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EDITOR OF REDSTATE

OPEN THREAD: Programming Notes for a Very Big Day

By: Erick Erickson (Diary)  |  June 28th, 2012 at 04:48 AM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

Today is the day the Obamacare decision will come out.

It should happen after 10 o’clock this morning.

Come by RedState and we will be live streaming the award winning Coffee & Markets podcast with live coverage of the decision and its implications.

At 1pm on WSB Radio, the nation’s most listened to talk radio station, I’ll be hosting a two hour radio special about the ruling. Guests will include Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens and Karen Harned, Executive Director of the NFIB’s legal center. The NFIB is a lead plaintiffs in the case.

You can listen live online on the WSB live stream and call in at 1-800-WSB-TALK.

I’ll be back on WSB from 6pm to 8pm tonight, still talking about the case. Additionally, I’ll be on Erin Burnett’s show on CNN at the top of the 7pm ET hour.

Throughout the day here at RedState we will have continuing coverage and analysis regardless of how the decision goes.

Consider this an open thread to sing praises or vent on SCOTUS’s decision.

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COMMENTS

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  • CarolT

    The entire bill should be tossed out as Unconstitutional and the GOP should have nothing to offer. I do not want the government in my medical records. They are privileged and should be between doctor and patient.
    Romney has to tread carefully, let’s not forget that it was his signature bill as Governor of MA. I live here and I do not thin a 26 year old is child.
    I have had a full time job with insurance since I was 19.

    Holder and Obama are both in contempt.

  • anjinconsulting

    Lets get it on. I am ready for a fight and looking forward to it.

  • mag221

    I think the Court will find the law so complex, so interdependent, that it will have no choice but to strike it all down when it quashes the individual mandate as unconstitutional. As I think Scalia said originally, how is it the duty of the Court to sort through 2,400 pages of madness to figure out what stays and what goes? They’ll strike it all — and send the remains back to Congress.

    The REAL constitutional assessment:
    http://www.tenthamendment.net/home/universal-health-care-insurance-mandate-constitution.asp

  • proudmarinemom

    How is the Opinion announced? Does a periwig-pated bailiff emerge onto the steps of the Supreme Court with a parchment scroll and read it aloud or is a written Opinion set out on a buffet table for the mob of ravenous journalists to grab whilst dashing for the row of phone booths in the hall?

    The suspense is killing me.

  • wintermute

    and my prediction will be that the court completely screws us all.

    prediction:

    1. The mandate is not a tax so the court can rule on it now 2. The individual minimum coverage amount is constitutional, 3. The expanded medicaid requirement on the states is constitutional. The only caveat is that the opinion states that healthcare is “special” and therefore in this “special” and “limited” case the federal government can require you to pay a private corporation to do something simply b/c you are alive. I wonder how long until broccoli is deemed “special”.

    i seriously hope im wrong

  • wintermute

    but i believe the author of the majority opinion reads the decision. The justices put on their robes and file into the court at 10am sharp and the decisions start to come out. The decisions are read in the order of seniority, most senior going last, so if john roberts (being that he is chief justice and the CJ is automatically most senior) penned the healthcare opinion its gonna go last. There are 2 other opinions coming most likely before the ACA ruling, so it will be rather suspenseful.

  • proudmarinemom

    How nerve-wracking to be in that courtroom. If I were to leave right now, I could be on the steps of the Court in about 40 minutes, but the drama might be too much in this heat. Not being sarcastic, either.
    This is a tough day regardless of the outcome.

    As conservativecurmudgeon asked yesterday, “How did we end up here?”

    Praying.

  • commonsenseobserver

    But politically, SCOTUS saying that it can’t rule till 2014 would be the best for the GOP, provided it also includes an acknowledgement of constitutional challenges.

  • tngal

    we will witness an orgy of despair from the left for the next week. Much like what occured after the Walker win. Ah, good times. Would have liked a better ruling on Arizona, coupled with a complete toss of Ocare. This would make a true trifecta for the year, but alas can’t have everything.

  • wintermute

    nt

  • barleycorn

    Half of my brain says the Court will render a 6-3 decision to uphold with Roberts writing the opinion and making it very narrow and restrictive because of the pervasive nature of health care. (of course food, and clothing, and housing, and transportation are all pervasive too so good luck with limiting principles on this one)

    The other half of my brain says it will be 5-4 to strike the mandate with Roberts again writing the opinion and using said decision to help define the limits of the commerce clause.

