What the Obamacare Supreme Court Case Could Mean February 27, 2015
BEGIN TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: Now, there are a couple things we didn't get to yesterday that I promised we would get to today, and one of them involves the upcoming Supreme Court case involving subsidies and Obamacare and the state exchanges versus the federal government and its exchange. The oral arguments are gonna come in early March. The decision will come in June probably sometime.
What's at stake here is, there are, at present, a lot of people -- don't know what the number is, but it's in the millions -- who are receiving subsidies to buy Obamacare, who, if you read Obamacare and apply the letter of the law to it, are not entitled to them. Obamacare as written says -- and it was put in there on purpose. This was written on purpose to put political pressure on governors. That the only way citizens of this country could apply for and qualify for subsidies to help them pay for Obamacare, 'cause it's so damn expensive, was to register and sign up through a state exchange. Well, not all the states set up exchanges.
Jon Gruber, who insulted everybody telling them how stupid they are and how they used people's stupidity to pass Obamacare -- and it's explained on countless occasions, that they did it this way. They required governors, states to set up the exchange because they thought the alternative would put so much pressure on governors that they would all sign up. In other words, people that live in states that do not have exchanges are not legally entitled to subsidies. That was written in on purpose. It's not a mistake. It was not something that they forgot about and left out. It was not something they weren't thinking. They did this on purpose. And the governors didn't buckle.
So there are a lot of states that do not have exchanges and a lot of people that do not legally qualify for Obamacare subsidies. So what the Regime did was set up a subsidy program for the federal exchange, HealthCare.gov. That is against the law, if that matters anymore. It is not permitted under the actual law of Obamacare. It's not permitted. You can only get a subsidy via state exchange. Well, the Fed said, "We can't have this. This is unfair, it's unequal, it defeats the whole purpose." The subsidies is the trick. The subsidies is how everybody thinks they can afford this. Getting a government handout, getting a government gift, why, that's key to making this work.
So they started offering subsidies at HealthCare.gov, and now there's a lawsuit on this and oral arguments are coming up. And these people are getting subsidies. There are people currently receiving subsidies when they buy health insurance, they're getting it illegally.
And so where we are now with this, what happens if the court finds against the Regime and does find that the Regime is in violation of the law and that these subsidies must stop? There is a body of thought out there that this is exactly what the Regime wants, and I will explain why. And it makes perfect sense that they would not be upset at all if they lose this case. And I'll explain why when we get back.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: Ben Sasse is a Republican senator from Nebraska. It's S-a-s-s-e. He pronounces it Sasse. All right. The Supreme Court case we're talking about today is called King v. Burwell. That's how the legal beagles describe it. It's actually King "versus" Burwell, but the elites say King "vee" Burwell. Take your pick. It's going to happen have oral arguments March 4th. It is very important.
It challenges the legality of 75% of Obamacare: The subsidies that the federal government had been paying to health insurers on behalf of people in the 37 states that chose not to participate in Obamacare. Without these subsidies, people can't afford this. They were never gonna be able to afford this. This is an abomination from day one. So they're not gonna be able to afford it out of their pocket, but they'll pay higher taxes for it.
They just won't know how it's going to be applied, because it's gonna cost everybody more money. It already is. Thirty-seven states opted out, and so the federal government had to move in and start providing subsidies for people in 37 states. We all want the court to decide "in favor of us." We want Obama and the Regime found to be in violation of their own law. However, when that happens, if that happens, what happens to the people in 37 states and their subsidies?
If the court rules that those subsidies are illegal, then what happens? See, the Regime is very, very... I think the Regime's looking forward to this. The Regime is hoping that those subsidies are taken away, because you know what will happen next? Do you know what happens then? If there's not a plan in place, what will happen next is the Republicans will be attacked for having caused this!
The Republicans will be blamed for taking health care away from 75% of the American people. The Republicans will be blamed-hour many people are not gonna get dialysis now, or however many people are not gonna get whatever it is, lifesaving treatment and support systems that they are on. The Republicans are going to be blamed for taking health care out of the hands of the American people.
