General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: It time to put an end to the GOP talking point repeated here on DU again and again. [View all]JoePhilly
(27,787 posts)Not the "goodness"
You seem to miss that.
Throughout our history, bad laws have passed. And the Constitution was not, and is not perfect. Originally, women could not vote as one simple example.
So yes, it is a living document.
The OP's point is that those who claim this law forces everyone to buy insurance are wrong. And the OP is correct.
Now ... you would like to discuss what is "right" ... as if what is "right" is an easy thing to determine.
You claim the mandate is "bad". Ok ... let's test that. The mandate only applies to those who can afford to buy insurance. The law also says that those who can't afford it get either subsidies so they can, or expeditions from the penalty.
I think that this particularly legal structure for the mandate is acceptable if and only if, it also means (a) those with pre-existing conditions get covered, (b) no life time caps, and (c) can't drop some one when they get sick.
Would single payer be better, sure. But is the combination of a mandate, plus regulations to protect people in situations a, b, c a law that I think is "bad".
Nope.
On edit: Start there ... and continue push to single payer.