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Chief Justice John G. Roberts is an evil genius. The ruling to uphold the Affordable Care Act is, on its face, a win for President Obama both because the media are saying it is and because it is the signature piece of legislation of his first term. But it may turn out to be a pyrrhic victory, as Roberts accomplished numerous, subtle victories for conservative Republicans.

First, remember that “Obamacare” and the individual mandate started out as a proposal from the conservative Heritage Foundation as a counterproposal to the Clinton administration’s health care plan. The only reasons Republicans are now opposed to it is because Obama proposed it and is getting credit for it. Before it was Obamacare, the program was known as Romneycare in Massachusetts — and if the 2008 election had gone the other way, it might be known as McCaincare today.

Meantime, the survival of the Affordable Care Act eliminates any clamor for real, progressive health care reform, whether universal Medicare or for the creation of a public insurance option. Such programs are anathema to conservatives who want most things privatized — either for ideological reasons or so that their corporate masters can further enrich themselves.

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Krauthammer

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The reality, of course, is that Roberts has permitted the implementation of a conservative health-care regime, energized the Republican base, preserved his ability to vote against liberal congressional measures as violating the commerce clause and aggrandized himself as an apolitical Chief Justice. I tip my hat to his evil genius.

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1) It will now be called the Obamacare tax, will lose even more support by Independents

2) It now confirms 2 lies, “it is not a tax” and “no new taxes to middle class”

3) U need only 51 votes in the Senate to repeal it cause it is a tax

4) The legislation polls same today as it did when it was passed, people despise it, result-energizes the voters

5) makes for some more great campaign videos– Obama “it is not a tax”, SC “it is a tax”, sort of destroys his “constitutional credibility”.

6) Commerce and Necessary/Proper Clause piece ruled unconstitutional

7) Obama’s rule of imposing penalties to States who don’t want to play by his Medicaid dictatorship rules also defeated

8) The next SC justice will be an ultra-conservative along likes of Clarence Thomas knowing you can’t chance a John Roberts.

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Conversely, if the court had struck down the ACA, it would have energized the Democratic base — and activated many of the 30-40 million people who suddenly saw the promise of affordable health ripped away from them.

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Yep, this is what I have been believing all day since I got my temper under control and my cooler head prevailed.

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I tend to think the weight of the win in the form of the Court's further reigning in the CC outweighs the weight of the loss in the form of the ACA being upheld.

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Yep, I sporadically took time out of my day to read through the opinion. It's like multiple small victories and one huge loss. But my bet is that the small victories turn out to be huge ones down the road.

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Limited govt conservatives like you and I lost the battle today, but if the reaction today is any indication, we're sure as hell winning the war in November.

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Brilliantly, Roberts has sent this back to the people for the last word.

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