{"id":4391,"date":"2011-03-24T03:22:46","date_gmt":"2011-03-24T10:22:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=4391"},"modified":"2011-03-24T03:22:46","modified_gmt":"2011-03-24T10:22:46","slug":"a-year-later-were-still-here","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2011\/03\/24\/a-year-later-were-still-here\/","title":{"rendered":"A Year Later We&rsquo;re Still Here"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><font color=\"#0000ff\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto\" title=\"24HCR\" alt=\"24HCR\" src=\"https:\/\/www.7thstep.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/24HCR.png\" width=\"312\" height=\"377\" \/><\/font><\/p>\n<p><font color=\"#0000ff\">One year ago yesterday, the Affordable Care Act became law.&#160; Despite its many flaws, it has also done a lot of good in the last year and promises to do more.&#160; I remember the dire predictions of Armageddon Republicans made a year ago.&#160; Today they seem even more laughable than they did then, so it is an appropriate occasion for Rachel Maddow and Ed Schultz to have a little fun, giving them the ridicule they deserve.&#160; But more important, the extreme Republican activism on SCOTUS may pave the way for the Public Option.<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font color=\"#0000ff\">First, Rachel debunks several Republican lies.<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font color=\"#0000ff\"><object width=\"592\" height=\"346\" id=\"msnbc123f63\" classid=\"clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000\" target=\"_blank\" codebase=\"http:\/\/download.macromedia.com\/pub\/shockwave\/cabs\/flash\/swflash.cab#version=10,0,0,0\"><param name=\"movie\" value=\"http:\/\/www.msnbc.msn.com\/id\/32545640\" \/><param name=\"FlashVars\" value=\"launch=42241597^0^155622&amp;width=592&amp;height=346\" \/><param name=\"allowScriptAccess\" value=\"always\" \/><param name=\"allowFullScreen\" value=\"true\" \/><param name=\"wmode\" value=\"transparent\" \/><embed name=\"msnbc123f63\" src=\"http:\/\/www.msnbc.msn.com\/id\/32545640\" width=\"592\" height=\"346\" FlashVars=\"launch=42241597^0^155622&amp;width=592&amp;height=346\" allowscriptaccess=\"always\" allowFullScreen=\"true\" wmode=\"transparent\" type=\"application\/x-shockwave-flash\" pluginspage=\"http:\/\/www.adobe.com\/shockwave\/download\/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash\"><\/embed><\/object><\/font><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center; margin-top: 5px; width: 592px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; background: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; color: #999; font-size: 11px\">Visit msnbc.com for <a style=\"border-bottom: #999 1px dotted; height: 13px; color: #5799db !important; font-weight: normal !important; text-decoration: none !important\" href=\"http:\/\/www.msnbc.msn.com\" target=\"_blank\">breaking news<\/a>, <a style=\"border-bottom: #999 1px dotted; height: 13px; color: #5799db !important; font-weight: normal !important; text-decoration: none !important\" href=\"http:\/\/www.msnbc.msn.com\/id\/3032507\" target=\"_blank\">world news<\/a>, and <a style=\"border-bottom: #999 1px dotted; height: 13px; color: #5799db !important; font-weight: normal !important; text-decoration: none !important\" href=\"http:\/\/www.msnbc.msn.com\/id\/3032072\" target=\"_blank\">news about the economy<\/a><\/p>\n<p><font color=\"#0000ff\">And Ed does his best to outdo her.<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font color=\"#0000ff\"><\/font><object width=\"592\" height=\"346\" id=\"msnbc6ed179\" classid=\"clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000\" target=\"_blank\" codebase=\"http:\/\/download.macromedia.com\/pub\/shockwave\/cabs\/flash\/swflash.cab#version=10,0,0,0\"><param name=\"movie\" value=\"http:\/\/www.msnbc.msn.com\/id\/32545640\" \/><param name=\"FlashVars\" value=\"launch=42242079^0^241508&amp;width=592&amp;height=346\" \/><param name=\"allowScriptAccess\" value=\"always\" \/><param name=\"allowFullScreen\" value=\"true\" \/><param name=\"wmode\" value=\"transparent\" \/><embed name=\"msnbc6ed179\" src=\"http:\/\/www.msnbc.msn.com\/id\/32545640\" width=\"592\" height=\"346\" FlashVars=\"launch=42242079^0^241508&amp;width=592&amp;height=346\" allowscriptaccess=\"always\" allowFullScreen=\"true\" wmode=\"transparent\" type=\"application\/x-shockwave-flash\" pluginspage=\"http:\/\/www.adobe.com\/shockwave\/download\/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash\"><\/embed><\/object><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center; margin-top: 5px; width: 592px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; background: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; color: #999; font-size: 11px\">Visit msnbc.com for <a style=\"border-bottom: #999 1px dotted; height: 13px; color: #5799db !important; font-weight: normal !important; text-decoration: none !important\" href=\"http:\/\/www.msnbc.msn.com\" target=\"_blank\">breaking news<\/a>, <a style=\"border-bottom: #999 1px dotted; height: 13px; color: #5799db !important; font-weight: normal !important; text-decoration: none !important\" href=\"http:\/\/www.msnbc.msn.com\/id\/3032507\" target=\"_blank\">world news<\/a>, and <a style=\"border-bottom: #999 1px dotted; height: 13px; color: #5799db !important; font-weight: normal !important; text-decoration: none !important\" href=\"http:\/\/www.msnbc.msn.com\/id\/3032072\" target=\"_blank\">news about the economy<\/a><\/p>\n<p><font color=\"#0000ff\">Now, here\u2019s Anthony Weiner\u2019s (D-NY) take on a possible future.