Ted Kennedy's Ghost: Please, Overturn ObamaCare

Liberals should really hope the Supreme Court overturns the Affordable Care Act, Ted Kennedy tells Jonathan Rauch for the New York Daily News. "I'm surprised," Rauch writes, "and not just because I'm talking to a dead senator." Wouldn't liberals hate to lose President Obama's signature accomplishment? Sure, but look at the big picture: For decades, conservatives have lustily attacked "judicial activism," but if a conservative court overturns a law this big, "their credibility as advocates of restraint will be shot."

"Coming after Citizens United, the gutting of health reform will be the left's Roe," Kennedy reasons. "'Judicial tyranny' will be our issue, for a change." But the law would still be dead, Rauch protests. "Not for long," Kennedy assures him. Get rid of the mandate, and you either have to let hospitals turn away those who can't pay—and "no one, not anyone, is for that"—or the government has to pay. "Medicare for everyone! Just what liberals always wanted!" Click for Rauch's full column. (More liberals stories.)