For the past two years, health care has been one of the most volatile subjects in this country. As the Tea Party movement rose to prominence in 2009, many angry town hall meetings were held about the subject, during which shouting was the order of the day.
Then, when the health care reform bill – known by conservatives as "ObamaCare" – was passed in March of 2010, it continued to be a lightning rod for political debate. Liberals believed the bill wasn't strong enough, while conservatives wanted to see it repealed as soon as possible.
When the Republicans took control of the House of Representatives, one of their first promises was to repeal the bill. It was purely symbolic, however, because the Senate was still controlled by the Democrats, and Obama would easily have been able to veto any repeal.
What a federal judge in Florida recently did, however, may have more serious ramifications. Judge Roger Vinson recently ruled the health care bill unconstitutional, repealing the bill in the state.
From there, this decision will be taken to a Federal Appeals Court, and, more than likely, the U.S. Supreme Court, where moderate Justice Anthony Kennedy will once again be the swing vote.
At The Spectrum, we believe this decision is nothing more than a rebuke of President Obama, and that the debate here is not over constitutional law, but merely one of political ideology.
Quite simply, liberal judges will be against this ruling and conservative judges will be for it. It will be the same old discussion we've been having for years now.
What makes it so important, however, is the effect it will have. America is split down the middle politically right now, and that applies to the court system as well. The odds of the Supreme Court upholding this decision are at least reasonable.
Republicans have been looking for a way to derail health care reform for a while now, and they may have found it. Trying to repeal through Congress wouldn't work for at least another two years.
It is unknown how the courts will rule on this, but this makes the right wing's distaste for Obama and his ideas clear. They will do anything to take him down, and in this case, it may work.
