Political Fallout if Court Overturns Healthcare Act?

[Dr.Traveler]

Bingo.
The Obama Administration made a decision very early on to push health care over the economy.

That right there is the winning argument for Romney, and honestly one of the many reasons Obama doesn't deserve a second term.

If Romney tries to get into the specific details of Obamacare, he will lose. That isn't speculation. The most unpopular part of it, the Mandate, will be dead in June. The rest of the big pieces are fairly popular, like No Cap, Pre-Existing, and Adult Dependents. The GOP should look into incorporating those into it's larger Healthcare strategy. Not to mention, Romney himself was pro-Mandate before he was against it. That "I was for it before I was against it!" approach worked wonderfully for John Kerry.

If he makes the debate about the fact that Healthcare became such a huge part of the legislative agenda as the economy burned, he wins. At the very very least its yet another example of poor leadership on Obama's part.

That isn't to say that the DNC didn't try to address the economy of course. They did continue a lot of Bush's policies and bailouts. However, no one wants to run on those attempts. Least of all Obama. And even with those attempts, there's no denying that the passage of Obamacare used up nearly all the political leverage and time he had in the early days. And that decision to focus on healthcare deserves to be talked about.

 

[nodoginnafight]

My personal take is that overturning the mandate will probably be a wash to a slight neg for Obama.
As far as playing it as ignoring the economy in order to push healthcare, I don't see a lot of traction there either.
And a lot depends on the economic indicators and numbers between now and Sept/Oct.

 

[The Rabbi]

Romney can hold his own on this. One of the points is that what MA did was not unconstitutional. The states have that kind of latitude. But the Feds want to dictate one size fits all and that's a terrible idea.
Really he can only lose by getting into specifics because whatever he says someone will get pissed off. That was the Obama strategy in 2008.

 

[Cammmpbell]

If the Supreme Court overturns significant sections of the Universal Healthcare Act it would embarass the Obama administration, but would it undercut an issue that could be a GOP strength in the fall? Has the GOP (by nominating Romney) already lost any leverage on the issue? Does the left punish Obama or can he avoid fallout by throwing up his hands and saying, "I tried?"

One has to love it. The court gave the 2000 election to George Bush...margin 5-4. Now the ruling on the mandate with more than likely also be 5-4. After a while even dumbasses see the pattern.

 

[snakedoc]

I don't see much fallout either way the whole thing was done along party lines those who support Obama care will be honked off those who did not will be happy I can't see it changing any votes either way.

 

[JimH52]

If the Supremes toss it, we enter a more chaotic state than an orderly legislative repeal process which would begin with a simple waiver for all 50 states by Romney.

The Democrats argument: 'We spent two years on it, shoved it thru like the totalitarians we are, and totally fucked it up in the process. Let us try again.'


The Republican argument: 'Obamacare is an embarrassing fuck up and an example of what happens when communists try to force their values thru on the rest of America. Time to let us tackle the healthcare problem the right way and create solutions that work for all Americans.'

The choice is not a hard decision to make for any reasonable person.

Wrong, the Dems can say we tried. What will be the GOP response when people are thrown once again our of any kind of health care.....Nothing....crickets. They stand for the "Haves" not the "Have Nots"

Romney is saying and doing anything that he can to be elected. If elected I see him drifting back to the center.

 

[JimH52]

I have a friend who has a "Repeal Obamacare" sticker on his truck. He went to work for Government a couple years before his retirement...why. To get Health Care when he retire. He is a fine Christian man whose motto is, "I got it...sorry...you don't need it." Yes, Christ would be proud.

 

[nodoginnafight]

The GOP was never in favor of the mandate. There was never any GOP legislation that included one. This is merely a factoid by the left to confuse the issue.

Mitt Romney not only advocated the individual mandate and passed it in in Mass., He lobbied Obama to include it in the national plan. The individual mandate was the brainchild of a right-wing think tank and was indeed embraced by the GOP. Are you deliberately lying or are you just not informed?

 

[nodoginnafight]

If the Supremes toss it, we enter a more chaotic state than an orderly legislative repeal process which would begin with a simple waiver for all 50 states by Romney.

The Democrats argument: 'We spent two years on it, shoved it thru like the totalitarians we are, and totally fucked it up in the process. Let us try again.'


The Republican argument: 'Obamacare is an embarrassing fuck up and an example of what happens when communists try to force their values thru on the rest of America. Time to let us tackle the healthcare problem the right way and create solutions that work for all Americans.'

