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June 28, 2012

The best of Alabama reactions to the Supreme Court’s Obamacare ruling

Madison Underwood

Madison Underwood

Madison Underwood is a staff writer for Weld and writes news, politics and more. He has lived in Birmingham since coming here for college in 2002. Madison is originally from Livingston, Ala., and the Black Belt region still holds a special place in his heart.

Carefully chosen reactions to the Obamacare ruling from Rep. Becky 'STATES RIGHTS!!!!!' Nordgren to U.S. Rep. Robert 'socialized medicine' Aderholt, from Gov. Robert 'single worst…

Assuming you’ve not been spelunking in a cave all day, you might have heard that the Supreme Court of the United States of America upheld much of the Patient Protect & Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare. That decision prompted a flurry of responses from Alabama political leaders.

For the Democrats… well, Alabama Democrats haven’t had much to celebrate recently, so it’s easy to understand how they might get a little bit excited about what is clearly a victory for President Barack Obama. Mark Kennedy, chair of the Alabama Democratic Party, said he disagreed with calls for repeal of Obamacare, and said “Make no mistake: this is a great step forward for our country.” But the summer interns at ADP were really happy about the Obamacare decision:

Summer interns for the Alabama Democratic Party react to the Obamacare ruling. Photo from the Facebook page for the Alabama Democratic Party.

But Alabama’s Republican leadership was also out in force Thursday. In a press release, Alabama House Speaker Mike Hubbard called the ruling “a victory for government-loving bureaucrats and a loss for taxpayers and small businesses.” The Speaker called for the repeal of Obamacare, which he described as a “job-killing law” full of “job-killing bureaucratic regulations,” and for the defeat of Obama in November (that way, the guy who designed Obamacare can be President!). However, Hubbard did point out that the Supreme Court struck down a Medicaid provision of the PPACA.

“If there is a silver lining to this ruling it is that the federal government may not penalize Alabama if we cannot afford to participate in this expansion of government,” Hubbard said. “That’s important because, with our budgets already strapped for funds, the last thing we need is a mass increase in Medicaid healthcare costs.”

Alabama state Sen. Bryan Taylor (R-Prattville) didn’t get the Speaker’s memo on the Medicaid provision:

U.S. Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Alabama) brought out the “socialism” gun:

He too looked forward to voting to a repeal of Obamacare:

Alabama state Rep. Becky Nordgren (R-Gadsden) gained a little notoriety on Tuesday when she responded to the Supreme Court’s decision on Arizona’s immigration law by tweeting about “State’s Rights!!!!!!” On Thursday, she was disappointed with Chief Justice John Roberts, who — although he was appointed by President George W. Bush — sided with the left-leaning judges in the court’s 5-4 decision on Obamacare.

Apparently, Associate Judge Anthony Kennedy is now firmly in the conservative camp for some folks.

U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Alabama

U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Alabama) is a Tea Party small-government guy who represents Alabama’s 5th Congressional district. That district’s largest city is Huntsville, Ala., a town that owes pretty much everything to big government spending. Anyway, Brooks called this decision a “heavy boot on the throat of [...] liberty.”

“The Supreme Court’s decision is an affront to America’s Constitution, which was written to limit the federal government’s power over American citizens so that Americans could enjoy their hard-fought liberty,” Brooks said in a press release. “America’s Founding Fathers must be rolling over in their graves.”

Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley

Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley, himself a doctor, started out with a reasonable tone, saying he was “deeply disappointed” in the court’s ruling. But then, things went quickly downhill.

“The health care law is an overreach by the federal government that creates more regulation, bureaucracy, and a dramatic increase in costs to taxpayers,” Bentley said. “The ACA is the single worst piece of legislation to come out of Congress.  This law must be repealed.”

When Birmingham’s master of social media Deontée Gordon saw Bentley’s comments on Twitter, he responded by suggesting what might have been a worse piece of legislation:

And remember… No matter what happened up there, at least no one in Alabama compared the court’s ruling to 9/11.

Did you catch an interesting reaction to the Obamacare ruling from an Alabama politician? Let us know in the comments! And share so your friends and can tell us their favorites.

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