Heritage was at the Supreme Court for the past three days to observe the oral arguments over the constitutionality of Obamacare. Heritage’s Todd Gaziano and Hans von Spakovsky sat in for each day’s arguments and provided immediate reaction after each session. For your convenience, we have corralled these videos and blog posts below. Monday, March 26: Anti-Injunction Act The biggest news from the Supreme Court’s first day of oral arguments on Obamacare was that no justice indicated he or she would be troubled reaching the merits of the larger constitutional …
For the past three days, the nine justices of the U.S. Supreme Court heard a series of arguments on Obamacare — what promises to be one of the most seminal decisions in the Court’s history. Now that the dust has settled, it appears more than likely that President Obama’s signature health care law is on the verge of being struck down — perhaps even in its entirety. The challengers to the law include more than half of the States of the Union, the National Federation of Independent Business, and private …
It has been two years since Obamacare was signed into law, and although the major provisions don’t begin until 2014, some have already been implemented. The parts of the law already in effect were thought by its proponents to be its most popular, but as detailed in Heritage’s “The Obamacare Two-Year Checkup: More Reasons for Repeal,” the law is already proving ineffective in some cases and harmful in others. Here are some of the biggest failures of Obamacare highlighted by the paper: The disappearance of child-only policies. Obamacare requires insurers …
The Court’s morning session concentrated on whether, if the individual mandate is held unconstitutional (as looks increasingly likely after yesterday’s argument), it can be cleanly severed from the rest of ObamaCare, and if not, what other portions of the act must the Court strike down with it. The Court’s afternoon session focused on whether Congress’s conditions on the states to continue to participate in the Medicaid program were constitutionally coercive. The two sessions were largely distinct but had some overlapping aspects. SEVERABILITY In the morning’s arguments about severability, the government …
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court heard the third day of oral arguments for and against Obamacare’s individual mandate. The day’s discussion mostly revolved around the issue of severability: is the mandate so closely tied with the rest of the law that the court cannot strike it down without invalidating the rest of Obamacare? Make sure you check out the day’s preview from Heritage’s Todd Gaziano, and make sure you stay tuned for his roundup of the day’s events. For now, here is full audio and a transcript of today’s oral …
If the individual mandate is the blockbuster issue before the Court, Medicaid and severability may be sleeper hits that ultimately have tremendous impact. If the Court strikes down the mandate, then what is to be done with the Russian novel-length ObamaCare? Should the Court just tear out the few pages that contain the mandate, or the mandate plus related sections (whatever that means), or is the mandate so central to the law that the Court should throw out the whole thing? This is what in legal jargon is known as …
Heritage was on the scene at the Supreme Court today as the justices began the second day of hearings on Obamacare (as we were yesterday). Protesters gathered in front of the Court, expressing their opposition to Obamacare and the individual mandate. Here are some pictures from the Court.
The Republican Study Committee (RSC) budget introduced today addresses six key fiscal criteria. It launches decisive entitlement reforms, cuts spending sharply and quickly, avoids tax hikes, includes pro-growth tax reform, provides for a strong national defense, and moves aggressively—within five years—to a balanced budget. The plan falls short in substantiating many of its significant spending cuts with adequate policy detail, but it is an ambitious effort aimed at solving the twin crises of spending and debt. The plan contains $3.4 trillion in entitlement savings. It repeals Obamacare. It includes a …
The packed hearing room of the Supreme Court was a who’s who of lawyers and political leaders this morning, all of whom witnessed what was an undeniably bad day for the Obama Administration and its defense of the President’s health care law. Paul Clement and Michael Carvin, attorneys representing those challenging Obamacare, battled Solicitor General Donald Verrelli, who was defending the law, and urged the Supreme Court to find the individual mandate in ObamaCare unconstitutional. Present in the courtroom were about twelve state attorneys general, including those from Utah, North …
Obamacare saw its second day at the Supreme Court today. Heritage staff will have in-depth analysis of the day’s events later today (read our preview here). For now, here is audio and a full transcript of today’s two hours of arguments. Full audio of Obamacare at the Supreme Court, day two SCOTUS Transcript