The choice is not a hard decision to make for any reasonable person.

Wrong, the Dems can say we tried. What will be the GOP response when people are thrown once again our of any kind of health care.....Nothing....crickets. They stand for the "Haves" not the "Have Nots"

Romney is saying and doing anything that he can to be elected. If elected I see him drifting back to the center.

Trying to track Romney's shifts to the right, left and center is just dizzying. But Obama drifted to the center (rejected single-payer in favor of the GOP-backed individual mandate) and I think a Romny shift is not only likely - given his past, I'd say it is a certainty.

 

[JimH52]

Sniperfire - you've just pointed out just how hyper-partisanship has distorted the issue. Those "communist values" (if you are reffering to the individual mandate) were first proposed by Republicans who only started opposing it when a Democrat got it passed.

But your post probably accurately describes how the Republicans will try to frame the debate.

Anyone care to take a stab at how Democrats will try to frame it?

The silence of the GOP will reinforce their trademark of "The Party of No!"

 

[nodoginnafight]

I don't see much fallout either way the whole thing was done along party lines those who support Obama care will be honked off those who did not will be happy I can't see it changing any votes either way.

I tend to agrere - while I do think a Supreme Court setback for Obama could be a bit embarassing, I don't know if it would be enough to shift many votes.

 

[Navy1960]

It's my humble opinion that if it is overturned both sides with use it as a political drawing card, although I don't think it will have much of an impact in the end. The GOP will most likely tout the fact that it was wrong and the SCOTUS was right in doing so and go along the vindication track, while the Dem's will most likely turn in the direction of a biased Court to gin up the base. The sad fact is that if it is overturned the nation will be right back to where we started once again with an entire year and half wasted on legislation which in my humble opinion does has some good parts too it and could have been passed with wide support without the need for all this.

 

[Conservative]

If the Supreme Court overturns significant sections of the Universal Healthcare Act it would embarass the Obama administration, but would it undercut an issue that could be a GOP strength in the fall? Has the GOP (by nominating Romney) already lost any leverage on the issue? Does the left punish Obama or can he avoid fallout by throwing up his hands and saying, "I tried?"

What is the Universal Healthcare Act?

 

[C_Clayton_Jones]

If the Supreme Court overturns significant sections of the Universal Healthcare Act it would embarass the Obama administration, but would it undercut an issue that could be a GOP strength in the fall? Has the GOP (by nominating Romney) already lost any leverage on the issue? Does the left punish Obama or can he avoid fallout by throwing up his hands and saying, "I tried?"

The Court will invalidate the entire ACA, doing Obama a favor. For republicans it’s a case of being careful what you wish for, it might come true. Obama indeed fulfilled a campaign promise, a fact unaltered by the striking-down of the Act. And yes, it robs republicans of a potential political weapon, at least with regard to rallying the base.

 

[The Rabbi]

If the Supreme Court overturns significant sections of the Universal Healthcare Act it would embarass the Obama administration, but would it undercut an issue that could be a GOP strength in the fall? Has the GOP (by nominating Romney) already lost any leverage on the issue? Does the left punish Obama or can he avoid fallout by throwing up his hands and saying, "I tried?"

The Court will invalidate the entire ACA, doing Obama a favor. For republicans it’s a case of being careful what you wish for, it might come true. Obama indeed fulfilled a campaign promise, a fact unaltered by the striking-down of the Act. And yes, it robs republicans of a potential political weapon, at least with regard to rallying the base.

He did not fulfill a campaign pledge. THat is a narrow technical way of looking at it. Exactly the kind of thing Dems pulled to get the POS through Congress to begin with. If he claims that he might was well inquire about the meaning of "is".

 

[Jackson]

The Health Care Bill was too big of a bill for any legislator to read and comprehend. Even Pelosi honestly admitted that Congress would have to pass the bill to find out what was in it. What kind of bill should be passed that way. IIRC, even bribery took place to get the votes to pass the bill in the end.

As a result, it costs tremendously more than promised and could have been streamlined. The fine print poved to be more than anyone contemplated. Few were happy with the end result and the consitutionality is now in question. And at what cost? The time debating and fighting over this was time spent that should have been focused on our near disaster, the economy.

Here we are in 2012, with little movement from where we were in 2009 with more division in our country than in 2008. People are struggling to keep their homes and their jobs while others are still looking for employment. This isn't the hope and change they were promised.