The Mississippi problem from the liberal perspective is that the state government and elites of the state of Mississippi has been willing to keep the state exceedingly poor as long as any surplus accumulates to them and they will do whatever it takes to actively resist any effort to improve the lives of the bottom 97% of the population. The first Mississippi problem was solved by General Grant and Admiral Porter.
Bill Gardner at the Incidental Economist has a depressing take on the constitutional remaking that the King/Halbig case would argue for if the Supremes reverse King.
More importantly, asking whether Roberts will vote to kill the ACA frames the question in the wrong way, because finding for the plaintiffs in King does not kill the ACA. The states that have already established exchanges would keep them and their subsidies. In the states that have not established exchanges, a Court decision for the plaintiffs would throw the responsibility of establishing health care exchanges back on those states. If they want the subsidies for their citizens they still have the option of establishing an exchange. Some may do this, because their citizens will be harmed by the loss of insurance and their health care systems will be stressed by increased numbers of uninsured patients. However, it’s also likely that at least some of those states will not establish exchanges, so that millions may lose their subsidies and their insurance….
The constitutional outcome of a victory for the King plaintiffs would be a radically decentralized federalism. It would mean that increasing access to health care through the ACA would require political validation at the state as well as the federal level. This outcome would be consistent with the constitutional philosophy that Roberts and many other conservatives espouse. For this reason, if no other, I expect Roberts to vote for the King plaintiffs….
But if the King plaintiffs win, what progressives need to understand is that if we want better health care in Mississippi, we need to win political fights in Mississippi.
Or shorter Gardner prediction — Mississippi will always be fucked as its elites are more than happy for most of its citizens to live unstable, chaotic, poor lives. Those elites control the ballot box with the permission of the Roberts Court, they control the levers of power, and they control the basic agenda, so the Mississippi problem for liberal ends is an intractable problem.
Can the <i>Mississippi</i> problem ever be solvedPost + Comments (69)