Two Great Days for America: Obamacare and Marriage Equality are Affirmed

Over the past two days the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that Obamacare will continue and that same-sex marriage must be recognized in all fifty states. The effects of these momentous judgments will go down in history as major turning points in the story of the security and rights of the American people. They represent a complete vindication of the liberal/progressive position on both issues, by a majority-conservative court, no less. They also cement the prominent place of President Barack Obama among those presidents who have effected truly transformational change.

The Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) ruling in King v. Burwell is as potentially important as the 1937 Helvering v. Davis decision that upheld Social Security. As NPR correspondent Nina Tottenberg described, conservative activists "flyspecked" the ACA looking for any errors they could attack. They found a drafting error, "exchanges established by the state," that called into question whether the Act's subsidies to help Americans of modest means to afford health insurance could be granted to residents of the 34 states who have been relying on the federal exchange to purchase their health insurance. The 6-3 vote to sustain the tax credit subsidies was the right conclusion. The ruling, written by Chief Justice John Roberts, properly found that the entire intent of the law was to provide help to all eligible Americans, and that it should not be judicially invalidated by one drafting error in a 2,000-page law. The principle that all Americans should have access to health care and that the federal government will help make that a reality is now enshrined in our country. Even if they win the next presidential election Republicans will find it extremely difficult to take away benefits that 16 million people already enjoy. Just as they have found with Social Security and Medicare, Republicans will face nearly insurmountable political obstacles in getting rid of it. People are going to get to go to the doctor whether Republicans like it or not.

The marriage equality ruling was perhaps even more decisive from a human rights perspective. The 5-4 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges orders all states to recognize same-sex marriage, based on the Fourteenth Amendment's equal protection clause, which says, "No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." This is as decisive and permanent as the 1967 Loving v. Virginia case that outlawed bans on interracial marriage. The four conservatives on the court who voted against the majority felt so strongly against this that they all wrote individual dissents, even resorting to personal attacks against their normally fellow-conservative colleague Anthony Kennedy, a Reagan appointee, who wrote the majority opinion.  He sided with the liberals as he has before on LGBT equality issues. Their objections will all be relegated in time to the historical ash heap along with others who down through the years have tried to hold back the march of equality across the pages of American history. Gays and lesbians are going to be able to marry the people they love whether conservatives like it or not.

It's been a great two days for America.


        

How Will Court Rule on Marriage Equality and Obamacare?

Business Insider ran a story on the two pressing Supreme Court cases still to be announced this session. The first case will rule whether states can refuse to marry same-sex couples. The second, King v. Burwell, will decide whether the U.S. government can continue to pay subsidies to people for Obamacare if they live in a state that has not set up its own health care exchange. If they so rule, it will largely wreck Obamacare in 36 states. You can see the article here.

In it, Carter Phillips, an attorney who has argued 80 cases before the high court, predicts the court will rule in favor of same-sex marriage. He says, "I think it could be more than 5-4 because I think the justices will figure out the way the winds of history are blowing and will not be keen on seeing their individual legacies tarnished by having hopelessly attempted to block the protection of rights." 

He rates the Obamacare case a tossup, based on the questioning of the justices at the hearing. All four liberal justices seemed to strongly affirm an interpretation of the wording that permits the subsidies to continue, even if the exchange has not been "established by the state." In Phillips's view, the questions and comments from the bench of only three conservative justices indicate implacable opposition to the subsidies. Two others, Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy, appeared undecided and could go either way. "The four liberals were very aggressive at the oral argument and only three of the conservatives were," Phillips said. "So if Obama could pick off either the Chief or Kennedy, he would win." 

We should find out within a week.

 

Pope Speaks Out on Climate Change

Today Pope Francis released his encyclical on human-generated climate change and the need for the people and governments of the world to band together to reverse the damage being done to creation and to our ecological home. As he put it, "Once we start to think about the kind of world we are leaving to future generations, we look at things differently; we realize that the world is a gift which we have freely received and must share with others," he said.  The Archdiocese of Los Angeles is teaming up with the Sierra Club to ask people to sign a petition calling on world leaders to act to fight this threat.

Conservative figures such as Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh and candidates Jeb Bush and Rick Santorum have already weighed in against the pontiff for "politicizing" the climate issue. What they don't seem to realize is that the scientist pope (master's degree in Chemistry) is merely reporting the science and combining that with his moral focus as a religious leader to call for mitigation of the effects of this preventable tragedy on the "least among us." As Francis pointed out, it is the poor and powerless who pay the highest price for drought and sea level rise. See the entire text of the encyclical (184 pages) here. See the informative article on the encyclical, Laudate Si, (Praise be to you) in the New York Times here.

It is well past time for the narrative to change. Scientists who report the findings of science and moral leaders who report the human dimension of issues are not the ones "politicizing" this issue. People who know better but play to the fear and ignorance of their political base by denying fact and reason are the ones doing so. It is well past time for them to be called on this dissimulation, and it is good to see the Pope doing so.

Book Review Information

Here's Information I've sent to Jim Ward, Editor for the Visalia Times-Delta's "Choices" section. It's scheduled to accompany a review of my book by Newell Bringhurst to appear in the paper on Friday, June 12.

Book Title: Liberally Speaking: Why Liberalism is Right for America

What's it about: It starts with my own story, from being brought up as a conservative Republican to my political transformation to a liberal Democrat based on liberalism's ethical and moral foundations and its record of effectiveness in successfully furthering the rights and prosperity of the American people. It's a thoroughly-researched work that shows the values that underpin liberalism, explains where liberals stand on the issues and why, and highlights the superior historical record of civil rights, personal liberties and economic prosperity the nation has achieved when liberal ideas and policies have been followed. That's why I gave up my old views. The record shows they don't work, and that liberal ones do. Chapter 7, for instance, details the strikingly superior economic record the nation has enjoyed under Democratic presidents compared to Republican ones.

About the author: I am a Professor of History at College of the Sequoias, where I have taught since 1999. I served on the Governance Committee of the recent Accreditation Task Force, part of the effort that successfully restored the college to fully accredited status. I served on the COS Academic Senate for nine years, including four years as President, and on the Executive Committee of the College of the Sequoias Teachers Association for eight years. I have been faculty adviser of the COS Young Democrats Club since its inception in 2008. I hold undergraduate degrees in History and Political Science and Graduate degrees in History and Education. I am a COS teacher of the year awardee and Democratic lifetime achievement award recipient. I taught at the middle school level for 17 years prior to COS. I have been married to my wife Joan for 37 years. We have two grown daughters. I usually go by Steve, but used my full name, Stephen J. Natoli, as author of the book.   

Where can you buy the book:

From the publisher: www.brandenbooks.com

On Amazon.com (Search Liberally Speaking or Stephen Natoli.)

The Book Garden, 189 E. Pine St., Exeter

Linda's Used Books, 1107 E. Houston St., Visalia

I will also be talking to Visalia Costco on Monday to see if they will carry it. COS Visalia Bookstore has told me they will carry it; I'll find out Monday when they will get copies in for sale. I'll likely have Bargain Books on Walnut carry it too. I'll try to get all this info to you by some time Tuesday, or at least as much as has been finalized by then.

COS will hold an author's appearance, sale and book signing in November (date still tbd). I'll be seeing about a Cafe 210 and potential COSTCO author event and book signing too.

Book Update

Just a quick note to report I am so busy finishing my book project I haven't had time to post much lately. I'm working on correcting the index of Liberally Speaking and should be finished this week. The release should come very shortly now.