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Epic Thread Dedicated to Alabama Politicos’ Reactions to SCOTUS Obamacare Ruling

By
Cliff Sims

Update 1:

SCOTUS Decision in plain English (via SCOTUSBlog)

The Affordable Care Act, including its individual mandate that virtually all Americans buy health insurance, is constitutional. There were not five votes to uphold it on the ground that Congress could use its power to regulate commerce between the states to require everyone to buy health insurance. However, five Justices agreed that the penalty that someone must pay if he refuses to buy insurance is a kind of tax that Congress can impose using its taxing power. That is all that matters. Because the mandate survives, the Court did not need to decide what other parts of the statute were constitutional, except for a provision that required states to comply with new eligibility requirements for Medicaid or risk losing their funding. On that question, the Court held that the provision is constitutional as long as states would only lose new funds if they didn’t comply with the new requirements, rather than all of their funding.

Link to the full opinion here.

From Amy Howe at SCOTUSBlog: Take a quick look at Footnote 11, which is on page 44 of the slip opinion: Those subject to the individual mandate may lawfully forgo health insurance and pay higher taxes, or buy health insurance and pay lower taxes. The only thing that they may not lawfully do is buy health insurance and not pay the resulting tax.

Reaction:

Governor Bentley:

“I am deeply disappointed by today’s Supreme Court decision. The health care law is an overreach by the federal government that creates more regulation, bureaucracy, and a dramatic increase in costs to taxpayers. The ACA is the single worst piece of legislation to come out of Congress. This law must be repealed.

People need more choices, not fewer choices. Bigger government is not the answer. Market-based solutions are the best solutions to giving the public the most affordable options.”

Speaker Mike Hubbard

Speaker of the House Mike Hubbard:

“Today’s ruling is a victory for government-loving bureaucrats and a loss for taxpayers and small businesses. It just goes to show how vastly different our approach is from President Obama and the Democrats. We are trying to reform government and rein in wasteful spending, and President Obama is forcing a shocking expansion of government that raises taxes on businesses and families. We’re trying to incentivize business and create jobs, and President Obama is mandating job-killing bureaucratic regulations. It’s time for Congress to repeal this job-killing law and replace it with a conservative approach to healthcare.

“If there is a silver lining to this ruling it is that the federal government may not penalize Alabama if we cannot afford to participate in this expansion of government. That’s important because, with our budgets already strapped for funds, the last thing we need is a mass increase in Medicaid healthcare costs.

“This November Alabama voters will have a chance to voice their opposition to this massive expansion of government loud and clear. Hopefully, by then, the law will have been repealed. Still, I encourage all Alabamians who resent this job-killing tax to go to the polls and make their voice heard.”

Lt. Gov. Kay Ivey:

“The Supreme Court’s ruling today, upholding major portions of Obamacare, perpetuates the illusion that taxpayers can and should provide healthcare for every citizen, in spite of the fact that the country is broke! If our elected leadership in Washington does not overturn this law, it will bring America down. Like the former great powers of Europe and other nations in human history, America will spend and tax itself into weakness and, God forbid, collapse.

The President’s trillion dollar takeover of the American healthcare system is wrong for the federal budget, is in opposition of our constitutional principles and wrong for Alabama. I support efforts to improve our healthcare system by restoring state flexibility, promoting free markets and competition while empowering consumer choice. Even though the individual mandate was upheld, the Court struck down the mandate requiring states to expand Medicaid coverage, which will not require Alabama to spend hundreds of millions of dollars beginning in 2019.

This continues to be a state and national emergency with major tax implications. Citizens, we must be vigilant, active and passionate about our deep concern over this unfunded, non-sustainable mandate from those in Washington who would tax us into oblivion. We must begin the process to repeal and replace Obamacare.

President Pro Tem Alabama Senate Del Marsh Yellow Hammer Politics
Senate President Pro Tem Del Marsh :

“Today’s Supreme Court ruling confirms that Obamacare is in fact one of the biggest tax increases in our nation’s history. While the federal government increases bureaucracy and red tape that cripples small business, Alabama Republicans will continue fighting this intrusion by working to make state government more efficient and boost private-sector economic growth.”

Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange Yellowhammer Politics

Attorney General Luther Strange:

While I respect the Court’s decision, I strongly disagree with its ruling today. The individual mandate was sold to the American people as a penalty when it was proposed, but is now ruled constitutional as a tax, the very thing the Obama Administration and Congress insisted it was not. Now it is up to a new congress and new president to repeal the act.

Make no mistake, the consequences of today’s decision are dire. The law forces the states, private employers and individuals to be used as instruments in carrying out the federal government’s increasingly burdensome policies, including forcing religious based employers, even self-insured ones, to start providing coverage for sterilization and contraception in 2013, without regard to their religious beliefs or conscientious objections.

