accept the Senate version so that reconciliation could be used, as she marched to the Capitol with large gavel in hand?

Not when the nation rose up and threw the Democrats out of power in the House in 2010.

Is it over now that the Supreme Court has upheld the mandate on the basis of a taxing power which Democrats expressly disavowed while passing Obamacare?

Not unless we allow Barack Obama to be reelected and the Democrats to hold the Senate.

You know what you have to do.

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Comments

Karen Sacandy | June 28, 2012 at 10:29 am

We must view Mitt Romney’s judicial appointments critically, and push back if they appear to be anything like John Roberts. Another appointment mistake.

    punfundit in reply to Karen Sacandy. | June 28, 2012 at 11:00 am

    We’ve seen time and time again we cannot rely on SCOTUS.

    Elect a Congress that will do the right thing, and will have the political heat to push El Presidente in the right direction.

      JackRussellTerrierist in reply to punfundit. | June 28, 2012 at 11:27 am

      I feel ill, physically sick to my stomach. We can’t count on congress, either, at least not the senate. Republican senators are not reliable as a group. We’ve seen them waffle so many times. And I have no confidence that a Romney presidency would get rid of this, even with a ‘pub senate.

      I’m beginning to feel more and more like a wild animal being pushed into a corner, about to turn and strike my captors.

    JackRussellTerrierist in reply to Karen Sacandy. | June 28, 2012 at 11:35 am

    Papa Bush gavs Souter, Baby Bush gave us Roberts. Is it just their bad luck (and, therefore, OUR bad luck), or is there something inherently incompetent in their judgment, or is it intentional?

    By all indicators, Roberts seemed like a solid choice. He wasn’t, obviously.

    So-called “conservatives” are just never solid. They’re all wild cards inasmuch as their thinking is always at risk of going off the rails. The left never has to suffer such treachery. Never. They are reliable to a “T”.

chuck myguts | June 28, 2012 at 10:31 am

It is over.
You would have to defeat not only the democrats but half of the repubs.

Juba Doobai! | June 28, 2012 at 10:32 am

Vote Boehner, Cantor and other sissy GOPErs out, too. Impeach John Roberts!

    I would settle for voting out Boehner, Cantor and McConnell. Roberts, the new darling of the left will never be impeached. Do not waste time, energy or money on impeaching Roberts. Save your time, energy and money by keeping the House, taking the Senate and putting Romney in our White House. Two out of three ain’t too bad.

Crap.

Guess I know where any overtime pay between now and November is going…. 🙁

We’ll have to repeal it [PPACA] in the House and the Senate (and probably have to drag a kicking and screaming Mitt to the table).

    Won’t work, won’t happen. Sorry. We lose.

      punfundit in reply to RightKlik. | June 28, 2012 at 11:01 am

      If you give up, shut up.

        Way to be encouraging!
        It’s not giving up when you’ve already lost.
        Do you have any idea how many Repubs want to keep the individual mandate in place?
        Ever heard of Mitt Romney and what he did in MA?
        Care to guess the odds of a fillibuster-proof anti-Obamacare majority in the Senate after the elections?
        Obamacare is the law of the land, and it becomes more deeply embedded in our health care system every day.

          punfundit in reply to RightKlik. | June 28, 2012 at 11:22 am

          Yes, I have a fair idea. The last thing you do is tell people no action is worth anything.

          The better thing to do is to shut up. Otherwise, discuss action and solutions.

          Yossarian in reply to RightKlik. | June 28, 2012 at 11:25 am

          So when are you leaving? Going to Costa Rica, New Zealand, Canada? Are you sure those countries will take you? If you think all is lost, don’t let the door hit you on the way out.

          JackRussellTerrierist in reply to RightKlik. | June 28, 2012 at 12:24 pm

          Go home, lefty troll.

What we have to do?!!,

ROAD TRIP

Might as well spend our money why we have it. The country is gone now.

Juba Doobai! | June 28, 2012 at 10:34 am

To heck with Romney. Get that RINO out of there and get Palin in there. We demand a genuine Conservative POTUS because the judicial choices of the RINO’s are a waste of time. The last good one was Clarence Thomas with Alito a possible.

    Karen Sacandy in reply to Juba Doobai!. | June 28, 2012 at 10:36 am

    True, but I attended the Georgia GOP state convention. It ain’t happening.

      Juba Doobai! in reply to Karen Sacandy. | June 28, 2012 at 10:57 am

      That was then. This is now. Romney is the father of Obamacare. Romneycare devastated Massachusetts’s health care system. Obamacare? God help us because the morons on the SCt prefer to be popular than to be constitutional.

Someone wiser than me opined that the people have three boxes: the soap box, the ballot box and the ammo box. We need to go again to the polls, and elect conservative, smaller government representatives.

Interesting to watch the Romney response. My fear is that he is a “fixer”, and he’ll figure out how to make 0bamaRomneyCare work, at any cost.

