Ding, dong, the Obamacare witch is — almost — dead

OPINION:

Lawyers for the White House said they wouldn’t take the federal government’s side and defend an Obamacare suit that’s being waged by 20 attorneys general from Republican-dominated states.

And with that, sounds the final bell on Obamacare.

The left-leaners in the media are already spinning away, selling the Justice Department’s decision as a lose-lose for the people of America.

The New York Times, for instance, whined in its opening story lines on the matter: “The Trump administration told a federal court on Thursday that it would no longer defend crucial provisions of the Affordable Care Act that protect consumers with pre-existing medical conditions. Under those provisions of the law, insurance companies cannot deny coverage or charge higher rates to people with pre-existing conditions. The Justice Department said the provisions were part of an unconstitutional scheme that required most Americans to carry health insurance.”

And Vox followed similarly, with this headline: “The Trump administration believes Obamacare’s preexisting conditions protections are now unconstitutional.”

Actually, the Justice Department said it’s not trying to yank the entire law.

Actually, the Justice Department argued that it’s simply trying to stay in line with existing law — trying to stay on the constitutional track, so to speak.

Actually the Justice Department explained that its stance came from the fact Congress repealed the tax portion of Obamacare, the one that said those who didn’t buy health insurance had to pay a fine — a tax, as Chief Justice John Roberts ruled it in 2012 — to the IRS.

So since Congress acted, Justice said: the mandate itself isn’t constitutional. And the attorneys general, meanwhile, said without the mandate, why the law?

But spinners will spin.

And the left, long the lovers of government control — which is what Obamacare was all about, really — will cry.

But fact is: At long last, Ding, dong, the Obamacare witch is nearly, very nearly dead.

And the winners are Americans who’ve tried to do the right thing all along by providing for the medical needs of their families, but were thrown a wrench by the socialist-minded of Barack Obama days who led insurance down a path of massive co-pays, huge deductibles and punitive fines for failing to abide government mandates. Ding, dong, let the free market reign.

• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley.