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POLL: Do You Agree With the Supreme Court's Decision on Obamacare?

The Supreme Court upheld the individual mandate of so-called "Obamacare." What do you think?

The Supreme Court ruled today that the individual health care mandate is constitutional, according to the Huffington Post.

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote the opinion in support of upholding the provision, according to the Washington Post.

Conservatives have criticized the mandate, saying it is unconstitutional. The presumed Republican presidental candidate, Mitt Romney, has vowed to overturn the law if he is elected, reported the New York Times.

For more details on the health care law, check out healthcare.gov.

Patrick Garin July 1, 2012 at 05:31 pm
Hey Chris, You must be one of the 1%, or your thinkin' is stinkin'. I imagine you watch fox noise on the boob tube. This will NOT make the country socialist. If you have parents, do they get SS and medicare? Well, why not medicare for everyone? Every civilized country in the world has medical care for everyone, except for us of course. Joh Boehner was on the T.V. just now yakking about how bad the Affordable health care act is going to be for the country. He's full of it, he has no ideas, just like the rest of the republican teabaggers, they think they can fool the masses, and it seems as though they are. You are being fed disinformation. Do alittle research for yourself and find out what the bill really entails. By the way, Richad M. Nixon was the first to advocate for a mandate for healthe care, because people need to be responsible for themselves.
John Osbourne July 2, 2012 at 05:20 pm
Ultimately, time will tell. We will see the consequences of this policy, whether they be good or bad, in the coming years.
Carlton July 3, 2012 at 03:47 pm
"Yes, I did. The moment it was put up on the SCOTUS Blog -- all 191 pages. Hush now."
Well read it again and this time open your eyes!
Ken Adams July 10, 2012 at 10:29 pm
greatest move the supreme court could have done making the healthcare mandate a tax. Romney in=tax repealed. Lets get someone in who was more than just an unqualified community organizer
James Murphy July 11, 2012 at 06:04 am
I agree richard!!! they are going to lynch obama on the campaign trail with that TAX word (remember the first bush) "read my lips no new taxes" clinton took bush to the woodshed over that
Pad Womack July 11, 2012 at 06:23 am
This country has had socialist programs for longer than any one of us has been alive. Public Schools, Fire Departments, Police, Sidewalks, Roads, Highways and Public Universities are all socialist programs by definition.
There have been comments about this becoming a socialist republic once the government takes 100% of our income. This is an incorrect statement. That would make it a pure communist state. Furthermore the pledge of allegiance which specifically calls this a republic was written by a socialist named, Francis Bellamy. Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson all supported socialist programs. It was however Thomas Jefferson who started one of the greatest socialized projects in this country; our highway system. He also is responsible for the socialization of the vast majority of our navigable waterways. It should also be noted that state parks and wildlife preserves are also socialized programs for the most part. The next time you attack socialism you should remember that anything that your taxes pay for and you use without a fee is socialism. It should also be noted to those that believe that the GOP is going to repeal this healthcare legislation that you are sorely mistaken. In order to overturn a SCOTUS decision regarding constitutionality of law it requires the constitution to be amended. To over turn a SCOTUS decision other wise requires a 2/3 majority in Congress. Good luck with that.
John Osbourne July 11, 2012 at 12:19 pm
Correction: Our highway system was created after WWII and initiated by Dwight D. Eisenhower. Interestingly enough, he was attempting to recreate/mimic the highway system of Nazi Germany.
John Osbourne July 11, 2012 at 12:27 pm
Also, another correction: Congress does not need to amend the Constitution in order to simply repeal a law. Had the Supreme Court struck down the law as unconstitutional, then Congress would need to amend the Constitution in order to maintain the law.
James Murphy July 11, 2012 at 12:58 pm
spoken like a true socialist
John Osbourne July 11, 2012 at 01:43 pm
Yes, we do have some "socialist" programs here in the U.S. The use of land by and for the public does technically fit the definition of a socialist program.
