By now everyone with a pulse has heard the news that the Supreme Court has upheld President Barack Obama’s controversial healthcare law.  In the 5-4 ruling the Supreme Court ruled that the individual mandate, which requires people to have health insurance, is a valid tax.  “Conservative” Chief Justice John Robert wrote the following in the majority opinion:

In this case, however, it is reasonable to construe what Congress has done as increasing taxes on those who have a certain amount of income, but choose to go without health insurance.  Such legislation is within Congress's power to tax.

This ruling is not entirely surprising when weighed against the favorable opinions regarding long time government confiscatory programs Social Security and Medicare.  If it has been deemed acceptable by the masses that the federal government must be in the business of managing personal retirement funds and healthcare during our twilight years, then why would the sheep in this country oppose government “assistance” throughout life’s entirety?  The citizens of this once great nation need to take a look in the mirror and ask themselves a serious question.  What is the proper role of the federal government in our lives’?  If the majority of people in the United States expect the Federal Government to provide assistance from cradle to grave, then the United States of America is due to suffer a dramatic drop in our quality of life.  We've learned today that we cannot rely on the Supreme Court to uphold the Constitution as the founders intended.Governments do not produce anything, the resources that they dole out via government programs have been confiscated from other citizens.  This is accomplished by deficit spending (passing the bill to our children), devaluing the currency through inflation (a tax that most directly impact those on a fixed income, the poor and seniors), or direct theft from citizens (commonly referred to as taxation).Unsurprisingly, there will be copious amounts of spin spewed by political pundits on both sides of the aisle.  Each side will claim this ruling gives them the upper hand and provides momentum heading into the November election.  In reality there are no significant policy differences between Mitt Romney and Barack Obama.  Their rhetoric on the campaign trail differs significantly in order to cater to their respective bases, but their decisions in office would be almost identical.We don’t need to look any further for evidence of their shared model for governance then how they each proposed to solve the problems facing the healthcare industry.  Romney, as governor of Massachusetts, and Obama, as President, both enacted top down government programs that utilized the initiation of government force against individuals, and both contained far more totalitarian aspects than free market solutions.  It all comes back to the question I asked above.  What is the proper role of government?  Is it acceptable for the government to steal from one individual in order to provide a service to another individual?  If it is not acceptable for one citizen to steal from another, then how is it legal for citizens to authorize bureaucrats to confiscate another man’s wealth?George W. Bush’s so called “conservative” appointment John G. Roberts was the decisive vote that swung the ruling in favor upholding Obamacare.  Roberts sided with the liberals in validating yet another form of government theft, the individual healthcare mandate.  Many conservative Republicans often defend their decision to vote for a moderate GOP candidate because they believe as President they will nominate Justices that share their conservative values.  Hopefully this ruling highlights the flaws embedded in that line of thinking.  When will Republicans learn that they must stop nominating big government neoconservatives to run against big government progressives for the Presidency?George W. Bush was a terrible President that forced our nation into unwinnable wars and accumulated historic amounts of debt, among other atrocities.  Many held out hope that his Supreme Court appointments would be crucial ruling The Affordable Care Act unconstitutional.  Today’s ruling by the Supreme Court reinforced George W. Bush’s legacy as a complete failure as President.For more on the Supreme Court's ruling read Brian's post from earlier today, here.Receive access to ALL of our EXCLUSIVE bonus audio content – including “Conspiracy Corner”, “Degenerate Gamblers” and the “League of Liberty Podcast” by joining the Lions of Liberty Pride and supporting us on Patreon!