[guest post by JVW]

In this case, yes.

– JVW

There is a crowd of pro-ObamaCare partisans who call the argument of the Halbig plaintiffs “Halbig trooferism.” These folks haughtily declaim that the Halbig argument is clearly the Stupidest Argument Evah!!1!! They act as if their tone of mockery will carry the day when logic and evidence cannot.

One of this crowd is Scott Lemieux of the blog Lawyers, Guns, and Money, and he and I had an amusing discussion last night and this morning on the Twitters concerning one of the central tenets of the lefty partisans’ position on this. Namely, they say that, despite the fact that there is no language in the ACA providing for tax credits for plans bought on federal exchanges, it simply has to be the case that tax credits are available on federally established exchanges, because of the “structure of the law.” What they mean by this is: Congress assumed everyone would get tax credits, and since they provided for a federal fallback, that shows that they must have assumed that the federal exchanges would provide tax credits.

The rejoinder by the Halbig plaintiffs is: sure, Congressional Democrats and Obama assumed that everyone would get tax credits — because they assumed that all the states would set up exchanges.

Scott Lemieux started the discussion by disputing that point:

@Patterico Risible nonsense. They *didn't* assume all states would set up exchanges — this why Congress established a federal backstop.

— Scott Lemieux (@LemieuxLGM) November 11, 2014

Since then, I have been whacking him over the head with proof that this is true, and his responses have been . . . amusing.

I provided a direct quote from the New York Times saying exactly that:

.@LemieuxLGM NY Times, 8/4/12: "Mr. Obama and lawmakers assumed that every state would set up its own exchange." http://t.co/SGrEcI8ciq

— Patterico (@Patterico) November 11, 2014

Lemieux complained that I had provided no direct quote from Obama or Congress. OK. So I provided a direct quote from Obama:

@LemieuxLGM "And then, by 2014, each state will set up what we’re calling a health insurance exchange.’’–Obama, 2010 http://t.co/p3TLvuh1Ai

— Patterico (@Patterico) November 11, 2014

And I provided a quote from the Congressional Research Service:

.@LemieuxLGM CRS, 4/10: Under PPACA, state-established 'American Health Benefit Exchanges' will have to be established in every state…"

— Patterico (@Patterico) November 11, 2014

And I provided an article from Politico (cache link here) showing that Congress had provided unlimited funding for the state establishment of exchanges, but literally not one dime for the federal establishment of exchanges — suggesting that, as Obama, the New York Times, and the Congressional Research Service said, everyone believed that the states would establish exchanges. (This conclusion is corroborated by the feds’ clear inattention to the issue of setting up federal exchanges. It couldn’t be more clear that they got caught flat-footed by the need to actually establish the federal fall-back.)

Now, none of this really matters. Conservatives will win in the Supreme Court because the text of the law is what matters, not what people had in their head.

But Lemieux’s reaction to this deluge of evidence — and the reaction of his commenters — can be observed in his post about it, here. I violated my usual rule and actually waded into the comments over there for a little while — mainly because I had the very quotes that he complained in the post I had not provided.

Go over there and watch in amusement as my logic and evidence are routinely discounted. Watch as Scott demands — demands! — that I provide a quote from Obama saying that the states would all set up exchanges . . . and then, when I do exactly that, Scott and everyone else say: “So what?”

It is an amusing spectacle of sophistry.

In any event, bookmark this post, so that in the future, when leftists say: “Nobody assumed that the states would all set up exchanges!” you will have this wealth of evidence to bludgeon them with.

UPDATE: The Senate Democratic Policy Committee said the same thing as Obama, the New York Times, the Congressional Research Service, and so forth:

@jadler1969 @Patterico @mfcannon Got it. Link seems stale, tho – I'll try to track down a live link. pic.twitter.com/hRPvvo0kJa

— Ken Kelly (@_KJKelly) November 11, 2014

UPDATE: DRJ provides the link to that Senate Democratic Policy Committee document, which states: “By 2014, each state will establish an Exchange to help individuals and small employers obtain coverage.” I have saved it here in case they memory hole it.

[guest post by Dana]

As today is Veterans Day, I want to say thank-you to all of those who have served to protect our country and our freedoms. And as a number of commenters here at Patterico’s are veterans, a special thank-you. Anything else I would like to say would sound trite, so let me just echo the vast majority of Americans: there is no more worthy and honorable calling than to serve in our military. We are so grateful.

I am from a family where a number relatives have served in various branches throughout the years, and next week I will have the immense pleasure of watching my own son graduate from boot camp (USMC). Joining me will be my my octogenarian father, who ages ago served with the Marines in Korea. So, as yesterday was the 239th birthday of the U.S. Marine Corps and today is Veterans Day, a simple yet very heartfelt “thank-you” for your service to our country.

For any vets out there, a number of restaurants nation-wide would like you to be their guests today.

Also, if you would like to watch an amazing film of veterans welcoming deployed soldiers back home, check out the eloquent documentary, “The Way We Get By”.

–Dana