GOPE Repubicans won’t stop Romney when he nominates waffling judges, judges who will not stop the waywardness of the progressive liberals.

Sure when we vote, they listen! That’s how it works!

Maybe if we’re lucky we can get pansy ass R-Money in there and he’ll appoint another pansy ass J Roberts to SCOTUS.

Right on. I had a deep premonition, only because it felt wrong somehow to expect the court to “save” us. This was a political problem and it will require a political solution. This is what the Tea Party has been all about. There are no short cuts to recovery of our principles. I hope the Left gets giddy. We’re going to crush them in November. My only worry is Romney. And what do you think he’ll have to say about this ruling?

    Enolagay in reply to raven. | June 28, 2012 at 11:33 am

    Your “only worry is Romney”–that’s a mighty big worry! Look how he responded to the Arizona ruling.

9thDistrictNeighbor | June 28, 2012 at 10:36 am

If Romney opens his mouth and says that he can do it better because he started it in MASS, I will explode.

Can’t we please nominate Newt instead?????

Replace Roberts with Mark R. Levin.

    Karen Sacandy in reply to 9thDistrictNeighbor. | June 28, 2012 at 10:56 am

    If anyone would go to Newt’s HealthTransformations.net, you’d find he’s not far from Romney on this.

    SANTORUM championed and got passed Heath Savings Accounts 20 years ago. On the campaign trail, he repeatedly discussed Obamacare, and that free market approaches should be implemented.

    But too many people let the media-democrat complex distract them by asking Santorum culture questions, instead of paying attention to what Santorum was saying at the debates and during his career.

    Gingrich was like, who? Removing the democrats from the majority like Arthur removed the sword from the rock. But if his policy prescription isn’t right, the fact that he lights into the press isn’t the be all, end all.

At least at home when this happens, I get kissed!

[…] A needed dose of pep talk from Professor Jacobson at LI: Consider this Pep Talk […]

Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?? Hell, no, and we all know how that turned out! And dittos to 9thDistrictNeighbor, dump Roberts and put Levin on the High Court!

Thank you for the video of the day. Listening to it was like smoking that cigarette after having mad passionate make-up sex.

When you feel like giving up, remember why you held on for so long in the first place.
Anonymous

The Republicans need an ad asap along these lines:
Obama repeatedly saying “This is not a tax.” Then, an explanation that Obama instructed his lawyers to argue to the courts that it is a tax.” Then say: Obama lies.
Romney should repeat this as well.

[…] To the Voting Booth! Share HillaryIs44: […]

I haven’t read the entire opinion yet and had an opportunity to digest it (who has?), but the first quote that popped into my head was from Inigo Montoya: “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”

There is a significant difference between Congressional powers granted by the Commerce Clause and those granted by the Tax and Spend clause, and that could make all the difference in the final analysis.

Karen Sacandy | June 28, 2012 at 10:46 am

To think the Founders had a war over a Stamp Act and a tax on Tea. Tea….

Now we’re taxed on every food, every tire, every piece of real and personal property, every bit of income, over and over and over again. Then taxed again at death.

The Tea Party must be bolder. We are too timid. The best defense is a good OFFENSE.

Let us hope Romney and the Republicans take Insta’s advice and campaign on

“Repeal Obama’s Healthcare Tax!”

This is the perfect bumpersticker!

Why is it that the liberal members of the SCOTUS never “grow in office”? As other commenters have said, we’ve got to do it ourselves at the ballot box. We’ve got one chance to do undo Obamacare in 2012. After that, the Republican establishment will accept it as a fait acompli and the only time it will get undone is trillions of dollars later when the whole federal welfare state implodes.

The real schellacking is coming…. we need to vote out ALL progressives (republicans included) vote in Tea Party patriots…its the only way our country will survive….

WWCD?
What Would Churchill Do?
He would stand and fight.
Can we do any less?

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/03/how-obamacare-will-be-settled-a-primer-on-the-commerce-clause/254872/2/

“The justices may decide as the Fourth Circuit did that the individual mandate’s penalty is a tax that triggers the Anti-Injunction Rule. If so, the Court will shelve the issue until the first penalties are paid in 2015. In this scenario, neither side gets a “win.” However, a Supreme Court ruling characterizing the penalty as a “tax” would support the argument for constitutionality under the Taxing and Spending Clause … A ruling holding the mandate constitutional under the Taxing and Spending Clause but unconstitutional under the Commerce Clause would preserve the statute but complicate or limit Congress’s commerce power.”

OUTRAGE! OUTRAGE! OUTRAGE!

It has come to the day when Americans can no longer look to the courts to uphold the laws and the Constitution to protect our liberties. A very sad day.

    punfundit in reply to imfine. | June 28, 2012 at 11:10 am

    SCOTUS upheld Congress’ power to write laws. It does not rule on the soundness of legislation. Soundness is a political thing belonging to We The People.