I, along with other conservative state attorneys general, will continue to stand on the front lines of protecting liberty and pushing back against an ever-encroaching federal government.

Alabama’s Senior U.S. Senator Richard Shelby:

“The Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the constitutionality of this law does not negate the fact that it is terrible policy. The Supreme Court may not have rejected ObamaCare, but two-thirds of Americans do because it reduces quality and increases costs. Moreover, the Court stated in its ruling what the Obama administration would not admit in its sales pitch to the American people: ObamaCare’s individual mandate creates yet another tax increase. We must now redouble our efforts to repeal this job-killing tax hike and egregious government intrusion into private health care decisions. In its place, we must enact market-based reforms that lower costs, improve quality of care, and restore the doctor-patient relationship.”

U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions Alabama Yellowhammer Politics

Alabama’s Junior U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions:

“The Court’s decision is further proof that the health care bill, from the beginning and in its entirety, is a 2,700-page Rube Goldberg contraption that will never work. Even the fundamental justification for the legislation has been rejected. The Court upheld the law as a tax, not as a mandate. This is directly contrary to the avowed basis for the bill.

In no way can this decision, by the narrowest of margins, be used to bolster the wisdom of this legislation. For the Court to affirm the mandate portion of the law, it was forced to reject the President’s and the then-majority Democratic Congress’ contention that the mandate was not a tax. Under this ruling, the big spenders have once again succeeded in surreptitiously imposing a tax on the American people while pretending they are not. The problem is that the mandate remains a mandate. It remains a demand that Americans purchase a product they do not wish to purchase. I do not believe the central government possesses such a broad power.

The Court, at least facially, makes clear there are limits to the power of Washington to act under the Commerce Clause. This crucial constitutional principle, as a practical matter, has been in danger for some time.

The decision declares how the courts will rule on the health care law, but it in no way decides whether the law is good for America as a matter of policy. Neither does it absolve Congress from its independent duty to ensure it stays within its constitutional authority. The Chief Executive has the same obligation.

Independent of the constitutional issues, the healthcare law is utterly unaffordable—costing $2.6 trillion over the first full ten-year window. This massive new entitlement program adds $17 trillion in unfunded long-term obligations—more than twice the unfunded obligations of Social Security. It is unthinkable our nation would add this new, colossal debt burden at a time when we are already borrowing forty cents out of every dollar we spend. This 2,700-page health law, if it is not repealed, will be financially devastating to our Republic.

The majority redefines a provision of the law that declares a mandate to be a tax. I am very troubled by this. Scholars will give great thought to what the Court has done and I am afraid it will be concluded that this is a legal sleight of hand rather than a principled decision.

The question has to be asked to what extent all government mandates and demands can just be referred to as a tax, thus unleashing the power of the central government to dictate individual Americans’ private, everyday decisions.

It is particularly remarkable that the four most activist members of the Court did not conclude that the mandate violates the Commerce Clause. It would be hard to see any limits on the Commerce Clause if this mandate is deemed to be outside its bounds.

The task now before the country is to fully repeal this onerous and unworkable law. If it is not repealed, it will cause Americans’ personal health costs—and our nation’s debt—to rise disastrously. It will massively expand the power and reach of the federal bureaucracy and its intrusion into our lives and livelihoods. This bill is bad for health care, damaging to our economy, and contrary to our free market heritage.”

Congressman Mike Rogers Yellowhammer Politics

Congressman Mike Rogers:

“I am deeply disappointed with the Supreme Court’s ruling today on the healthcare law. In a time where our national debt is growing and our economy is struggling to add jobs, President Obama’s healthcare law is currently estimated by CBO to cost almost double what the President promised. I believe this law threatens American jobs by imposing steep taxes and mandates on small businesses, and am deeply concerned the ruling gives Washington even greater power to intrude on personal freedoms. Congress must work to repeal it and find solutions that provide better, more fiscally sound healthcare options for our nation.”

Congressman Jo Bonner (R-AL1)
Congressman Jo Bonner:
“While I am deeply disappointed over the Supreme Court’s failure to strike down the heart of Obamacare by allowing the individual mandate to stand as a giant new tax, I have always believed that the controversial law could only be stopped by Congress and a new president. This is a sad day for individual freedom, but it is a big day for bigger government and higher taxes.

“Absent a Supreme Court ruling to directly strike down or dismantle Obamacare, the House of Representatives is pursuing a full repeal of the unpopular new health care law which has already driven up health care premiums, forced religious institutions to violate their beliefs and will likely add $1.7 trillion to the federal debt over ten years according to the Congressional Budget Office.

“I voted against the passage of President Obama’s health care law in 2009 and 2010 and I have joined the House in voting more than two dozen times since January 2011 to both fully repeal and dismantle the costly and unpopular health care law.

“Obamacare remains widely unpopular with the American people who want health care reform without losing their choice of doctors, quality of coverage or facing higher premiums.

