Politics & Government

POLL: Obamacare Upheld; What's Your Reaction?

The United States Supreme Court upheld most of the health care reform legislation that will now require every American to purchase medical insurance or pay a penalty.

Do you agree with the U.S. Supreme Court's decision Thursday upholding most of President Barack Obama's signature health care reform legislation?

By a 5-4 vote, the justices upheld most of the act, although the opinion is a complicated one. The court upheld the requirement that every American purchase health insurance or else pay a penalty, as a tax decision and upheld it on those grounds, in an opinion written by Chief Justice Roberts.

"Our precedent demonstrates that Congress has the power to impose the exaction in Section 5000 under the taxing power, and that Section 5000 need not be read to do more than impose a tax," Roberts wrote in one of the key sentences from the opinion.

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According to the Huffington Post, the central provision of President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act has upheld the mandate as a tax.

Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan joined in the majority.

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Congresswoman Anna Eshoo, who's running in November for the representation of District 18, which includes Los Gatos, said: “Today is an historic victory for the American people. Decent, quality healthcare for all Americans has been a goal our country has had since President Truman. The Supreme Court has upheld the law and the nation has won. Our system works.”

Click here to read the full text of the opinion.

Please vote in our poll and add your thoughts in the comments section, below.

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