Some time this week, possibly today but more likely Wednesday or Thursday, the Supreme Court is expected to rule on whether or not Obamacare’s individual mandate is Constitutional. Most people, including most former Supreme Court law clerks, believe the Court will overturn the law. If they do, it would be a huge defeat for President Obama, a defeat that reporting from The Washington Post and New York Times suggests, could have been avoided.
The New York Times reports:
In passing the law two years ago, Democrats entertained little doubt that it was constitutional. The White House held a conference call to tell reporters that any legal challenge, as one Obama aide put it, “will eventually fail and shouldn’t be given too much credence in the press.”
And a separate New York Times article makes it clear that the White House’s low opinion of the legal case against Obamacare came straight from the top:
As he awaits the decision, Mr. Obama has no more knowledge of or influence on it than any of the other lawyers handicapping the odds in Washington bars and boardrooms. The former law professor turned president is scathing about the argument that the mandate violates the Constitution, saying it has no merit whatsoever.
Despite the fact that he never took the legal argument against Obamacare seriously, The Washington Post reports that Obama personally took a lead role in developing legal strategy:
Obama, a former constitutional law instructor, and White House lawyers helped shape a legal strategy essentially portraying health care as a unique marketplace that Congress, under the Constitution’s interstate commerce clause, could regulate by imposing the requirement that consumers buy insurance before receiving treatment or pay a penalty.
Many liberals had criticized Solicitor General Donald B. Verrilli Jr. for a halting performance during the oral arguments on the case in March. But while Verrilli took the lead in shaping the government’s case, the broader strategy being questioned in some circles stemmed from a close partnership between the solicitor general’s office and the White House — with the strategy securing Obama’s approval.
If Obamacare is struck down this week, Obama has no one to blame but himself.
Read More at Washington Examiner
