Obamacare supporters are shoring up their defenses after a federal judge decided to strike the law, launching an ad campaign Tuesday as blue-state attorneys set the stage for a swift appeal.
Protect Our Care, a vocal advocacy group, unveiled a two-minute ad highlighting the potential fallout of the ruling in Texas.
They say any Republicans who applaud the decision should pay a price in 2020, after Democrats romped to midterm victories by focusing on their defense of the Affordable Care Act.
“This decision is a disaster for American health care, and it should be reversed immediately,” the ad says after news pundits discuss the decision over daunting, sparse piano music.
Judge Reed O’Connor says the entire program is unconstitutional because Congress zeroed out the “individual mandate” penalty for shirking insurance in the GOP tax bill.
He said the law’s goodies are tethered to the mandate under Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts’ reasoning in 2012.
More than a dozen Democratic state attorneys general late Monday asked Judge O’Connor to issue an order clarifying that Obamacare remains in effect during the appeals process, since he didn’t actually enjoin the law.
Absent that, they would like the judge to stay his ruling during appeals.
Judge O’Connor on Tuesday ordered red-state officials who brought the lawsuit and the Trump administration to brief the court by Friday on whether a stay of his ruling is warranted.
Blue-state attorneys have until the day after Christmas to respond.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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