The Regime, I think, would love this.
So what is happening at the moment, the Republicans... God help us on this.
The Republicans are strategizing on a way to continue those subsidies until they figure out how to deal with this if they win the case. Mr. Sasse here, the senator from Nebraska, says the GOP needs a PR plan, and they need it fast. "If the justices prohibit the Treasury department from granting subsidies to patients living in states without state-run exchanges, then the Machiavellian fine-print that regulators wrote to protect their bedfellows means that big insurers will be allowed to dump Obamacare patients midyear," and we're talking about a lot of patients.
"Cynics in the [Regime] might be banking on that. Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell claimed in Senate testimony earlier this month that the administration has no plan to help the seven million citizens who could lose their coverage in the weeks following such a ruling," and here's the way that gets translated: "Chemotherapy turned off for perhaps 12,000 people, dialysis going dark for 10,000," and on and on, horror story after horror story.
Every one of them on television, and every one of them being blamed on the Republicans for hating Obama and hating Obamacare, for being anti-black, anti-immigrant, anti-woman. So the Republicans are trying to figure out what to do here if they win it.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: Now, Ben Sasse, the Senator from Nebraska, has an idea. He has a proposed solution for this. And we're imagining here winning -- favorable Supreme Court ruling, which is going to take subsidies away from people in 37 states. It's just gonna take their health care away from 'em and as we've discussed, the Drive-Bys and the media, the Regime would no doubt be thrilled at this. 'Cause remember, this health care is not about taking care of people, it's not about providing for people, it's not about illness and making people well. It's about control. I know that sounds extreme, but don't tell me.
I'm tell here to tell you, you know as well as I do, people in 37 states have their health care taken away, and the Regime is gonna be happy. "Never let a crisis go to waste." Where is the compassion in that? They're gonna see a political opportunity to once again blame the Republicans, which they hope will have a very effective negative impact on their presidential chances in 2016.
So when Obama turns its guns on the holdout states and their 37 governors, the political pressure to adopt Obamacare will be crippling, even after the Supreme Court rules in our favor, supposedly. And Senator Sasse here openly writes that he fears that most governors will fold in the face of a victory at the Supreme Court. Now, the victory at the Supreme Court, if I may make a temporary departure, the victory would be profound for upholding the rule of law, limiting the administration, upholding the Constitution.
What they are doing in so many areas is outside the Constitution, not just Obamacare, but immigration, the FCC, net neutrality, practically everything. And Obama is out bragging about how he is expanding his authority. He said this at the MSNBC Telemundo town hall meeting on Wednesday night. He's bragging about how his authorities are being expanded, all the while saying he's not violating any statutes. His authorities are expanding under the rubric of prosecutorial discretion, which is BS and he needs to be reined in.
I have no idea what the court's gonna do. Frankly, I don't think we're gonna win this just based on experience. You know, my old adage, experience guided by intelligence. And here's the question: Is it reasonable to think that something that hasn't happened is going to happen, or is it more reasonable to think that something that has happened is going to happen again? What I mean by that, the Supreme Court already punted its first opportunity to find Obamacare unconstitutional. And there are some people who think that the court took this case because it realized it made a mistake back then and is going to use this case to protect that prior mistake, and they're going to rule these exchanges, federal exchanges, unconstitutional.
I don't think the court ever admits to making mistakes. I don't think that's what those people in the court think. I don't think they think that way. They don't run around with that kind of self-introspection. I think it's more reasonable to assume that if they looked the other way once, they'll look the other way again. But if it comes down strictly to an interpretation of the law, the Regime doesn't have a chance here. If this were a sane world, and if it were a relatively clean, uncluttered, uncorrupted world, the Regime wouldn't have a prayer here. They have violated the Constitution in how many ways, not just the establishment of these exchanges in violation of the law. And the court finding thus would be profound, it would be great.