<\/font><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"line-height: normal; margin: 0in; font-family: \" align=\"left\"><span style=\"text-align: left\"><font color=\"#242424\"><font style=\"font-size: 11pt\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: right; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px\" title=\"24Weiner\" border=\"0\" alt=\"24Weiner\" align=\"right\" src=\"https:\/\/www.7thstep.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/24Weiner.jpg\" width=\"240\" height=\"338\" \/>Rep. Anthony Weiner, a strong defender of the Affordable Care Act and a stronger proponent of a single-payer system, believes that the Supreme Court might strike down the law because of the mandate. Not because he believes that the mandate is unconstitutional, but because of the <\/font><\/font><\/span><font style=\"font-size: 11pt\"><a style=\"text-align: left\" href=\"http:\/\/tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com\/2011\/03\/weiner-says-scotus-will-rule-against-health-care-law-paving-way-for-public-option.php?utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=Feed%3A+tpmelectioncentral+%28TPM+Election+Central%29\"><span style=\"text-align: left\"><font color=\"#0066cc\"><strong>highly politicized and conservative majority of the court<\/strong><\/font><\/span><\/a><\/font><span style=\"text-align: left\"><font style=\"font-size: 11pt\" color=\"#242424\">.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.375in; font-family: \" align=\"left\"><font style=\"font-size: 11pt\" color=\"#242424\">He wasn&#8217;t glum about it, though\u2014if the mandate goes he said it will pave the way for Congress to pass the public option. <\/font><\/p>\n<p style=\"line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.375in; font-family: \" align=\"left\"><font style=\"font-size: 11pt\" color=\"#242424\">&quot;If lightning strikes, and it turns out that as many of us believe, the Supreme Court turns out to be a third political branch of government and they strike down the mandate\u2014big deal,&quot; Weiner said, expressing a &#8216;so what?!&#8217; sentiment. &quot;Big deal!&quot;<\/font><\/p>\n<p style=\"line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.375in; font-family: \" align=\"left\"><font style=\"font-size: 11pt\" color=\"#242424\">&#8230;.<\/font><\/p>\n<p style=\"line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.375in; font-family: \" align=\"left\"><font style=\"font-size: 11pt\" color=\"#242424\">&quot;We pretty much see the direction the Supreme Court is going,&quot; he told an audience at the Center for American Progress. &quot;The solution, if the mandate is struck down, is not that the bill falls like the house of cards &#8230; the solution is going to be offering something everyone agrees is constitutional and that&#8217;s the public option in the exchange.&quot;<\/font><\/p>\n<p style=\"line-height: normal; margin: 0in; font-family: \" align=\"left\"><font style=\"font-size: 11pt\" color=\"#242424\">He later told TPM&#8217;s Brian Beutler: &quot;The Supreme Court unfortunately is a corporate-dominated arm of the Republican Party right now&#8230;. I put nothing past them. But they would have to take a Bush v. Gore like leap to strike down the constitutionality of the whole law. Even the mandate is a pretty thin reed.&quot;<\/font><\/p>\n<p style=\"line-height: normal; margin: 0in; font-family: \" align=\"left\"><font style=\"font-size: 11pt\" color=\"#242424\">He&#8217;s right in the public option being constitutional and that it could easily take the place of a mandate\u2026 [<em>emphasis original<\/em>]<\/font><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Inserted from &lt;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.dailykos.com\/story\/2011\/03\/23\/959398\/-Weiner:-Politicized-SCOTUS-could-strike-down-health-reform-mandate\" target=\"_blank\">Daily Kos<\/a>&gt;<\/p>\n<p><font color=\"#0000ff\">For the Extreme Court declare the mandate illegal would indeed be an outrage, but it\u2019s an outrage we can live with, because Democrats could then campaign on saving HCR by making it better with a Medicare for all single-payer, option.<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font color=\"#0000ff\">But this does serve as a reminder of why no Republican must ever occupy the White House for at least a generation, until the fascist four, Roberts, Alito, Scalia, and Thomas have retired or been impeached.<\/font><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One year ago yesterday, the Affordable Care Act became law.&#160; Despite its many flaws, it has also done a lot of good in the last year and promises to do more.&#160; I remember the dire predictions of Armageddon Republicans made a year ago.&#160; Today they seem even more laughable than they did then, so it <a href='https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2011\/03\/24\/a-year-later-were-still-here\/' class='excerpt-more'>[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4391","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","category-5-id","post-seq-1","post-parity-odd","meta-position-corners","fix"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4391","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4391"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4391\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4391"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4391"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4391"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}