Former Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich said the Supreme Court decision upholding President Obama’s healthcare law is “probably good” for the country because it leaves it to the people to decide the fate of universal healthcare.
“I’ve been curious as to why Roberts took this particular route,” Gingrich told The Huffington Post. “But in a way, because I really do believe we want a less interventionist court, placing the political decision back on the American people I think’s probably good.”
Gingrich said he was surprised by the decision, but he wasn’t as upset at Chief Justice John Roberts as many other conservatives for siding with the court’s four liberal justices in the 5-4 decision.
“What Roberts has said is, ‘Yes, it’s constitutional because of a gigantic tax increase, and if you don’t want the gigantic tax increase you’ve got to beat Obama,'” Gingrich said. “You don’t just get to come to the Supreme Court to bail you out. And I happen to think that part of it is probably healthy for the country to be forced to confront, that it’s their burden.”
Of course it shouldn’t be surprising that the context for Gingrich’s interview is a new book that he is releasing—a small ebook coming out next week called “No Taxation Without Misrepresentation” that will explore how the decision is “probably Obama’s worst nightmare.”
“What he has said is that more activities like that will be called taxes in the future and they will be harder to pass. So I think he’s probably raised a—someone said he has empowered Grover Norquist to the level that nobody could have imagined,” Gingrich said with a chuckle.
Gingrich, a former college professor, has used his political career as a launching pad to start a company that makes millions selling books, pamphlets, eBooks and even novels pushing his conservative agenda—and demonstrating his political acumen to the world.
