Florida Judge Strikes Down Obamacare

Well this should be fun. Florida federal judge Roger Vinson has struck down the heart of Obama’s health care reform plan, finding that the individual mandate part of the bill is unconstitutional and therefore the whole thing is unconstitutional.

As Ashby Jones points out on the WSJ Law Blog, that makes the score 2 – 2. Two federal judges have upheld the law; two others have struck it down.

You know what that means? It means that very soon America will be operating under the Anthony M. Kennedy health care system. Does Justice Kennedy think that I have a right to health care? Does he think that pre-existing conditions should be covered? Is he comfortable having an entire nation’s health care system held hostage by a few insurance giants?

Exciting questions! I can’t wait to see how a man who nobody elected will decide our medical futures….

According to David Weigel of Slate, here’s the money quote from Vinson’s 78-page opinion:

Because the individual mandate is unconstitutional and not severable, the entire Act must be declared void. This has been a difficult decision to reach, and I am aware that it will have indeterminable implications. At a time when there is virtually unanimous agreement that health care reform is needed in this country, it is hard to invalidate and strike down a statute titled “The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.”

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I like how this dude in Florida — Florida being a state that exists solely as a place to put elderly people who are waiting to die — is telling us that government-mandated health care is unconstitutional. I mean really? Did I miss the part where Judge Vinson promised to take millions of dying citizens off the Medicare/Medicaid rolls so we don’t have to start selling off states to China? Government-mandated health care for people who suck resources out of the system = cool. Government-mandated health care for people who might put resources into the system = bad. NO WONDER WE’RE BROKE. We have a system that doesn’t keep people from getting sick, it just makes it very expensive for people to die.

In any event, Florida has spoken! Will other federal judges weigh in, or will everybody just chill out until Justice Kennedy decides to tell us all who deserves health care and who does not?

Health Care Reform Struck Down in Florida District Court [Slate]
Florida Federal Judge Strikes Down Key Part of Health Care Law [WSJ Law Blog]

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