That Sinking Feeling

... is shared today by two groups: insurance companies and sane Democrats.

Yesterday's court decision in the Virginia case that the government can't force you to buy a commercial product is a pretty serious blow to ObamaCare. There are two groups who are probably feeling sick right now.

First off, the insurance industry supported this bill for just this provision. They could deal with the price caps for everyone so long as they received legions of healthy customers forced through their doors at bayonet point. Without those healthy customers who would pay premiums, but not require service, the insurance companies are screwed. This deal is now all pain and no gain.

The other group has to be the Democratic party operatives who are not insane*. They just got killed in the elections in exchange for ... nothing. The entire effort to jam health care down our throats wasn't just a political disaster, it was a failure as well. ObamaCare is more unpopular than ever and now its financially untenable as well. Without the ability to force people to buy insurance, the whole thing falls apart. It's been a steady stream of failures already, but this removes the entire financial foundation of the scheme. A logical set of questions to ask the surviving, sane Democrats is this: "What in the world were you thinking? You actually thought you could tell us all what to buy? Are you crazy?"

Oops.

Think about this: If the government can force the healthy to buy insurance, it can force hipsters to get haircuts.
* - How to tell them apart: Use the phrase "Sarah Palin" in normal conversation and see if they go into a paroxysm of slanderous rants. If they can maintain their composure, they're sane.