The Supreme Court challenge against ObamaCare is rapidly falling apart

Do the Affordable Care Act truthers stand a chance?

(Image credit: (illustration | Image courtesy JONATHAN ERNST/Reuters/Corbis))

The latest legal assault on the Affordable Care Act, which the Supreme Court will be considering in March, is based on the most obtuse of premises. The plaintiffs argue that Congress did not intend for subsidies to be available to individuals who purchase insurance on the exchanges established by the federal government. This is the equivalent of including a big red self-destruct button in the legislation — with many Republican-led states refusing to build their own exchanges, this would leave millions of Americans without the subsidies they need to afford health insurance.

Normally, one would expect a lawsuit purportedly upholding the will of Congress to have at least some support from the legislators who drafted and voted for the law — but this one has literally none. For this reason, supporters of the lawsuit have embarked on a desperate search for evidence that bolsters their position. Two of the primary architects of the suit, Jonathan Adler and Michael Cannon, have submitted a brief that attempts to do just this. This "evidence," however, manages to make their argument even less plausible.

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Scott Lemieux

Scott Lemieux is a professor of political science at the College of Saint Rose in Albany, N.Y., with a focus on the Supreme Court and constitutional law. He is a frequent contributor to the American Prospect and blogs for Lawyers, Guns and Money.