    Repeal the damned law. Hire a Congress that will repeal the damned law. We have to do our job which is to make sure they do their job.

      imfine in reply to punfundit. | June 28, 2012 at 11:57 am

      What a load of horses shit. The questions before the court is whether the government has a right to force people to buy products or services. They said “YES”! Under what tortured and strained logic can they possibly say YES to that?

      This decision clearly shows that the court must be reconstituted as the current membership is unfit to serve. Service is a privilege and a sacred obligation. Apparently most of the Justices feel it is in their purview to rule as they want as if the Constitution was some rag to wipe their buts with.

        punfundit in reply to imfine. | June 28, 2012 at 12:30 pm

        They did not say yes. They did not rule on that. They did not rule based on Commerce Clause. They ruled based on taxation. Work with that.

        Stop bashing your head against that brick wall. Join us over here bashing our heads against this brick wall.

          imfine in reply to punfundit. | June 28, 2012 at 12:53 pm

          They did rule that Congress can force you to buy goods and services via a punishment tax. Your making a distinction without a difference. If they were calling the punishment a “penalty or fine” yesterday, it does no good to call it a tax today. The decision was outrageous. What’s next, a penalty for not providing a good or service? Ohh its a tax, that’s okay. Now back to the field picking cotton!

TrooperJohnSmith | June 28, 2012 at 10:52 am

I’m as let down as the rest of you. Really. In defense of Roberts, he may be the most intellectually honest person on the court. Unlike the other 8, he may’ve just read it the way it was presented by the Solicitor General. As he stated,

Congress had the power to impose the exaction in Section 5000A under the taxing power, and that Section 5000A need not be read to do more than impose a tax. This is sufficient to sustain it.

The Court’s ruling on the Medicaid portion – the punitive actions against the states that oppose expansion – may kill the law as far as its purpose of adding the poor and indigent.

Seriously, this ruling is so convoluted that it will take days to sort out its ultimate effects. In the end, it looks like at this early stage, both sides got hosed. If nothing else, this may add impetus for a bi-partisan reform, sooner rather than later,

    TrooperJohnSmith in reply to TrooperJohnSmith. | June 28, 2012 at 11:05 am

    From the SCOTUS blog:

    The rejection of the Commerce Clause and Nec. and Proper Clause should be understood as a major blow to Congress’s authority to pass social welfare laws. Using the tax code — especially in the current political environment — to promote social welfare is going to be a very chancy proposition.

    and

    From the beginning of the Chief’s opinion: “We do not consider whether the Act embodies sound policies. That judgment is entrusted to the Nation’s elected leaders. We ask only whether Congress has the power under the Constitution to enact the challenged provisions.”

    Doesn’t he say here that the law, as written, is a piece of sh!t, but essentially, the court is only ruling on the challenged provisions.

      punfundit in reply to TrooperJohnSmith. | June 28, 2012 at 11:11 am

      Yup.

      Just one quick question, suppose we gathered the founders who penned the constitution in a room and we told them when the court just decided. Do you think they would say that the Government has the power to force people to buy goods and services under the threat of a punishing tax?

      This decision has noting to do with the Constitution, but everything about the vanity of the “justices” serving on that court. If they held their roles as a sacred covenant they would not be behaving the way they have.

        punfundit in reply to imfine. | June 28, 2012 at 12:33 pm

        At which point do you suppose either of us believes Congress has the power to force people to buy anything?

        We agree with you (or at least I do) on that.

        The issue *available to us* right now is taxation. Work with that.

    its absurd; what the government can impose punishments as “taxes” but not states? Is not the taxing power that the feds have over states even more unambiguous in its scopes than people. Congress can surely lay a direct levy according to a states population and then distribute it as it sees fit for whatever reason. just say “hey we can justify this compulsion as a tax”

[…] 2: William A Jacobson @legalinsurrection.com agrees with me. Time to cram this thing down Harry Reid’s throat and make 2012 another rout of the Democrats […]

The next to worst part is the gloating left.

“You know what you have to do.”

Buy stock in companies that make shackles. SCOTUS has just placed an order for 350 million pairs.

Use the money to vote ALL the bums out.

I sure am glad in the 1770’s people didn’t keep saying vote them out to solve our problems.
we all know what the only solution is, the problem is we have allowed the gov to get so large we will be punished for what the only solution is.
got that? a governing entity that has us scared to say we need to go to war. sound vaguely familiar?
the states need to strengthen their national guards and militias, protect their own borders, and MAN UP !!

    Karen Sacandy in reply to dmacleo. | June 28, 2012 at 11:03 am

    You’re right. But they got us beat alot sooner than that. We can’t even say we want our country, the United States of America, PRESERVED! We have to go along with every foreigner invading our land as being deserving of “no discrimination.” We have to in fact FAVOR them. I’ve encountered this personally so many times.

    We should be emulating Ike, and rounding them up and shipping them back by the hundreds of thousands. And using every tool to do so, including the fact they don’t speak English.

    And simultaneously, building a huge fence and manning it with all our returning soldiers, to turn back the invasion.

