Written by Wilma Howe-Bennett   

Well, he did it, gangers. He managed it. We now have universal health care, sort of, counrtesy of our President.

I’ll tell you, folks: this is not what I expected, and I think that we should all e-mail Chief Justice Roberts and tell him “THANK YOU” for his following the law. I’ll admit it, I did not think that he would have the courage to defy his masters, but he did, and I’m glad. He went out of his way to find a way to keep the individual mandate by putting it under the taxing authority of Congress, rather than the Commerce Clause, which basically confounded just about everybody.

It’s unfortunate that the ruling, by a 5-4 vote, also gave Republicans unexpected ammunition to energize supporters for the fall campaign against President Barack Obama, the bill’s champion – and for next year’s vigorous efforts to repeal the law as a new federal tax. The decision meant the huge overhaul, which still taking effect, could go forward and pick up momentum over the next several years, with an enormous impact on the way that countless Americans receive and pay for their personal medical care. Breaking with the other conservative justices, Chief Justice Roberts wrote the majority opinion that is allowing the law to go forward. He explained at length the court’s view of the insurance mandate as a valid exercise of Congress’ authority to “lay and collect taxes.” The administration estimates that roughly 4 million people will pay the penalty rather than buy insurance.

Many Republicans oppose the law, including House Leader John “WAH WAH” Boehner and House Majority LeaderEric (I SHOULD CARE WHY?) Cantor, making the argument that it marks a government takeover of health care at the same time it curtails Medicare spending and raises taxes. The ReThugs/RePubs/ToiletPaperPatriots also point to studies that predict private employers will be forced to reduce or eliminate coverage and that the legislation will wind up costing far more than estimated, raising federal deficits as a result.

Folks, this is horse hockey – and not even very GOOD horse hockey. Doug Elmendorf, the CBO director, estimated that the bill will cost $829 billion over 10 years and will expand insurance coverage to 94 percent of Americans. Most important for fiscal conservatives, the measure is expected to reduce the overall federal budget deficit by $81 billion over the decade because reforms will cut the cost of health care overall. But in a letter to Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), Elmendof cautioned, “those estimates are all subject to substantial uncertainty.”

That’s REDUCE the deficit. NOT add TO the deficit.

I honestly don’t know if the ReThugs/RePubs/ToiletPaperPatriots ever bother to read what comes out of any of the offices that do research. I do know that they certainly don’t give a damn what happens to the rest of us. Look at Senator Paul Ryan’s budget if you don’t believe me. The first thing that this “fiscal conservative” wants to do is cut Food Stamps, Medicare, Medicaid, AFDC, Social Security and WIC, plus Meals on Wheels and free clinics. Even the R/C bishops are having a hard time stomaching that.

I am still not happy with SCOTUS for their decision on Citizens United, or their reaffirmation of same in re Montana’s ban on corporate spending in elections there, but this decision goes a long way to making me think that maybe, just MAYBE, there are actually people ON the court that can be persuaded to find legal ways to make our lives easier and not harder.

The Affordable Health Care act is constitutional. That’s a victory for us all. Even if the conservatives don’t like it.