And now look. In the face of a major and necessary victory, upholding the Constitution, the Republicans are worried sick how such a victory could destroy them. And they may have a point, knowing full well how the Regime will play it with their buddies in the media. I just think it's important to point out that the Regime is not gonna be unhappy at all if they lose this. More people thrown into chaos and more opportunity to blame the Republicans for it a year and a half out from the next presidential race.
So Senator Sasse's idea, he says, "I fear that most governors will fold. We've already seen some Republican governors finesse their principles to expand Medicaid and secure extra money. The new pressure will be even more acute. If governors cave, Obamacare is never going away. Obamacare's command-and-control regime will reduce families' choices, thwart innovation and chart a path of European-style debt and rationed access to health care."
All that's true. And then he says it doesn't have be this way. "I propose a two-part strategy to avoid snatching defeat from the jaws of victory: First, in the event that the court strikes down the subsidies as illegal, Congress must be prepared to offer immediate, targeted protection to those hurt by this administration's reckless disregard for the rule of law," in the first place. Meaning, there's a bunch of people out there, people, patients have signed up through HealthCare.gov who have subsidies who should not have them. They did not legally qualify. Violation of the law.
But they've got their subsidies, and the subsidies are enabling them to have the all-important health insurance. Which allows them to have the all important health care. And a ruling, a victory would force it to be taken away. So Senator Sasse says, his two-part strategy, "In the event that the court strikes down the subsidies as illegal, Congress must be prepared to offer immediate, targeted protection to those hurt by this administration's reckless disregard for the rule of law. ObamaCare took these patients hostage. Conservatives have a duty to save them."
Well, that's okay. I'll go for that. They don't think they're being held hostage. They think they're getting subsidies, and they think they're getting health care, and they think they're getting insurance, and they're all happy as they can be, but they are being held hostage because what they have is illegal. They have government welfare benefits essentially that are illegal. And if the court rules a certain way, they're gonna be taken away.
So Senator Sasse says that within a week of this victory, if it happens, "I will introduce legislation that uses the 1985 'Cobra' law as a temporary model to protect those harmed by Obamacare. Cobra offers workers who have lost their jobs the option to keep their health coverage for 18 months -- so Congress should offer individuals losing insurance the ability to keep the coverage they picked, with financial assistance, for 18 transitional months. This would simultaneously avert the full-scale implementation of Obamacare in these 37 suddenly desperate states. It would also help protect suffering patients entangled in the court's decision to strike down illegal subsidy payments.
"Second, Republicans need to unify around a specific set of constructive, longer-term solutions, and then turn the 2016 presidential election into a referendum on two competing visions of health care."
Now, Cobra, you still have to pay for it. That's the thing about Cobra. You're allowed to pay for it at the current price it's being made available to you if you lose your gig. And he's talking about subsidizing -- we're just gonna trade subsidies. He's not gonna prepare that these people who might lose their subsidies in 37 states now have to pay for it for 18 months. He's talking about a new set of temporary subsidies offered by the Republicans to rescue these people. They're gonna try to make the case it's Obamacare that abandoned them, not the Supreme Court and not Republicans. That's gonna be the battle set up.
In an effort to win the battle in the minds and hearts of the American people, hey, it's not us that took the subsidies away from you. You were never legally entitled to 'em in the first place. The court was simply upholding a law. The Regime never should have provided them to you in the first place, but we are here to save the day. We are gonna keep you enrolled for 18 months and we're gonna make it temporary, and in these 18 months we're gonna come up with a plan to fix all of this and use it as a competing vision against Obamacare that Senator Sasse hopes will become a central part of a presidential campaign.
What's your one take-away from this, Mr. Snerdley? What is your one take-away from this? (interruption) The one take-away is that after the Supreme Court -- this is now all hypothetical here -- but after the Supreme Court, if they find against the Regime and the subsidies are cut off, who's coming in to save the day? Republicans. With what? Subsidies. And they think there's no other way around this. So the whole concept of government subsidies is doubled down on by Republicans.
