BRIDGEPORT - President Obama and five Supreme Court justices believe his health care mandate is constitutional, but Obamacare opponents are using the Thursday ruling as a rallying cry to defeat him in November.
"Politically speaking, this is the worst case scenario for Barack Obama," said Bob Connors, spokesman for We The People Ohio Valley, as he and roughly 30 Obamacare foes protested the ruling Thursday at the corner of National Road and Lincoln Avenue in Bridgeport. "His opposition is even more fired up now.
"The people are rising up," he added.
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Photo by Casey Junkins
About 30 members of We The People Ohio Valley rally at the corner of National Road and Lincoln Avenue in Bridgeport Thursday in protest of the U.S. Supreme Court declaring Obamacare constitutional by a 5-4 vote.
Afternoon temperatures were hot during the Thursday rally, which resulted from the Supreme Court's 5-4 ruling earlier in the day, but tempers may have been even hotter among Connors and his fellow protestors.
"With this action, the Supreme Court has ruled that we are not free anymore. There is nothing the government cannot do to us now," he said. "I guess now, we are just subjects of the government."
Throughout the impromptu event, several passing motorists honked horns in support of those rallying. A few others, however, voiced support for Obama and his health care plan. One motorist shouted, "I hate America," to the protestors, while another yelled, "I am proud to be an American."
Bloomingdale resident Barry Bardone made the trip down from Jefferson County to publicly oppose Obamacare. He said the ruling should provide a shot in the arm to Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney's camp.
"People don't like this, and they never have," Bardone said. "It's just not right."
A female protestor said she came to let the Supreme Court know she disagreed with the decision, adding, "I don't trust the government enough to give you my name."
Connors mentioned the 2010 election season, during which Republicans reclaimed control of the U.S. House of Representatives while gaining several seats in the Senate.
"I guess we didn't send a loud enough message to Washington two years ago. We will just have to speak even louder this year," he said.
Though his organization firmly opposes Obama and "big government," Connors said his group will not simply support Republicans if those GOP members do not earn that support.
"We don't care what political party you are in - if you don't forcefully make an effort to overturn this bill, we are going to oppose you," he said.
Connors admitted the United States has problems with health care, but he believes those difficulties should be solved at the local level instead of the federal level.
"If the state of Ohio or the state of West Virginia decided to do something like this health care bill, at least we could have a say in it. In this, we have no say," he added.
