[PGR88]

The Supreme Court will not resolve it. They will not strike down the entire law - that’s too broad for them. THey may very well kill the mandate and tell Congress to go back and work on it - and the debate begins all over again.

They may not even make a decision - but do something to kick the can down the road.

Point is - those looking for final resolution from SCOTUS will not get it.

[kevkrom]

The Supreme Court will not resolve it. They will not strike down the entire law - that’s too broad for them.

Most likely, you're right, but there is a chance in this case, for two reasons:

1) There is no "severability" clause allowing other portions of the law to stand if any portion is struck down, and

2) Even the administration's legal team will be arguing that without the individual mandate, the rest of the law doesn't work.

If it were just #1, the Court would likely punt it back to Congress, saying "since we can't be sure of your intentions, we'll take the least interfering approach and let you handle repealing the mess that's left, if that's what you really want".

But the law's defenders saying that the provision in question is essential to the law's intent coupled with the lack of a severability clause does open for the door for the Court to say that Congress' intent was clear and that the whole law is null and void.

[Lionheartusa1]

Post #19

,,,, and the debates start all over again .....

Did I miss something here ,,,, there were NO DEBATES ,,, the republicans were not even allowed to participate in any debates . This bill was passed through a process called reconcilliation wasn’t it ???

Back then the chambers of both houses had dem majorities so the Repubs. were dissed .

[DBrow]

“They may not even make a decision - but do something to kick the can down the road.”

Sort of like the Miller decision, eh?

[Truth29]

"The Supreme Court will not resolve it. They will not strike down the entire law - that’s too broad for them. THey may very well kill the mandate and tell Congress to go back and work on it - and the debate begins all over again."

You are probably correct. I know there is a nonseverability argument, but if just the mandate is struck down and the rest of the bill stands, that will also be a disaster. The rest of the bill will completely destroy the insurance business through a combination of bankruptcy and soaring premiums and then Obama will say that only the government can save us from total chaos, bodies in the streets, etc. We need a complete repeal, somehow.