Vox Sentences: Obamacare goes to court – again

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A federal appeal board will decide whether the Affordable Care Act is constitutional. France imposes an eco-tax on air tickets.

Affordable Care Act Returns to Court

The Affordable Care Act is being challenged in court – again – before a panel of judges of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans. [CNN / Tami Luhby]
The legal battle dates back to 2012, when the Supreme Court ruled that Congress had the power to impose a tax on uninsured people (also called an individual mandate). [NBC News / Pete Williams]
Fast forward to 2017, when the GOP's tax reduction bill effectively eliminated the individual mandate penalty by reducing the tax to zero per cent. Subsequently, attorneys general and republican governors filed Texas c. United States in February 2018, claiming that the individual mandate was now unconstitutional because no tax penalty was in effect. They claimed that the Supreme Court only upheld the law because it was under Congressional taxing authority and, therefore, the entire law was invalidated. [AP / Kevin McGill and Rebecca Santana]
Judge Reed O'Connor, of the District Court, sided with the Republicans and declared the entire LAC unconstitutional in the absence of the penalty tax. Tuesday's hearing is a direct appeal to O'Connor's decision, led by a coalition of Democrats, including the House of Representatives. [NPR / Julie Rovner]
Some experts argue that the argument against the ACA is not particularly convincing: even if the individual mandate is declared unconstitutional, it would be unreasonable to consider the rest of the law as invalid. [Vox / Li Zhou]
20 million people could lose their health care if ACA was eliminated. People with pre-existing conditions would lose their protection and face higher prices or refusal of coverage. [NYT / Abby Goodnough]
Whatever the rules of the Fifth Circuit, the losing party will likely appeal to the Supreme Court – although judges are less likely to hear the case if the Court of Appeal rejects O'Connor's decision. If they end up hearing the case, it will be their third decision on ACA; In the two previous cases, they lined up on the side of the law on health care. [Vox /Li Zhou]
The ACA has been at the center of the concerns of the Democrats and, faced with the legal problems that face the news, many candidates for action 2020 are mobilized around the fight for health care. [Reuters / Nate Raymond]

France hits the aviation industry with an eco-tax

France announced Tuesday that it plans to impose an eco – tax on airline tickets as early as next year in order to combat climate change. [AP / Thomas Adamson and Frank Jordans]
The economy tickets will have a tax of $ 1.50 ($ 1.70), while business class tickets may be charged up to $ 18 ($ 20). Only flights departing from France will be subject to tax. [BBC]
The tax is expected to raise 180 million euros (201.69 million dollars) by 2020 and will be used to finance environmentally friendly alternatives. [Independent / Tom Embury-Dennis]
Environmental advocates welcome this new measure, saying that airlines must reduce their greenhouse gas emissions as part of a broader fight against climate change. At present, airlines are responsible for 2% of human-made greenhouse gas emissions – and this is only expected to increase over the next few decades if the problem does not occur. is not settled. [AP / Thomas Adamson and Frank Jordans]
But the airlines are not happy: Air France, which operates 50% of its flights outside France, said it would cost the company more than 60 million euros a year, which would jeopardize its competitiveness. The shares of the airlines collectively fell with the announcement of the new tax. [Reuters]
France had also tried to impose an eco-tax on diesel last year, which finally gave rise to the manifestation of the "yellow vest". Experts have said that this version of the eco-tax could be more acceptable because, although driving a car is almost inevitable, airplanes are more commonly used by the rich. [Euronews / Pauline Bock]

Various

More than 150 million Bibles are printed in China. A trade war with the country could eventually lead to a shortage of religious text. [AP / Travis Loller]
Disney has faced reactions after presenting a black actress as responsible for the upcoming live-action version of The little Mermaid. Freeform, a television channel owned by Disney, had a message for all enemies: "Ariel … is a mermaid" and a fictional character. [Washington Post / Allyson Chiu]
First, it was Office. Now it's friends. Two of Netflix's most watched shows are leaving the platform. [WSJ / Joe Flint]
Uber Copter is Uber's latest helicopter service in New York. JFK International Airport is eight minutes from the city. A one-way trip will cost around $ 200. [CNN / Matt McFarland]
A white man reportedly killed a 17-year-old black man because the rap music of this teenager made him feel uncomfortable. The victim did nothing else to provoke or threaten him. [Slate Magazine / Elliot Hannon]

verbatim

"If they succeed in abolishing the Affordable Care Act, the Republicans will bear all the consequences." [[[[Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer discusses the latest legal challenges at ACA]

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