    The third half of my brain agrees with davenj1 that if Sotomayor joins in a 6-3 decision to overturn, that she may well be given the opinion. While I don’t expect that she will do so, I’ll be delirious if she does.

  • CincoSolas_del_Bronx

    He was clearly unhappy that the WH would have to wait as long as everyone else to learn the outcome, calling the procedure “anachronistic”, suggesting it be overhauled in the near future, and likely stifling a choicer adjective or three–as if the Court belonged to the President and not to the country and its Constitution. The protocol is actually brilliant in its simple assurance that the branches remain, as intended, separate.

  • wintermute

    Someone else said it succinctly… how did we get here? Ugh.

  • tnguy

    …that republicans are constantly looking for really accomplishes nothing, long-term.

    Our party’s problem is not ill-conceived packaging of its message, mistimed political moves, or inadequate spin. It is the decisions they have made, to the detriment of the country and the party.

    I hope the court squashes the law, and that republicans embrace that ruling. Or if the court does not, they do everything they can to thwart or overturn it otherwise. Of course, many of them won’t, because they fear being portrayed as mean spirits who want the poor to die on the ER floor due to lack of insurance. We lose because we operate out of fear, instead of conviction.

  • westcoastpatriette

    Well, certainly that needs to change…put it on the list of Obama edicts yet to come.

  • commonsenseobserver

    But the worst possible scenario for us, in all areas, would be if only the mandate were struck down and the rest were left standing.

    I seriously doubt Republicans would attack SCOTUS as long as it strikes down the mandate, though. But as Boehner said, there should be no spiking of the ball, and we must be ready to roll out a clear and coherent alternative.

  • tnguy

    Boehner is a #&$$^ with no spine whatsoever. If it’s overturned, Republicans should be everywhere explaining to Americans why the court had to rule that way, not somberly sitting by telling the American people to be patient, that we’ll pass something that will resolve the problems in a better way.

    Pathetic. Weak.

  • commonsenseobserver

    To start explaining why the court had to strike down something Americans wanted struck down in the first place.

  • audax

    My health care is between me and my doctor, NOT between me through big government to my doctor!

  • audax

    I see they are “covering” the decisions, but will it be on LIVE TV?

  • commonsenseobserver

    But even the pre-Obamacare situation was not exactly…a limited government role. Which is why we need a clear and coherent alternative, replacement, reform, whatever, that not only reverses Obamacare, but creates a patient-centered, free market-oriented health system, and to do that, we’ll have to reform government programs.

  • CincoSolas_del_Bronx

    “Deep breath before the plunge” indeed:

    ‘Name the terms,’ said Gandalf steadily, but those nearby saw the anguish in his face, and now he seemed an old and wizened man, crushed, defeated at the last. They did not doubt that he would accept.

    ‘These are the terms,’ said the Messenger, and smiled as he eyed them one by one. ‘The rabble of Gondor and its deluded allies shall withdraw at once beyond the Anduin, first taking oaths never again to assail Sauron the Great in arms, open or secret. All lands east of the Anduin shall be Sauron’s forever, solely. West of the Anduin as far as the Misty Mountains and the Gap of Rohan shall be tributary to Mordor, and men there shall bear no weapons, but shall have leave to govern their own affairs. But they shall help to rebuild Isengard which they have wantonly destroyed, and that shall be Sauron’s, and there his lieutenant shall dwell: not Saruman, but one more worthy of trust.’

    Looking in the Messenger’s eyes they read his thought. He was to be that lieutenant, and gather all that remained of the West under his sway; he would be ‘their tyrant and they his slaves.

    But Gandalf said: ‘This is much to demand for the delivery of one servant: that your Master should receive in exchange what he must else fight many a war to gain! Or has the field of Gondor destroyed his hope in war, so that he falls to haggling? And if indeed we rated this prisoner so high, what surety have we that Sauron the Base Master of Treachery will keep his part? Where is this prisoner? Let him be brought forth and yielded to us, and then we will consider these demands.’

