The New Republic

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SOME VICTORIES prepare the ground for more victories; others lay the basis for future defeats. The great question for liberals about the Supreme Court’s decision on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is which kind of victory it is. READ MORE >>

Forget death panels. Lately critics of the Affordable Care Act have been promoting a different claim—that “Obamacare” is a job-killer. Specifically, they say, it will stifle the economy with regulations and taxes. But the economic literature doesn’t support this claim. If anything, it suggests the opposite: The Affordable Care Act will boost the economy. READ MORE >>

President Obama is talking about taxes again. And he’s saying the right things. Mostly. Speaking from the White House on Monday, Obama unveiled a new proposal for handling the Bush tax cuts, which are set to expire at year’s end. Obama wants to extend, by one year, the cuts on incomes below $250,000, while allowing the cuts on incomes above that threshold to lapse. READ MORE >>

Here's what I don't get. Everybody on the right is screaming and yelling about how the Supreme Court has labelled President Obama a tax-raiser for imposing a financial penalty on people who don't purchase health insurance. So, okay, it's a tax, but it will only be leveled against a small group of taxpayers who can't be induced by new government subsidies to purchase health insurance. READ MORE >>

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Amidst all the talk of a Republican "alternative" to Obamacare, it's refreshing to hear one Republican politician concede that, you know, he just doesn't care much about the uninsured. Here is Mitch McConnell, the senate minority leader, on Fox News Sunday, being badgered by Chris Wallace: READ MORE >>

Today’s Supreme Court to uphold the Affordable Care Act is great news for all Americans. But I’d like to share a few personal stories from people who I met when I served as Superintendent of Insurance in Maine—the sorts of people who will especially benefit from Obamacare. READ MORE >>

Do you care how the Supreme Court rules on health care reform this week? I don’t mean in the political sense. I mean in the personal sense—because the law’s fate is a very personal matter for many millions of Americans. READ MORE >>

Before 2013 begins, catch up on the best of 2012. From now until the New Year, we will be re-posting some of The New Republic’s most thought-provoking pieces of the year. Enjoy. The Years of Lyndon Johnson: The Passage of PowerBy Robert A. Caro (Knopf, 712 pp., $35) I. READ MORE >>