Blog Credo

The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.

H.L. Mencken

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

SCOTUS And Obamacare

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/king-burwell-dilemma-republicans-swing-states

By all accounts, the legal arguments in King v Burwell are bullshit.  The political arguments are bullshit, too.

But the Roberts Court has certainly not been shy about embracing bullshit arguments before.  Probably the only reason Roberts himself didn't want to overturn ACA the first time was because of the political effect it would have on the legitimacy of the Court.

The same dynamic is true here, but will the recent Republican gains in the Congress - as ephemeral as they may be - embolden Roberts to overturning ACA and throwing millions of Americans off their health care?

It seems a stretch, especially since a preferred outcome for the court would simply be the election of a Republican president in 2016.  Then a Republican Congress and White House could overturn the ACA without damaging the legitimacy of the Court.

We shall see, I suppose.

No comments: