A Tax By Any Other Name, Mapping Medicaid, Holder Won't Investigate Holder, More on the Roberts Swing (PM Note)
On This Week Sunday - Vicki Kennedy, White House Chief of Staff Jack Lew and Rep. Paul Ryan - http://abcn.ws/LWi5ra
Signs of the Apocalypse -It was 104 in DC Today. The highest June temperature since FDR. The first term. Federer was down two sets before coming back and almost joined Rafael Nadal in being out early at Wimbledon. John Roberts voted for the individual mandate. Now he's fleeing to Malta. (That thing about him fleeing is his joke, not ours). http://abcn.ws/LB9JT5
Swinger: Is This Really a New John Roberts? - http://abcn.ws/LKczLI
The Reality of Repeal - Mitt Romney and Mitch McConnell both pledge Day One action next January on Obamacare if Romney wins. But the reality of what they can (and can't do) will take more than one day and likely won't result in more of a hamstringing than a full repeal - http://abcn.ws/LFYahV
The Medicaid Asterisk - The importance of states more easily being able to opt out of Obamacare's Medicare expansion is an important asterisk to the president's Supreme Court victory that should have gotten more attention yesterday. A pillar of the law was to be it's ability to cover more low income people who currently don't qualify for Medicaid. States, meanwhile, said the burden of expanding Medicaid programs - by more than 50 percent in many states - even with federal help, was undue. This will be a federalism fight for years to come.
Yahoo! News, with a cool interactive map, looks at what the Medicaid expansion is supposed to do and how some of the early opposition might be saber rattling by the likes of Rick Perry. After all, all 50 states currently have a Medicaid program. And the federal government will fund 100 percent of the expansion at first, and 90 percent in the future. http://yhoo.it/MdMm82 (Chris Wilson and Liz Goodwin)
It's a Tax! It's a Penalty! It's Obamacare! - Would a tax by any other name smart less? Despite What John Roberts ruled, the White House maintained today that the fee associated with not having insurance is a penalty, not a tax, even though it would be assessed on April 15th and administered by the IRS. That's a sticky situation for a president who pledged in 2008 not to raise any taxes on people making less than $250,000.
Axelrod on NBC - "Whether you call it a mandate or tax, what it is a penalty on the very few Americans who don't - who can afford health care, don't pay for it, end up in our emergency rooms getting free care and then we all pay for it in the form of premiums."
"The penalty within the Affordable Care Act… is modeled exactly on the penalty that exists in the health care reform that was promoted and signed into law by Governor Romney in Massachusetts," Carney said today. http://abcn.ws/KIaREu (Mary Bruce)
Romney admitted in '08 to Charlie Gibson that his was a tax. http://abcn.ws/Mcl6H2 (Michael Falcone)
Tax vs. Tax Increase - Solicitor General Donald Verrilli threaded the needle during oral arguments at the Supreme Court, making a distinction to Roberts between a tax and a tax increase:: "The president said it wasn't a tax increase because it ought to be understood as an incentive to get people to have insurance. I don't think it's fair to infer from that anything about whether that is an exercise of the tax power or not." http://on.msnbc.com/MwbB50
Four Letter Words at the White House - On the president's campaign twitter feed last night, Obama campaign staffers reminded followers of Vice President Biden's March 2010 open-mike remark that passing the health care bill was a " big f***ing deal." http://abcn.ws/L8eeL8 (Jake Tapper)
Bookend - Glenn Beck Offers "Coward" Shirt with Image of Roberts -
Biden insults John Roberts…('09) & 12 other "Oh That Joes" - abcn.ws/MGphqo
After Contempt - Holder's DOJ Won't Investigate Holder - Congressional GOP sources expect the Oversight and Government Reform committee to work with the House general counsel to pursue the case in federal court with the hope that a court will ultimately compel Holder to hand over the outstanding documents. - http://abcn.ws/MGMjjL (John Parkinson)
No News Here - 'Obamacare': Americans Split on Affordable Care Act Ruling, Gallup Poll Finds - On the heels of the Supreme Court's decision to uphold the Affordable Care Act, including the law's most controversial item - the individual mandate requiring everyone to have health insurance - a newly released poll finds that Americans are evenly split on the decision. http://abcn.ws/KIloQf (Elizabeth Hartfield)
Jindal Says He Won't Implement Obamacare - Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, one of Mitt Romney's possible running mates, said that despite Thursday's decision by the Supreme Court to uphold the Affordable Care Act, he will not implement it in his state. http://abcn.ws/MFsYhH (Shushannah Walshe)
Mapping the Medicaid Expansion - http://abcn.ws/LV9bsk
Congress Student Loan Fix, Transportation Expansion - After months of wrangling, arm-twisting, bitter debate and closed-door negotiations, Congress finally has a bipartisan deal for the American people. Just in time. http://abcn.ws/OHjLbA (John Parkinson & Sunlen Miller)
Holder's Contempt and Obamacare Hangover - 6 Political Clicks http://abcn.ws/N2SQ5Z
Ann Romney Endorses Mia Love in Utah Congressional Race-In her first solo endorsement of the 2012 cycle, Ann Romney has backed Utah Congressional candidate Mia Love. The Romneys' son Josh has already been vocal of his support for Love and Jason Chaffetz, a Utah Congressman, said last weekend in Utah that Josh and others there for the Romney donor retreat went to a fundraiser for Love. http://abcn.ws/LUMioP (Shushannah Walshe)
Obama Campaign Says It Outraised Romney Post-Supreme Court Decision, But It Won't Give Specifics - President Obama's campaign claims to have outraised Mitt Romney in online donations since the Supreme Court's 5-4 decision to uphold the president's health law was handed down. But they won't say by how much. http://abcn.ws/OGfjtD
Romney Cites 'Greater Urgency' in Election After SCOTUS Decision - Mitt Romney said there is now "greater urgency" in the presidential election after the decision by the Supreme Court to uphold President Obama's health care plan. http://abcn.ws/OFXwTb (Emily Friedman)
Rick Santorum Heads Back to Iowa On 'Thank You' Tour-ABC News' Shushannah Walshe reports: Rick Santorum is heading back to Iowa. But it's not to campaign for the presumptive GOP nominee, Mitt Romney. http://abcn.ws/KHIxCk (Shushannah Walshe)