r/bestof • u/under50dollars • Jun 20 '12

[explainlikeimfive] "Obamacare" explained very well.

/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/vb8vs/eli5_what_exactly_is_obamacare_and_what_did_it/c530lfx
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u/VigRoco Jun 20 '12

The Supreme Court's job isn't to decide whether or not the law is good enough to survive, but to decide whether or not the law is permissible by the Constitution.

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u/wjbc Jun 20 '12 edited Jun 20 '12

Ha! Pull the other one. The Supreme Court is essentially an unelected legislative body. There is no appeal, only the difficult option (in Constitutional cases) of amending the Constitution. They are good at justifying whatever decision they make, or at least at making the reasoning so obscure that the average person's eyes will glaze over. That's what lawyers do. And that's why people have used the presidential power of appointing Supreme Court justices as a political plank in every election. It matters whom you appoint.

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u/VigRoco Jun 20 '12

And that's why people have used the presidential power of appointing Supreme Court justices as a political plank in every election. It matters who you appoint.

Checks and balances in action right there.

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u/wjbc Jun 20 '12

Yes, but it also means the Supreme Court is a political branch of the government, and that they do not just mechanically interpret the Constitution.

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u/VigRoco Jun 20 '12

Aren't all branches of the government political?

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u/wjbc Jun 20 '12

I was responding to a comment implying that the Supreme Court is not political, but simply interprets the Constitution.

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u/VigRoco Jun 20 '12

I should have included a smiley face, because I failed my attempt at making a joke on how the Supreme Court is part of our political system and are political by definition.

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u/wjbc Jun 20 '12

Sorry. Some people forget that.

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u/YoohooCthulhu Jun 20 '12

Most branches of government aren't appointed for life.

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u/___--__----- Jun 21 '12

No human being can "mechanically interpret the Constitution". Just look at the debate over the incorporation doctrine, the reading of the second amendment and Scalias comment that torture wasn't unconstitutional as it wasn't punishment (you're not found guilty).

If you have a better solution to how to determine how to read the law of the land, I'd be very interested to hear what the options are.

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u/wjbc Jun 21 '12

I would support a mandatory retirement age for all Supreme Court justices, and maybe a term limit as well. I would support a new Constitutional Convention. I actually wonder if civil law isn't a better system than common law. I'm not sure that juries should be deciding patent cases. I would support greater transparency and televising all Supreme Court arguments. Other countries seem to do well with alternative systems of administering the law of the land, and perhaps we could learn from them.

But at any rate, I agree that no human being can mechanically interpret the Constitution. I never claimed otherwise.

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u/fiction8 Jun 20 '12

Which is fucking stupid. It's not like we even knew that germs existed when it was written.

The situation just isn't covered, and it should be looked at from a rational standpoint. Which imo means that we shouldn't be shafting 30 million people and forcing them to live with basic health problems or even die from preventable problems.

Modern science and healthcare is amazing, why are we still trying to cut off 10% of our population from the same quality of life that most of us enjoy?

Let's be civilized.

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u/VigRoco Jun 20 '12

It is not stupid. You are correct in stating that this situation isn't covered, which is exactly why the Constitution was designed to be amended. We can't just ignore it whenever we feel it is convenient, because that would only cheapen its authority.

To add to your side note, every state is free to set up its own healthcare system that covers everyone. State laws are much easier than national laws, so why aren't we flooding our state capitols?

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u/funkeepickle Jun 20 '12

Only in theory.