Did you notice who wrote the majority decision? Chief Justice Roberts himself. Guess he's not as dyed in the wool conservative as everybody thought.

By the way this was a big topic of discussion at our Advanced Placement Government Instructor's Conference.

As nice as it may sound. You are living in a dream as is mr. obama This country nor any country cane sustain the cost of a health care Tax in the extremes that this will pose on our country. How on earth can this reduce our deficit in 20 years or any number of years,when you add this burden to the trillions we , he has added in the past three years.Its my understanding that the monthly premium will be From 300. to 500. per month for the folks forced to purchase gov. coverage under the new plan. This is higher than my plan,at the present,and I work for the largest employer in the US.at $217. per month with a 3500.Family dedct.and this sucks.Do you believe that a family on average will elect to buy into a plan that cost them more for less? when they can simply go to the emergency room and simply not pay the bill. Some of you say you work in the field and know how it is, well look at it again my friends you dont. Yes there are extreme problems with health care . The number one is the cost.The providers ,Doctors, Hospitals bill in excess, the insurance companies charge in excess.We simply cannot cover every tom , dick & harry in the country and expect to sustain.With well over half of the country contributing nothing to the tax roles and a gov.spending like they have an endless supply how on earth can it balance out.My solution get a Job! I don't care if its at Mcdonalds , If you don't have a job you don't get a tax return, medicare, or any of the other had outs! ( If you can work)sorry! I am sickened by what this country has become. Many of you should wake up and cover your bleeding hearts,because unless we take responsability for ourselves we have nothing. I'm sure I have offended someone! sorry but wake up !! I did not pruf. read this ,so please excuse the gram. pw

Hi Paul, while I personally find you to be as nice as can be I have to say I take great exception to your "solution". Firstly, "get a job" is a slap in the face to all the men and women in this country who have tried desperately to find work, only to lose their homes, their savings, their hopes for their children, their self-respect and much, much more. Those whose lives have been ruined have zero influence over the economic system so it is unfair to accuse them of not taking personal responsibility for their situations.

Our political/economic system is theoretically designed to provide the greatest good for the greatest number. This leaves plenty of good, hard-working, responsible people out in the cold, through no fault of their own. I can only surmise that you have never witnessed these personal tragedies for yourself, because I don't think you are as cold and unfeeling as your statements appear.

I personally do not think access to health care should be tied to jobs.

If there was a decent job for every person who wanted to work we would not be having this conversation. I have been applying for jobs in my field for well over a year. Applicants with far more experience than I are still unable to find work. Yes, I could take a lesser skilled job, but I will not take a job away from someone who needs it more than I do.

I personally know far too many good and decent people whose lives and hopes for their children have been blighted beyond repair over the last 20 years due to the deteriorating job situation. It doesn't matter if the Dems or the Repubs are in office. Our system has failed too many families in this country.

Having said all that... I understand your concerns about costs. Those who do not take into consideration the costs of services today are in danger of robbing future generations. It is complex, which is why I am staying out of the health care debate for now.

I hope everyone can work for a thriving company and stay healthy until retirement and hopefully beyond. However, if things don't work out and you need a ride to McDonalds to interview with Skippy, the swing shift assistant to the assistant manager for an interview, this "bleeding heart" ( a pre- existing condition I'm told }will be happy to give ya a ride.

Paul, I honestly think that the people most opposed to this law are the ones that have never taken the time to truly understand it. I know I won't change your mind, but let me at least answer a few of your concerns.

First, the penalty "tax" will apply to only 2% of Americans - those people who can afford to purchase health care insurance but refuse to do so (and whom we all now pay for in higher insurance premiums). Other taxes that help pay for the plan are higher Medicare tax on those earning above $200,000 per year, a cap of $2500 pre-tax earnings used for HSAs, a higher threshold for deducting medical expenses (over 10% instead of 7.5% of earnings), and a tax to use tanning salons. None of those taxes affect the average wage earner - unless you're a tanning freak.

Next, it will reduce the deficit in the long run because federal expenditures for health care will eventually be lowered by cutting costs in Medicare (by trimming waste & fraud, by reduced payments to Medicare Advantage plans) and by the various taxes that will be collected.

Cost of premiums? Because you work for a large employer, you're lucky to have low premiums, and nothing in this law should change that. But there's a flip side - for example, my husband is self employed - we're both healthy, but we have two major drawbacks as far as insurers are concerned - we're not part of a large plan like yours and we're both over 55. As a result, we pay $1897 per month for a plan with a $5000 deductible each. We're lucky - we can pay it - but there are many who can not, and this plan puts people like us on a level playing field.

As to whether people will pay $300 - $500 for a plan, if they are self insured and can afford it, they certainly should, but if the cheapest plan in your state's health exchange costs more than 8% of your earnings, you're exempt. In other words, if you have to pay $500 per month for a plan, you would be earning $6300 per month.

And you're dead wrong about anyone buying "government coverage" - there is no such thing unless you're on Medicare or Medicaid. The PPACA is completely private enterprise based (too bad, in my opinion - I'm still hoping this will lead to a public option).

We also hear about how this is going to hurt small businesses, but again, if it does, the effect would be minimal. Businesses with less than 50 employees are exempt, businesses with less than 25 employees who choose to offer health insurance get tax breaks - and companies like yours offer health insurance already. Unless they are financially inept (which I doubt) they already figure the cost of your benefits into their payroll expenditures (meaning they pay you a salary that takes your benefits into account) so why would anything change?

Now, if you'd like to hear about all the benefits of the PPACA, let me know....because, you see I DO know how it is and Id be happy to explain.

Hey Toni, if you have the time, and the interest, please do explain the benefits. I will print it and keep a copy in my pocket for those times I am too tired to try to explain it myself.

Without getting into a debate about Single Payer systems, I think it is inevitable that we are heading that way. I see no alternative. Those who want to "preserve" the system as is and tweak it are trying to plug too many holes in the **** with too few fingers. I have a feeling you probably agree.

Right on to Robin, Toni, and Brian for their recent posts in this thread!! And Paul, I love ya, but please reconsider the "get a job", "hand-outs", and "bleeding hearts" byphrases. I remember back in the day when I first started noticing certain politicians non-liberally lacing their speeches with such talk, I felt to distract from complex interwoven social problems. What this country can't afford is to lose its heart and its conscience. There are people knocking themselves out to get jobs, desperate to keep their homes and get out of debt. Jobless people who aren't knocking themselves out aren't necessarily lazy-- some of them are undoubtedly paralyzed by clinical depression, and getting inadequate or no help for it without medical insurance. This bleeding-heart liberal feels for the many, many vicious circles so many good people end up getting lost in. Please don't put them all down.