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new poll from Associated Press-GfK shows just how much self-inflicted damage the highly politicized U.S. Supreme Court has sustained. When asked whether the court will decide on the
King v. Burwell case that challenges Obamacare subsidies in states that are using the federal health insurance exchange, almost no one believes the court will decide the case objectively, on either side of the issue.
The Associated Press-GfK poll finds only 1 person in 10 is highly confident that the justices will rely on objective interpretations of the law rather than their personal opinions. Nearly half, 48 percent, are not confident of the court's impartiality. […]
In a twist, the poll found that opponents of the law, who tend to be politically conservative, have less confidence in the objectivity of a court with a conservative majority. Among foes, 60 percent are not confident, compared with 44 percent of the law's supporters. […]
Regardless of how the public feels about the court's internal deliberations, a majority wants the justices to allow subsidies to continue flowing in all 50 states, an opinion in line with the administration's position.
Fifty-six percent said the court should keep the subsidies without restriction, while 39 percent said the financial aid should be limited to residents of states that set up their own health insurance markets.
Only 13 percent said they were closely watching the court on this case, but that doesn't stop the nation from being deeply cynical about it. Conservatives remember Chief Justice John Roberts betraying them in 2012 by being the vote that kept Obamacare alive and the rest of us are like Hal Lewis, a retired local newspaper editor from Scranton, Pennsylvania, who said that the "lawsuit should have never made it this far."
The strong support for keeping the subsidies as is—56 percent here—mirrors other recent polling, and also highlights the peril for Republicans if the subsidies are struck down and they don't have a plan for dealing with the aftermath. Fifty-one percent, in this poll, would want Congress to amend the law and maintain the subsidies as they are now, if the court strikes them down. But if 8 or 9 million people lose the subsidies at the hands of the court, you can expect that percentage wanting the law restored to balloon. Still, only 31 percent of self-identified Republicans surveyed want Congress to fix the law, so Republicans in Congress can take refuge in that. It's not like Republicans in Congress are there to serve the whole nation, after all.