Obama Warns Supremes: Don't Overturn Healthcare Reform

The Obama administration warned the Supreme Court this week via papers filed with the Court that if Obamacare is struck down, there will be an “extraordinary disruption” in Medicare. Medicare was not discussed during the Supreme Court arguments, since it was not a Constitutional issue. This is a practical argument, not a legal one; it’s the Obama administration applying pressure to the Supremes.

But that’s what the Obama administration does – they focus on the politics of the situation rather than on the legalities. If they can’t win on the law, they figure, they’ll push the Court to act via “empathy,” President Obama’s favorite legal standard. And if they lose, they’ll blame the Court for destroying Medicare.

It’s a win-win for the Obama administration: if the Court strikes down Obamacare, Obama will blame the Court for harming Medicare. If the Court upholds Obamacare to prevent an “extraordinary disruption” in Medicare, Obama gets what he wants.

The simple fact is that the “disruption in Medicare” argument could have been made during oral arguments (particularly the section on severability). It wasn’t. Instead, the Obama administration waits until now to “quietly” inform the Supremes, according to the Associated Press. This is politics, pure and simple.