President Barack Obama delivered a measured response to the Supreme Court’s affirmation of his Health Care reform bill, declaring the 5-4 ruling “a victory for people all over this country whose lives are more secure because of this law and the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold it.”
Obama resisted the urge to turn his response into a campaign speech, saying that “It should be pretty clear by now that I didn’t do this because it was good politics. I did it because I believed it was good for the country.” He then proceeded to rehash the benefits of the bill, including the much debated individual mandate.
“People who can afford to buy health insurance should take the responsibility to do so,” Obama said. He pointed out that the mandate has been supported in the past by many Republicans — including Mitt Romney, who he referred to as “the presumed Republican presidential nominee.”
“What we won’t do, what the country can’t afford to do, is refight the political battles of two years ago,” he added. “Now’s the time to keep our focus on the most urgent challenge of our time, putting people back to work.”
Here’s video of his speech:
Obama’s measured response stood in stark contrast to Romney, who confirmed that he was far more interested in the politics of the ruling than the policy.
“If we want to get rid of Obamacare, we’re going to have to replace President Obama,” Romney said. “What the court did not do on its last day in session, I will do on my first day if elected president of the United States, and that is I will act to repeal Obamacare.”
“Help us defeat Obamacare,” he concluded before leaving the podium without taking questions. “Help us defeat the liberal agenda that makes government too big, too intrusive and is killing jobs across this country.” Here’s video of Romney’s response:
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Romney’s response was just the tip of the iceberg of partisan anger with regards to the Supreme Court’s ruling. The National Memo will have a full report on the right wing freakout later in the day.
