Obamacare is “a hanging curveball waiting to be hit out of the park” by Mitt Romney in this November’s presidential election. This is what Jeffrey H. Anderson tells us at The Weekly Standard.
Really? Romney says today he’d like to dismantle Obamacare. Should we believe him when it essentially copies his signature program as governor?
Anderson is not alone in his delusion. Matt Latimer at The Daily Beast wrote an article headlined, “How Obamacare Ruling Helps Boost Mitt Romney’s Campaign,” arguing “the rage on the right will help fire up support for the GOP’s not-so-fiery nominee.”
At Breitbart.com there was, “Obamacare Ruling Could Help Romney Draw Conservative Voters,” an article by Tony Lee that cited concern over more liberals being appointed to the Supreme Court as the impetus for voters to clutch at Romney as the nation’s life preserver:
“The Supreme Court’s ruling on Obamacare will put the Court front and center and remind conservatives that two more Elena Kagans or Sonia Sotomayors on the Court will threaten conservatism for a generation and would be more unpalatable than even four more years of an Obama presidency,” he wrote. “Second, especially since Republicans will have more numbers in both chambers of Congress than they did in 2008, Republicans will be in a stronger position to both pass and repeal laws.”
Ed Schultz at MSNBC told viewers, “I think the politics of this in this campaign season makes it a heck of a lot easier for Mitt Romney. He doesn’t have to parcel out what he is for or against or even take a position. He can now just run against what he calls ‘Obamacare.'”
I suppose Romney could do that … if he chooses also to run against Romneycare.
Will Americans forget “conservative” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the majority opinion and was appointed by Republican and compassionate conservative President George W. Bush, who also vastly expanded government (two unwinnable wars, No Child Left Behind, Medicare prescription drug entitlement, Patriot Act, Homeland Security, warrantless wiretaps, Troubled Asset Relief Program, soaring national debt, etc.)?
Will Americans forget the Roberts court also recently upheld jail strip searches for the most minor of offenses? You could be hauled to jail for driving with a burned-out taillight and ordered to drop your pants, spread your legs and bend over, and Roberts and the other “conservative” justices say this would be fine with them.
Now the Supreme Court has saved Obamacare by ruling Congress may use taxes to coerce us to do what would otherwise be unconstitutional. It’s a terrible ruling.
It follows other recent travesties such as the 2005 Kelo ruling granting states and local governments the power to seize one person’s private property on behalf of other private parties who plan to use the property in ways that might expand the tax base. That ruling essentially says individuals and businesses with money and grand plans can take any land they want with the aid of government. The Court reached that ruling by saying the Constitutional limit that property may be taken only for “public use” no longer applies. Now only a “public purpose” is needed.
It’s the direction this country has been headed a long while now, steered there by Republicans and Democrats, liberals and conservatives.
Even if Romney defeats Obama this fall, the country will continue on its dispiriting course. Voting amounts to expressing a preference for being eaten by lions or tigers.
Steve Stanek ([email protected]) is a research fellow at The Heartland Institute in Chicago.
