As you no doubt have heard, on Friday, a federal judge declared Obamacare — aka the Affordable Care Act — unconstitutional (see commentary on the ruling by RedState’s streiff).
Also, as you are unquestionably aware, Barack Obama just won’t retire (like here). Whereas most former presidents fade gracefully out of the political spotlight — writing books, making speeches, and spending family time — Obama is still very much a Democratic operative, even to the point of warring against the in-office Republican president.
Given Friday’s ruling — which made the current administration very happy — Barack had a whole lot to say.
He wants y’all to get out there and sign up for that thing that’s unconstitutional! Pronto!
In fact, Saturday was the final day folks would be able to sign up for 2019 open-enrollment healthcare under the ACA. Ruling, schmuling!
He laid it out on Facebook:
“You might have heard about a federal court decision on a Republican lawsuit trying to strike down the Affordable Care Act in its entirety. As this decision makes its way through the courts, which will take months, if not years, the law remains in place and will likely stay that way.”
The Texas judge’s decision, he explained, “changes nothing for now.”
He’s not wrong.
Today is the last day of open enrollment. That means it’s the deadline to make sure you and the people you love have health insurance in 2019. So head over to https://t.co/ob1Ynoesod to get covered! Here’s what else you need to know today about health care: pic.twitter.com/gosn6c6uCa
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) December 15, 2018
As for the court case, twenty states contended they had been harmed by an increase in people utilizing insurance provided by the state. As streiff pointed out, U.S. District Judge Reed O’Conner ruled that the program’s individual mandate is unconstitutional.
The judge also said this:
“The remainder of the ACA is non-severable from the individual mandate, meaning that the Act must be invalidated in whole.”
Trump was quick to celebrate the ruling:
As I predicted all along, Obamacare has been struck down as an UNCONSTITUTIONAL disaster! Now Congress must pass a STRONG law that provides GREAT healthcare and protects pre-existing conditions. Mitch and Nancy, get it done!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 15, 2018
It’s understandable that Obama would want to defend a system called “Obamacare.” But his presidency is over, and with it goes his policies. A new administration — and a new political sphere — has developed following (and, partially, due to) his two terms.
In my opinion, the best thing Barack could do would be to leave politics to those still in political office, and focus on something he could have — and should have — done a whole lot more of while in office: participating in efforts which unite the world, rather than divide it.
Relevant RedState links in this article: here.
See 3 more pieces from me: a new kind of Women’s Bible, an autistic woman euthanized, and Stormy vs. Avenatti.
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