The Supreme Court’s decision regarding ObamaCare is filled with high drama: the Chief Justice, appointed by Republican George W. Bush, sided with the more liberal/progressive Justices appointed primarily by Democrat presidents to reach a 5-4 decision upholding the legislation; in so doing, he declared the Act to be a tax, something President Obama and his lawyers had been insistent that it most definitely was not.
Sure, the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution did not authorize such a sweeping power-grab, but the Tax Clause does.
After the secretive nature of the passing of the bill (“We have to pass it to find out what’s in it” — Pelosi), and given the subsequent dislike which the majority of Americans feels for the monstrosity after discovering “what’s in it”, receiving a 5-4 decision from those who are touted as Constitutional experts is hardly satisfying.
Even worse is the obvious conclusion that the Court is politicized. It has become a microcosm of contemporary politics: 40% on the left, 40% on the right, and 20% allegedly “neutral.” Only in the most mundane and obvious of Constitutional questions does the Court reach anything resembling consensus.
It is high time that the Court did away with split decisions. Otherwise, given every successive President’s attempt to pack the Court in miniature, the Court is simply a very small Congress with longer tenure. This is not what the Framers envisioned, and is not conducive to confidence in a neutral arbiter of Constitutional questions.