Ongoing In: When the GOP Threatens Health Care, Believe Them
DOJ lays out case for striking down Obamacare in its entirety;
The Trump administration offered its first full argument Wednesday for its reversal on the Affordable Care Act, arguing in new court filings that the entire law "should not be allowed to remain in effect."
The government argues in the filings that the so-called "individual mandate" requiring Americans to have coverage is unconstitutional and that the rest of the law should therefore also be struck down, even if the government "might support some individual provisions as a policy matter."
In the filing, Assistant Attorney General Joseph Hunt acknowledged that the administration had previously argued that parts of the law could remain in effect even if the individual mandate were struck down, but he said, the administration had come to believe it could no longer defend that position. He suggested that rewriting the statute by "picking and choosing which provisions to invalidate" would interfere with the role of Congress and the "proper course" for the courts would be to strike down the law in its entirety.
The brief was filed with the conservative-leaning 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals, which will hear arguments in July and possibly tee up a Supreme Court case next term that could finally decide the fate of the law and render a decision during the heart of the presidential election.
If the law is struck down, it would be a major victory for President Donald Trump, who has worked his entire presidency to wipe away a signature legislative achievement of the Obama administration.
Which totally explains the misdirected rage at the very real possibility of some 20 million Americans losing their coverage. It's preferable to believe the lies than face this horrible truth.