    I loved America. She’s dying in front of my eyes.

      easy.
      each state defends its borders with weapons.
      those here now make a choice, sign up to man those weapons for citizenship or get parachuted (literally) to their country.
      I no longer care about anyones kids either, not my problem. if the parents put their kids in these situations its their fault.

    Enolagay in reply to dmacleo. | June 28, 2012 at 11:23 am

    If you’re a man, will you marry me? I love you!

    JackRussellTerrierist in reply to dmacleo. | June 28, 2012 at 12:07 pm

    Agree 100%.

I hope Obama struts and spikes the ball and thumbs his nose at the majority of Americans who oppose this law.

He is arrogant enough to do it and place it into his campaign as a “see there? I can do anything I want and you can go screw.”

This can be the spark that ignites a prairie fire the likes have never been seen.

Let this be a lesson to unengaged morons who could not be bothered with that silly old politics thingy.

Karen Sacandy | June 28, 2012 at 10:59 am

Yes, he will want to spike the ball. He’s so narcissistic, he can’t help himself.

Even though I had had a feeling of gloom & doom it still stunk when it was announced. I’ll vote and work but I have no sense of confidence that Romney and many of the GOPers in Congress feel the same way we do. I fully expect the push to be “let’s all get along & work together.” We know that means conservatives will be expected to STFU.

Henry Hawkins | June 28, 2012 at 11:00 am

Every time something like this happens, I go buy another firearm.

    punfundit in reply to chuck myguts. | June 28, 2012 at 11:17 am

    Yup. Congress has the power to tax. Of course, Obama et al said it wasn’t a tax. Now they’re forced to treat it like a tax. The House legislates taxes.

Good point, Professor.

To show that I got it, I just went and donated $25 to Josh Mandel, Sen Sherrod Brown’s opponent for this years Senate race in Ohio. I’m not even from Ohio, but Kentucky where, also, I’ve donated, more than once, to Mitch McConnell (even though Mitch should be a shoe-in) and Thomas Massie for KY 4th District (endorsed by Sen Paul).

We need to pony up and do our best to get the leftist dog excrement like wife-beater Sherrod Brown out of DC if we stand any chance of repealing Robert’s “tax”

I would remind all of you that Professor Jacobson is right; to the voting booth.

Only Congress holds taxing power. If the SCOTUS has determined that Obamacare is essentially a tax (although Obama claimed it was not), Congress has the power to repeal taxes. It also has the power to not fund the agencies that will be required to carry the ACA out. Defund, defund, defund.

The Republican controlled House needs to quickly enact legislation that eliminates the “tax” that will be imposed only on certain Americans for the funding of Obamacare, and when it goes to the Senate, Republicans need to scream to the heavens the names of all those Democrats who support additional taxation on American citizens.

The Republicans also need to hammer home to voters that their taxes are going to increase and create an even larger federal government in a era where a majority of Americans think that the federal government is already too large.

This is a black day for those of us who support individual rights. But it is by no means over. It is now in the hands of the voters who have even more reason to elect strick Consitutionally conservatives. We did it in 2010, we can do it in 2012.

TrooperJohnSmith | June 28, 2012 at 11:08 am

Well, those 1600 boards and commissions need to be funded. That comes from the House. Defund ’em.

The voting booth? It’ll be too little, too late.

I think of Vatican II and the Catholic Church. The doors were “thrown open” to a new day for the Church. And, the result? The Church has never realized what was promised as the outcome of this “fresh air.” Indeed, it continues to stagger, trying to find a renewal. A prime example is the attendance at Mass which is at a low level (about 25%).

I think in a similar manner, the societal “doors” have been thrown wide open with all sorts of promises about how much better it will be for everybody. If we just pass the right laws, it’ll all get better. We have more laws on the books than ever. How is it working out for us?

No, the damage to the fabric of our country has been on-going for far too long. The ideologies that have guided us to the present are too entrenched to be dealt with in any single election.

America, look to Europe. Lest you turn away, there lies your future.

I admire your confidence and agree wholeheartedly, but recent voter referendums on hot topics such as tax reform and same sex marriage have a poor record of being upheld (by courts, of course). Vote the bastards out, all of them, but they’ll be replaced by a new generation of clones who will continue to drone on about this section and that clause, ad infinitum. It is simply astounding to believe that anything as screwed up as PPACA could be made worse—but the Court found a way. This Court had a very rare opportunity to obtain a fresh start and it failed miserably. Colossally. To say I’m optimistic about what a new round of legislators sitting around “crafting” legislation would accomplish would be a grossly positive overstatement. I’m pessimistic. I have never missed a vote, not even while overseas in the service (back when folks made certain your vote got in rather than finding excuses for excluding it) and won’t now. But it’s difficult to believe the end result will be different. Each new lot will just get us deeper in the weeds.

Is it too late to get Newt in at the convention? The Court has given Romney all the cover he’ll need to waffle. I say Go For It. Push Romney long, loud, and hard. If it fails there, we still have Romney.