I don't know of another way off the top of my head, but at some point the 18 months Cobra, it goes away, and there has to be a new program set up to replace the expiring coverage that people get via Cobra. Just keep in mind the Regime wouldn't mind if all this happened. I think not only would they not mind, they may want this to happen. They may want this kind of chaos. They probably already have made deals.
They probably already have found, say, people that are on dialysis in the 37 states with federal illegal subsidies and they've already made deals with this patient, "We're gonna feature your story when you lose your dialysis in June when the court rules." They're gonna have 'em ready to go. "Look what the Republicans have done now. Their hatred of Obama is so boundless that they're willing to let patients die in order to deny Obama the success." I can hear it all now. And that's what the Regime wants.
END TRANSCRIPT
Related Links
Wall Street Journal: A First Step on the Way Out of ObamaCare - Ben Sasse
BEGIN TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: Now, there are a couple things we didn't get to yesterday that I promised we would get to today, and one of them involves the upcoming Supreme Court case involving subsidies and Obamacare and the state exchanges versus the federal government and its exchange. The oral arguments are gonna come in early March. The decision will come in June probably sometime.
What's at stake here is, there are, at present, a lot of people -- don't know what the number is, but it's in the millions -- who are receiving subsidies to buy Obamacare, who, if you read Obamacare and apply the letter of the law to it, are not entitled to them. Obamacare as written says -- and it was put in there on purpose. This was written on purpose to put political pressure on governors. That the only way citizens of this country could apply for and qualify for subsidies to help them pay for Obamacare, 'cause it's so damn expensive, was to register and sign up through a state exchange. Well, not all the states set up exchanges.
Jon Gruber, who insulted everybody telling them how stupid they are and how they used people's stupidity to pass Obamacare -- and it's explained on countless occasions, that they did it this way. They required governors, states to set up the exchange because they thought the alternative would put so much pressure on governors that they would all sign up. In other words, people that live in states that do not have exchanges are not legally entitled to subsidies. That was written in on purpose. It's not a mistake. It was not something that they forgot about and left out. It was not something they weren't thinking. They did this on purpose. And the governors didn't buckle.
So there are a lot of states that do not have exchanges and a lot of people that do not legally qualify for Obamacare subsidies. So what the Regime did was set up a subsidy program for the federal exchange, HealthCare.gov. That is against the law, if that matters anymore. It is not permitted under the actual law of Obamacare. It's not permitted. You can only get a subsidy via state exchange. Well, the Fed said, "We can't have this. This is unfair, it's unequal, it defeats the whole purpose." The subsidies is the trick. The subsidies is how everybody thinks they can afford this. Getting a government handout, getting a government gift, why, that's key to making this work.
So they started offering subsidies at HealthCare.gov, and now there's a lawsuit on this and oral arguments are coming up. And these people are getting subsidies. There are people currently receiving subsidies when they buy health insurance, they're getting it illegally.
And so where we are now with this, what happens if the court finds against the Regime and does find that the Regime is in violation of the law and that these subsidies must stop? There is a body of thought out there that this is exactly what the Regime wants, and I will explain why. And it makes perfect sense that they would not be upset at all if they lose this case. And I'll explain why when we get back.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: Ben Sasse is a Republican senator from Nebraska. It's S-a-s-s-e. He pronounces it Sasse. All right. The Supreme Court case we're talking about today is called King v. Burwell. That's how the legal beagles describe it. It's actually King "versus" Burwell, but the elites say King "vee" Burwell. Take your pick. It's going to happen have oral arguments March 4th. It is very important.
They just won't know how it's going to be applied, because it's gonna cost everybody more money. It already is. Thirty-seven states opted out, and so the federal government had to move in and start providing subsidies for people in 37 states. We all want the court to decide "in favor of us." We want Obama and the Regime found to be in violation of their own law. However, when that happens, if that happens, what happens to the people in 37 states and their subsidies?
