...and call me Shorty! I’ll be damned if the Supreme Court didn’t uphold the Affordable Care Act, and I’ll be double damned if the swing vote wasn’t Chief Justice John em-effin’ Roberts! BOO-yah!
I was over at Shane’s to house-sit while the window installation continued (Isaiah was the installer...super nice guy, we had a nice chat, and he does great work, too!), and turned on CNN right after Shane left for work. They were reporting that the individual mandate had been struck down. This turned out to be a “Dewey defeats Truman” moment, and ClusterFox shared in the ignominy, because mere seconds later, they reported that the mandate was upheld, as was the entire act. It appears that the confusion came about because Chief Justice Roberts wrote that although the mandate couldn’t be upheld under the commerce clause, on the following page, he wrote that it could be upheld as a tax. BOOM! Done! The whole thing stands!
I can’t begin to tell you how elated I felt about this decision. Facebook just exploded, with my fellow liberals as ecstatic as I was! What an incredible validation of the ACA and of the time and political capital President Obama spent on it. The ACA isn’t perfect, by any means, but more of it will be put into implementation, and we can work on improving it. I love the provision that pushes us towards quality-outcome payments rather than fee-for-service payments. This is the sort of change we MUST make in our healthcare system. It’s easy to forget that this affects real people; one thing I always kept in my mind when I was working in the lab was that behind every accession number and medical records number was a person. A parent, a spouse, a child, a sibling, someone who was dear to someone. I feel the same way about this. There are real people who will now get the care they need, and yes...the care they have a RIGHT to.
To have this upheld—especially with Bush-appointee John Roberts being the swing vote—is, to quote Vice-president Biden, a “big fucking deal.” I’m a happy girl!
After being glued to the TV for a couple of hours, I headed outside for some Happy Fun Pool Time™, and I don’t think Shane and Matt’s pool has ever felt so good! We hit 100° here, and the humidity made it feel like 107°. It was brutally hot, and I made sure that Isaiah knew he could come in the house whenever he wanted for water, and Shane texted me to tell him that he should feel free to hop in the pool, too! He didn’t take us up on that offer, though. I didn’t just hop in a “time or three” as I posted yesterday. I was in there at least half a dozen times! Hop in, get wet, hop out, air-dry off. Repeat as necessary. I stuck around until Matt got home, we chatted for a bit, then I bid him and Isaiah farewell.
It was a good day, all the way around.
Stay cool, everyone!
Thank you for taking some of the heat off of us.... we have literally been asked to dim the lights in the stores during the mid afternoon to reduce energy consumption!
ReplyDeleteAnd thank you POTUS and SCOTUS for coming together to keep the people of our country healthy in a dignified, cost-effective manner!
It is a banner day!
ReplyDeleteThis was huge for the President. I think, like you, having the conservative-appointed John Roberts make the deciding vote makes him a historical figure too, as both he and the first African-American President are on the right side of history!
ReplyDeleteI can imagine someday soon ole Dubya will echo President Eisenhower's feelings (referring to Justice Earl Warren)that his appointment was one of his biggest mistakes. Chief Justice Roberts certainly came through for us this time--and like you, Beth, I didn't see that one coming.
ReplyDeleteI am happy beyond belief that the challenge to the ACA was deflected, but we all know this was just the first of many assaults to come. The GOP is like the little kid who after asking Mom if he can go out (and told no), then wanders into the living room to ask Dad if he can go out, hoping he will say yes.
This Congress has got to go!!! And after today's defeat, I hope this crushes their spirit, even if only for a little while.
I was shocked as well!
ReplyDeleteHit 103° here!!