    It seemed then to Gandalf, intent, watching him as a man engaged in fencing with a deadly foe, that for the taking of a breath the Messenger was at a loss; yet swiftly he laughed again.

    ‘Do not bandy words in your insolence with the Mouth of Sauron!’ he cried. ‘Surety you crave! Sauron gives none. If you sue for his clemency you must first do his bidding. These are his terms. Take them or leave them!’

    ‘These we will take!’ said Gandalf suddenly. He cast aside his cloak and a [ panchromatic ] light shone forth like a sword in that [ umbraed ] place. Before his upraised hand the foul Messenger recoiled, and Gandalf coming seized and took from him the tokens: coat, cloak, and sword. ‘These we will take in memory of our friend,’ he cried. ‘But as for your terms, we reject them utterly. Get you gone, for your embassy is over and [ unemployment ] is near to you. We did not come here to waste words in treating with Sauron, faithless and [ not loved like the other kids ]; still less with one of his [ oppressed workers ]. Begone!’

    Then the Messenger of Mordor laughed no more. His face was twisted with amazement and anger to the likeness of some wild beast that, as it crouches on its prey, is smitten on the muzzle with a stinging rod. Rage filled him and his mouth slavered, and shapeless sounds of fury came strangling from his throat. But he looked at the fell faces of the Captains and their deadly eyes, and fear overcame his wrath.

  • commonsenseobserver

    More coming.

  • aeternalis

    Did not expect this level of squishyness from Justice Roberts.

  • commonsenseobserver

    Roberts joins the left, according to SCOTUS Blog.

  • commonsenseobserver

    “entire ACA is upheld, with the exception that the federal government’s power to terminate states’ Medicaid funds is narrowly read.”

    Well, repeal and replace Obamacare…

  • commonsenseobserver

    That’s terrible.

    But it won’t play too well either, in the political arena, I mean.

  • commonsenseobserver

    “Chief Justice Roberts’ vote saved the ACA. ”

    So Kennedy voted with us and Roberts didn’t???

  • renl57

    As candidate for President, Obama pledged never to raise taxes on the middle class.

    With this interpretation of the mandate (now it’s a tax), he just broke his pledge.

  • aeternalis

    nt

  • funwithknives

    No more brakes for 4 months. ‘Gas pedals’ will prevail. Get used to ‘Rapid Travel’.

    On your marks. Get set. ….and ……..

    No more taxes for under $250K, my sweet donkey…….

  • treeofliberty

    Digressing a bit here but fascinated by the Left of the SC being an iron front for liberalism but “our guys” (GOP nominated justice) being all squishes and even turncoats…Roberts destroyed Arizona and now saved Obamacare

    Disgraceful and beyond disappointing…

  • nepanyrush

    Well, so much for hoping the Supreme Court would bail us out from this monstrosity

    Problem is, there are popular components and so I cannot see the Republicans getting rid of this and starting again. And Obama will run on the popular components. Throwing it out would have really helped defeat Obama.

    So, now the GOP will tinker with this and we are on the way to socialized medicine.

  • treeofliberty

    Thank God for Justices Thomas, Alito and of course my hero, Justice Scalia.

  • runner12

    Unbelievable. I cannot fathom why Roberts would do this. He has guaranteed the destruction of our health care system.

  • tnguy

    of why voting for big government republicans in the general election is a big mistake.

  • nepanyrush

    Got his major piece of transformative legislation.

    It will help Obama in his reelection as he will promote the popular parts and say he never considered it a tax. Romney will be hurt as he himself passed Romneycare and has little he can say.

    GOP will only tinker with it and the USA will be transformed into an unrecognizable socialist country where everything can be done to people in the name of health

    Obama won big. USA lost big. Thanks, Roberts.

  • Repair_Man_Jack

    The people indirectly voted for this in 2006 and 2008. The USSC has essentially ruled that sometimes democracy is its own best punishment.

  • rightlane1111

    Right now I am crying…and I mean that literally. We have lost our country. By this law…the Supreme Court has given ALL the power to the government to regulate EVERYTHING. I’ve been saying this for quite some time on this board.

    What has happened to our Constitution? What has happened to the rule of law? What has happened to Separation of (OF) Church and State…what is going on here?

    Now we will listen to endless days of the Obama victory…that is got with bribes to other states and lies about the healthcare…and the cost is WAY OVER what he said it would be.

