Recreational Dentistry

The Supremes dashed GOP hopes again on Obamacare today, when they ruled not to uphold King vs. Burwell. The crux of this suit boiled down to four little words. This suit argued that if an exchange that is not ‘established by a State’, as the law is written, then an exchange ‘established by the State’, meaning the Federal government, then these second exchanges are not entitled to handout Federal subsidies. Which is really a stupid argument. Why would the Feds not allow themselves to also spend money? Isn’t it easier to believe that this wording is just an unfortunate typo in an 800 page document? This would have wreaked the Affordable Care Act, which was the lawsuit’s intent all along. Justice Scalia wrote the dissenting opinion, in which he pined that “Words no longer have meaning…” and then went on to criticize the “interpretive jiggery-pokery” of the majority’s opinion, but I think that Scalia is onto something here and the import of this ruling goes far beyond the fight over healthcare.

If as was ruled today, my words have the meaning that I meant them to have and not the meaning that I wrote, then this is of tremendous importance to people like me, who are in the blogging business. Really, it is more of a hobby for me. I may be able to speak English as a first language speaker, but if you saw what I write as it first comes out all raw and unrefined, then you would hardly believe that I am able to write English as a first language writer. Before you read my prose, they are filtered through multiple spelling and grammar checkers, both human and machine, and still I routinely churn out garbage, but not anymore. From now on, if a little typo or two should slip through my editing process then it is not a typo after all. You are just not reading it right. After today, you should intuit my meaning in all things blog worthy and if I’m having a particularly bad day, then you should imagine the most perfect alternative writings, as mine. The onus is all on you, the reader. Don’t let us down now. Oh, and Obamacare should be extended for dental coverage too, IMHO. Applesauce!