ADMINISTRATION: “NOTHING HAS CHANGED”
U.S. President Barack Obama‘s signature socialized medicine law has been dealt a potentially fatal blow by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia – which determined that the law’s tax collection and subsidy disbursement was invalid in two-thirds of the country.
That means $700 billion worth of “Obamacare” tax hikes is off the table … at least temporarily.
Or is it?
In yet another example of its unmitigated contempt for our government’s Constitutionally prescribed separation of powers, the Obama administration is flatly defying the court ruling – saying “nothing has changed” with regard to its implementation of this controversial law.
“We believe that this decision is incorrect, inconsistent with Congressional intent, different from previous rulings, and at odds with the goal of the law: to make health care affordable no matter where people live,” a spokeswoman for Obama’s Justice Department said in response to the ruling. “The government will therefore immediately seek further review of the court’s decision. In the meantime, to be clear, people getting premium tax credits should know that nothing has changed, tax credits remain available.”
Translation? Pay no attention to the judicial branch of government …
In an interview with Examiner.com , senior editor Robert Romano of Americans for Limited Government (ALG) said Obama “is not even pretending to follow the law.”
“As it stands the court has struck down the IRS regulation implementing subsidies in federal exchanges as illegal under the law,” Romano told the website. “Unless and until there is something from a court that says otherwise, the Obama administration is bound to follow the ruling … which says there can be no subsidies in the thirty-six states operating under federal exchanges.”
He’s right …
The Appeals Court ruling will be heard next by the full D.C. District Court – which is expected to rule in favor of the government. Then it has a date with the U.S. Supreme Court – where chief justice John Roberts (the swing vote in 2012’s controversial decision upholding Obamacare) will be back on the hot seat.
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53 comments
Considering so much of the data Obama has released about Obamacare is untrue: What difference does it make? (my apologies to Hillary.)
I think we will overturn it, anyway. It is so hated, and such a fiasco, even the most-timid (Liberal-Tarians) hiding in the GOP are getting the message. The American people just want Obama, and Obamacare, GONE.
If they wanted him gone, why did they reelect him? :)
you are stupid, that’s why he allowed the illegals to vote without showing proof of citizenship, they voted him in, & a few of his race, I know several African Americans that want to take action against him, & it’s not a hug, their ashamed of him, he’s a disgrace to their race. How much is he paying you to defend him, or are you just plain stupid?
Prove it. Otherwise shut up about electoral irregularities. how many repressive republican “voter ID” laws were in effect during the last election, and you’re crying about illegals voting.
DID NOT HAPPEN.
Let him. He is only digging that hole dipper for Democrats.
your apologies to Hillary who allowed soldiers to be killed, because they were trying to save the ambassador & she & others gave the order to stand down? What in the world are you thinking, & then withholding their benefits from their families, oh yeah apologize to that butt kissing stupid drunk!!!! She has her head so far up obamas butt I don’t see how he goes to the bathroom, & I have NEVER seen a past president at the white house alllllll the time the way bill clinton is, he’s an idiot, & right in the middle of all of it, get his butt out of the white house, all of them, they have nothing to offer the American people but pain, struggle, & allowing illegals to overflow our country. now apologize you jerk.
Testimony at least one of the Congressional hearings already held proves there WAS NO STAND DOWN ORDER.
Again.
DID NOT HAPPEN.
Not that the facts will get in the way of your talking points.
I’m apologizing for taking her quote. Nothing more.
So appealing a court decision is “defiance” now? What a joke.
Are you just going to ignore the Fourth Circuit’s decision?
It is if he acts in defiance of the ruling while appealing. Do in this case continuing to allow the benefit is in fact defiance.
There are two rulings, contradictory. Which ruling should he follow? The one YOU like? Is that how it works?
I’m a little fuzzy on the hierarchy of federal courts but I think the appeals court trumps the circuit court (not positive). It’ll go to the U.S. Supreme Court ultimately and unless the justices get spun up on what the meaning of the word is is, he’ll lose.
Your not fuzzy. You are clueless. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals and the DC Ct of Appeals are equals. I know everyone wants to impeach the President over every time he farts, but if the case is appealed it goes on until it reaches a final conclusion. This is not over folks and the Administration does not yet have to abide by this ruling even under our Constitution which you kooks obviously know nothing about.
No I don’t want that foreign piece of crap impeached, I want him removed & tried for treason, murder, falsifying documents. When his lips are moving, he is LYING!!! He is allowing all the illegals in, & don’t think he didn’t get kick backs from the banks that he handed over Americas money to, they gave bonuses to their employees, went on exotic vacations. He is a foreign terrorist!!!! I don’t care if you agree, it’s the truth, & if you don’t see it, you need to remove your blinders…mine are off.
Please proceed, wingnuts.
Please proceed, wingnuts.
You are correct that they are equals, I read “circuit” and interpreted “district”. As for the impeachment bovine excreta, hell no, don’t impeach his ass, that would leave us with Biden -the one thing sure to make this whole mess worse.
The appeals courts and the cirucit courts are the same court. But I’m impressed that you don’t hestiate to spout off about something you are totally ignorant about. Be proud to be stupid!