If the court rules that those subsidies are illegal, then what happens? See, the Regime is very, very... I think the Regime's looking forward to this. The Regime is hoping that those subsidies are taken away, because you know what will happen next? Do you know what happens then? If there's not a plan in place, what will happen next is the Republicans will be attacked for having caused this!
The Republicans will be blamed for taking health care away from 75% of the American people. The Republicans will be blamed-hour many people are not gonna get dialysis now, or however many people are not gonna get whatever it is, lifesaving treatment and support systems that they are on. The Republicans are going to be blamed for taking health care out of the hands of the American people.
The Regime, I think, would love this.
So what is happening at the moment, the Republicans... God help us on this.
"Cynics in the [Regime] might be banking on that. Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell claimed in Senate testimony earlier this month that the administration has no plan to help the seven million citizens who could lose their coverage in the weeks following such a ruling," and here's the way that gets translated: "Chemotherapy turned off for perhaps 12,000 people, dialysis going dark for 10,000," and on and on, horror story after horror story.
Every one of them on television, and every one of them being blamed on the Republicans for hating Obama and hating Obamacare, for being anti-black, anti-immigrant, anti-woman. So the Republicans are trying to figure out what to do here if they win it.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: Now, Ben Sasse, the Senator from Nebraska, has an idea. He has a proposed solution for this. And we're imagining here winning -- favorable Supreme Court ruling, which is going to take subsidies away from people in 37 states. It's just gonna take their health care away from 'em and as we've discussed, the Drive-Bys and the media, the Regime would no doubt be thrilled at this. 'Cause remember, this health care is not about taking care of people, it's not about providing for people, it's not about illness and making people well. It's about control. I know that sounds extreme, but don't tell me.
So when Obama turns its guns on the holdout states and their 37 governors, the political pressure to adopt Obamacare will be crippling, even after the Supreme Court rules in our favor, supposedly. And Senator Sasse here openly writes that he fears that most governors will fold in the face of a victory at the Supreme Court. Now, the victory at the Supreme Court, if I may make a temporary departure, the victory would be profound for upholding the rule of law, limiting the administration, upholding the Constitution.
What they are doing in so many areas is outside the Constitution, not just Obamacare, but immigration, the FCC, net neutrality, practically everything. And Obama is out bragging about how he is expanding his authority. He said this at the MSNBC Telemundo town hall meeting on Wednesday night. He's bragging about how his authorities are being expanded, all the while saying he's not violating any statutes. His authorities are expanding under the rubric of prosecutorial discretion, which is BS and he needs to be reined in.
I have no idea what the court's gonna do. Frankly, I don't think we're gonna win this just based on experience. You know, my old adage, experience guided by intelligence. And here's the question: Is it reasonable to think that something that hasn't happened is going to happen, or is it more reasonable to think that something that has happened is going to happen again? What I mean by that, the Supreme Court already punted its first opportunity to find Obamacare unconstitutional. And there are some people who think that the court took this case because it realized it made a mistake back then and is going to use this case to protect that prior mistake, and they're going to rule these exchanges, federal exchanges, unconstitutional.
I don't think the court ever admits to making mistakes. I don't think that's what those people in the court think. I don't think they think that way. They don't run around with that kind of self-introspection. I think it's more reasonable to assume that if they looked the other way once, they'll look the other way again. But if it comes down strictly to an interpretation of the law, the Regime doesn't have a chance here. If this were a sane world, and if it were a relatively clean, uncluttered, uncorrupted world, the Regime wouldn't have a prayer here. They have violated the Constitution in how many ways, not just the establishment of these exchanges in violation of the law. And the court finding thus would be profound, it would be great.
So Senator Sasse's idea, he says, "I fear that most governors will fold. We've already seen some Republican governors finesse their principles to expand Medicaid and secure extra money. The new pressure will be even more acute. If governors cave, Obamacare is never going away. Obamacare's command-and-control regime will reduce families' choices, thwart innovation and chart a path of European-style debt and rationed access to health care."
