Robert Parry: Are the GOP Justices Political Hacks?

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from Consortium News:



Are the GOP Justices Political Hacks?
March 25, 2012

Exclusive: The “Obamacare” debate will test whether the U.S. Supreme Court’s five Republican justices are political hacks. After all, a right-wing think tank devised the individual mandate, which was embraced by GOP front-runner Mitt Romney, but it’s now anathema because it was passed by a Democratic president, Robert Parry writes.

By Robert Parry


Does anyone doubt that if a Republican president had enacted the Affordable Care Act – with its individual mandate devised by the right-wing Heritage Foundation and with Mitt Romney denouncing “free riders” not paying their share of health care costs – the U.S. Supreme Court’s Republican majority would be lining up to declare it constitutional?

Indeed, if the Heritage Foundation, which did dream up the individual mandate, were submitting supportive friend-of-the-court briefs – instead of denouncing its own idea – and if Romney were still deriding those “free riders” who palm off the costs for their emergency health care on others, the odds would be that the Court would vote overwhelmingly for the constitutionality of the health reform law.

After all, the Commerce Clause – upon which the Affordable Care Act is based – represents a virtually unlimited authority for Congress to enact laws to regulate interstate commerce, a power which can require individuals and companies to either do something or not do something.

For instance, in a Nov. 8, 2011, legal opinion affirming the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, conservative U.S. Appeals Court senior judge Laurence Silberman recognized this legal reality (even though he might not politically like “Obamacare”). ................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://consortiumnews.com/2012/03/25/are-the-gop-justices-political-hacks/

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