District Court Judge Henry E. Hudson ruled yesterday that the individual mandate portion of the health care reform bill was unconstitutional while the rest of the bill was left alone or declared constitutional.
For some reason Republicans are claiming victory over this decision. As a Liberal I can tell you I don't love this portion of the bill. It is a big kick back to the insurance industry. If Republicans want to fight the interests of big business I'm all for it. The problem for Republicans is the fact that the rest of the bill was not struck down. The individual mandate may be the only part of the policy that doesn't poll well but it is responsible for covering more people and lowering the costs. By removing the individual mandate the Republicans are basically fighting for health care welfare. The uninsured will still get care and the insured will continue to pay for that care only without the individual mandate some of the cost controls will be lost and the insured will pay more while the uninsured get a "free ride".
After this decision NPR put together a report on the changing world that the baby boomers find themselves in. They grew up with the promise of a fully funded Social Security system, medical insurance through Medicare, a guaranteed pension, and an ever increasing value of their investments, yet at every turn over the last half a century Republicans have looked to erode these safety nets for 98% of Americans in favor of benefits for the top 2%. Republicans have stacked the deck using the idea that it takes money to make money and then preach to the less fortunate that they just need to work harder and show some personal responsibility.
They claim to fight for jobs and then give a massive tax break to a segment of the population that the COB estimates will increase jobs by between 0.1% and 0.0%. They claim hard work and then slash capital gains taxes which make more money for less work than any other segment of the labor force as evidence by the $144 Billion in bonus money given out. They claim to support small business while giving the biggest tax cuts to the self employed rich who have no need to hire outside help. They claim to hate free loaders and then give huge subsidies to very profitable business sectors. They claim the most recent elections was a referendum on President Obama's agenda when all it really proves, is that our educational system is clearly failing, when the American public can be as easily manipulated as an over weight drunk sorority girl.
If Democrats didn't have to spend so much time fighting the arcane ideologies of the right like gay marriage, separation of church and state, the right to health care for all, and the fear mongering of gun rights maybe they would have the political capital available to stand up for some of the no brainers like the repeal of Don't ask Don't tell, the new START Treaty, and the DREAM Act. Apparently the only thing required for the Republicans to declare something as a victory is if it benefits the top 2%.
My only hope at this point is that one of these days the Republicans can't get out of a corner they backed themselves into. Maybe repeal of the individual mandate will be the first since its repeal could lead to a single payer system as the only option left.
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