Schadenfreude over the rage and tears of Obamacare opponents

So the reviews are coming in from the right wing nutcases following today’s Supreme Court ruling upholding the subsidies provided by the federal exchanges in those states that did not set up state exchanges. They were predicted to be over the top and they did not disappoint, essentially claiming that democracy is dead and the system of government envisioned by the country’s founders has been replaced by a tyrannical president supported by judicial activist Supreme Court.
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Supreme Court rules in favor of Obamacare

By a 6-3 vote issued today in the case of King v. Burwell, the US Supreme Court upheld the subsidies for health insurance provided by the federal exchanges in those states that decided to not set up state exchanges. This will come as a huge relief to the Obama administration’s signature legislation. But more importantly, it will enable about 10 million people to continue to get affordable health care coverage.
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Our strange and conflicted attitudes towards marijuana

The state of Colorado has legalized the recreational use of marijuana and also allowed it to be used for medicinal purposes. But that does not mean that people whose use fits into those categories are exempt from being punished. Take the case of Brandon Coats, an employee of the Dish Network company, who in 2010 was fired for using marijuana legally outside of work hours to deal with the muscular spasms he suffered after he became paralyzed as the result of a car crash. They fired him two weeks after he informed his company of his use and gave them a copy of his medical marijuana card.
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Interesting data about Supreme Court opinions

Scotusblog has put together a package of statistics about US Supreme Court rulings for the term so far (referred to as OT14).

Opinion Output: Justice Clarence Thomas currently leads his colleagues, with twenty-five total opinions authored through this week. Fifteen of those are dissenting opinions, including eleven that are ”substantive” opinions (those arbitrarily defined as being greater than five pages in length)… As in recent years, Justices Anthony Kennedy and Elena Kagan have authored the fewest opinions, with nine and eight total opinions, respectively. Chief Justice Roberts also has nine opinions for the Term, including five majority opinions, one concurring opinion, and three dissenting opinions.
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More complications on same-sex marriage

In the absence of a clear statement by the US Supreme Court, a patchwork of decisions about same-sex marriage have been created all over the country, creating a great deal of confusion. Such marriages are currently legal in 36 states and the District of Columbia. Some states have legalized them by legislative acts, some by referenda, but most have been as a result of courts declaring that bans on such marriages were unconstitutional.
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Winning legally but losing politically and vice versa

By the end of June, there will be two rulings by the US Supreme Court that will have wide-ranging consequences. One involves Obamacare and deals with whether the subsidies provided by the exchanges set up by the federal government in those states that chose not to set up their own is constitutional. The other deals with same-sex marriage and involves two issues: whether states can ban same-sex marriages and whether they can refuse to recognize those conducted in other states.
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How the same-sex marriage verdict might turn out

Next month will bring the verdict by the US Supreme Court on the same-sex marriage case. Here is my entirely speculative narrative of what I think will happen, based on the hearings and my perceptions of the justices’ views. The fact that the US Supreme Court did not take up any of the challenges to same-sex marriage cases as long as US Appeals Courts across the country upheld them suggests to me that the Supreme Court was deeply split on what to do about this issue.
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