I wonder if John Roberts is happy with himself for creating all this chaos within our health system and within the Republican Party. In ruling in favor of ObamaCare but against the uniform standards for Medicaid, he basically created a headache for the implementation of the Affordable Care Act and a giant wedge issue within the GOP. Ultimately, Medicaid will be expanded everywhere because it’s insane to turn down all that federal money. If Republican legislatures and governors keep doing that, there will eventually be Democratic legislatures and governors in those states who will take the money. In fact, it may not even take that. Republicans who favor taking the money will begin to beat Republicans who oppose taking it. This should be obvious by looking at the situation in Arizona where Governor Jan Brewer is vetoing every bill her Republican legislature sends to her desk until the House consents to the Medicaid expansion. In Florida, the world’s biggest Medicare fraudster, Governor Rick Scott, tried unsuccessfully to expand Medicaid. The same fight is going on in Michigan and Ohio.
All Chief Justice Roberts did was weaponize the stupid.
Brewer may win, despite the opposition. Her measure has passed the Republican-controlled state Senate. There is stronger opposition in the House, which has a larger and more conservative Republican majority. State Rep. John Kavanagh (R), chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, said the committee plans to strip the Medicaid expansion from the budget.
He acknowledged that his members are feeling the heat after Brewer’s vetoes. Still, he added, conservative lawmakers would be hard-pressed to vote yes on the Medicaid expansion after years of railing against the health-care law and federal spending.
“For the last five years, almost every one of us Republicans have been bashing Obamacare and vilifying the federal government for irresponsible government spending,” Kavanagh said. “I have never seen a more toxic vote for Republicans than to vote yes on this expansion.”
For the last five years, Republicans have been spewing absolute bullshit about a bill that was modeled on their 2012 nominee’s health care plan. They made themselves stupid, and Roberts could have put an end to it, but didn’t. So, now, the Republicans are clawing each other apart for no discernible advantage.
I won’t thank dickhead Roberts till places like Arizona & Florida are blue in the state legislature and a lot of GOP stupid is rolled back.
I guess I fail to see how this is actually hurting them, other than slowing the rest of their country-wrecking agenda.
The Republicans are absolutely dependent on uniformity and have shock troops trained to create it.
So, how can not hurt them to have their Tea Party Arizona governor actually vetoing their Tea Party bills until they drop the bullshit about ObamaCare?
Well as I said, other than slowing their agenda I see no benefit. It’s not like they won’t instantly unite to attack the left. They hate the left more than they hate each other.
More likely, Roberts sees it as “Mission Accomplished”.
Creating confusion among the already confused patchwork of state exchanges (thanks, Max) makes it harder to get an unequivocally successful program going before 2016.
And Roberts dodges being the villain by having ruled that overall the law was constitutional.
I think the barking-mad wing of the GOP should be encouraged to give Roberts credit for Obamacare; clearly Roberts has forgotten all about the job he was appointed to do on the court.
The GOP teatards control the House. They can IMPEACH Roberts Any.Time.They.Want, and probably pick up a few D votes to put them over the top.
Well, if they weren’t such enormous wusses, that is. REAL conservatives would have had a bill of impeachment on the floor within 24 hours of the Obamacare decision.
If I was a rat-f-cking Democrat .. I would have impeachment articles ready to go the day after Roberts’ decision. Make The Tan Man and the rest of the GOP enjoy the hot seat.
They could solve the problem and just federalize Medicaid.
Or remove the age restriction from Medicare.
Both true, but the “they” in this case includes a House Republican majority so it’s not happening any time soon. (More’s the pity.)
“They” meaning Congress? Comedy gold.
There’s a million things a functioning national legislature could do to solve the phony states rights issue Roberts demanded as his price to “uphold” Obamacare. But this is like saying “assume a radio” when stranded on the desert island…
Booman is correct that (some) Repub guv’ners don’t seem too keen on refusing the dough, but Rightwing Roberts can’t really be blamed for that. He gave his movement of lunatics the rope to hang Obamacare, and if some state Repub cogs aren’t zealous and demented enough to carry out the homicide that’s their failing. Who are their Shock Troops if not the Tea Party?
Revolutions need to water the tree of liberty! Repubs need to tie on their trusty tricorns, get out the drum and fife and fire the 12 pounders! What the hell kind of weak ass Revolution is this? They want the blood money from the Feds?!! WTF? CJ Roberts has no concern for Ideological Weaklings…
Lots of catastrophic “conservative” rulings about to come down, mostly screwing American minorities under the guise of restoring rights to all those poor downtrodden white people. Affirmative Action will soon cease to exist, as will the Voting Rights Act. The five conservative male activists masquerading as “justices” have decided to launch a race war, and the Tea Party primates will go wild with delight. We’ll see if any Dems have the courage to point out that all these minority-hating rulings are the product of the “conservative” movement and its ideology of across the board hatred, that noble force for American harmony and progress…..
the fate of red states is in red states electorates’ hands. if they ever want better for themselves, they can vote so.
alternatively, they can continue on their anti-black, gay, latino, woman thing, costing them all the benefits of civilization, such as improved healthcare.
(shrug) their choice, as it has been for 150 years.
the fate of red states is in red states electorates’ hands. if they ever want better for themselves, they can vote so.
Why would they when the Democratic Party in many of the states doesn’t give them a reason to do so? Do you realize what a mess the Louisiana party is in? Or the one in Florida(Thanks DWS!!)? I suppose you’ve heard about the wreck that is Alabama’s state party. I saw last month that some Democrats got so feed up with the corruption in Alabama that there was serious talk of forming a new party.
That’s very interesting, Calvin. My daughter and one grandson (voting age) live in Alabama. Do you have any more info about the new party? Maybe a link?
The job of Conservatives, is to muck-up whatever progressive things Liberals and Democrats try to accomplish.
John Roberts, was just doing his job.
And IIRC, he needed Democratic votes to get confirmed.
It might be unfair to paint this on Roberts. Arguably he was ruling by what he saw as restraints imposed on him by the constitution and the law. Its arguable but at least that’s the context he’s working under.
The GOP pols, at the state and national level, should be operating in the best interests of their consitutents and the nation. They have no excuse for their stupid. They oppposed HCR because it was Obama’s and that alone, regardless of how smart it is. If they were too stupid or stubborn to see that, then it is on them.
I do not understand about the grammatical nationality there
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