8 thoughts on “No “Obamacare” Ruling Today, You May Exhale”

1. Well – the Rockies will still suck.
   
   There will be more wild fires in Colorado.
   
   Some politician wil say or do something stupid.
   

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2. Excellent article from Reuters:

   
   -The secret keepers: meet the US Supreme Court clerks
   
   
   
   With a ruling expected soon in the landmark U.S. healthcare case, Supreme Court watchers have scoured the landscape for clues about how the nine justices will vote. But they left one stone unturned.

   Make that 36. That is the number of law clerks who serve the justices, do their research, help draft their opinions and exert a not insignificant influence on their thinking.

   It’s not easy to divine what these elite young barristers might be telling their bosses. The clerks, who are handpicked each year, are sworn to secrecy from Day One, and almost always keep that vow until their justice is off the bench or dies. They have a separate dining room in the Supreme Court cafeteria where they can discuss the secrets of the chambers without the risk of being overheard. As recently as 2008 law clerks worked on computers with no Internet connection to thwart potential hackers, according to a former clerk. Even their families know better than to inquire about goings-on behind the marble walls.

   “We never bring up any such matter,” said Homi Bhabha, father of Ishan Bhabha, who is clerking for Justice Anthony Kennedy. “We wouldn’t do that to someone we love dearly.”

   But reviews of the clerks’ resumes and interviews with their former employers and colleagues — and yes, even their parents — shed light on their personalities and predilections and, in a few instances, their possible healthcare politics.

   Of this year’s crop, 25 previously clerked for federal appeals-court judges appointed by Republican presidents. Only 11 clerked for Democratic appointees. At least five were members of the conservative Federalist Society while in school. Two served tours of duty in Iraq and one was a writer for Sports Illustrated. About half went to Ivy League law schools, and more than two-thirds are men. Rebecca Krauss, a clerk for Justice Antonin Scalia, spent a year delivering medicines on horseback in India and caring for orphaned elephants in Sri Lanka before she met her now husband at the base of Mt. Everest.

   There are also three clerks assigned to the retired justices Sandra Day O’Connor, David Souter and John Paul Stevens. No current clerks returned messages seeking comment. A spokeswoman for the Supreme Court declined to comment.

   http://www.reuters.com/article…

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3. Kennedy flakes on the mandate, the rest is upheld.

   In a generation, a new Court will overturn and let us set up a health care system that works.

   Or they could surprise me and do the right thing…

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   1. Obamacare is an unsustainable house of cards.

      I’m personally predicting a total repeal based on the law not being workable once gutted of the coercion that allows it to be paid for.

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      2. Any health care system based on private insurance that doesn’t include a mandate will fail miserably. We’ve already proven that with the pre-ACA system.

         On the other hand, countries with mandated private insurance have shown that it can work reasonably well (e.g., Germany and Austria).

         So I have to ask: why do you and your fellow Republicans cling to a failed system?

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         1. If the full mandate is struck down,a functional (non-GOP) led Congress could pass a simple fix to the ACA – allow for an opt-out.

            Using a health care system that rocks (The Netherlands) anyone who doesn’t want health insurance can opt-out by opening a health savings account. There’s minimum levels of funding based on household size (single people pay the least) and it doesn’t have to be met in a single year. Any required employer contributions go into that same HSA.

            If that family decides they do want into a health insurance plan, they pay a set amount of the original allocation (varies with family size) to “buy into” a plan.
            

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            1. Australia has a single-payer system. It’s very basic with little or no elective care. There is an automatic 2.5% surcharge on your income tax that helps pay for it. You can opt out at any time if you show you have private insurance that meets a minimum threshold for care.

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