What Conservative Leaders Say About the Obamacare Ruling

Here are the reactions of 16 conservative leaders to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that upheld the constitutionality of Obamacare:

Richard A. Viguerie, Chairman, ConservativeHQ.com:
"Conservatives believe with every fiber of our being that the plain language of the Constitution and our other founding documents, to say nothing of American history, demanded that the Supreme Court strike down Obamacare as unconstitutional…

"The 2010 Tea Party wave showed that Americans outside the Beltway have had enough of big government, big spending, and big taxes from Washington.  The 63 House seats the Democrats lost in 2010 are just the beginning."


Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (R-MN):
"We lost religious liberty--that is a fundamental right under the Constitution.  We lost economic liberty--that is a fundamental right under the Constitution…This Court has forced us now to pay for their utopian dreams--ones we simply can't afford to pay for."


Former Congressman Bob Barr, Chairman, Liberty Guard:
"Today's Supreme Court opinion finding Obamacare to be constitutional may just be the final nail in the coffin of limited government; especially troubling because it was authored by a supposedly 'conservative' and 'non-activist' Chief Justice, John Roberts.

"The decision in fact justifies an extremely liberal and activist expansion of federal government power to force individuals to do its bidding--in this case, forcing people to purchase a one-size-fits-all, government-defined health care policy. It is an opinion utterly devastating to the principle of limited and defined government power. James Madison and his Founding Brothers are turning in their graves."


Mark Levin:
"Don't be fooled.  There's nothing about the Obamacare decision that is redeeming. Nothing."


Texas Governor Rick Perry:
"This ruling will be a stomach punch to the American economy. It is a shocking disappointment to freedom-loving Americans desperate to get our country back on track…

"Freedom was frontally attacked by passage of this monstrosity--and the Court utterly failed in its duty to uphold the Constitutional limits placed on Washington. Now that the Supreme Court has abandoned us, we citizens must take action at every level of government and demand real reform, done with respect for our Constitution and our liberty."


Curt Levey, President, Committee for Justice:
"The charge of progressives and the mainstream media that the Roberts Court is a conservative court has once again been proved wrong and in a dramatic fashion."


Congressman Jim Jordan (R-OH), Chairman of the Republican Study Committee:
"The Court's decision is disappointing. There are now no limits to the reach of the federal government."


Andrea Lafferty, President, Traditional Values Coalition:
"Americans need to understand what has just occurred.  At a stroke, the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld the nationalization of 18% of the United States economy, raised taxes by $1 trillion dollars, and jeopardized the American experiment through the most reckless and invasive legislation our generation has experienced."


Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX):
"I strongly disagree with today's decision by the Supreme Court, but I am not surprised. The Court has a dismal record when it comes to protecting liberty against unconstitutional excesses by Congress."


Brian Burch, President, CatholicVote.org:
"Catholics must remain vigilant. The notorious Health and Human Services (HHS) mandate remains in place. Catholic voters must realize that the religious liberties of Catholic hospitals, schools, and charities--including private businesses--remain endangered."


Former Senator Fred Thompson:
"The Supreme Court ruled against the American people yesterday.  Now, our only hope to save America from government rationing of health care and certain bankruptcy is to force Congress to repeal this horrific law."


Peter Thomas, Chairman, The Conservative Caucus:
"Five Justices of the Supreme Court today handed President Obama a massive victory for his promise to 'fundamentally transform America.' By upholding the mandate, the Court creates a dangerous precedent to impose unlimited mandates on the American people for virtually any purpose.

"A 'living constitution' is the recipe for tyranny, and in today's decision, Chief Justice Roberts compromised with liberal Justices to preserve the mandate many believe is unconstitutional."


Senator Rand Paul (R-KY):
"The Supreme Court wrongly concluded that Obamacare can stand. But just because a majority of the Supreme Court declares something to be 'constitutional' does not make it so.  Make no mistake: Obamacare is not constitutional…

"Today the Supreme Court--the ruling body that our Founding Fathers created to protect citizens from tyranny--decided to uphold Obamacare and thus stripped Americans of their personal liberties and freedoms."


Judie Brown, President, American Life League:
"This is indeed a sad day for the people of this once great nation where liberty has always been equated with freedom of religion, freedom from oppression, and freedom of speech.  Let us pray for our nation."


Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL):
"I hope people back home fully understand what this means: It is now unlawful for you not to buy health insurance, and if you do not buy it, you have an IRS problem. If you do not buy health insurance, the IRS is going to be on your back and chasing you. They're going to take away your refund, they're going to increase your fees, they're going to come after you."


Tim Phillips, President, Americans for Prosperity
"Americans for Prosperity is deeply disappointed by the Supreme Court's decision to uphold a law that most Americans believed to be unconstitutional. As a result, unless Congress steps in and repeals this legislation, health care costs for most Americans will go up and the quality of health care goes down, as Washington politicians ramp up yet another massive new bureaucracy. The Court got it wrong, and now Congress must step in."

We will provide additional analysis of the Supreme Court's decision on Obamacare in next week's newsletter on What's Happening with Seniors Benefits to be published on Tuesday, July 3.


Ralph Reed, Founder and Chairman, Faith and Freedom Coalition
"What it's likely to do is foster a grim determination that there's only one way to stop Obamacare from taking effect, and it's electing a new Senate and president. That's the only option left. This takes it to a whole new level. In 2010, it was stop the Obama train. Now there's only one shot at stopping this mammoth attempt at social engineering, and that's winning the Senate and presidency."

This week's What's Happening with Seniors Benefits: New poll reveals what doctors think

Previous issues of What's Happening with Conservatives and the Tea Party.

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