Supreme Court Rules on Technicalities of Language in Obamacare
They came on consecutive days, with the first one being a ruling on Obamacare. There was a technicality in the language, and opponents of Obamacare tried to use this in order to effectively render it unconstitutional. In effect, it would have served to repeal Obamacare in a number of states, which would have gotten tens of millions of people to lose their insurance.
But the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Obamacare. Not for the first time, either.
In response to the decision, a pleased President Obama said that his healthcare system, also known as the Affordable Care Act, "is here to stay."
Still, Republicans are promising to fight it, and will continue to make an issue of it for this next election cycle.
What really bothers me about this opposition is that it seems mindless at this point. An automatic reaction, more of a knee jerk reaction than a thoughtful contemplation of what is wrong with the law (God forbid they look at anything that it might have served to improve in the healthcare system) and work on improving those aspects. Only one Republican in the field, Marco Rubio, has even discussed the possibility of an alternative plan. Almost all other Republican opponents of Obamacare simply want to do one thing: repeal it. No official plan to replace it with, just empty rhetoric about letting the free market take over, thus, in their language, giving Americans the "freedom to choose" more options. Which usually translates to giving the corporate health care industry free rein to charge whatever they want, to fleece the American people and literally record record profits from the pain that they themselves are helping to create.
There are a lot of things that I am less than thrilled with regarding Obamacare, including high premiums. However, the healthcare system that was in place before was criminal, and needed to be gotten rid of. For all of its faults, Obamacare is nonetheless a step up from that. We simply cannot be the skunk of the world when it comes to our healthcare system, when tens of millions of people still have no insurance, tens of millions more have inadequate health coverage, and thousands of people have been forced to choose between not getting proper care, or losing their lifestyles, their homes, and so much of what truly matters to them.
It matters little what Republican opponents to the law say at this point, they only oppose it because it is politically profitable to do so (presumably). What they would have, presumably, is a return to the old, unfair, broken system that, very typically, hurt the majority of people, while benefiting the very wealthy and corporations. Since the Republican party never actually proposed any alternative solution or plan of their own, we have to assume that is what they wanted. In my book, that means that they deserve to lose this particular battle. If that it the hill that they hopefully collectively die on in the 2016 election, then so be it.
As one wit in attendance during a debate in a Republican debate in the last presidential election said in regards to healthcare, "Let them die."
Supreme Court Rules on Gay Marriage For All 50 States
Of course, the other decision came the very next day, and it was perhaps even more of a sweeping decision than Obamacare.
The Supreme Court ruled by 5-4 that same-sex marriage has to be legal in all 50 states, and that marriages in other states must be recognized in all 50 states.
The decision was hailed around the country and, indeed, around the world. Celebrations were seen literally across the country, and the LGBT community were in an understandably jovial mood following this historic ruling.
If this is indeed a Gay Civil Rights movement that we are witnessing, than Thursday's ruling is sure to be one of the truly landmark decisions, perhaps equivalent to Brown v. Board of Education for this age.
One preacher in the South promised to set himself on fire in protest should the court render gay marriage legal.
Hey, if he feels that strongly, then let him do so. I know a lot of religious-minded people feel that this is simply further persecution of their religious liberties. But again, we are talking about a government that is, at least officially, separate from the Church. However much they might not like it, the issue was whether or not certain law-abiding citizens are extended the same rights as everyone else, or if they are not, and are essentially discriminated against, due to who they are, and what group they belong to.
Personally, I applaud the decision, and am happy for those friends of mine who are gay, as well as the LGBT community across the country.
This truly was a historic win for them.
And so in conclusion, what a week it was! Particularly for President Obama. A historical week on many levels, and the kind of week that just might restore some people's faith in our system of governance.
Obamacare overcame yet another huge obstacle, and gay marriage was legalized. Also, the Confederate flag seems to finally be recognized for what it is: a symbol of racism and oppression. This is something that I intend to write more about later (hopefully, tomorrow). However, for anyone who might agree with me that the flag represents racism for millions, ask yourself this: when was the last time that you saw a black person, or any non-white person in general, proudly holding up that flag? If you cannot honestly remember, then can you recognize the possibility that it is a symbol that polarizes too many people, and should be done away with?
Also, I should mention that there are a couple of other huge pieces of news involving President Obama this past week, as well. There were two major policy decisions rendered this past week in foreign affairs that will likely have a huge impact, as well. The first is the passage of the Fast Track/TPP trade agreement. You will note my considerably less enthusiastic language for that, since my suspicion is that this is another NAFTA that will hurt, rather than help, most Americans. Hopefully, I am wrong.
Finally, President Obama changed the policy on negotiating with terrorists, and decriminalized the gathering of funds for ransom payments to terrorist organizations among American families. The government will not pay, but it also will not charge family members of captured Americans abroad from paying ransoms. Not sure if this is a good or bad thing, and what the end result will be. Time will tell, presumably.
Overall, however, what a memorable week in politics, and to their credit, what a series of victories for the Obama White House!
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