Other than the gloating, I feel quite confident in saying that the decision by the Supreme Court to uphold the ACA isn't good for us. At least from a political perspective. To get it out of the way, it is great for a lot of people who would otherwise have trouble getting and paying for insurance.
But in the political game, we are now left celebrating the most conservative "solution" to the health care crisis. John Roberts knows this. From what I recall, he's been a conservative political operative for decades, and he's in this for the long game. He's not a true conservative like Scalia, who would have seen this overturned if he could.
No, for Roberts, overturning the ACA would have meant giving us the opportunity to re-open the debate of how to improve health care in this country. If that happened, it really could only move left. The right would be left advocating bartering with your doctor and letting the poor die, which isn't going to win many elections.
Overturning the ACA would also remove one of the arguments republicans have been making for voting for them.
Will this ruling boost Obama? Probably. But honestly I think the GOP is fine with that. It's the downballot races where this isn't going to help any Dems, and where I suspect most of that PAC money is going. The corporate overlords have done very well under Obama, and there's no reason to believe that won't continue for a second term. Would they like to get a vulture like Romney in there and gut Social Security? Sure. Is there any chance he would be able to get it through congress? Nope.
For the 0.01%, another Obama term will be an opportunity to continue pushing the overton window to the right, until in 2016 they can elect a Romney-type and finally finish destroying the safety net.
