Roberts Rules of Order
Chief Justice John Roberts have everyone scratching their collective heads wondering why on earth a conservative Supreme Court Justice would side with the liberals on the court and vote to uphold the Affordable Care Act (ACA) known as Obamacare.
In his lengthy written opinion Roberts indicated that he felt the law exceeded the authority of the Commerce Clause in the U.S. Constitution. He also indicated that the individual mandate to purchase health insurance seemed more like a penalty than a tax. Yet his decision to vote in favor was based upon his feeling that the government is within its rights to levy a tax on people for not buying health insurance and that the mandate could be considered a tax. What? His opinion reads like he is going to vote against the ACA right up until the time he votes for it.
Could he have an ulterior motive for voting for Obamacare? Many have cited that this contentious decision by the highest court in the land serves to energize Republicans, particularly Tea Partiers, to get out the vote in November and elect as many Republicans as they can, especially the one running for the White House, Mitt Romney.
Keeping Obamacare also preserves it as a major weapon for Romney to use against Obama during the campaign. Roberts' labeling the mandate as a tax gives credence to Republicans labeling Obama as a tax and spend big government liberal.
Keeping Obamacare also continues to give big business the excuse that they are afraid to hire new employees until they know the real cost of Obamacare.
So, could Roberts ruling be a plus for the Republicans in the coming election? It certainly could.
With so many Republicans wringing their hands throughout this presidential campaign over their worry that Romney just doesn't get their base excited enough to go out and vote on election day, this may be just the thing that gets the faithful off the couch and into the voting booth.
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