Justice Roberts’ opinion upholding the Obamacare individual mandate shocked the world. Despite his protestations to the contrary, his ruling that the individual mandate is a tax and not a penalty ignores explicit statements from Congress, disregards decades of precedent on this subject, turns judicial restraint on its head, and opens a new floodgate for federal abuses. So, I immediately asked myself why he did what he did. Within a day the answer became apparent: Justice Roberts set aside the Constitution to play politics.
Immediately after the ruling was made public I began hearing conservatives pushing the idea that Justice Roberts' ruling was a stroke of genius. The idea is that leaving Obamacare in place will ensure Obama’s defeat in the upcoming election.
I agree that Thursday’s ruling may help Romney and hurt Obama. Polls unambiguously show that Obamacare is very unpopular. Even among liberals the popularity of Obamacare has been trending down since its passage. The longer Obamacare is in place the more we will learn about this horrible law, and the less popular it will become. More importantly, elections turn on which party’s base turns out to vote. In political circles it is a well-known fact that voters turn out when their leader is under attack by the opposing party. I was recently told by a Republican Senator that Congress would never attempt to impeach Obama before the November election, regardless of what crimes Obama may commit, because any such attempt would bring out the Obama voter base.
A ruling against Obamacare would have stirred up Obama’s voters because it would have been perceived as an attack against Obama himself. Even the liberals who don’t like Obamacare would have rushed to the voting booth to defend their leader. Leaving Obamacare in place had the opposite effect. It made liberals less likely to be mad enough to vote, and it certainly riled up the conservative voters. This effect is demonstrated by the millions of dollars raised by the Romney campaign between Thursday morning and now. Republican party operatives and so-called conservative pundits are now pushing the idea that we must win back the country by ensuring that Obama is defeated in November.
I’m convinced that Justice Roberts’ appalling disregard of the Constitution was motivated by his desire to ensure Obama’s defeat in November. This would explain his surprising agreement with Kagan, Sotomayor, Bryer, and Ginsberg. It explains his disregard of well-established precedent on the tax and spend clause. It explains what is otherwise a completely unsupportable ruling.
If I’m right about Justice Roberts’ motives he should be impeached (at the very least) for violating his oath of office. It does not matter whether we agree that Obama must be defeated. It does not matter that Thursday’s ruling may get Romney elected. Supreme Court Justices should never play politics with the Constitution.
Justice Roberts’ statement that “It is not our (the Supreme Court’s) job to protect the people from the consequences of their political choices” is shocking in the extreme. This is EXACTLY the job of the Supreme Court! Our Constitution protects individuals from a tyrannical majority. Political choices of the majority can NEVER violate the God-given rights of even one person. The Constitution was written to protect THIS principle. Now the Chief Justice has told us that it is not the Court’s job to protect the people from the political choices of the majority. Anyone tempted to justify Justice Roberts’ ruling by claiming that it was a brilliant political move has completely missed the point of our entire system of government.
Our Constitution is the only thing protecting individual citizens against a tyrannical government. It is the only thing that can prevent our government from falling into absolute despotism. In order to function the Constitution must be enforced by a Supreme Court that does not bend to political whims. Constitutional limits on authority must be absolute, or they are not limitations at all. Justice Roberts sacrificed the Constitution to political considerations. This is unforgivable.
It’s bad enough when politicians think like politicians: no consideration of right or wrong, only political calculation, despite the moral implications. If the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court thinks like a politician, all is lost.
I thank God that Justices Thomas, Scalia, Kennedy, and Alito wrote a scathing dissent. They summarized the Roberts’ opinion well:
“The fragmentation of power produced by the structure of our Government is central to liberty, and when we destroy it, we place liberty at peril. Today’s decision should have vindicated, should have taught, this truth; instead, our judgment today has disregarded it.”
Decisions to ignore principles for short-term gain lead to deep regrets. If Justice Roberts’ was motivated by political considerations, then he will almost certainly regret his decision in the near future. A lot can happen between now and the election, American memories are short.
Liberty Legal Foundation intends to use its existing Obamacare Class Action lawsuit to bring Obamacare to the Supreme Court again. Because we have already begun our lawsuit we are well-positioned to reach the Supreme Court quickly. With a little providence we will reach the Court just when Justice Roberts has begun to regret last week’s mistake.
For Liberty,
Van Irion, Founder
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