Sarah Palin tweet: Okay. First of all, Obama gave his opinion that the mandate wasn't a tax — an opinion also held by such commies as Justices Scalia, Thomas, Alito and Kennedy. Secondly, you can't "lie" about an opinion. Your opinion might not prevail at the end of the day, but that doesn't mean you lie. That's like saying "The … Read More
Punditry
Almost everyone got it wrong. There were a few in recent days who stuck out their neck and thought that the individual mandate would be upheld 5-4, but they thought it would be on Commerce Clause grounds. Kudos to Ben Beutler at TPM, who noticed back in March, right after the oral argument, that Roberts was leaning toward uphold the … Read More
The Mandate IS a Tax, But Probably Not One That Will Affect You
Spin is now the game. And Republicans are quick to tell you that Obamacare is a huge (some of them are saying "the hugest") tax on middle class people ever. It's not. They're lying. The tax imposed by the individual mandate amounts to either $695 or 2.5 percent of household income for those who don’t have insurance and are not … Read More
Over-reactions From The Excitable Right
UPDATE from Wonkette: Now that poors can get health insurance because the demon Supreme Court sided with that commie muslin NOBAMA fella, the only way to defend our freedom is armed insurrection! Mount up and ride to the sound of the gun says former Michigan Republican Party spokesman Matthew Davis. Matthew Davis, an attorney in Lansing, sent the email moments after the … Read More
Getting It Wrong
I told you to be wary of initial news reports. These Supreme Court decisions are hard to wade through on first glance. And I'll throw this in here – the Rude Pundit's reaction: A big "suck it" to everyone who thought that our Constitution was such a narrowly-devised document that the federal government couldn't at least attempt to do big … Read More
Four Reasons Obamacare Is A Good Thing
1) Obamacare will reduce the deficit. The Congressional Budget Office estimated in 2011 that Obamacare will reduce the federal deficit by $210 billion over the next decade. The law is expected to save about $1 trillion over its second decade, according to other CBO analyses. The CBO found that repealing the law, as Republicans attempted to do in 2011, would increase the deficit by $230 billion over … Read More
Live Blogging The Supreme Court Healthcare Decision
9:46 am: Here is the question before the court, in plain English: Does it violate the Constitution for Congress to require virtually all Americans to obtain health insurance by 2014 or pay a penalty? If the Court's answer is yes, then it has to decide whether just the requirement — the so-called "individual mandate" — is invalid, or whether part … Read More
A Word Of Caution About Today’s ACA Decision from The Supremes
Like Bush v Gore, early out-of-the-box news reports about the decision today are likely to be inaccurate. Not necessarily wrong, but they may not convey the whole truth. There are many aspects to the Affordable Care Act, and the judges may uphold some aspects and reject others. Then there may be disagreements about the remedy, and several opinions from the … Read More
School Did Not Violate Anti-Gay Counselor’s Rights When They Fired Her
A federal judge in Georgia has ruled that Jennifer Keeton’s constitutional rights were not violated when Augusta State University expelled her from its counseling program for her unwillingness to abide by its professional ethics. Keeton insisted that homosexuality is an “immoral personal choice” and refused to affirm a gay client’s behavior as “right or healthy.” The 11th Circuit previously dismissed Keeton’s appeal for a preliminary injunction, … Read More
Judge Posner Sticks It To Scalia
Posner, as you may know, is generally regarded even by people who disagree with him often as one of America's great legal thinkers. He was appointed to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals by none other than Ronald Reagan shortly thereafter, and has been there ever since, where he has usually enlightened and sometimes maddened just about everybody with his … Read More
Fast And Furious Exposed
Forbes, a magazine not known for its liberal leanings, does an old-school journalism investigation of the "Fast and Furious" scandal, and — wait for it — finds it to be little more than Republican hype. The facts that the wingnuts have been presenting — much of it picked up by Fox and even more balanced mainstream media — turns out … Read More
A Poll You’re Not Likely To Hear About
Nearly 65% think Barack Obama would be better suited than Mitt Romney to handle an alien invasion. – Source
Exodus International Gives Up On Curing Teh Gay
Exodus International, the ministry which claimed that homosexuality can be "cured" through prayer, has been the subject of ridicule for decades. The ridicule probably started when two of the organization’s cofounders ran off with each other in the ’70s and got gay married. That should have been a clue to the organization that the very premise on which it is based, … Read More
Oreos Threatened With Boycott
The ad campaign: Oreo posted the photoshopped picture of an Oreo cookie stuffed with rainbow-colored layers of frosting Monday evening with the caption “Proudly support love!” Over the past 17 hours more than 157,000 people have “liked” the image, 40,000 people have shared it and 20,000 have commented on it. But while many of the comments were supportive, some Facebook … Read More