Sorry, they are not the same courts. The 4th Circuit Court sits in Virginia, the D.C. Appeals Court sits in D.C.
It should be put on hold and the US Supreme Court in a pushed up calender or case address it;It can be considered an emergency and acted upon no doubt!
The DC Circuit en banc will uphold Obamacare so there will be no split in the Circuits. As such, the Supremes won’t touch it. Y’all angry bubbas need to watch more C-Span and less Faux News.
The full court ruling can be appealed and the Supremes can hear anything they want.
He has done more than defy a courts decision, he is supposed to be above criminal activity & apparently he is not. You stand by him, you’ll go down with him. He could care less about America, the raging homo that he is, & yes I have friends that are gay, so don’t go there. He is destroying America, our way of life, allowing all the illegals in, not calling out the national guard to mow them down like their practice shooting. Give them a choice, go back, or your gone. Presenting false birth certificates that takes 4 years to produce, I can have one in 72 hours or less via federal express, & his supposed to be the flippin president, not in my mind. He is a misplaced terrorist here to do a job on us with his followers & they are here. Have ya’ll forgotten the terrorist attack on the twin towers, the pentagon, & the plane the people took down sacraficing their lives to help us…your a moron, or uneducated or he pays you to defend him, just pick one.
Let the impeachment proceedings being!!!
The President that happened to be the biggest violator of states rights standing proudly in front of the court of appeals is the biggest irony out of this whole mismash of bullshit.
We all know how its gonna end, the Black Jesus will ram it right up the taxpayer rear with a red, white & blue dick while praising the ability of government to take care of everyone.
The Emperor will just thumb his nose and continue on.
No impeachment it takes too long, try him for treason, & murder, firing of our soldiers, & putting a drag queen in the white house with him as the first lady. Today would not be soon enough, he is on a mission to destroy America, we need to stop him, & we do have the resourses, courts have charged him with crimes that what used to be the middle class is now the struggling class, if we defied the courts we would be thrown in prison. This foreign deviant needs to have his pen & paper taken away, & given a piece of construction paper, & a crayon, & housed with the hardest, worst criminals we have imprisoned. I wouldn’t vote for him, & never have, & don’t pull that race card with me, doesn’t work, present false birth certificates, not respecting our flag or allegiance, he needs to be taken out, & his “queen of hes” needs to go with him!!!!
The DC Circuit Appeals Court and the 4th Circuit Appeals Court differed in their interpretation of the language in the ACA about federal subsidies. Since the ACA explicitly stated that the federal government may step in and “establish and operate” health exchanges and “may take such actions as are necessary to implement” its aims, the nit-picking of the DC court may be contrary to the intent of Congress.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jul/22/conservative-judges-steal-affordable-health-care
Shouldn’t that be intent of Democrats?
Republicans should be careful what they wish for. With 20 million fewer people now without health insurance, there may be some blow-back if that is taken away by a court decision in favor of Republican plaintiffs.
The 4th Circuit three-man tag team has made the argument complete. The law in this particular part is completely lucid (yes, yes, I read the damn things) and clear as rainwater filtered by sterilized robots. But the real decision will come when SCOTUS combines the rulings. Do we really have a court which lives by the letter of the law, or will we have to live by the ultimate rule of whimsey? We’re the kids in America, and we want to know!
We live by the rule of Law.
Men make the Law.
So, we live by the rule of Man’s Law.
It is codified Whimsey.
There are only ten rules that I know of that actually work. Many believe they don’t come from Man. Whether they do or not is irrelevant. What is relevant is that there are only ten that work, and Man’s additions are dangerous nonsense.
If it’s not good enough for Congress why is it being forced on everyone else?
It’s the way it always works. The clowns in Congress (Dumbacrats and Repugnants) are all the same. They pass laws and exempt themselves; but, require the rest of us to live by them. It is arrogance and corruption to the extreme. Obummer is the worse of all. He truly thinks he is the Imperial, tyranical, Dictator!
I know you Tea Partyers like to spout this. But folks in Congress are eligible for a group plan. This was never intended to apply to people who already have access to a group insurance plan. This was for people who have no group plan they can access and cannot afford private insurance. It is not as good as the federal government group plan they give to our Congressmen. Why don’t you ask why the rest of us cannot access a plan like our Congressmen have.
it’s not obamacare, it’s crazy Hillarys health plan that she tried to push through long ago, They add so many add ons that if it’s passed, it will benefit no one. Do you think the people struggling have money for insurance, NO. I know one guy they just started taking $70 per week out of his check, he was highly irritated, & worried about his electric bill..talk about the tea partyiers at least we have the brass to say what is the truth, rather than sugar coat it, & allow our country go down to nothing, & it is going down..so stand up for that foreign deviant…
We’ll see about group plans when Obama’s delay runs out in the private sector and those plans don’t meet ACA guide lines. Didn’t over 5 Million lose their group plan already and what about Congressional Staff.
BTW if I’m a “Tea Partyer” you’re a liberal nut case.
