Day 149: "This is a big fucking deal." - a podcast by Matt Kiser

1/ The Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Care Act for the third time, dismissing an effort by Texas and 17 other Republican-led states that challenged the entirety of the 2010 healthcare law. The group argued that the ACA’s individual mandate requiring most Americans to obtain health insurance or pay a penalty became unconstitutional after Congress got rid of the penalty in the 2017 tax cut package. They claimed that the entire law, which provides healthcare coverage for about 31 million Americans, should fall – including protections for people with preexisting conditions – because the individual mandate was central to the ACA. In a 7 to 2 vote, the court said the group of states failed to show how they suffered the sort of direct injury that gave them legal standing to bring the case. The court, however, didn’t actually rule on whether the individual mandate is unconstitutional, but suggested it would be difficult for any challengers to try again on the same legal theory. In a tweet, Biden called the decision a “big win for the American people,” adding that “with millions of people relying on the Affordable Care Act for coverage, it remains, as ever, a BFD” – a reference to the 2010 ACA signing ceremony where Biden turned to Obama and said: “This is a big fucking deal.” (New York Times / Washington Post / Associated Press / Wall Street Journal / NPR / Politico / NBC News / CNN)

2/ Mitch McConnell rejected Joe Manchin’s voting rights compromise offer, which focused on expanding early voting, requiring voter ID, ending partisan gerrymandering in federal elections, having at least 15 consecutive days of early voting, and making Election Day a public holiday. McConnell’s pledge all but guarantees that Republicans will filibuster the voting bill that Chuck Schumer plans to send to the floor Tuesday. The bill will need 60 votes to proceed over a filibuster. (Politico / Axios / Washington Post / Bloomberg)

3/ The Biden administration will invest $3.2 billion to advance the development of antiviral pills to treat Covid-19 and other viruses. The Antiviral Program for Pandemics will speed up clinical trials and fund the research and production of oral antiviral drugs that could be taken at home. (NBC News / WTF Just Happened Today

Further podcasts by Matt Kiser

Website of Matt Kiser