Obama's Legal Tactics Seen As Possibly Hurting Chances To Save Health-care Law

The Washington Post:

Some prominent legal scholars say a series of tactical decisions by President Obama's legal team may have hurt the chances of saving his landmark health-care legislation from being gutted by Supreme Court conservatives.

Read the whole story: The Washington Post

Comments

[RainOnRoses]

03:23 AM on 06/26/2012

Dont worry people, SCOTUS wont strike down "Obamacare". They would never dare eliminate the chance for very large corporations to make more money.

[FiftyGigs]

04:56 PM on 06/24/2012

THEM:
"Check it out Fitty. GW's law was for seamen only."

ME:
You're obviously not getting paid by the word.

In reply to your comment, it doesn't matter who "Washington's" law was for. It matters what it was. In short, it's precedent.

Of course, "Originalists" such as yourself are well aware that -- under Washington -- the Court didn't believe it had the authority to overrule a law passed by Congress. Now, under conservatism, we know the original designers of the Constitution got the whole thing whole.

The Court is where laws actually are made. Activist judges are the goal.

[breakingpoint]

03:04 PM on 06/24/2012

he wouldn't even meet with single payer advocates and he housed all the big insurances companies

aren't you tired of these neocon corporatist yet?

[breakingpoint]

03:02 PM on 06/24/2012

"Obama Asks People Getting Married To Forgo Gifts, Ask Their Guests To Donate To His Campaign Instead…"

that's justdisgusting and sad

[RTIII]

06:20 PM on 06/24/2012

and almost certainly not true.

[breakingpoint]

11:32 PM on 06/24/2012

a cut paste and google proves you wrong da

[RightinWA]

02:11 PM on 06/24/2012

EVERYTHING BHO touches is a FAILURE....

[Maezeppa]

02:34 PM on 06/24/2012

Don't be ridiculous.   He has repaired so much of the Bush catastrophe that Americans are deeply impressed.  Overwhelmingly Americans want the provisions given in Obamacare.  Overwhelmingly.  If it were called "Palincare" you would be ready to lie down and die for it.  Hypocrite.

Bloomberg surveyed 21 top constitutional scholars and found that, while 19 think the individual mandate of the Affordable Care Act ought to be upheld on the basis of legal precedent, just eight think the Supreme Court will actually do so:  “The precedent makes this a very easy case,” said Christina Whitman, a University of Michigan law professor. “But the oral argument indicated that the more conservative justices are striving to find a way to strike down the mandate.”

[dogspeed]

01:36 PM on 06/24/2012

This will be a circular firing squad.

[Maezeppa]

02:36 PM on 06/24/2012

No.  It will either be upheld, in which case millions of citizens will enjoy better quality of life or it will be quashed, in which case there will be a huge anti-Republican backlash as Democrats are energized to fight back.

[RTIII]

06:21 PM on 06/24/2012

My bet goes to the latter.

[bonypix]

08:35 PM on 06/24/2012

If ruled Unconstitutional, it could be that Obama fired over the heads of the Justices with words on more than one occaion. I doubt the backlash will hit Republican candidates as much as Obama himself. This bill was all democrat behind closed doors and everyone knows it. When Pelosi said they needed to pass the bill to see what was in it, we knew it was one big bad and expensive bill and it is proving to be worse than first thought.

[JeanValjean]

01:12 PM on 06/24/2012

It is amazing to see how quick people are to point finger others. The President did his best with what he had. He may have made some political mistakes, sone legal ones too. But this being said, he is still the one who brought the issue so far. He had to deal with an obstructionist Congress from day 1. He had to deal with deep racist feelings. He had to deal with a highly politicized Supreme Court. He had to deal with major lobbies and financial interests that have no mercy fro the American People. He had to deal with internal differences (Unlike Republicans, Democrats do not walk in locked steps). So if it is struck. So be it. It is one more reason to support his bid in 2012. If he fails in his bid, we all fail. And the dark ages will start right away. So to all critics, I can only say, know where your true adversary is, because if you don't, your adversary certainly does.

[VikingQuest]

02:05 PM on 06/24/2012

"He had to deal with an obstructionist Congress from day 1"

I love how Dem Senate, Dem House and Dem President is still not enough to do anything but blame the Rs.

[Maezeppa]

02:37 PM on 06/24/2012

Look up the word "cloture" and get back to me when you know what you're prattling on about.

[JeanValjean]

02:55 PM on 06/24/2012

Correct. When fillibuster procedure is used, you need 60 senators, not 51. The best example of (R) obrusctionism: The Dream Act of 2010

[Iwillhaveyouknow]

02:23 PM on 06/24/2012

"He had to deal with an obstructionist congress from day 1." Try again. He had a fillibuster-proof majority for two years and instead of forcing through all the legislation he promised he travelled the world giving apologetic and sycophantic speeches. "He had to deal with deep racist feelings." From who? Wait let me guess, rich white guys, probably from the South. You are a walking stereotype of the liberal narrative devotee.

