Today’s court ruling gutting the essential tax credits offered under Obamacare relies on a literal reading of one provision of the Affordable Care Act. It seems almost certain that the provision in question suffered from a drafting error.
As we reported earlier this year, those who were in the room as the bill was being written say it was never anyone’s intention to limit the tax credits to state-run exchanges. In fact there’s no compelling rationale for why Congress would have sought to treat the two exchanges differently for tax purposes. The provision was just drafted poorly.
In ordinary circumstances, Congress would just fix the error. But these are not ordinary times.
You can read the DC Circuit’s devastating Obamacare ruling here.
Just a quick note for those who may be confused about how those Obamacare tax credits actually worked — and a glimpse at why this is such a big deal.
The way it worked, in short, is this:
Federal appeals court invalidates tax credit for insurance purchased on federal Obamacare exchanges.
To catch you up, at issue was whether the federal government could provide tax credits to people who purchased insurance on the exchanges set up by the federal government. Remember that as originally conceived Obamacare allowed each state to create its own exchange. This was a concession to conservatives and to states, a way to build consensus for the legislation. But as opposition to Obamacare became a Republican rallying cry and a litmus test for conservative credentials, many red states opted not to create their own exchanges. In fact a majority of states opted to rely on the federal exchanges instead.
AP: “An evangelical Christian group plans to try to convert children as young as 5 at Portland apartment pools, public parks and dozens of other gathering spots this summer — a campaign that’s got some residents upset.”
Meet Jeremy Johnson, the alleged Internet scammer at the center of the scandal that may send Utah’s last two Attorneys General to the slammer.
New York City has okayed a developer’s plan to build a separate door for the low income residents of his new luxury high-rise.
A pregnant teenager and her boyfriend, 25, were both killed, after connecting with the wrong man for a sexual encounter through Craigslist. Brady Oestrike, who had a large collection of assault rifles, allegedly strangled 18 year old Brooke Slocum and decapitated Charles Oppenneer. Slocum, who was eight months pregnant, was allegedly held captive before he death.
According to the AP, “It’s likely that Oppenneer died of some kind of head trauma, but that couldn’t be determined without his head being found, police said.”
Oestrike shot himself to death after crashing his car in an attempted escape from police.
New Yorker taking its own look at the Legend of Joe Biden …
After the speech, just before Biden ducked back inside, a young man cupped his hands and yelled, “Stay gangster, Joe! I dig you, man.” Biden looked up, pleased but perplexed by an image he doesn’t control or entirely recognize. He waved and kept walking.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott keeping his opposition to same sex marriage on the down low.