Making Wishes Come True

For the last nine years the Republicans have been trying to kill the Affordable Care Act.  In the last two years the Republican Senate has approved two U.S. Supreme Court justices who are “conservative.”

Now they get their wish.  A federal district court judge in Texas has declared the Affordable Care Act unconstitutional.  The case, of course, will be appealed.  The last time the Supreme Court ruled on this law, the vote was 5-4 to uphold the Act.  Justice Roberts, one of the five, approved it on the basis of the right to tax.  That “tax” provision, if I read the law correctly, has been taken away by the Republican Congress.  

That means that the rationale advanced by Roberts would no longer hold.  That means the five justices, including Trump appointees Gorsuch and Kavanaugh, will be voting to overturn the law.  That, in turn, means that millions of people will lose their health insurance and thousands will die.

This is what the Republicans wished for.  Santa Claus has come early for them, and I hope they are happy with the gift.