The United States Supreme Court will uphold the so-called Obamacare in a close decision. One of the right-leaning justices–perhaps even, to ensure his reputation as an iconoclast, Scalia–will allow that the US can tax its citizens. That will make it 5-4. That rhymes with something–wait, don’t say it–yes, Bush-Gore.
If anyone (especially a justice) thinks the US can’t tax people, he might be forgiven for thinking so. General Electric famously paid no recent taxes and has also been granted personhood under the law (Citizens United). Still, the forced entry of every individual into the health insurance system would essentially be a tax on poor people, and there’s little doubt that five of these nine can get on board with that.
