The ObamaCare subsidies worked out nicely for the Democrats. On one hand, they got to bash Wall Street and the insurance companies. On the other hand, they got to tell people that ObamaCare would take care of their illnesses.
It was great, but illegal.
The “subsidies” were never part of ObamaCare. My guess is that most liberals wanted no part of a vote that gave billions of dollars to the insurance industry.
Enter President Obama’s pen and another excursion around the U.S. Constitution.
And now enter President Trump, and the issue will finally be settled by Congress.
It was a victory for the Constitution, as the Las Vegas Review Journal:
Recall that the Obama administration originally asked Congress to appropriate the funds as part of the Affordable Care Act. But no legislation ever made it through the House and Senate. In response, President Barack Obama’s Department of Health and Human Services unilaterally began disbursing the payouts anyway. You remember that “pen and phone” thing.House Republicans sued, arguing that the executive branch may not dole out money without congressional approval. In 2016, a federal judge issued a 38-page opinion ruling that the Mr. Obama had exceeded his constitutional authority and illegally funded the subsidies. Shocker.“Congress is the only source for such an appropriation and no public money can be spent without one,” wrote U.S. District Court Judge Rosemary Collyer. The case is currently under appeal.To summarize: The Obama administration went around Congress and the Constitution to impose its health care plan; in contrast, President Donald Trump has decided to follow the law.
And that’s the story.
Sadly, the self-described “constitutional professor” must have taught a different constitution than the one that he took an oath to defend.
After all, where does it say that the president can go around the Congress that refuses to authorize the payments?
The Constitution doesn’t and someone needs to tell the constitutional professor that!
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