[JeanValjean]

05:49 PM on 06/24/2012

Before using qualifiers on others, perhaps researching the matter at hand might help.

[Taiyo]

08:29 PM on 06/24/2012

Where do you get your "facts"? From Limbaugh or Hannity?

[mjvoter]

12:50 PM on 06/24/2012

I think no matter what happens from here one thing is certain. The public is fed up with insurance companies making record profits while raising prices and limiting coverage. And if I were a politician I would worry more about what the public thinks than what some insurance company lobbyist has to say.

[T2]

01:31 PM on 06/24/2012

f&f mjvoter,
An argument could be made that Ins. Companies are not interested in selling Ins. When you realize that in much of the industry over 90% of the insurance co's profit comes from managing
self funded employer health plans and the fact that having medicare as the primary payer has been a windfall for them..

[dogspeed]

01:39 PM on 06/24/2012

I'm sick of people not taking care of themselves and then making healthy people shoulder the costs.

[oldandfoolish]

12:49 PM on 06/24/2012

So far nobody seems to be agaist the big government's demand on all healthcare facilities to take care of everyone who walks into emergency rooms around the country. This mandate was passed under the Reagan administration and is a burden on all insured people in this country. If the Supreme Court decides against the individual mandate to purchase insurance, the same court should also find unconstitutional that insured persons have to pay for the uninsured because of a Federal law.

[SoCalGrandma]

12:44 PM on 06/24/2012

I am beginning to think that someone has a backdoor into the Supreme Court, since everything I've been reading is that the Supreme Court is going to toss all or part of Obamacare. Maybe some people just want to be able to say "I told you so," but wouldn't it be better if we all waited for the decision? (Personally, I think there is a leak on the Court, and his initials are CT.)
I voted for Obama in '08 and will again in '12, but he probably has to be the most politically naive president in the history of the presidency. Wet behind the ears doesn't even begin to cover the last 3+ years.

[maxwells]

06:35 PM on 06/24/2012

No, that would be Jimmy Carter who, toward the 2nd half of his one-term presidency, went so far as to stop talking to Congress because he didn't think he needed to.

Now that's what I'd call naive. And I voted for him.

[Taiyo]

08:32 PM on 06/24/2012

" I think there is a leak on the Court, and his initials are CT"
- - - -
You might be on the right track. I think it just might be CT's wife after a little pillow talk.

[ghrbr]

12:32 PM on 06/24/2012

How can Obama survive re-election if his signature legislation is declared unconstitutional?

[Iwillhaveyouknow]

02:24 PM on 06/24/2012

Hopefully he can't

[elgeeezer]

11:57 AM on 06/24/2012

The day following the day when all Federal employees, including politicians, sign onto a public health care act, I will rush to sign on as well. Until that day comes (never!) I will be opposed to any HC bills or laws.

[elgeeezer]

11:48 AM on 06/24/2012

The idea that that there is a menu of legal tactics that can be applied to overcome the unconstitutionality of a law is ludicrous. Obama's mandate is unconstitutional on it's face. No amount of maneuvering by any legal scholars can change that. As they will soon see.

[Tresco]

11:47 AM on 06/24/2012

Obamacare is a joke. 2,000 pages of gibberish. Obama is supposed to be some kind of expert on constitutional law. I don't think so. They could have done better. The president and the Democrats in Congress had a once in a lifetime chance to change the health care system and they blew it. All they had to do was compromise just a little and peel off a hand full of Republican votes. It was doable but in their stupid arrogance they rammed through a horrendously complicated and blatantly unconstitutional pile of garbage. They deserve the beating they took in 2010 and the one they are going to take in November. They should have come up with a plan that was simple, less expensive and less all encompassing. Something that would have been constitutional and could have been added onto later. Finally, they should have taken time to build consensus and sell the plan to both Congress and the American people. It would have worked and the president's reelection would have been assured.

[mjvoter]

12:51 PM on 06/24/2012

Please do tell us what parts of the 2000 pages you actually read and what is unconstitutional and what could have been done better.

[dogspeed]

01:43 PM on 06/24/2012

Simple. The mandate is unconstitutional.

[demsrsilly]

02:17 PM on 06/24/2012

I read as much of it as nancy pelosi.

[dogspeed]

01:42 PM on 06/24/2012

You should be the President's advisor. He needs advice like this.

[Tresco]

06:41 PM on 06/24/2012

Whoever he has advising him now sure isn't doing their job. Is he surrounded by a bunch of yes men?

[G2G]

11:45 AM on 06/24/2012

Another 'Blame the Wrong Person for Denying US Citizens Affordable Healthcare' Article.

Instead of legal scholars decrying the President's efforts to obtain affordable healthcare for all US citizens, they should decry the current Republican Party for obstructing any efforts to do so and not offering any alternative plans.

Unfortunately, to do so would subject them to the wrath of the current Republican Party, so they'd rather take the 'safe route' and blame the President.

Still...

Obama2012!