Unprecedented: The Constitutional Challenge to Obamacare

An unbiased analysis of conservatives’ efforts to overturn the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) would be a welcome addition to the literature on the legislation. Unfortunately, with Blackman’s account, warning signs are evident early on—the foreword was written by Randy E. Barnett, a Georgetown law professor who dedicated himself “to the constitutional challenge to Obamacare” for almost three years, and whom Blackman dubs the “intellectual godfather” of the cause. Barnett notes that Blackman spoke to “nearly everyone involved,” but the author himself acknowledges that he “made no efforts to contact any of the [Supreme Court] justices or their clerks”—explaining, “This book is about how people outside the [Supreme] Court reacted to the legal drama inside the Court.” Though the 2012 decision allowed the act to stand, Blackman argues that the logic behind Chief Justice Roberts’s deciding vote—which hinged on a rewrite of the individual mandate statute—set the precedent for future conservative arguments in favor of limiting federal powers. Blackman does a stellar job of calling out both parties for their flip-flopping with respect to the individual mandate, but his viewpoint is limited. Agent: Don Fehr, Trident Media Group. (Sept. 13)