Supreme Court upholds ACA, calls individual mandate a "tax" despite the fact that the Obama administration said it wasn't.

The mandate, though, has been declared unconstitutional under the Commerce Clause. WOW! Weird.

UPDATE: Very busy collecting reactions from every corner of the economy from CEOs and constitutional professors to nurses, PAs and deck builders.

UPDATE II: A sampling...

From my Constitutional Scholar: "This is actually fascinating. It's a much more fragmented decision that I thought it would be. It's more of a plurality decision... The administration's assertion that this is a penalty and not a tax is semantics. Political speak. We don't want to say there is a tax in this. People don't call things what they are. Yes it is a tax, Although, the solicitor general didn't really argue it. And by the way (according to the court) Congress has the taxing authority to do just this."


From the CEO of a local insurance company: "I am surprised (at the decision) based on what you've been reading in the health related and political journal. From our standpoint, as a company, we haven't had a rooting interest. We'll just keep our head down and continue to do the things we're doing to meet the requirements of the law and better serve our customers.


From the CEO of a for-profit hospice company: "That's it. We're just closing up shop. We're out of business." (He was kidding.) "Yes, found it surprising (but) I don't have any negative reaction. As for the law in general, he said, "I'm wary. Who knows what the consequences that the this law. Are companies going to have a lot of employees with healthcare plans? Probably not. It (the law) is going to change healthcare delivery (in this country) pretty significantly."
But, he added, "I think rich people will be OK."

From a local Emergency Room Physicians Assistant: "I'm happy that it passed and has been  legitimized. In my practice see a lot of patients who don't have insurance. (The law will provide) more option in terms of getting coverage and make my job easier in terms of getting follow up medical care for my patients. Instead of coming in the ER that can go to their own provider. It's good for business. Insurance companies are going to be happy. Drug companies are going to be happy because there are going to be more customers.


From a local Emergency Room Nurse: "Disgusting. It's unconstitutional and the Supreme court is wrong... The whole goal of obamacome to eventually come up with a single payer system for the county. The goal is to enlarge government, to bankrupt the insurance industry. Roberts is Benedict Arnold and Obama should be impeached.

From a self-employed construction worker: "I'm flipping out, man. They (the Democrats and Obama) were first saying (the mandate is) not a tax... And frickin' Roberts goes in there and switches the whole thing." For the last several years he said his coverage is getting "worse and worse" while the cost is getting higher and higher.

"It's a bunch of bullcrap, a bunch of lies to make me buy something. And if I don't they're going to fine me."