The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to take up a new challenge to ObamaCare that Democrats fear could dismantle the healthcare law.
The case, King v. Burwell, rests on whether the federal government can legally hand out healthcare subsidies in 34 states that have opted out of creating their own exchanges.
If the high court rules against the premium credits, it would gut a core component of the law that’s already gone into effect for more than 4 million people in the U.S.
White House press secretary Josh Earnest said the administration continued "to have high confidence in the legal argument" that the subsidies were being distributed correctly.
King v. Burwell, like the similar Halbig v. Burwell case, has a long history within the nation’s court system. On July 22, two U.S. courts delivered opposite rulings on the subsidies. Halbig, one of several pending ObamaCare lawsuits, is slated to be reheard by a full circuit court panel on Dec. 17.
Senate Democrats are planning to rush masses of bills to the president's desk before January, when they will be forced to cede control of the upper chamber to Republicans following the GOP's midterm victories.
According to The Washington Post, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid plans to advance a range of measures, including legislation to fund the government until September 2015 so as to avoid a government shutdown that would otherwise be triggered on Dec. 11 when the current funding arrangement expires.
He also plans to push through a raft of pending presidential nominations, including federal judicial posts, though it will not be possible to process the hundreds of appointments awaiting approval, the Post reported
There is also expected to be a push to renew a range of tax breaks that expired at the end of 2013, extending them through 2015.
One such measure is the credit for research-and-development expenses for businesses, something the House has already voted to reinstitute and make a part of the permanent tax code. Bipartisan support is expected, even though in the past, conservative lawmakers have opposed a piecemeal approach in favor of comprehensive tax reform.
A debate about the annual defense policy bill will likely also be on the agenda, but a bipartisan proposal to stiffen sanctions against Iran could hit a roadblock when it reaches the Oval Office.
The Obama administration is concerned that new restrictions on Iran's fuel purchases and other areas of the country's economy could damage international negotiations with the country to prevent the development of its nuclear capabilities, the Post said.
In a sense, this is the last piece of the puzzle to click into place for the president’s Nixonian transformation. Nixonian punchlist
Spy on reporters.Check
Bomb a country without authorization from Congress.Check
Issue dubious claims of executive privilege to conceal embarrassments or prevent scandals.Check
Withdraw from -- and lose -- a war he didn’t start.Check
Corrupt the IRS, using it against political opponentsCheck
Imperial Presidency (executive orders)Check
[Domestic enemies list]Check
[Domestic use of spy agencies (The NSA]Check
One of the last things on the list was to insist that the silent majority of Americans is really on his side. "To everyone who voted," President Obama said in his press conference on Wednesday, "I hear you. To the two-thirds of voters who chose not to participate yesterday, I hear you, too."Check.
Of course, Nixon's "silent majority" actually voted. Obama's, not so much.
#6
* Failure to uphold the Constitution, moreover, attempts to circumvent the Constitution
* Use of other agencies, in addition to the IRS to intimidate or punish individuals and organizations (EPA, Bureau of Land Management, etc.)
* Trying to find ways to circumvent Congress
* Mounting Fast and Furious which resulted in the death of an American citizens and a number of Mexican citizens
#7
When Mr. Obama faces the same level of vituperation and ridicule from the Left and the media (but I repeat myself) that Nixon did, then we'll talk comparison.
#10
The media will pile on Obama a few days after he leaves office. The leftist will be falling over themselves to make a name for themselves by knocking him down after the fact. It is what they do.
#11
Well there are differences between Hussein and Milhouse. Foreign policy competence for one thing. Press carrying water for another -- compare press treatment of Obama to Nixon, its laughable if it weren't such a public disaster.
#13
RJS, that's a comparison that I've been making since 2009.
I've always thought that this would be Nixonian character wrapped in Carter's incompetence and class. I "hoped" that I was wrong, but if anything it has been worse.
I still can't believe that he was elected AGAIN in 2012, hence my fatalistic pessimism for the future.
#14
Mr. Obama is an extremely interesting study, the result of a lifetime of being told how wonderful he was. He has never had a moment of painful introspection and now has people to do that for him. And they all tell him how wonderful he is. But the American public gave a no-ambiguity evaluation this Tuesday past.
And now he's pissed but with the constraints, hopefully, of a loyally opposing Senate.
If, IMHO, you think the past 6-years have been a ride, just wait. We are soon to see the results of a King first realizing he is not clothed.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
In a sense, this is the last piece of the puzzle to click into place for the president’s Nixonian transformation.