All that's true. And then he says it doesn't have be this way. "I propose a two-part strategy to avoid snatching defeat from the jaws of victory: First, in the event that the court strikes down the subsidies as illegal, Congress must be prepared to offer immediate, targeted protection to those hurt by this administration's reckless disregard for the rule of law," in the first place. Meaning, there's a bunch of people out there, people, patients have signed up through HealthCare.gov who have subsidies who should not have them. They did not legally qualify. Violation of the law.
But they've got their subsidies, and the subsidies are enabling them to have the all-important health insurance. Which allows them to have the all important health care. And a ruling, a victory would force it to be taken away. So Senator Sasse says, his two-part strategy, "In the event that the court strikes down the subsidies as illegal, Congress must be prepared to offer immediate, targeted protection to those hurt by this administration's reckless disregard for the rule of law. ObamaCare took these patients hostage. Conservatives have a duty to save them."
So Senator Sasse says that within a week of this victory, if it happens, "I will introduce legislation that uses the 1985 'Cobra' law as a temporary model to protect those harmed by Obamacare. Cobra offers workers who have lost their jobs the option to keep their health coverage for 18 months -- so Congress should offer individuals losing insurance the ability to keep the coverage they picked, with financial assistance, for 18 transitional months. This would simultaneously avert the full-scale implementation of Obamacare in these 37 suddenly desperate states. It would also help protect suffering patients entangled in the court's decision to strike down illegal subsidy payments.
"Second, Republicans need to unify around a specific set of constructive, longer-term solutions, and then turn the 2016 presidential election into a referendum on two competing visions of health care."
Now, Cobra, you still have to pay for it. That's the thing about Cobra. You're allowed to pay for it at the current price it's being made available to you if you lose your gig. And he's talking about subsidizing -- we're just gonna trade subsidies. He's not gonna prepare that these people who might lose their subsidies in 37 states now have to pay for it for 18 months. He's talking about a new set of temporary subsidies offered by the Republicans to rescue these people. They're gonna try to make the case it's Obamacare that abandoned them, not the Supreme Court and not Republicans. That's gonna be the battle set up.
In an effort to win the battle in the minds and hearts of the American people, hey, it's not us that took the subsidies away from you. You were never legally entitled to 'em in the first place. The court was simply upholding a law. The Regime never should have provided them to you in the first place, but we are here to save the day. We are gonna keep you enrolled for 18 months and we're gonna make it temporary, and in these 18 months we're gonna come up with a plan to fix all of this and use it as a competing vision against Obamacare that Senator Sasse hopes will become a central part of a presidential campaign.
What's your one take-away from this, Mr. Snerdley? What is your one take-away from this? (interruption) The one take-away is that after the Supreme Court -- this is now all hypothetical here -- but after the Supreme Court, if they find against the Regime and the subsidies are cut off, who's coming in to save the day? Republicans. With what? Subsidies. And they think there's no other way around this. So the whole concept of government subsidies is doubled down on by Republicans.
I don't know of another way off the top of my head, but at some point the 18 months Cobra, it goes away, and there has to be a new program set up to replace the expiring coverage that people get via Cobra. Just keep in mind the Regime wouldn't mind if all this happened. I think not only would they not mind, they may want this to happen. They may want this kind of chaos. They probably already have made deals.
They probably already have found, say, people that are on dialysis in the 37 states with federal illegal subsidies and they've already made deals with this patient, "We're gonna feature your story when you lose your dialysis in June when the court rules." They're gonna have 'em ready to go. "Look what the Republicans have done now. Their hatred of Obama is so boundless that they're willing to let patients die in order to deny Obama the success." I can hear it all now. And that's what the Regime wants.
END TRANSCRIPT
Related Links
Wall Street Journal: A First Step on the Way Out of ObamaCare - Ben Sasse
