On June 28, the Supreme Court, instead of engaging in judicial activism that would strike down President Barack Obama's landmark achievement, made the right decision for the country by upholding the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
There have been many misconceptions about this truly historic bill that takes the steps to fix our nation's broken health care system.
I find it hard to believe that many have been criticizing the bill by stating that it will increase the deficit in a time when we are already heavily in debt. All one needs to do is look at the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office's most recent analysis.
The organization stated that while $1 trillion would be spent over the next 10 years, it will actually reduce the deficit by $280 billion in the next 10 years and up to $1 trillion in the 10 years after that. The Affordable Care Act, in this respect, will actually improve our nation's financial standing.
Others criticize the law for the individual mandate, which is actually just a tax that the government has the authority to levy. They also claim that the bill will hurt small businesses because they are now forced to cover their employees. This is also not true because the federal government will provide subsidies, and this provision only affects businesses with 50 or more employees.
At the end of the day, Chief Justice Roberts made the right decision in ensuring the Supreme Court did not act as a political arm of the Republican Party.
Without a healthy, insured population, the United States would be doomed for failure, but thankfully Obama had the courage to do what no other president could.
Michael Keramidas, Altoona
