Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
WSJ: Obama Predicts Health Law Will Survive Challenge
Huh.
Obama Predicts Health Law Will Survive Challenge
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304023504577319944075184350.html
By LAURA MECKLER And CAROL E. LEE
WASHINGTON?President Barack Obama predicted Monday that the Supreme Court will uphold his signature health-care law, saying that overturning it would be a prime example of the judicial activism that conservatives have derided.
President Obama said at a Rose Garden press conference he is "confident" the Supreme Court will uphold his health-care reform law. (Photo: AP)
In his first public comments about the case since the justices heard arguments last week, the president previewed possible White House responses should the administration lose in court, ticking off a string of popular benefits that would disappear.
But he said he was confident that the Supreme Court would not take that step, partly because conservatives, who hold a majority on the court, have long argued that courts shouldn't substitute their judgment for that of elected legislators.
"For years, what we've heard is the biggest problem on the bench was judicial activism or the lack of judicial restraint, that an unelected group of people would somehow overturn a duly constituted and passed law," he said at a Rose Garden news conference with his Mexican and Canadian counterparts. The health-care case is a good example of just that, he said. "And I'm pretty confident that this court will recognize that and not take that step."
He said the court would take an "unprecedented, extraordinary step" if it overturns the law because it was passed by "a democratically elected Congress." The Supreme Court is expected to rule in June.
Mr. Obama was in South Korea for a nuclear summit last week when the Supreme Court heard most of the arguments challenging the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, but he read the transcripts and was briefed by White House Counsel Kathy Ruemmler, aides said. Challengers, including 26 states and a small-business group, argue that Congress cannot compel Americans to buy a product, in this case health insurance; the Obama administration says Congress is exercising its constitutional authority over interstate commerce to regulate how consumers finance something they are bound to need: health care.
A former constitutional law professor, Mr. Obama said that "legal experts across the ideological spectrum" say the law is constitutional, including, he noted, two conservative appellate judges who heard the case.
Ahead of last week's arguments, White House and Obama campaign officials alike refused to discuss the case, and Mr. Obama did little to mark the second anniversary of the law, which fell just days before the Supreme Court hearing. That was partly for fear that any comments would be seen as an attempt to influence the court.
White House officials also have been reluctant to discuss their plans should the court strike down all or part of the law, for fear that they would be seen as bracing for a loss. But earlier Monday, senior administration officials said they will focus on the consequences of taking away popular provisions of the law?whether that would happen through court action or by electing a Republican president who opposes the law.
Mr. Obama began making that case Monday, as he detailed the consequences of overturning the statute. Among them: insurers would be allowed to deny coverage to people with pre-existing conditions, young adults wouldn't be entitled to join their parents' plans, and drug costs for senior citizens would go up. That doesn't even include the provisions that have yet to take effect, he said, which are projected to cover some 30 million Americans.
"I think it's important ? to remind people that this is not an abstract argument," he said. "There's not only an economic element to this and a legal element to this, but there's a human element to this. And I hope that's not forgotten in this political debate."
Re: WSJ: Obama Predicts Health Law Will Survive Challenge
He said the court would take an "unprecedented, extraordinary step" if it overturns the law because it was passed by "a democratically elected Congress."
I don't get this statement. He flat out knows it is incorrect.
One would hope, right?
Find me here instead!
I actually cringed when he said this.
regardless of the constitutionality (that's a big "regardless" - I know), can I just say if this gets overturned how frustrated I am going to be for my fellow friends?
I know generally healthy, busy people who contribute to society who have been unable to get health insurance due to pre-existing conditions. what kind of messed up system doesn't allow people to pay into it when they have the $$ and are willing?it boggles my mind that we have people who hadn't been able to get comprehensive health coverage.
I've seen family members and friends struggle without insurance and it's scary.
and call my cynical but I don't see anyone else wanting to push through similar coverage in the near future.
Apparently Obama, like the rest of us, was so terrified by the court's decision on Citizens United that he has blocked it from his memory.
I just wanted to pull out my very favorite part of this:
PLEASE. You're taking issue with this over 200 years later because your baby happens to be on the chopping block.
Constitutional Origin. Article III, ?1, of the Constitution provides that "[t]he judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish." The Supreme Court of the United States was created in accordance with this provision and by authority of the Judiciary Act of September 24, 1789 (1 Stat. 73). It was organized on February 2, 1790.
Well, it's *his* law and he's a constitutional scholar you know.
YWIA.