Justice Roberts surprised us all by joining the four "liberal" members of the Court to uphold almost all of Obama(Romney)care. Now the Republicans are going to be talking about the "individual mandate" continually between now and November 6.
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Justice Roberts surprised us all by joining the four "liberal" members of the Court to uphold almost all of Obama(Romney)care. Now the Republicans are going to be talking about the "individual mandate" continually between now and November 6. Their chant is going to be that Obama is forcing people to buy a product, and that's an affront to freedom. When you hear that, please remember the real story:

Americans with preexisting conditions will no longer be denied insurance.

Insurance companies will no longer put a lifetime cap on your coverage. So if you die a lingering death from cancer or a car crash or a hunting accident, you won't also have to lose your house and all your savings. And your children won't have to make a decision whether to sell their house to pay for your care.

Kids who can't afford insurance will be able to stay on their parents' plan until age 26.

Insurance companies will have to spend at least 85 perent of your premiums on health care, instead of on "administrative costs" (aka spending your money to deny your claims).

I am actually sympathetic to the argument that people should not be forced to buy a product. Or, more accurately, that people should not be taxed as a result of refusing to by a product. But please remember that the old way was an affront to freedom too. Because consider what actually happened when the freedom-loving people who loved freedom so much they didn't buy health insurance, thereby saving themselves money for years. When these people got hit by cars or fell off ladders or got cancer, they went to the emergency room and you and me and all the other taxpayers ended up covering their health care. That was an affront to my freedom too.

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