Four Months Later, I'm Still Not over the Obamacare Ruling | Ilya Shapiro | Cato Institute: Commentary

Four Months Later, I'm Still Not over the Obamacare Ruling | Ilya Shapiro | Cato Institute: Commentary: "by letting Obamacare survive in such a dubious manner — I call it a "unicorn tax," a creature of no known constitutional provenance that will never be seen again — Roberts undermined the trust people have that courts are impartial arbiters rather than political actors."

"What had I (and everyone else) missed? The possibility that the ruling would be based on something other than competing legal theories. That is, eight justices decided the health care caseson the law — four finding that the Constitution limits federal power, four that constitutional structure must yield to "Congress' capacity to meet the new problems arising constantly in our ever-developing modern economy" — and one had other concerns on his mind."

"the whole reason we care about the Court's independence and integrity is so it can make the tough calls while letting the political chips fall where they may. Had the Court struck down Obamacare, it would have "merely" been a high-profile legal ruling, just the sort of thing for which the Court needs all that accrued respect and gravitas. Instead, we have a strategic decision dressed up in legal robes, judicially enacting a new law."