Texas Insider Report: WASHINGTON D.C. Speaking at a Rose Garden press conference alongside Mexican President Felipe Calderon & Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper
President Obama weighed in for the first time on last weeks high court hearings which left many Democrats fearful that the court is poised to strike down his signature domestic achievement.
The president said it would be unprecedented" for the court to strike down the individual mandate to have insurance because the law was passed by a strong majority of a democratically elected Congress."
Im confident the Supreme Court will uphold the law. The reason is because in accordance with precedent out there its constitutional.
Thats not just my opinion by the way. Thats the opinion of legal experts across the ideological spectrum including two very conservative appellate court justices."
Obama warned the high court against a lack of judicial restraint" in which an unelected group of people would somehow overturn a duly constituted and passed law."
During the press conference a reporter asked Obama if he had a contingency plan in place if the healthcare law is struck down. The president did not answer the question directly simply reiterating As I said were confident that this will be upheld.
Im confident this will be upheld because it should be upheld" he said.
Again thats not just my opinion. Thats the opinion of a whole lot of constitutional law professors academics judges and lawyers who examined this law even if theyre not particularly sympathetic to this particular piece of legislation or my presidency."
Beyond the judicial aspect the president defended the individual mandate to have insurance saying theres a human element" to the law and that its the only way to provide healthcare
to those with pre-existing conditions.
This is not an abstract argument" Obama said. Peoples lives are affected by the lack of availability of healthcare."
Some legal watchers panned Solicitor General Donald Verrillis presentation at the oral arguments last week with CNNs Jeffrey Toobin describing the Obama legal case as a train wreck."
The president argued Americans all across the country are getting preventative care because of this law" and that doesnt count the 30 million people who stand to gain coverage" in 2014.
Opponents of the healthcare law say the insurance mandate is a breathtaking expansion of federal power that is unsupported by the Constitution and many of the Supreme Court justices appeared receptive to that argument last week.
After the arguments ended Republicans were optimistic that the healthcare reform law would be struck down while Democrats warned against reading too much into the arguments.
Up until Monday it was unclear what Obama himself was thinking about the Supreme Court case. Senior administration officials said on Monday that the president had read the transcripts of the proceedings and had followed news accounts.
The Supreme Court is expected to rule on the healthcare law in June.