JaneLovesJesus | June 28, 2012 at 11:12 am

What is it going to take for people to turn to God? Things aren’t bad enough yet?

TrooperJohnSmith | June 28, 2012 at 11:13 am

This my be the kick in the ass the sleeping giant needs. After all, 50-70 percent of the Democrats’ present electorate is already on Medicaid, Food Stamps, Babymoney and have no real incentive to vote on the basis of their need for anything new, unless 0bama offers them free lawn service, wi-fi or gummint job.

fulldroolcup | June 28, 2012 at 11:16 am

It’s dismaying to see calls for Roberts’ impeachment on a legal blog. Go read your Constitution. Justices cannot be impeached for their legal opinions.

    Juba Doobai! in reply to fulldroolcup. | June 28, 2012 at 12:21 pm

    You’re quite right, and I am sorry I did it.

    imfine in reply to fulldroolcup. | June 28, 2012 at 12:35 pm

    If the constitution can be twisted so many times as to allow the government to force people to buy goods and services, then surely we can twist it a little more to throw the bomb out of office?

    Haha! that was a joke. There is nothing in the Constitution that prevents the House from bringing impeachment proceedings against Roberts or the rest of the court for any reason they deem fit. Nor is there any recourse available to the Justices if the senate should convict on those grounds. (BTW they would lose their pensions if they are convicted, which is an added +) I think booting justices off the court would be a good start. Alternatively there is an easier way to deal with the problem, appoint 20 more Justices to drown those bastards out.

Time to replace the 16th amendment with the Fair Tax. That would eliminate the basis for selectively applying the individual mandate tax (you could tax everyone a flat amount, just not waive it if they had insurance).

The Fair Tax plus the limits in today’s ruling on the Commerce Clause would probably help undo most of the mess the Liberals have left the country in.

Which is to say, IMHO, we’re almost ready for a reverse American revolution — no representation without taxation! Albeit, I’d prefer representation that was proportionate to taxation. I think the Fair Tax is one of the better ways to fix it, but I’d also be OK with anything that reduced the ability of the mooching classes to demand more bread and circuses.

    punfundit in reply to Zhinlo. | June 28, 2012 at 11:42 am

    If we’re getting rid of progressive amendments, dump the 17th as well. We don’t need Dukes of the United States.

      Zhinlo in reply to punfundit. | June 28, 2012 at 12:44 pm

      I agree. If it were repealed, I don’t think going back to the Senate being any less imperial, but at least they’d be more likely to actually represent the States as Sovereign entities, rather than the people OF the States. The House represents the people, I’d prefer the Senate represent the States.

Those subject to the individual mandate may lawfully forgo health insurance and pay higher taxes, or buy health insurance and pay lower taxes.

Banned: Just Be

TrooperJohnSmith | June 28, 2012 at 11:21 am

From SCOTUS Blog on the Medicaid ruling:

http://www.scotusblog.com/2012/06/court-holds-that-states-have-choice-whether-to-join-medicaid-expansion/

This is some wicked, convoluted sh!t!! But then look at what the SCOTUS had to work with!

I’m just incredibly sad. Unlike the First Klingon, I used to be proud to be an American. Not anymore. I guess it’s her turn now.

Time to push the GOP hard. Very hard. Congress can refuse to fund Obamacare. We can hold this beast at bay until it’s repealed. I expect tsunami II this Nov.

I’m not a lawyer and know nothing about the law, but to my simple mind isn’t this entire ruling wrong because the premise is wrong? It was never presented as a tax, and in fact Obama was very specific when he stated it was NOT a tax, so how could Roberts start with that premise? Sorry, but simple minds want to know.

Insufficiently Sensitive | June 28, 2012 at 11:27 am

I’d love to go to a voting booth, but my dear elected ‘representatives’ have abolished them here in King County, in favor of all-mail voting. Said County is home of the administrative vote-finders who counted and counted and decided that Chris Gregoire would be Governor.

In other words, in King County a vote to oust a leftist politician must be overwhelming, to overturn all the manufactured ‘ballots’ sent through the mail after all the ingenious schemes to mark them ‘correctly’ have been applied.

Contrary to most opinion, I think this was a GREAT decision for the Republicans in a political sense. Obama is tagged as passing a tax increase, and with the medicaid threat withdrawn from picture, a taxpayer may end up paying a tax for not buying a product that he can not afford to buy.

Meanwhile, Obama has to defend this crap and loses the possibility to stump across the country to save us from that horrible conservative court, while Republicans can stump to get rid of an unpopular program.

Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter

    Karen Sacandy in reply to SqueekyFromm. | June 28, 2012 at 11:43 am

    “Squeaky Fromme” was a follower of mass murderer Charles Manson, and tried to assassinate Gerald Ford.

    A bad moniker.