Heck, even some private programs are socialist in nature. Think about private health insurance for a moment. A large number of people pay a monthly premium. This premium is pooled together with the premium of others. Those who need to see doctors have the bill sent the insurance company and the company takes some money out of the general fund to pay for expenses. It's a privately owned socialist network. When I'm not sick, my money is still being used to pay for the expenses of those that ARE sick. When I become sick, my hospital bills are covered from the general fund, which I have also paid money into. The same can be said of any form of insurance, be it car insurance, life insurance, home owners insurance, etc. People pay into a general fund, the money is dispersed to those currently in need. The companies themselves make profit a number of ways. One way is to try to pay out as little as possible from the general fund. Another means of profit is to invest the money in the general fund in things like stocks and bonds. People are okay with a certain level of government social programs, the use of public land being one of them. But, we all know how horribly inefficient and wasteful the government can be. We have to draw the line somewhere when it comes to government social programs.
Pad Womack July 11, 2012 at 03:16 pm
@John
Our highway system was modernized after World War II by President Eisenhower. President Jefferson is responsible for the Cumberland Road which is the first national highway that was put in place in the United States. http://www.cumberlandroadproject.com/ http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/146426/Cumberland-Road http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/back0103.cfm You're correct on the second matter. It just requires Congress to pass legislation which the POTUS then has to sign into law in order to overturn a SCOTUS decision. Seeing as Congress can't even manage to agree on what kind of lapel pins make you patriotic enough... I say again. Good luck. @James Murphy I'm not a socialist. I'm someone that understands how economic systems work which clearly you are not. We don't as you may or may not know live in a purely capitalist economy. It's called a mixed market economy. Ask any economist about economic systems and at some point you will get into the discussion about pure systems whether it be capitalist, socialist, communist or other wise. Pure systems will fail every time unless they are world wide. They are to rigid in their own structure and lack the ability to compete with and interact with mixed market economies. The USSR was a purely (mostly) communist economy and look how well that went over. Just like the shifts in our own economy towards pure capitalism have serverly damaged our own economy.
John Osbourne July 11, 2012 at 03:21 pm
@Pad
You stated "Highway System" in your original quote. Just saying . . . Though we may think of the Cumberland Road as a form of highway, it was not a true highway system.
Pad Womack July 11, 2012 at 03:39 pm
@John
There are places to draw the line but this is not one of them. Private insurance companies have entire departments which are dedicated to finding ways to get out of paying for procedures through often times ridiculous pre existing condition claims which have been decimated by this legislation. Private insurance companies are currently allowed to spend as much of your premiums as they want on advertising and profiteering. Under this legislation insurance companies will be required to spend 80% of your premiums on you. According to the CIA Factbook the United States is 121 of 222 in Infant Mortality, 87 of 230 in Death Rate and 50 of 221 in Life Expectancy. I am in full support of your right to dissent, please don't misunderstand. However, don't just dissent, come up with something better to replace what you feel is wrong. Don't just let the old and broken system persist because you don't like the fix for it, come up with something better.
Pad Womack July 11, 2012 at 03:58 pm
The Federal Government which files this under highway history, The Encyclopedia Britannica which calls it the first federal highway and The Cumberland Road project which documents the history of the road and refers to it as the first federal highway disagree with you on that point.
It is not required for a road to have eight lanes of asphalt to be considered a highway.
Kate Bigam July 11, 2012 at 04:52 pm
Yes, yes, & emphatically YES - all for "Obamacare"!
John Osbourne July 11, 2012 at 05:06 pm
There's no doubt that it is currently classified as a highway. I'm not arguing with that. I'm just questioning whether it was a full blown highway SYSTEM . . . Is a single long dirt road enough to refer to it as a whole system. They named it the Cumberland Road, not the Cumberland Highway System.
