After all, the only thing Judge Vinson (Federal District Court-FL) did was strike down a law Republicans hate. Trust me on this, that’s the meme we will be hearing from the media in the days to come regarding the decision to strike down the entire Affordable Care Act by Judge Vinson.
For most people, an “activist judge” is one whose opinions they don’t agree with. But Judge Vinson’s ruling today — that the entire health care law must be voided because he found one provision unconstitutional — really meets an indisputable definition of “activist.” […]
Simply ruling against the mandate puts any judge on the opposite side of the vast majority of expert legal opinion. But given just such ruling, a less “activist” judge could have stricken just the mandate, along with directly relevant provisions — like guaranteed issue and the ban on discrimination against people with pre-existing conditions. Vinson decided instead to “legislate from the bench” and scrap the subsidies, regulations, marketplaces, and other goodies the law creates that really have nothing to do with the mandate as well.
Brian Beutler at TPM is correct, of course. This is an example of extreme activism by a federal judge, but it won’t be portrayed that way by anyone outside of a few people on MsNBC. This means that health care reform that eliminates exclusions for pre-existing conditions and extends health insurance to your kids until the age of 26 are at risk. Those provisions are pretty important to me for my 21 year old son and my daughter). No doubt there is a provision in the law (eliminating the Medicare donut hole, health exchanges for people who cannot get health care anyplace else, etc.) that will impact you or someone you care about.
Yet, I doubt you will hear a peep from any Republican about Vinson’s activism. They will be cheering him as a true devotee of the Founders’ original intent. I can;t wait to see the first quotes from Republican politicians claiming that something James Madison or Thomas Jefferson or Alexander Hamilton said back in 1789 or 1803 or whatever year they choose supports Judge Vinson.
Now the question becomes whether the 11th Circuit will uphold Vinson’s extreme action. In any event this case is headed for the Supreme Court. So once again, we will be left to the mercy of Justice Kennedy on the Supreme Court, since he is the swing vote on an issue like this one. I’ll but Justice Scalia or Roberts interns have already started to draft opinions arguing that what Judge Vinson did was all perfectly proper.
Those provisions are pretty important to me for my 21 year old son and my daughter).
I admit to not looking who wrote this post till I came to the above. I just assumed Boo had written it. Yeah, I feel a little silly now. Thanks, Steven D!! 😉
I’ll but Justice Scalia or Roberts interns have already started to draft opinions arguing that what Judge Vinson did was all perfectly proper.
I bet they already had something saved on MSWord(or whatever program they use). They are just tweaking it now and will revise it in a few months once the next line of appeals take place.
link
It would have been difficult for Democrats to block the nominations of either John Roberts or Samuel Alito. But it sure would have been nice if they’d made a more concerted effort to try. There was plenty of evidence, at the time, that each of them would be reactionary auto-votes on this sort of issue for a generation. And here we are.
I stumbled across this catch of history and it’s important to go to bottom of post and check out the last link where the discussion is carried on.
It IS important to keep pointing out their activism and to note to anyone who has voted R that it is their people who are not bringing sensible tweeks to the table of discussion on reform but an axe which will directly impact their own health.
As I said to someone this morning that was on the losing side of the Supremes’ decision in favor of Exxon vs the fishermen, hey, they were your boys that voted against you!
And yes, as someone who has been/is jumping through the cancer hoops, who has 2 sisters with cancer, and 2 generations beyond that are in for the fight for their lives I take this stuff real personally!
It’s times like these I really get the feeling we’re on the path to having a civil war in this country. If the Hannitys, Glenn Becks and Rush Limbaughs of the world weren’t the biggest laziest jackasses in the world I’d have even less hope. But it seems now they have the sole attention of most of the lone wolf perpetually dim but heavily armed lone wolves in this country. So they can just do their dirty work.
Conservatives are willing to play dirty pool in all walks of life, in all levels of the government. They’ll politicize the justice department. Change law enforcement in this country from rehabilitation to punishment. Turn the SCOTUS into a partisan entity. Scream judicial activist against legislation they hate and advocate activism for things they support. No argument is duplicitous. No stance is hypocritical. As long as they get what they want. When they want it. And it seems, sometimes, they’ll burn the country down if need be, rather than compromise.
I hate to sound so bleak. But I’m really having a hard time seeing how to be calm and civil to a group of people willing to kick you in the teeth … so they can have the satisfaction in knowing the government never helps anybody they don’t like. Not only that, supposedly impartial judges are buying into this argument, disregarding years of legal precedence. And the judicial process of putting judges on the court who aren’t right-wing maniacs is … broken. And Democrats are in no rush to fix it. And the media is in no mood to report it.
Sigh. On top of that, the Steelers are in the Super Bowl. Double sigh. Jk (kinda).
I need a drink.
When the Healthcare bill was going forward I had the same question, how can the government force anyone to buy a private product? You don’t have to buy car insurance if you don’t operate a motor vehicle, but you can’t get around buying health insurance.
That’s why single-payer was always the only real way to fix the healthcare mess. Paying for everyone’s healthcare with taxes is entirely constitutional.
I haven’t read the judge’s decision. Maybe saying the whole thing is unconstitutional is an overreach, but I wrote at the time that forcing people to buy something from a business was unconstitutional. And I still don’t see differently.