GayPatriot

The Internet home for American gay conservatives.

DECISION DAY

by

We are nearing the top of the hour of 10 o’clock here on the East Coast. The first big decision today — SCOTUS ruling on Obamacare — will be known within the next 30 minutes.

And later today, the U.S. Attorney General will be held in contempt of Congress in a bi-partisan vote.

It is an historic day in Washington, DC. Stay here for analysis and discussion all day long.

-Bruce (GayPatriot)

Comments

  2. Freedom dies by 10,000 cuts. But some cuts matter more than others, or mark how far we’ve fallen.

    If the Federal government can compel a citizen’s private activities – beginning with whether he buys an insurance product, and ending God knows where – then the U.S. is no longer a free country. Period.

    Which, of course, is just what our totalitarian, can’t-admit-(except-Levi)-that-they’re-fascist “friends” on the American Left want.

    The news headline at the moment is that SCOTUS has rationalized the mandate as a tax. But then why can’t any mandate for private activity (or payments to private parties) be rationalized as a tax?

  3. V – but I’m not sure that Roberts’ predecessor (Rehnquist) would have been any better. In other words, Republican Presidents were appointing bad justices back in the 20th century, too. And I’m not sure Willard Mittens would appoint anyone better. They’re all Big Government guys. Our entire political culture has gone wrong.

  4. Governor Romney just won the election & the Democrat Party’s political suicide is complete. All Democrats will be named Mud. Nothing can save them. Not even running away from Obama.

  9. “It’s a Tax, baby…”

    As a self-employed person how do I avoid the Federal “tax” if my state refuses to participate in the program?

  10. Hey, as a tax lawyer, all I can say is, well, it is the constitution. So, let’s deal with it. Lets deal with the law on its merits. What are the outcomes of the law? Health care, and costs? The dollar costs and its effect on the global economy? How will it affect lives? Tax lawyers are not political science lawyers cuz every social issue is now going to be crafted as a tax.

    My fervent hope for conservatives is that they GET BUSY and propose what must really be done. FIX social security. FIX medicare. DEVELOP a workable ALTERNATIVE. Don’t just say NO or the socialists & communists will return in 4 years. Lets have HSA’s for all.

    Get the govt and insurance companies OUT of the business for all but major medical issues. So much cost is consumed with bureaucracy. We got to minimize the bureaucracy to minimize costs. We need to maximize competition to maximize efficiency.

    And NEVER forget what is credited to Thomas Jefferson: Give a government official the ability to control prices and the first thing to be sold is the government official.

  11. Actually, this might be a blessing in disguise. The majority of America is against Obama care and by making it a “tax” it can be repealed by a republican POTUS and majority in Congress. It is now the issue of the 2012 presidential.

  12. Ironically, if Obamacare had been struck down, it might have set off a wave of hiring among American employers. Which would have helped Obama’s re-election chances.

    I don’t think we’ll see that now. But I can say honestly, that I would have preferred it to the outcome we have.

  13. Though I disagree with the decision, I respect Roberts. Will read his decision and see if he can convince me I’m wrong.

    I like independence on the court, I just wasn’t expecting the independent one to be Roberts. Justices surprise. I believe Thomas was the only Conservative judge to dissent in Kelo v New London.

    I know you guys don’t like it, but this is a huge win for the President. The big question now is, how does this affect the Presidential race? O’s poll numbers are going to get a good bounce from this, and it will certainly get more big Dem donors to open their wallets. How does Romney continue to fight against the ACA when most of it was modeled on his program AND the SCOTUS finds it Constitutional on the Federal level? This is a blow for him and his campaign to be sure.

  14. So in summary, I guess the SCOTUS decision is “This law stinks, enough that we must invent justifications for it that its framers didn’t intend, and narrow its Medicaid impact – but we’re too confused/wimpy to do anything serious about it.”

    I’m not sure about the political effects of all this.