In your initial comment, you gave credit to Jefferson for creating the highway SYSTEM. He build a long road/highway (call it what you will). Is that enough to state that he created the highway SYSTEM? My personal opinion is no. Eisenhower gets credit, in my opinion, for the highway SYSTEM.
John Osbourne July 11, 2012 at 05:19 pm
The only way to truly fix our entire health care system would be force people to eat nutritious food, instead of all this chemically processed food people eat now. It's our toxic food system that is at the heart of the health care crisis in this country. The only things people should really be eating are whole organic foods. Just say no to pesticides! Just say no to processed food!
Since it highly unlikely that most people will return to a whole foods diet, and since you could never actually force people to do so, chronic disease will continue to flourish in this nation. It seems to get worse with every passing year. The industrialization of food and farming needs to end. You can disagree with me on this if you want. People often do because they feel industrialized farming is superior and will somehow feed people better than traditional organic methods. We could seriously drive down the cost of health care this way. We probably wouldn't need socialized medicine.
Pad Womack July 11, 2012 at 05:21 pm
It's really a shame that your personal opinion doesn't override the fact that recognized historical sources point to the The Cumberland Road (Route 40) as the origination of our national highway system.
I'll let you have your opinion now and go back to my silly credible historically accurate sources.
John Osbourne July 11, 2012 at 05:24 pm
A single road is not a system !!!!!!!
Adam C. Miller July 11, 2012 at 05:36 pm
America: BROKE (http://www.usdebtclock.org/)
Medicare: BROKE Medicaid: BROKE Social Security: BROKE Obamacare: What could possibly go wrong... (It will only cost between $2.5 and $3 trillion "gross cost of coverage provisions" over the first decade. Source: Congressional Budget Office)
Adam C. Miller July 11, 2012 at 05:42 pm
Plus all the other tax increases associated with this bill...
Adam C. Miller July 11, 2012 at 05:45 pm
No, you have car insurance to protect the other drivers lol My whole family doesn't have health insurance because WE can't afford it. If my wife went to the emergency room she would be billed... NOBODY would pay the tab but us!!! Nice try.
James Thomas July 11, 2012 at 06:02 pm
Mr. Weems,
Mr. Tucker can do that because he's a liberal, it's what they do. It's what they live for.
James Thomas July 11, 2012 at 06:31 pm
While I hate to admit it he does sometimes state his ideas without resorting to name calling and derogatory terms. These comments are legit. Since that's only about 5% of the time I'm going to Flag- Away.
lyn July 11, 2012 at 08:09 pm
Tom Tucker (former alias was Troy McClure) is no longer on the Patch.
Wonder what new name he will be using to spew his name calling and anger.
Carlton July 11, 2012 at 08:12 pm
Tom, it’s actually the people that are FOR this that are the "deadbeat losers." Let me break it down for you, those with insurance or access to Medicaid/care, that would be me and 265 million other Americans, are now going to be FORCED to pay a TAX to subsidies those 46 million Americans w/o insurance....the people you are referring to as "irresponsible deadbeat losers."
Here is an idea, instead of a massive expansion of the federal government, further erosion of our civil liberties and the largest increase in taxes in decades, we come up with a solution that we can actually afford and doesn't involve the theft from savers and wage earners to subsidies other people's healthcare. One solution might be tort reform, but seeing how our government is run by lawyers I doubt that will happen.
lyn July 11, 2012 at 08:24 pm
Sorry folks - guess I was wrong. Don't celebrate too soon.
Looks like he got a comment through about an hour ago.
tom m July 11, 2012 at 08:29 pm
Tom Tucker http://www.tvfanatic.com/characters/tom-tucker/
Troy McClure http://www.tvfanatic.com/characters/troy-mcclure/
Jean Williams July 11, 2012 at 09:00 pm
tom m thats too funny, BUT whatever his name is he is probably just getting prepared to cast his multple votes for his hero, The community orginizer
James Thomas July 11, 2012 at 09:42 pm
I was wondering about that. I suspect (suspect only) he might also be the "Thomas James" who has been shadowing a few posts of mine. Has any other Patch contributor had such a thing happen to them?

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