Supreme Court Upholds Affordable Care Act


The news is only a few minutes old, but we already know this much: The Supreme Court has upheld the individual mandate in the Affordable Care Act, and did not strike down major components of the law. Chief Justice John Roberts, who was an appointee of George W. Bush, was the deciding vote, and held that the law could be upheld if it is considered a tax, and Congress is allowed to impose taxes. So here’s two things we can look for in the Republican response:

1. A focus on taxes. They’ll be sure to jump on the idea that President Obama is taxing Americans, and everyone knows that Americans hate taxes (even they do help to pay for roads, and police, and Medicaid).

2. The revival of Romneycare. When they’re not slamming Obama on the tax front, they’ll likely be revisiting the fact that Mitt Romney had a hand in creating the ACA, by creating its prototype here in Massachusetts. Romney’s not beyond changing his positions when politically expedient, so it’ll be interesting to see whether he too experiences an “evolution” in response to the court’s decision.

Other things we know: CNN royally screwed up their announcement of the decision. And Ann Curry is probably pretty pleased she’s not going to be the major topic of conversation today.

Thoughts on the health care decision? Tell us.