    JayDick in reply to SqueekyFromm. | June 28, 2012 at 12:54 pm

    Politically, I think you are right. But getting rid of Obamacare will be difficult. It is not likely the Republicans will get 60 senate seats, so efforts to repeal (next year) will be difficult. Republicans would have to frighten/intimidate a handful of Democrats to go along, not an easy task on so big an issue.

    Implementation can be delayed via other legislative and executive actions, but this monstrosity will still be on the books. It can be delayed in a budget reconciliation bill (only 51 votes needed to pass the senate), but I don’t see how it can be repealed this way. Of course, the Dems have gotten away with ignoring the rules, so I guess the Repubs can too.

“they can’t make you buy broccoli, but they can tax you for not buying broccoli.”

    Sanddog in reply to Viator. | June 28, 2012 at 11:34 am

    That pretty much sums it up.

    Midwest Rhino in reply to Viator. | June 28, 2012 at 11:41 am

    and only broccoli grown by approved growers.

    You can’t self insure, or even buy catastrophic insurance.

    The worst part to me is not the penalty/tax for not having health insurance, it is the control over the insurance I already have.

    This was passed as bait and switch (not a tax, will lower rates, will reduce budget … opposite was true) … isn’t that illegal?

      punfundit in reply to Midwest Rhino. | June 28, 2012 at 11:44 am

      You mean a politician lied? Where is that in the Constitution?

      We hire and fire. We need to do our job.

        Midwest Rhino in reply to punfundit. | June 28, 2012 at 11:57 am

        ha .. yes I agree our vote and campaigning is the answer.

        “Bait and switch” was just a snide and trite remark. But running a deliberate fraud is unconstitutional, isn’t it? I think most have become too brainwashed to demand more. Tarring and feathering … followed with revolution, worked for awhile.

      Maine reqs you to bring a shotgun to church.
      so now the fed should req you to purchase a shotgun, rifle, and pistol for each household.
      we’ll call it a tax.
      hope the anti gun people like that

    ALman in reply to Viator. | June 28, 2012 at 2:19 pm

    So, to follow your reasoning (or, I should say theirs):

    they can’t make me buy marijuana, but they can tax me for not buy it?
    Have I got that right? Because, if I do, I’m thinking of using this as a defense, should I get caught . . .

“Justice Kennedy is the most powerful man in America. As the swing vote, he will be the one deciding the fate of Obamacare”

KENNEDY STRIKES ENTIRE LAW!

Not so fast-

Justice Roberts, caller of balls and strikes, awards team Obama a touchdown on a play that should have been whistled dead for illegal procedure.

When Roberts told us he was just the ump, he meant he was the referee.

When everyone thought they were playing baseball, they were really playing football.

When everyone was talking mandate, Roberts was talking taxes.

Go back in time. Didn’t Obama say if SCOTUS struck it down he was going to implement anyway? (He might not have, but I seem to recall him stating something to the effect.)

TrooperJohnSmith | June 28, 2012 at 11:35 am

Come on people… pick yourselves up. We knew it wasn’t going to be easy. ObamaCare is still the same bloated, groaning, unfunded, jury-rigged, fetid piece of sh!t it was the day it was signed into law. Nothing has changed, except there is no longer SCOTUS help killing it, except as this ruling as weakened it some.

Imagine if it had been tossed out, completely, and all the Democrats’ “vulnerables” had been mobilized. No… the “won”. Let ’em crawl up into their warm, rent-subsidized beds and sleep in on election day.

Just because it’s Constitutional, is it also sustainable, affordable, viable or the right thing to do.

LukeHandCool | June 28, 2012 at 11:35 am

Tweet by DNC executive director, Patrick Gaspard:

“It’s constitutional, Bitches.”

—I ain’t your bitch, Bitch.

Don’t Trickle On Me!

[…] We will be issuing that judgment on Nov. 6th of this year.  SCOTUS has just lit a fire under every citizen activist I know.  We will be at the polls in November, and that will be our judgement. […]

This guy has it right. Its a tax. Run with that Romney

http://spectator.org/blog/2012/06/28/the-tax-is-the-issue-romney-an

TrooperJohnSmith | June 28, 2012 at 11:38 am

As the good P’fessor stated, it’s now about Election 2012:

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/election-just-became-about-obamacare_647928.html

Won’t the law now have to be re-written as a tax? Also, for those who received waivers, are they still valid? Do they get to escape the tax?

    Karen Sacandy in reply to herm2416. | June 28, 2012 at 11:47 am

    Yeah, the waivers are great, but without them, the killing effect on business would be obvious as McDonald’s would collapse.

    Love McDonald’s, the public service they provide, no joke, by providing, um, public accomodations at almost every interstate exit. :^)))

The Pelosi/Reid/Obama government have achieved liberal utopia.

They have finally managed to tax breathing.

Congratulations.

The Act is unconstitutional–saying it is and passing it doesn’t change that fact.

