he's a corporatist, tried and true. It's why I always felt he might support the bill.

If Roberts is brushed off as a corporatist what does that make the balance of the majority holders?

Honest question.

IMO he was covering his ass.

I don't think a ruling striking it down would survive close examination.

Roberts & Dems Deliver a Grand Slam for the Right

by JOHN STAUBER
It was a brilliant move by far Right (but oh so likable) Chief Justice Roberts to side with the Dem-appointed Justices and uphold ObamaCare. After all, this is a massive victory for corporate power, forcing citizens to buy an expensive insurance product that won’t serve our needs very well but will profit industry, in lieu of receiving real health care.

Obamacare and its corporate mandate were born on the Right (as in Heritage Foundation) as a way to destroy the political prospects of any single payer system that would cover all Americans with a tax-funded system of guaranteed medical care. This is the way all other industrial societies protect the right to health care, by taking it out of the hands of the giant insurance industry. The right to health care is like the right to not be enslaved – there are no half measures, and the insurance industry is the slave master.

Roberts may have brilliantly scored a “4-fer” victory:
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http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/06/28/obamacare-wins-we-lose/

Some wanted ACA knocked down simply to deal Obama a blow. But Republicans and their masters in the insurance industry have wanted this mandate since the 1990s. It's far better for the 1% that healthcare be somewhat reformed for the moment, than have the specter of true universal healthcare strengthened by wiping out reform altogether.

things might turn out well in spite of him.

Although Roberts said the Anti-Injunction Act didn't apply to the penalty part of the mandate, the Court did rule that while the mandate was not a tax for purposes of the AIA, it was a valid tax under the Constitution.

This opens the door for Republicans to ratchet up the idea of the Administration and all Democrats wanting more taxes rather than a win for a health care mandate that happens to include a penalty. Roberts seemed to say it doesn't walk like a tax, it doesn't talk like a tax, the AIA doesn't apply, but still it's a tax.

When Grover Norquist tried to torpedo Jeb Bush's career, that sent a signal. The tea party might be going the way of the brownshirts, as the Bush SS is tired of their games.

And I don't think it's cynicism to base an opinion on an extended bit of past behavior. Roberts is a right wingnut and a BushCo loyalist down to his socks.

I think it has something to with protecting the movement of public money into private coffers.

If you kill a deer and decide not to eat the meat, does it really matter that it goes to waste? It certainly doesn't matter to the deer.

Whatever the reason for something, the end result is what ultimately matters. This Act does good for millions of people.

Is certainly not getting the attention that it deserves.
That and Citizens United will have a far more detrimental effect than any positive to come out of this healthcare mess.

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