The Silver Lining

My disappointment over today's SCOTUS decision is hard to overstate.  Our nation is not bound together by ethnicity, culture, or even history.  We are a nation born and bred on the idea of individual liberty and responsibility, and committed to the proposition that the Rule of Law as articulated by our constitution would be the bulwark against tyranny.

Today, the Supreme Court of the United States swept aside a few more pesky cobwebs of federalism and granted the federal government unbounded taxing power in upholding the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. (PPACA aka Obamacare).

The twisted logic of the decision is particularly egregious.  A major issue in the arguments was whether "the mandate" was a penalty or a tax.  The President insisted that it was not a tax, and Mr Verrilli, arguing to uphold the act, insisted that it was a penalty, not a tax.  The text of the PPACA states explicitly that it is not a tax.

The decision, nevertheless holds that for the purposes of the anti-injunction act, it is not a tax, but for the purposes of upholding the legislation under review, it is a tax.  The majority opinion goes so far as to say that the court will ignore the explicit text, the appeals court rulings, and the arguments of Mr. Verrilli, all arguing that it is not a tax, and call it a tax, so they can uphold the law.

This is as appalling as it is twisted.

The silver lining in all this is that even though the legal, political, economic, and constitutional consequences may be disastrous, one major thing has been put right.  Many on both the left and the right have been waiting breathlessly for the court to decide, as though the absolute last word on this issue would come from the 9 judges in black robes.  Nothing could be farther from the truth.

The fact is that it has always been the responsibility of the citizen to hold elected officials accountable.  It has always been the citizen who stood between corrupt officials and their victims.  It has always been the citizen who is the ultimate bulwark against tyranny.

We now have what I would consider incontrovertible evidence that our institutions have failed us.  Congress is more interested in pandering than prudence.  The President has open contempt for the clear text of the constitution in favor of an alternate interpretation that bobs and weaves in sync with political needs.

And now, the Supreme Court of the United States has said that "every reasonable construction must be resorted to" in order to avoid striking down a statute.

It's open season.

Our founders warned us that the price of liberty is "eternal vigilance".  Ben Franklin responded to a question about the nature of our government by calling it "A republic, if you can keep it."

This decision makes it crystal clear that the responsibility to fix what is broken is squarely on the shoulders of those who must do the work.  That is the citizen.  It is the voter.  It is the activist.  Nothing scares politicians, and gets things done faster than a truly aroused public.  If we care about our future as a free country, it is time to get going.

November is only 4 months away.