Breaking: Obamacare Takes Torpedo Below the Water Line

Wish I had time to get through the just issued DC Circuit Court of Appeals ruling striking down the IRS twisting of the Obamacare statute’s clear language on state-based exchanges (I’m at the Reagan Library all this week doing a Gipper 101 course for high school teachers—see photo nearby of Sunday night’s opening talk—and I have to be off momentarily for this morning’s classes), but this looks to be HUGE, and making it more likely that the Supreme Court will have to take it up.

Will Chief Justice Roberts want to bail out Obamacare a second time?  I doubt it.  They could simply reject the appeal and swiftly uphold the DC Circuit opinion, and put a quick end to a major prop of Obamacare.  Then libs will have two Federal courts to complain about.  (An en banc rehearing by the DC Circuit is also a distinct possibility.)

Here’s the National Journal story just out:

Obamacare was just dealt a major loss in court.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled Tuesday that more than half the country shouldn’t be receiving tax subsidies under Obamacare—a ruling that could cripple the health care law if it’s ultimately upheld.

The 2-1 decision in Halbig v. Sebelius is the first victory, in any court, for a legal challenge that says the tax subsidies should be available only in states that set up their own insurance exchanges.

The estimable Jonathan Adler has more first reactions here.

And here’s my mug from my opening talk at the Reagan Library Sunday night–I kind of like the look, no:

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