Obamacare Mandate Approved By Supreme Court, Not Under Commerce Clause, But Under The Power To Tax

'Congress had the power to impose the exaction in Section 5000A under the taxing power, and that Section 5000A need not be read to do more than impose a tax. This is sufficient to sustain it. '

Oh well.

This is the world we live in.

(WaPo) – The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the individual health-insurance mandate that is at the heart of President Obama’s landmark health-care law, saying the mandate is permissible under Congress’s taxing authority.

The potentially game-changing, election-year decision — a major victory for the White House less than five months before the November elections –will help redefine the power of the national government and affect the health-care choices of millions of Americans.

Passage of the legislation by the Democratic-controlled Congress in 2010 was the signature domestic achievement of Obama’s presidency, capping decades of efforts to implement a national program of health care. When the legislation was passed, it was expected to eventually extend health-care coverage to more than 30 million Americans who currently lack it.

Republicans in Congress and GOP presidential challenger Mitt Romney vowed to try and repeal the measure after the November elections if it was upheld by the court.

The health-care issue thrust the Supreme Court into the public spotlight unlike anything since its role in the 2000 presidential election. The court’s examination of the law received massive coverage — especially during three days of oral arguments in March — and its outcome remained Washington’s most closely guarded secret.

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Insurance mandate survives in 6-3 Supreme Court ruling