The Supreme Court has aided and abetted congressional Democrats in perpetrating a massive fraud on the American public.
Obamacare, jammed down the peoples' throats with more dishonesty than any bill has ever been jammed, has been upheld by the Court using logic just as twisted as the machinations of Nancy Pelosi, who said, "You go through the gate. If the gate's closed, you go over the fence. If the fence is too high, we'll pole vault in. If that doesn't work, we'll parachute in. But we're going to get health care reform passed for the American people." In other words, the former speaker of the House didn't care about the rules of the House or legality. She would pass that bill, come hell or high water.
Sponsors of the bill, from the president on down, said it was not a tax. They sold the bill to the American people as an individual mandate with fees for those who refused to buy health insurance. For the first time ever, the federal government would force citizens to buy something, whether they wanted it or not. To anybody with half a brain, that was clearly unconstitutional.
Four Supreme Court justices thought it was! They said that everybody needs health care at one time or another, so they were "engaged in commerce." And the government has the power to regulate commerce under the Commerce Clause. But just because you may need health care does not mean you have to buy health insurance. Ever heard of paying for a doctor on your own? People do it all the time.
Well, everybody needs food at one time or another. So, using their "logic," citizens could be forced to buy any certain kind of food the government mandates.
Four other justices found that the individual mandate, and thus the entire health care reform bill, was unconstitutional. They found that the government can regulate commerce, but not force people to engage in commerce.
The remaining justice, Chief Justice John Roberts, did a song and dance. He declared the individual mandate was not justified under the Commerce Clause (whew! what a relief!). But then he did his sidestep, and declared that the bill really represented a tax, even though President Obama and all his minions promised that it wasn't.
In a truly remarkable bit of doublespeak, Roberts said the bill was not a tax for purposes of jurisdiction (taxes cannot be ruled on until they take effect), but was a tax for purposes of justification (Congress has the power to pass taxes; boy! Do they ever!). So it was not a tax, yet it is a tax, according to the Chief Justice.
He performed a classic shell game: Now it's not a tax; look fast! Too late! Now it's a tax. Too bad, try your luck again.
Liberal pundits praised the historically conservative Roberts, saying he "salvaged the legitimacy" of the Court; he was afraid to make the Court look politically partisan.
Nope. He just made it look silly and dishonest.
