Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Transcript of Remarks by the President on Supreme Court Ruling on the Affordable Care Act | The White House (video below the fold):

Remarks by the President on Supreme Court Ruling on the Affordable Care Act

East Room

12:15 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT:  Good afternoon.  Earlier today, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act — the name of the health care reform we passed two years ago.  In doing so, they've reaffirmed a fundamental principle that here in America — in the wealthiest nation on Earth – no illness or accident should lead to any family’s financial ruin. 

I know there will be a lot of discussion today about the politics of all this, about who won and who lost.  That’s how these things tend to be viewed here in Washington.  But that discussion completely misses the point.  Whatever the politics, today’s decision was a victory for people all over this country whose lives will be more secure because of this law and the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold it.

And because this law has a direct impact on so many Americans, I want to take this opportunity to talk about exactly what it means for you. 

First, if you’re one of the more than 250 million Americans who already have health insurance, you will keep your health insurance — this law will only make it more secure and more affordable.  Insurance companies can no longer impose lifetime limits on the amount of care you receive.  They can no longer discriminate against children with preexisting conditions.  They can no longer drop your coverage if you get sick.  They can no longer jack up your premiums without reason.  They are required to provide free preventive care like check-ups and mammograms — a provision that's already helped 54 million Americans with private insurance.  And by this August, nearly 13 million of you will receive a rebate from your insurance company because it spent too much on things like administrative costs and CEO bonuses, and not enough on your health care. 

There’s more.  Because of the Affordable Care Act, young adults under the age of 26 are able to stay on their parent's health care plans — a provision that's already helped 6 million young Americans.  And because of the Affordable Care Act, seniors receive a discount on their prescription drugs — a discount that's already saved more than 5 million seniors on Medicare about $600 each.

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

I first want to begin by noting that I had a bank of television sets on this morning tuned into the various networks. At 7:08 a.m. (AZ Time), the U.S. Supreme Court announced its decision on the Affordable Care Act (aka "Obamacare"). FAUX News Fraudcasting and TeaNN (formerly CNN) immediately announced that the Court had ruled "Obamacare" unconstitutional, reading from their prepared GOPropaganda talking points.

The exact opposite was true. In a 5-4 decision, SCOTUS upheld the Affordable Care Act in its entirety under Congress' taxing authority. We need to begin a serious discussion in this country about illegitimate news organizations that engage in unlawful propaganda on behalf of the GOP and the conservative movement. Facts are facts, propaganda to create an "alternate reality" of lies is unconscionable and should be impermissible.

Today's decision in favor of the Affordable Care Act is a striking victory and a vindication of President Obama and congresional Democrats. the "unconstitutional" argument from the right has been rejected by SCOTUS.

Here is a quick recap of the opinions announced today. Amy Howe from SCOTUSblog summarizes the cases, followed by a link to today's opinions. The remaining merits cases as of June 23: In Plain English:

The health care cases:

Argued March 26-28, 2012

• Department of Health and Human Services v. Florida 

Plain English Issue: (1) Whether Congress has the power under the Constitution to require virtually all Americans to obtain health insurance or pay a penalty; and (2) whether the Anti-Injunction Act, which prohibits taxpayers from filing a lawsuit to challenge a tax until the tax goes into effect and they are required to pay it, prohibits a challenge to the Act’s provision requiring virtually all Americans to obtain health insurance or pay a penalty until after the provision goes into effect in 2014.

• Nat’l Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius

Plain English Issue: (1) Whether Congress can require states to choose between complying with provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act or losing federal funding for the Medicaid program; and (2) whether, if the Court concludes that the provision of the Act requiring virtually all Americans to obtain health insurance or pay a penalty is unconstitutional, the rest of the Act can remain in effect or must also be invalidated.

• Florida v. Department of Health and Human Services

Plain English Issue: (1) Whether Congress can require states to choose between complying with provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act or losing federal funding for the Medicaid program; and (2) whether, if the Court concludes that the provision of the Act requiring virtually all Americans to obtain health insurance or pay a penalty is unconstitutional, the rest of the Act can remain in effect or must also be invalidated.

In a 5-4 Decision, conservative Chief Justice John Roberts joined the Court's liberals to uphold the Affordable Care Act in its entirety under Congress' power to tax, including the much maligned by the right "individual mandate." From the beginning of the Robert's majority opinion: "We do not consider whether the Act embodies sound policies. That judgment is entrusted to the Nation's elected leaders. We ask only whether Congress has the power under the Constitution to enact the challenged provisions."

For all of those who second-guessed the Solicitor General's defense of ACA under Congress' taxing authority, the tax defense of the mandate was the decisive argument. "Our precedent demonstrates that Congress had the power to impose the exaction in Section 5000A under the taxing power, and that Section 5000A need not be read to do more than impose a tax. This is sufficient to sustain it." A majority of the Court accepted the Administration's backup argument that, as Justice Roberts put it, "the mandate can be regarded as establishing a condition — not owning health insurance — that triggers a tax — the required payment to IRS."

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The U.S. Supreme Court will announce its opinion regarding the Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare") on Thursday.

Should the Court strike down the Affordable Care Act en toto, it will be disregarding more than 70 years of Supreme Court precedents on Commerce Clause jurisprudence — and if rogue Justice Antonin Scalia has his way — return to the long discredited "liberty to contract" analysis of the Lochner era.

The conservative media, led by FOX News Fraudcasting and hate radio personalities like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Glenn Beck will declare this a "major defeat" for President Obama.The corporate "lamestream" media will follow their lead, as they always do, in the echo chamber of the right-wing noise machine.

But in reality, it will be a major defeat for millions of Americans who just lost their last chance at health care — and quite possibly their life. Jonathan Cohn notes the stakes: a ruling against the law will have far-reaching consequences for millions of Americans and those people — and their ailments — are not going away. The media villagers really ought to concentrate on them, not the transient political story.

Despite the vitriolic hatred expressed for "Obamacare" by the right-wing, that hatred is based upon Obama derangement syndrome. It turns out that if Obama's name was not attached to this landmark legislation, a majority of Republicans actually support its key provisions.