Obamacare Watch: The Empire Strikes Back
I told you the Michigan ruling wasn’t the end of the story. Today, a federal judge in Florida, Roger Vinson, ruled that the lawsuit brought by 20 states against Obamacare can move forward.
Unlike the Michigan judge, who twisted the Commerce clause into a pretzel, Judge Vinson acknowledged that "the power that the individual mandate seeks to harness is simply without prior precedent." He also smacked down the Administration’s argument that the individual mandate’s penalty is a tax (it would be legally advantageous for Obama if it were a tax). In withering language Vinson skewers the hypocrisy of those who actually stripped out the word “tax” from the individual mandate sections of the bill – back when they were trying to sell the thing – but who now insist that it was a “tax” all along.
"Congress should not be permitted to secure and cast politically difficult votes on controversial legislation by deliberately calling something one thing, after which the defenders of that legislation take an "Alice-in-Wonderland" tack and argue in court that Congress really meant something else entirely," Vinson wrote, "thereby circumventing the safeguard that exists to keep their broad power in check."
Read the whole thing here. Meanwhile, over at the White House Blog, Obama’s increasingly desperate inner circle have taken the very moderate course of equating those who oppose the healthcare law to those who opposed the Civil Rights Act.
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May '10
Re: Obamacare Watch: The Empire Strikes Back
Good news!
And yet, once again, the direction of our nation depends on the unpredictable decision of a handful of permanent governors.
Jul '10
Re: Obamacare Watch: The Empire Strikes Back
Thanks to legislation like the Civil Rights Act, the US Federal Government keeps better track of the racial profiles of its citizens than the Nazis and the octoroon laws are safe from any threat of appeal. And comprehensive Federal control of health care and it is a "race" between Black, White, and Other Supremacists to initiate the demographics war to end all demographics wars.
Always govern as if you realize that sooner or later the levers of power will come under control of the opposition.
Sep '10
Re: Obamacare Watch: The Empire Strikes Back
The creeping and ever growing insinuation that health is a right is a very dangerous proposition. Cede that part of the argument and lose the struggle to shift this society back into a more individualistic mindset where rights are balanced by responsibilities.
Aug '10
Re: Obamacare Watch: The Empire Strikes Back
You're a true patriot, Judge Vinson. As Churchill said, "It's when the dark comes down that the stars shine".
A terrible darkness is asserting itself to snuff out all light, but it will fail. This is our time to shine.
Aug '10
Re: Obamacare Watch: The Empire Strikes Back
And the 11th Circuit is probably the most likely circuit to affirm the district court's opinion.
Re: Obamacare Watch: The Empire Strikes Back
Great point. This was the motion to dismiss; the summary judgment argument is coming up, but given Vinson's ruling, we can guess we're he's going with summary judgment. A strong affirmance from the 11th Circuit would create a great head of steam heading into the Supreme Court.