    Striking down Obamacare was going to hurt Obama by cementing his impotence, but it was also going to help Obama by helping job creation (removing a great burden on the nation’s job creators). I guess we’re left with the opposite. The Dear Reader’s presidency has not been gutted, good for Him… but the economy will continue to stagnate from the weight of His oppressive policies, which is bad for Him.

  15. I’d be interested in a collation with the level of smugness over the Court’s decision to whether your employer pays for your health care vs. those of us now to be forced to pay exorbitant policy-payments for individual coverage…and with post-tax income.

    Has the Congress…with the Supreme Courts approval…signed America’s financial suicide pact?

  16. I believe Thomas was the only Conservative judge to dissent in Kelo v New London.

    You believe wrongly. O’Connor wrote the dissent, joined by Scalia, Rehnquist (that was the surprise, perhaps; since Rehnquist was often a Big Government guy) and Thomas.

    We have the SCOTUS liberals, plus Souter and Kennedy (but I repeat myself), to thank for Kelo. I was not surprised. I understood, even then, that left-liberalism is all about expanding government power.

  17. Hey I Love, as an attorney I tend to trust that the court did the right thing, from a legal and constitutional standpoint. The job of the court is to test the law from a legal position. It is not the court’s job to decide, limit, determine or promote etc socialism, capitalism, or political dis-ingenuousness.

    For longevity sake, I hope our conservative representatives do more than just repeal the law.

  18. O’s poll numbers are going to get a good bounce from this, and it will certainly get more big Dem donors to open their wallets. How does Romney continue to fight against the ACA when most of it was modeled on his program AND the SCOTUS finds it Constitutional on the Federal level? This is a blow for him and his campaign to be sure.

    Comment by sonicfrog — June 28, 2012 @ 11:11 am – June 28, 2012

    Let’s see.

    Obama lied about it being a tax.

    It’s a MASSIVE tax increase on just about everyone directly.

    It will hit at exactly the same time as the expiration of the tax cuts, thus resulting in double-digit tax increases on the vast majority of Americans.

    It forces businesses to take a huge expense hit for every employee they currently have, much less any one they plan to hire.

    He’s let his prominent donors buy their way out of paying the tax.

    And he and his minions, including the executive director of the DNC and his new media director, are going around calling people “b*tches” and worse for opposing it.

    Yeah, those are all winners for Obama.

  19. The job of the court is to test the law from a legal position.

    Specifically, from a constitutional position. And I say they failed. They invented a justification for the mandate that its framers explicitly disclaimed at the time (that it is somehow a tax). In doing so, they may have destroyed the meaning of the word “tax” – if it can now be used to cover any government mandate regarding private payments to non-government parties. They may also have destroyed what’s left of freedom in America – since any government mandate can now conceivably be justified as a tax.

    It is not the court’s job to decide, limit, determine or promote etc socialism, capitalism, or political dis-ingenuousness.

    It’s their job to uphold the Constitution as written. It looks like they may have failed.

  20. (i.e., since any government mandate can conceivably be -framed- as a tax. The mandate per se is not a tax. But if it is framed with a penalty, the penalty is now a tax, according to SCOTUS. Thus the mandate has effect. What limitations on government power are left? Is there any mandate on private activity, that can’t be framed that way? I’m all ears.)

  22. Thanks for the clarification ILC. I remember Thomas as being opposed to it because he had the best SCOTUS quote of the year on that decision.

    NDT, that may all be correct… but… He won! Did he lie and cheat to win? Sure! What politician doesn’t! I’m not saying this is the death of Romneys chances by any means, but it will make it much harder for him. I’m still not going to vote for the guy, but I’m not blinded by partisan politics and able ignore the huge swing in the fortunes of a President who has been taking it on the chin for months. This is a HUGE break for him.

  23. This is a HUGE break for him.

    See #14, last paragraph. Having it be struck down was always going to be a mixed bag for Him, balancing disadvantages and advantages; same with having it upheld.

    You sound almost… eager… to believe that it is a “HUGE break for him”, sf.

  25. You sound almost… eager… to believe that it is a “HUGE break for him”, sf.

    I just see it for what it is, especially considering the drubbing he would have taken if he would have lost. This is a HUGE win for him (and the insurance companies).