Snorkdoodle Whizbang | June 28, 2012 at 11:45 am

IMHO, Obama just lost the election. He’s and the Democratic Party have now been tagged with a vastly unpopular bit of legislation, the highest tax increase in the Republic’s history, and the largest amount of federal spending and debt in the history of the Republic. November will be brutal not only for the Presidential election, but down ticket as well. If the Dems thought that 2010 was bad, November 2011 could well be epic.

From a @zerohedge commentor: “The US Constitution was already dead, but this qualifies as necrophilia” Pretty damn accurate

Now that I’m sufficiently awake, there is one thing I want to know. Did they read the whole thing? And, did they read all the parts of other laws that were referred to in that monstrosity? I tried reading the entire bill once and couldn’t because so many parts of it referred to other documents that I didn’t have access to and didn’t know how to access in the first place. Just wondering…

    Sanddog in reply to JoAnne. | June 28, 2012 at 11:56 am

    I would characterize this decision as:

    They read into it what they wanted to see in order to come to a decision that supported increasing federal power.

LukeHandCool | June 28, 2012 at 11:47 am

James Carville: “The Tea Party Is Over.”

James Carville is no Admiral Yamamoto, is he?

Sleep and giants and all, James.

The DNC Exec Director Gaspard tweeted “it’s constitutional. Bitches.”

I think he just cost his party a few votes there, huh? To the voting booths.

    LukeHandCool in reply to Yukio Ngaby. | June 28, 2012 at 11:56 am

    He also tweeted, “TAKE THAT MOTHER******S!”

    Per Drudge, he later deleted it.

    It’s one thing to awaken a sleeping giant. It’s quite another to then start poking him with a sharp stick.

      punfundit in reply to LukeHandCool. | June 28, 2012 at 11:59 am

      Remember, in March 2010 the vile left was dancing in the streets. They stopped dancing in November 2010.

      Yukio Ngaby in reply to LukeHandCool. | June 28, 2012 at 12:01 pm

      So true. They’ve been poking for 3+ years, and now they are actively yelling at us– after calling us all racists. Great stuff from the Dems. Wait for November.

      LukeHandCool in reply to LukeHandCool. | June 28, 2012 at 12:25 pm

      “The fiercest serpent may be overcome by a swarm of ants.”

      —Admiral Yamamoto

      Okay, Ant People. Let’s get to work!

      LukeHandCool (who is intent on making Tony Robbins seem like a downer)

Since the mandate has become a “Tax” doesnt that require Congressional action?

I was pleased with Romney’s comments.

Calm, clear, and measured.

Presidential.

Leave the ranting and raving to us!

    ALman in reply to Browndog. | June 28, 2012 at 12:18 pm

    What??? Who’s ranting??? Who’s raving???

    Just becuase I took a 12(or, was it a fourteen)-guage to my car. Just because all the windows in my place are broken? Just because I’ll now have to buy a new bow,as well as arrows, new fishing rods, new TV, (thus far, I’ve spared the computer).

    Who’s ranting and raving??? Why you seem to think there might be some people who are upset that the crazy. . .oops! There goes the printer . . .

From Instapundit:

Obama said it wasn’t a tax. The Supreme Court says he lied.

Rush opens with it’s a tax; Obama lied to us.

    punfundit in reply to punfundit. | June 28, 2012 at 12:10 pm

    Roll the tape.

    Enolagay in reply to punfundit. | June 28, 2012 at 12:17 pm

    Okay –so what, it doesn’t matter what Obama said. How does it change what Roberts ruled?

      Juba Doobai! in reply to Enolagay. | June 28, 2012 at 12:43 pm

      Maybe I’m thinking too hard, but what Roberts has been doing is subversive of the Obama agenda. Sure, Obama got what he wanted, but he also got screwed big time. Roberts has twice labeled Obama correctly: 1) open borders, anti-American sovereignty, illegal alien hugger; 2) big spending humongous taxing liar and dictator.

      I haven’t followed Roberts’s judicial decisions to note if he’s left leaning but assumed that he is because of his holdings on AZ, Alvarez, and Obamacare. Still, I’m left wondering if he’s doing something else and his holdings are acts of desperation intended to force We the People to depend on ourselves to defend and reclaim our Republic, a la Palin.

        Juba Doobai! in reply to Juba Doobai!. | June 28, 2012 at 12:54 pm

        Just finished reading this article http://lsolum.typepad.com/legaltheory/2012/06/the-decision-to-uphold-the-mandate-as-a-gestalt-shift-in-constitutional-law.html and it seems to support what I’m thinking about what Roberts is doing. The guy writes:

        “There is an alternative gestalt concerning the New Deal Settlement. For many years, some legal scholars had advanced an alternative reading of the key cases uphold New Deal legislation. On this alternative reading, the New Deal decisions were seen as representing the high water mark of federal power. Although the New Deal represented a massive expansion of the role of the federal government, it actually left a huge amount of legislative power to the states. On the alternative gestalt, the power of the federal government is limited to the enumerated powers in Section Eight of Article One, plus the New Deal additions. These are huge, but not plenary and unlimited.

