Universal healthcare: healthcare for all people. Doesn’t sound too bad to the average person, does it?
But what comes along with universal healthcare?
Higher taxes. When those two words are shoved together in virtually any context, most Americans begin to squirm in their seats.
Ever since we stuck it to the Brits and their Stamp Act in Boston Harbor, a distaste of high taxes has been an inherent quality of every baby capitalist to be born on the red, white and blue soil.
It is this hatred of taxes that has led Americans to battle the idea of universal healthcare from taking root here ever since it’s inception as an idea. So when President Barack Obama pushed Obamacare through the House and Senate during his second year in office, naturally there was an uproar from all corners of the country.
Obamacare, was one of the President’s main platforms when running for office, which is the aspect that confuses me. Obama never hid his desire to enstate a form of universal healthcare in the US, yet he was still elected into office, and jeered from members of both parties for his efforts to enact said system.
The system is based off of the Massachusetts system that was installed under the leadership of former governor Mitt Romney, which ultimately requires all Americans to purchase health insurance, sign up for government insurance, or pay a fine. Employers are also forced to pay for health care for employees or be fined. The basic premise is that all Americans will have health care, which sounds good.
But not to everyone.
A coalition of 26 states and a group of small business owners have teamed up and taken Obamacare to the courts, and now to the Supreme Court in an unprecedented format.
The Supreme Court normally hears one case at a time, and gives just over an hour to argue the case. In this case though, they have agreed to tackle four different issues that surround the bill over a span of five and a half hours.
-See what the Obama administration and the GOP leaders have to say about the bill being taken to the Supreme Court.
Is it constitutional? The Obama administration certainly is convinced that it is, while the coalition against the bill is certainly convinced of the contrary. One thing is for sure; the bill toes a fine line. That line separates freedom and capitalism from government regulation and a more socialist system.
But the question isn’t whether it is good or evil, but whether it is unconstitutional or constitutional. I think that the courts will ultimately rule it unconstitutional for it’s sweeping overbreadth of power under the Constitution, whether it be for the better or worse.
The results of the ruling to be made by the Supreme Court could be the tipping point in next year’s presidential election. If the decision comes up lame on Obama’s end, it could push him straight out of the oval office, while if it is deemed constitutional it could be the final momentum push to send him into a second term.
Many do not care about the healthcare bill so much, but feel as if Obama neglected the economy for two years in order to push his healthcare bill through.
If his bill is upheld, Obama will be able to justify the work that he has done while in office, but if the bill is struck down, watch out for the GOP to make a strong run in the 2012 election.
Tell me what you think about the bill and it’s chances of being upheld!
I find it fascinating that the Supreme Court is is bending the rules for the healthcare bill. What exactly constitutes this? Nothing in my opinion. Let's keep to the rules we have set.
ReplyDeleteThey aren't really bending any set rules, they are just going out of their way to take more on than they normally would since it's such a big issue. But it is a very big deal that they are taking on so much. They just want to get this over with once and for all I think.
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