    Again, I don’t agree with the decision. Here are my thoughts on it when considering the liberal side of things.

    My main disagreement with the law is Congresses new power to tax it’s citizens if they don’t purchase a product the Congress wants them to.

    If you are a liberal – I ask this:

    What if Romney wins in November, and the Republicans take the full Congress, then decide that all American citizens, in order to promote the general welfare and provide for the common defense, require that all US citizens purchase a gun for protection, and those that don’t will be taxed. Knowing the typical liberal stance on guns, I expect most of you would not be very happy about this law. But, because of this decision today, that law would almost certainly be Constitutional.

    I know. I know. Guns kill people. But so do doctors and prescription drugs, and unlike prescription drugs, gun ownership is absolutely Constitutional.

  29. If I’m wrong, you can all laugh at me for 24 hours

    I didn’t intend rudeness, Sonic, but if that’s how I came across, then, I’m sorry. But, he said himself that it was win/win for him, anyway.

  30. Besides, many on this site are all about “prove to me you/they stood against this/that,” so I simply stated that I take no pleasure in Bruce’s prediction being wrong. I stood up for not gloating in case someone like Little Kiki came along and said something to the contrary. Just so I’m on record as saying something, as, again, we’re held responsible for on GP for doing by some of the commenters from time to time.

    I’m sorry you inferred something entirely, different, Sonic.

  34. Actually Cin,

    Since the original post by Bruce was ‘tongue in cheek’, along with the ‘wager’. Your jovial ‘follow up’ reply was apropos.

    Though, outside of that context, it could easily be taken the wrong way.

  35. I don’t see how this is good for Obama at all.

    1) Constitutional law professor Obama didn’t get the reason his law was constitutional law right.
    2) He said it wasn’t a tax, but that is the reason it was upheld. Now Obama has a huge tax increase on the “middle class” to his name.
    3) The conservative (and/or anyone who is opposed to Obamacare, whether they are otherwise conservative or not) are going to be fired up. This is going to galvanize Romney’s campaign.
    4) As ILC said, this isn’t going to help the economy.

    I say this is the worst possible outcome for Obama, because he looks foolish (see #1 & 2) and because of the political implications (see #2, 3 & 4). If Obamacare had been found unconstitutional, that would have been bad for him as well, but his chances of being re-elected just went down (if I’m right).

  38. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t …

    Yeah… except no.

    It’s a good line, I suppose it plugs into your martyr complex or something. But no one around here was going “Where is that Cinesnatch? Damn him, if he doesn’t mention this subject!!1!” So really, it was more just “damned if you do” type of case. That’s all.

  40. I wonder what other subjects Cinesnatch can bring up, while pretending to feel the opposite of what is actually conveyed by being the one to bring it up? 😉

  42. To pull that off, Cinesnatch, you need to be well-intentioned. BUT, for what I came to say… in other news of this Decision Day as Bruce called it, Holder was found in contempt:

    This afternoon the full U.S. House of Representatives voted 255 to 67 to hold U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder in criminal contempt of Congress for failure to turn over specific documents. Eric Holder is now the first U.S. attorney general to be held in contempt of Congress in the history of the United States.

    17 Democrats joined Republicans in voting for contempt. One member voted present, and 110 members did not vote.

    The House votes on two separate items:

    1: Whether to hold Holder in contempt and then refer him to the DOJ [passed 255 to 67; 17 Democrats voted yes]
    2: Authorization to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee to sue the DOJ in federal court [passed 258 to 95; 2 Republicans voted no]

    Will Fast and Furious, a scandal that has been rightly called “Watergate with 300 dead bodies”, finally get traction?

  44. 2) He said it wasn’t a tax, but that is the reason it was upheld. Now Obama has a huge tax increase on the “middle class” to his name.

    Somebody on Twitter called Bruce an asshole and said that ObamaCareless is “the law of the land, bitches!”. My reply, “Now you have to defend a tax on all Americans in an election year, bitch.”