    Folks…let me get this straight…we have higher than reported unemployment and we are going to tax people to put this forward. Where is the money coming from? This was not presented to the Legislative Branch as a TAX….SO, please tell me…if the law was passed by the Legislative Branch…why does the Executive Branch get to argue a TAX? Just common sense questions. WHY.

    This is one day I can truly say…I am not proud to be an American…because America IS GONE.

  • Repair_Man_Jack

    The USSC has just succeeded in feeding the Federal Government a dose of steroids worthy of Barry Bonds.

  • PowerToThePeople

    he would pull this type of BS. Everything about him pointed to a true constitutional judge, now we know better. Can not blame Bush for something no one could know at the time.

  • commonsenseobserver

    http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/11pdf/11-393c3a2.pdf

  • nepanyrush

    The administration’s approach was to tell people it was not a tax and then argue before SCOTUS that it was a tax. Simply, Alinsky-like “ends justify the means.” And it worked, thanks to Roberts.

    King Barack Hussein Obama has made the greatest power grab imaginable and people are going to just accept it because they are figuring they are going to get things from the government. But get ready for years of a lower and lower standard of living and more government control.

  • pdawk

    if you want to save this country you better start giving as much money as possible to the Romney campaign, NRSC, NRCC, etc. The only way this law ever gets shot down is if we get majorities in both houses of congress and the presidency. They passed it through a budgetary process and we can repeal it in the same manner.

    I am donating $500 to save this country. This law will bankrupt this country and force us to take the turn into full socialism. If you aren’t fired up and ready to kicks some *** right now you are just as responsible as Obama for the destruction of this country. Donate, volunteer, get involved or take the blame for the failure of the greatest country on earth.

  • Ender

    was not going to be surprised with Roberts and Kennedy going the wrong way, but this Roberts shocker is too much.

  • tnguy

    There was plenty about Roberts to suggest otherwise.

    And appointing Roberts as chief justice was the most cowardly act of his entire administration, when he had Thomas and Scalia on the bench already.

  • rightlane1111

    Daddy Bush was a “globalist…and W was a big government guy…saw an opportunity to expand government (9/11), i.e., Homeland Security, etc. What did you expect…Now Obama will put forth Cap and Trade..and we will all be lighting candles just because of this person we were TOLD WAS A CONSERVATIVE. Gekster…do you hear me.

  • aeternalis

    This is true in pretty much every regard. If it wasn’t time before, then it is definitely time now to get out of our comfort zones and get down to business.

  • tnguy

    …..would come via sending $$$ to a man after whose plan obamacare was modeled? That’s a good one. The failed prescription for our problem is hardly to follow the same playbook we’ve been using for a quarter century.

    Next, I’ll be told that we must elect Romney so we can get strict constructionists like John Roberts on the court.

  • commonsenseobserver

    The same party that gave us Scalia, Thomas, Kennedy and Alito as opposed to the one that gave us Ginsberg, Sotomayor, Kagan and Breyer.

  • avgjo

    the same party that keeps giving us moderates who give us ‘justices’ like Roberts?

  • avgjo

    BTW, look up the word ‘harping’. I mentioned this once.

  • pdawk

    If the financial provisions of Obamacare kick in during the 2013 time frame you will never, ever repeal the law. There will be to many interest tied up in it at that point and it will become Medicare on steroids.

    You have no choice but to hope at this point that Romney is telling the truth when he says he will repeal Obamacare. The other option is to allow 4 more years to the guy it is named after.

  • avgjo

    tell me that ‘hope’ is not a good policy in politics. Roberts’ idiocy reminds me not to put my faith in men. I’ll put my faith in God, and work my butt off to help take back education and media.

  • rightlane1111

    Forget the stock market and the companies…they are done for. I am going to look out for myself. I can’t depend on half-baked campaign promises that never materialize. The Fed will print more money have have more bailouts to keep this stupid law active and the only thing that will keep up with it is precious metals.

    Meanwhile…as we what the future…The Europeans are now ready to burn Merkle at the stake…and that country bailed out the failing ones.

    The Democratic/RINO Republicans Philosophy…GIMME…just that one word and look what happened in Europe…they now want to take down the only country with money…because they want more.

    Greed.