The outcome of a 100-year fight for
U.S. national health care rests on the verdict tomorrow of nine
justices, who will emerge from behind a red velvet curtain.
Just four months before the presidential election, the Supreme Court is poised to rule on the constitutionality of President Barack Obama’s biggest legislative achievement, which would extend coverage to at least 30 million uninsured Americans in the biggest overhaul of the nation’s health-care system since Medicare and Medicaid were enacted in 1965.
“When we talk about Obama 20 or 30 years from now, this is likely to be the bill we talk about,” said Julian Zelizer, a presidential historian at Princeton University. “If the Supreme Court takes away from Obama his biggest accomplishment, this is exactly what a president really fears. In some ways, it’s worse than not getting re-elected.”
The last time the court invalidated legislation so central to the presidency was when it struck down parts of Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal program in 1935 and 1936, said Zelizer. Even those decisions only addressed pieces of a larger package of economic and social initiatives that Roosevelt adopted in response to the Great Depression, he said.
The political stakes for Obama are high: The presumptive Republican presidential challenger, Mitt Romney, moved yesterday to frame a loss in the Supreme Court as a blow to his presidency. A ruling that invalidates the statute would make Obama’s term in office “a waste,” he said.
Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-27/obama-s-legacy-at-risk-after-winning-100-year-health-care-fight.html
Just four months before the presidential election, the Supreme Court is poised to rule on the constitutionality of President Barack Obama’s biggest legislative achievement, which would extend coverage to at least 30 million uninsured Americans in the biggest overhaul of the nation’s health-care system since Medicare and Medicaid were enacted in 1965.
“When we talk about Obama 20 or 30 years from now, this is likely to be the bill we talk about,” said Julian Zelizer, a presidential historian at Princeton University. “If the Supreme Court takes away from Obama his biggest accomplishment, this is exactly what a president really fears. In some ways, it’s worse than not getting re-elected.”
The last time the court invalidated legislation so central to the presidency was when it struck down parts of Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal program in 1935 and 1936, said Zelizer. Even those decisions only addressed pieces of a larger package of economic and social initiatives that Roosevelt adopted in response to the Great Depression, he said.
The political stakes for Obama are high: The presumptive Republican presidential challenger, Mitt Romney, moved yesterday to frame a loss in the Supreme Court as a blow to his presidency. A ruling that invalidates the statute would make Obama’s term in office “a waste,” he said.
Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-27/obama-s-legacy-at-risk-after-winning-100-year-health-care-fight.html
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