“I support House efforts to fully repeal the president’s health care law and instead pass market-based reforms that help to lower health care costs while extending coverage to those with preexisting conditions.”

Mo Brooks Yellow Hammer
Congressman Mo Brooks:

“Today, by one vote, the United States Supreme Court expanded federal power beyond anything previously permissible. In effect, one Supreme Court justice’s vote empowers the federal government to dictate that American citizens purchase any product or service offered by anyone, no matter the cost, no matter the burden.

“America’s Founding Fathers fought a rebellion for individual liberty. Today’s Supreme Court decision is a heavy boot on the throat of that liberty.

“The Supreme Court’s decision is an affront to America’s Constitution, which was written to limit the federal government’s power over American citizens so that Americans could enjoy their hard-fought liberty. America’s Founding Fathers must be rolling over in their graves.

“Fortunately, four Supreme Court justices understand the Constitution, considered the intent of our Founding Fathers who drafted the Constitution, and got it right. Unfortunately, five Supreme Court justices got it wrong and undermined a Constitution that has served America so well for so long.

“In fairness to the Supreme Court, however, the Obamacare problem originated within a radical White House and Congress elected in 2008.

“Just as America is paying a severe economic and freedom price for its mistakes in the 2008 elections, American citizens can reverse their mistake by electing a President and Congress who understand and respect the Constitution.”

Congressman Martha Roby:

“I respect the authority of the Supreme Court, but I disagree and am deeply disappointed with its decision today.

“The Court’s opinion is lengthy and complicated, and will require careful evaluation. However, we know that the Court today has affirmed the view that President Obama’s law represents a huge tax on the American people, and that it is through the federal government’s power to levy taxes that the Court upheld the law as constitutional.

“In my opinion, that legal analysis is dubious and cause for concern given the dangerous precedent it sets: can the government now require Americans to purchase government-approved goods and services or else face the threat of a tax? What we do know, however, is that the Court put restraint on the power of Congress to mandate the purchase of goods and services under the commerce clause.

“The court ruled on the legal issues, not the wisdom of the policy. The American people have already weighed in and overwhelmingly rejected this law. As a whole, the law, which the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office predicts will cost $2.6 trillion and will result in as many as 20 million Americans losing their existing coverage, remains deeply unpopular with the public.

“The President’s health care reform has proven ineffective at reducing the cost of health care, has suffocated small businesses, and has hampered job creation. Despite the court’s ruling, I remain committed to working toward the repeal of this harmful law. We will again vote to repeal the law in the House of Representatives on July 9, we should immediately begin deliberate work to replace the law with free market reforms that truly improve access to quality and affordable care. Individual Americans and their doctors, not federal bureaucrats and politicians, are in the best position to determine which health care options best meet their individual needs.”


Congressman Spencer Bachus:

“The ruling allows President Obama to impose massive new taxes to pay for his government takeover of health care. It remains bad policy that is raising health care costs and making it harder for small businesses to provide health insurance and hire workers. My position continues to be that the best public policy is to repeal and replace the President’s health care takeover with common sense reforms that will truly make health care more affordable and accessible. Ultimately, it is the American people who will make the final decision and they will have the opportunity to do that.”

Congressman Robert Aderholt Yellowhammer Politics

Congressman Robert Aderholt:

“Most Americans agree that the President’s health care law is taking America down the wrong path and government mandated health care is not what they want. Health care decisions that are made at the federal level only make it more difficult for small businesses and families to afford quality coverage. Putting health care decisions in the hands of unelected Washington bureaucrats and using taxpayer dollars to provide for abortions is simply bad policy. My concern is the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the majority of the President’s health care law is a devastating step toward socialized medicine for our nation.”

“House Republicans will continue to work to repeal the President’s flawed health care law, so that we enact common-sense, step-by-step reforms that protect Americans access to the care they need, from the doctors they choose, at a lower cost. I think you will see House Republicans act quickly once again to fully repeal the law and implement patient-centered reforms that ensure families and doctors make health care decisions.”

API Alabama Policy Institute Yellowhammer Politics

Alabama Policy Institue:

Today’s opinion is a devastating blow for proponents of limited government. Regardless of whether Republicans are able to repeal all or parts of the PPACA, the Court has found that the power for the federal government to act is limited by the ability to reach a majority rather than the bounds of the Constitution.

API President Gary Palmer: “The ruling on the individual mandate has changed the battle over our freedom in health decisions from a legal battle to a political battle that will be decided in November. This is no longer in the hands of judges, it is now in the hands of voters. Government-mandated and government-controlled health care is now the central issue in the 2012 election.”

API Policy Director Cameron Smith called the ruling “a tremendous loss for those who believe that the Constitution serves as a meaningful limitation on ideology-driven political majorities, whether conservative or liberal in nature.”

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