ACA decision not move to left

[No Elephants]

O'Connor: ACA decision not move to left

Published: Aug. 5, 2012 at 1:23 PM

WASHINGTON, Aug. 5 (UPI) -- <snip>

Without disclosing how she would have voted, O'Connor, a moderate who served as the court's swing vote during her tenure, said on CBS' "Face the Nation" the case was a difficult one and the 5-4 vote "tells that they don't always agree, and that's what it should be. For goodness sake, that's why you have a court. And you have nine members, so it's uneven; you're not going to split evenly."

O'Connor noted that any time a controversial decision is issued near a presidential election, the decision looks political, adding the 2000 Bush vs. Gore decision that halted the counting of ballots in Florida might have dimmed the public's respect for the court.

"In the past, when the public is asked about the three branches of government, the court has generally had -- the judicial branch has had the highest respect among the three," O'Connor said. "And now it's about the same for all and it's all down. So that's a great disappointment to me to see. I'm sorry."

Read more: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2012/08/05/OConnor-ACA-decision-not-move-to-left/UPI-79301344187390/#ixzz22kB5yrDW


The decision upheld the individual mandate, which allows government to "tax" people unless they buy from private "job creators" whatever the government tells them to buy. It also took away the ability of the federal government to punish states who don't expand Medicaid.

You bet your ass that decision did not signal a move to the left. It signaled a giant step to the right.