Supreme Court is De Facto Legislature
By Bradley Blakeman
Newsmax.com
If ever there was an example of judicial activism
and a court legislating from the bench, look no
further than the Chief Justice of the Supreme
Court’s majority opinion on Obamacare.
The Supreme Court of the United States became a de
facto legislature when it decided that Obamacare is
constitutionally grounded in Congress’ powers to tax
— in spite of the fact that President Obama and the
Democrats in Congress who carried the bill insisted
that it was not.
The Obamacare legislation as written does not set
forth that it is established as part of Congress’
powers to levy taxes. If it had, there never would
have been a challenge to the high court.
The ruling raises a number of questions:
- If the bill is silent as to the funding of it, how is it possible for the court to interpret the intent of Congress?
- Isn’t it the job of the Supreme Court to remand the bill back to Congress for further consideration as the basis upon which the bill is sustained constitutionally?
- Where does the Supreme Court get the power to act in the place of Congress?
The court routinely remands cases back to
inferior courts for further determination.
Isn’t that what the Supreme Court did just the other
day on immigration, when they remanded Arizona’s
immigration case back to the 9th Circuit for further
consideration?
In 2009, shortly before the president addressed a
joint session of Congress, he granted an interview
to ABC News’ George Stephanopooulos in which he made
clear that his healthcare bill would not be
sustained through taxation on any American:
STEPHANOPOULOS: “You were against
the individual mandate?”
OBAMA: “Yes.”
STEPHANOPOULOS: “Under this
mandate, the government is forcing people to spend
money, fining you if you don't. How is that not a
tax?”
OBAMA: “Well, hold on a second,
George. Here — here's what's happening. You and I
are both paying $900, on average — our families — in
higher premiums because of uncompensated care. Now
what I've said is that if you can't afford health
insurance, you certainly shouldn't be punished for
that. That's just piling on. If, on the other hand,
we're giving tax credits, we've set up an exchange,
you are now part of a big pool, we've driven down
the costs, we've done everything we can and you
actually can afford health insurance, but you've
just decided, you know what, I want to take my
chances. And then you get hit by a bus and you and I
have to pay for the emergency room care . . .”
STEPHANOPOULOS: “That may be, but
it's still a tax increase.”
OBAMA: “No. That's not true,
George. The — for us to say that you've got to take
a responsibility to get health insurance is
absolutely not a tax increase. What it's saying is,
is that we're not going to have other people
carrying your burdens for you anymore than the fact
that right now everybody in America, just about, has
to get auto insurance. Nobody considers that a tax
increase. People say to themselves, that is a fair
way to make sure that if you hit my car, that I'm
not covering all the costs.”
STEPHANOPOULOS: “But it may be
fair, it may be good public policy . . .”
OBAMA: “No, but — but, George, you
— you can't just make up that language and decide
that that's called a tax increase . . .”
STEPHANOPOULOS: “Here's the . . .”
OBAMA: “What — what — if I — if I
say that right now your premiums are going to be
going up by 5, or 8, or 10 percent next year and you
say well, that's not a tax increase; but, on the
other hand, if I say that I don't want to have to
pay for you not carrying coverage even after I give
you tax credits that make it affordable, then . . .”
STEPHANOPOULOS: “I — I don't think
I'm making it up. Merriam Webster's dictionary: Tax
— ‘a charge, usually of money, imposed by authority
on persons or property for public purposes.’"
OBAMA: “George, the fact that you
looked up Merriam's dictionary, the definition of
tax increase, indicates to me that you're stretching
a little bit right now. Otherwise, you wouldn't have
gone to the dictionary to check on the definition. I
mean what . . .”
STEPHANOPOULOS: “Well, no, but . .
.”
OBAMA: “. . . what you're saying
is?”
STEPHANOPOULOS: “I wanted to check
for myself. But your critics say it is a tax
increase.”
OBAMA: “My critics say everything
is a tax increase. My critics say that I'm taking
over every sector of the economy. You know that.
Look, we can have a legitimate debate about whether
or not we're going to have an individual mandate or
not, but . . .”
STEPHANOPOULOS: “But you reject
that it's a tax increase?”
OBAMA: “I absolutely reject that
notion.”
In 2009, in an attempt to sell Obamacare the
president also said this:
I can make a firm pledge — under my plan, no family
making less that $250,000 a year will see any form
of tax increase.”
In spite of the President’s and Congresses
assertions that Obamacare is not a tax — and in
spite of the fact that the bill is silent with
respect to being further taxation, the Solicitor
General argued that Obamacare is sustained through
Congress’ power to tax.
The Supreme Court’s decision affirmed that Obamacare
is in fact a tax and as such that every American has
an additional tax liability for the cost of
healthcare today, tomorrow, and forever unless the
law is overturned.
The good news is the court did not rule that
federally funded health care was a right under the
Constitution; instead it ruled that healthcare can
be mandated through taxation.
The elections of 2012 have just become a referendum
on federally mandated healthcare.
The Supreme Court may be the court of “last resort”
but it does not have the final word on this issue —
the people do.
It is up to the people on November 6, 2012 to decide
if Obamacare stays or goes.
Power to the people!
Bradley A. Blakeman served as deputy
assistant to President George W. Bush from 2001-04.
He is currently a professor of Politics and Public
Policy at Georgetown University and a frequent
contributor to Fox News Opinion. Read more reports
from Bradley Blakeman —
Click Here Now.
© 2012 Newsmax. All rights reserved.