I, for one, think that this is a great decision. The SCOTUS invalidated the use of the commerce clause as justification for the FEDGOV to do as they will. That is huge (and is not being reported, btw)
Construing the Commerce Clause to permit Congress to regulate individuals precisely because they are doing nothing would open a new and potentially vast domain to congressional authority. Congress already possesses expansive power to regulate what people do. Upholding the Affordable Care Act under the Commerce Clause would give Congress the same license to regulate what people do not do. The Framers knew the difference between doing something and doing nothing. They gave Congress the power to regulate commerce, not to compel it. Ignoring that distinction would undermine the principle that the Federal Government is a government of limited and enumerated powers. The individual mandate thus cannot be sustained under Congress’s power to “regulate Commerce.”
Also, another tremendous part of the decision is that the court invalidated the Medicaid expansion.
Yes, the court upheld the mandate… .as a tax…but, when employers start to drop coverage for their folks and others start laying off people, that will be quickly fixed. Many folks are already resentful because of what has happened to their premiums due to Obamacare. When the other shoe drops, it will be almost impossible, politically, to support it.
For immediate purposes, I fully grant that the decision is pretty grim. But there are some little gems in there that need to be considered.
