By Jeff Voudrie
The SCOTUS decision on The Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”) made for big news and headlines but depending upon your read and political angle, it may have been much ado about nothing. As a wealth manager, I am very concerned about the impact the costs of ObamaCare will have on our already fragile economy but also realize that the Supreme Court decision to uphold ObamaCare wasn’t quite the victory the headlines and Obama administration are making it out to be.
Moreover, if you are retired and concerned about how to manage your wealth, how to maintain and sustain your present lifestyle in the midst of an ever-growing onslaught of negative news and factors, here is one bit of news on the SCOTUS ruling that might help…
A recent headline from Slate (www.slate.com) reads:
Obama Wins the Battle, Roberts Wins the War
The article explains that many have missed the fact that the Roberts decision, while upholding the individual mandate, actually was a substantial roll-back of Congress’ regulatory powers under the Commerce Clause.
Here is what Chief Justice Roberts said in his opinion:
“Construing the Commerce Clause to permit Congress to regulate individuals precisely because they are doing nothing would open a new and potentially vast domain to congressional authority. Congress already possesses expansive power to regulate what people do. Upholding the Affordable Care Act under the Commerce Clause would give Congress the same license to regulate what people do not do. The Framers knew the difference between doing something and doing nothing. They gave Congress the power to regulate commerce, not to compel it. Ignoring that distinction would undermine the principle that the Federal Government is a government of limited and enumerated powers. The individual mandate thus cannot be sustained under Congress’s power to “regulate Commerce.”
Slate ends the article with:
“Roberts’ genius was in pushing this health care decision through without attaching it to the coattails of an ugly, narrow partisan victory. Obama wins on policy, this time. And Roberts rewrites Congress’ power to regulate, opening the door for countless future challenges. In the long term, supporters of curtailing the federal government should be glad to have made that trade.”
You can find the entire article here.
Jeff Voudrie and Common Sense Advisors do not offer investment advice via this medium. Under no circumstance whatsoever do these postings, opinions, charts, or any other information represent a recommendation or personalized investment, tax, or financial planning advice.
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Any opinions expressed herein are solely those of the author and do not in any way represent the views or opinions of his employer or any other person or entity.