        Today, it became clear that four of the Supreme Court’s nine justices reject the academic consensus. As Justice Kennedy states in his dissent joined by Scalia, Thomas, and Alito:
        “In our view, the entire Act before us is invalid in its entirety.”

        The alternative gestalt is no longer an outlier, a theory endorsed by a few eccentric professors and one odd justice of the Supreme Court. And because Justice Roberts believes that the mandate is not a valid exercise of the commerce clause (but is valid if interpreted as a tax), he has left open the possibility that there is a fifth justice who endorses the alternative gestalt.”

    Sarah Palin tweeted much the same: “Obama lied to the American people. Again. He said it wasn’t a tax. Obama lies; freedom dies.

LukeHandCool | June 28, 2012 at 12:12 pm

Rallying cry provided.

For every action there is a reaction. And it will be constitutional, too, Beech.

LukeHandCool (who is a docile creature, but who, oddly, just loves a good fight against an arrogant opponent).

I hate sending politicians my money whether as taxes or campaign contributions. As an right-leaning independent the only things I like less than Republican politicians are Democratic Politicians. Despite that, this decision just prompted me to give Romney’s campaign as much as I could afford, which is more than I’ve ever given to a politician or clarity. Unfortunately or fortunately, his website is too busy to take my money right now.

quiksilverz24 | June 28, 2012 at 12:19 pm

As just heard on 850 KOA here in Denver: ObamaCare is a tax, therefore we can repeal the ENTIRE law through Budget reconciliation. We must win the senate by one, just one, and a Romney Presidency CAN repeal it all. Reid and Pelosi cannot do anything to block passage.

I was pissed for the allotted 20 minutes, but now it’s time to get to work. Gather the troops, and let’s get this done.

I’m looking at the bright side here for now the affirmation of O’bammyCare has created a real campaign issue.

Now, a choice between an ever increasing government that creeps into your everyday life along with huge deficits and high taxes OR the repeal of O’bammyCare, limited government and lower taxes.

We have a choice of keeping the community organizer or electing a well qualified executive/manager with real world experience.

For me, the choice is a no-brainer.

For a dumbed down public, I’m not so sure…

Juba Doobai! | June 28, 2012 at 12:25 pm

Marco Rubio reminds that the IRS will come after folks like me who like to pay cash for healthcare. Really, it is much cheaper to pay cash cuz you pay 50% less than do those folks who pay via health insurance, plus you don’t get stuck in a monthly plan paying for something you don’t use a lot.

Well, the IRS will just have to come after me cuz I’m not buying health insurance besides a policy plan.

LukeHandCool | June 28, 2012 at 12:28 pm

Whoops. This time with the link.

“The fiercest serpent may be overcome by a swarm of ants.”

—Admiral Yamamoto

Okay, Ant People. Let’s get to work!

LukeHandCool (who is intent on making Tony Robbins seem like a downer)

Visions of the uninsured holing up in cities and the boondocks chased by revenuers.

Revenuers’ Song

“Oh, the Revenuers are here, we will chase you all the year;
We are out to get the Hatfields and McCoys.
We will hide behind each tree so that we can always see
When a Hatfield takes a pot shot at a ‘Coy!
We’ll be runnin’ and a shootin’ and our whistles will be tootin’
When the feudin’ gets a little bit too hot!
If you’re plannin’ on a livin’
Then this warnin’ I’m a givin’
If it’s breaking laws you’re doin’ – you better not!”

Sung to the tune of Hillbilly

“Liberty or Death!” takes on a whole new meaning now.

Obama won the day, but this means he has lost a “foil” for the election.
Instead of pivoting to bashing Republicans over the loss of ObamaCare, he is essentially where is was yesterday.

    punfundit in reply to Neo. | June 28, 2012 at 3:09 pm

    Yes, no change. The economy still sucks. People are still out of work. The world is still falling apart. And ObamaCare is still a nightmare.

Roberts assured his fucking legacy all right.
Because that is so much more important than striking the death blow to this country.

First I will weep for my country. Then I am going to stand up and fight like I have never fought before! Even though he was way down my list of candidates, I am going to fight for Romney’s election in Nov. Obama MUST GO!

[…] sided with the four libs. That, was not expected. Thanks Chief, we’ll take it from here. We know what we have to do now. It’s the only thing we can do to save our Republic. Now, go do […]

The Princess Bride had The Dread Pirate Roberts but he is no match for The Traitor John Roberts who is sitting on the Supreme Court.

Really it doesn’t matter if we repeal this thing because the damage has been done. The government has all of these powers whether it chooses to use them or not and the day will come when the wrong people are in office and they will be used. The Supreme Court has expanded the Commerce Clause to the point that there are few limits and what it does not allow can now be attained under its taxing authority.

Quite literally the ONLY right you have left is the right to bitch about it under the 1st Amendment. But since the government will be controlling your access to healthcare I would not bitch too loudly.