Ok i thought you were a tea partier. However, Congress’ plan was a full plan that met all requirements of the ACA. Its a great plan. It is a better plan than you or I could get. I would prefer they not have it. But they are generally no different than any other employee with a group plan that meets ACA guidelines. I don’t know about the 5 million figure. I would have to see the source of that to know what you are talking about.
But they are different than any other employee, they are suppose to work for us not except themselves from the law they write that affect us.
Tell me why should a 50 or 60 year old person be required to have pregnancy or infant care coverage? If they don’t have the coverage they lose their plan. Don’t you remember if you like your plan you can keep your plan not to mention your doctor.
For John Roberts it won’t be a “hot seat”, it’ll be center stage with a spotlight.
The press keeps saying it was just a drafting error:
http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/obamacare-drafting-error-federal-subsidies-dc-circuit-court
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2014/07/22/what-todays-obamacare-ruling-reveals-about-the-gop/
Unfortunately for them, the only body that can fix a legislative drafting error is the legislature. The question for the court is whether the language of the statute is ambiguous. It is not. This talk about drafting errors is a strong admission that it is not. Even the 4th Circuit conceded the “common sense” reading was the one offered by the plaintiffs, before then contorting the statute in an attempt to go beyond the straightforward meaning of the language in dispute.
Here’s how it works: Circuit Ct of Appeal for DC Circuit has ruled against the Administration. The Administration will petition for rehearing en banc. That is a request that the entire group DC Circuit judges decide the case, rather than the three judge panel that made this decision. The court, sitting en banc, can decide the case however it sees fit. If it sides with the Administration, there is no conflict with the 4th Circuit and nothing changes. If it agrees with the three judge panel there will be a conflict in the Circuits and will most likely be taken up by the Supremes. They don’t have to take it but a conflict among the Circuits is one of the strongest arguments one can have on a petition for cert to the SCt.
Here’s how it works: Circuit Ct of Appeal for DC Circuit has ruled against the Administration. The Administration will petition for rehearing en banc. That is a request that the entire group DC Circuit judges decide the case, rather than the three judge panel that made this decision. The court, sitting en banc, can decide the case however it sees fit. If it sides with the Administration, there is no conflict with the 4th Circuit and nothing changes. If it agrees with the three judge panel there will be a conflict in the Circuits and will most likely be taken up by the Supremes. They don’t have to take it but a conflict among the Circuits is one of the strongest arguments one can have on a petition for cert to the SCt.
An appeal of an order stays the enforcement of the order being appealed. So the administration is doing nothing that a private party would do upon receipt of an adverse ruling that he planned to appeal.
Tuesday’s other opinion came from the Fourth Circuit, where judges unanimously backed federal exchange subsidies after finding that regulators had reasonably interpreted the ACA.
The Fourth Circuit’s ruling took a middle view, finding that the ACA contains debatable language but that federal regulators deserve deference because they adopted an “entirely sensible” reading that had the effect of “furthering the goals of the law.”
HOLD your Breath Tea baggers.
Do you people seriously think the former EDITOR of the Harvard Law Review (Barack Obama if you didn’t know) would callously ignore the judicial branch? C’mon people, there is a point where you have to stop the partisan biases and seek out multiple sources of information to gain an accurate understanding of what is happening. I realize how hard and time consuming this is, but think about the uninformed opinions you will present if you don’t amply research the topic. Leave the opinions to the experts, as I am sure you would not let a rookie in your field tell you how to correctly do your job because they just don’t know what they are talking about. Sometimes it is ok to step and say “Hey, I just don’t know what I am talking about but I would love to gain a better understanding.”
“Do you people seriously think the former EDITOR of the Harvard Law
Review (Barack Obama if you didn’t know) would callously ignore the
judicial branch?”
Yep.
Take away MY Obama care will ya? Over my dead body!
You can’t take away anyones Obamacare. It is not a thing. You can take away someones health insurance which is what we are talking about here. I don’t think you are so dumb as to not understand that. So the correct quote, would be “Take away my health insurance, over my dead body.” Which may be appropriate as taking away health care may lead to your dead body. What id someone wanted to take away your family’s health insurance?
So, sue me you wimps.
The full court will hear the case. Seven appointed by Democrats, 4 by Republicans.
Articles like this tell me that a lot of these commentators are ill-informed about the inner workings of the government. A lower appeals court ruling is not necessarily applicable to the national law. It would have to be decided by the Supreme Court. And I believe Abraham Lincoln probably did more to violate states rights than Barack Obama. I still believe most people dislike this president because of his race. Why else would one vote against their own interest just to see someone out of office. It doesn’t make since to me. You need education and you would rather allow your state fall to ruin rather than accepting funds from the same government. There’s just one difference. The president. And all of those individuals claiming they love Bill Clinton so much now, don’t realize how much more radical Clinton was than Obama. Move to Mississippi if you want very little government assistance. You’ll be in the poorest, stupidest, least healthy state in the union. So continue to late racism destroy you. For as much of an insult as it is to me, it will also be enjoyable to watch you lose everything to the same rich people who trick you to vote for them every year.