Sen. Brown, Elizabeth Warren Weigh in On Health Care Decision
Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown and his Democratic challenger Elizabeth Warren react to the Supreme Court's decision on the Affordable Care Act.
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Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) and his challenger in the 2012 election Democrat Elizabeth Warren clashed in their reactions to the U.S. Supreme Court's health care reform ruling on Thursday.
On June 28, the court decided 5-4 to uphold the mandate for individuals to purchase health insurance, the most controversial component of the Affordable Care Act.
According to the Huffington Post, if the mandate had been ruled unconstitutional, the minority opinion shows that the conservative justices were ready to throw out the entire law. President Obama proposed the law and spent much of the first 15-months of his presidency drumming up support for health care reform.
As expected, Brown and Warren differed in their responses to the decision.
In a statement this afternoon, Sen. Brown said "The federal health care law may be constitutional, but it is wrong for jobs and the economy."
"In Massachusetts, we had already dealt responsibly with the problem of our uninsured without raising taxes or cutting care to our seniors," Brown continued. "All we got out of this massive new federal entitlement is higher taxes, cuts in Medicare and additional debt at a time when we can least afford it. The bottom line for me is this law makes it harder for our economy to add jobs and for that reason I continue to oppose it.”
Warren, on the other hand, applauded the court's decision. In a statement, she said the decision "ensured that every American can get access to high quality, affordable health care and fair treatment from insurance companies."
She added the ruling would also help protect Massachusetts families.
“Now is not the time to re-fight the battles of two years ago," Warren said. "Our country needs to move forward to create jobs and opportunity for all Americans— not fight endless political battles. Massachusetts led the way in health reform, and we will continue to lead the way in our efforts to reduce the costs of health care and ensure a level playing field for middle class families.”
What do you think? Do you agree with the ruling? Which candidate do you think got it right? Let us know in the comments below.
Dick Armour
9:16 am on Friday, June 29, 2012
This is a country divided - the "haves" and the "have nots". If you "have" the right family, job, neighborhood, you make it. If not! Too bad! The concept of "the common good" is gone. Citizenship has been downgraded to one vote every couple of years. We are now, "One nation of the corporation, by (buy) the corporation, and for the corporation." We started with a revolution. It looks like we'll end with a wimper!
Kathy MacLaren
8:13 am on Saturday, June 30, 2012
I think that the real problem that conservatives and Tea Party supporters have with the Affordable Health Care Act is that beginning Jan. 1, 2013 unearned income (long term capital gains, dividends, etc.) will now be taxed at 3.8%. I believe this is for single tax payers with $200,000 income and married tax payers with $250,000 income. So, the 1% will finally begin to start paying their share after getting so many tax breaks - and this makes them upset!!
Kathy MacLaren