Pirate's Cove

This has, of course, driven liberals bat guano insane

(Think Progress) Much of the Affordable Care Act must be defunded and millions of Americans must lose their health insurance, according to an opinion issued Tuesday by Judge Ronald A. White, an Oklahoma federal judge appointed to the bench by George W. Bush. White’s opinion reaches the same result reached by two Republican appeals court judges in a similar case, although that decision was later withdrawn by the full appeals court. To date, nine federal judges have considered this question of whether much of the law should be defunded. Only three — all of whom are Republicans — have agreed that it should be.

Whew! Quite a bit of leftist insanity. Let’s switch over to SCOTUS Blog for a more reasoned and rational explanation

Deepening the controversy over tax subsidies to help lower-income workers obtain health insurance, a federal trial judge in Oklahoma on Tuesday barred those credits for individuals who shop for coverage on marketplaces run by the federal government, not by a state.

That issue is already awaiting the Supreme Court’s attention, with the federal government due to file there on Friday a defense of the subsidies scheme that has so far helped nearly five million individuals to afford health coverage under the Affordable Care Act.  (That case is King v. Burwell.)

In Oklahoma, U.S. District Judge Ronald A. White of Muskogee became the latest to rule on the dispute.  For the time being, his is the only ruling still in effect that would strike down the federal marketplace tax credits (and it is subject to appeal).

Essentially, this is a result of Democrats not reading the bill they voted for, and finding out that the language which only allows subsidies for citizens in states that set up their own exchanges, rather than also for federally run exchanges. Of course, many of the architects of Ocare wrote the law in that specific way in order to entice states to set up their own exchanges.

This ruling wouldn’t cause anyone to lose their insurance: they just won’t have other taxpayers paying for it. Besides, does it really matter? If they can’t afford the premium, how are they going to afford the average deductible of $5081?

Interestingly, none of the same liberals going bat guano insane over this were particularly worried about people who actually lost their plans that they liked specifically because of Obamacare requirements.