"It is not our job to protect the people..." Supreme Court Health Care Ruling: The Mandate Can Stay

Roberts:

"It is not our job to protect the people from the consequences of their political choices."

Then whose damn job is it and why is there a Constitution that was meant to limit the power of government over the rights of the individual?! 

Supreme Court Health Care Ruling: The Mandate Can Stay - ABC News

MATT NEGRIN (@MattNegrin) and ARIANE DE VOGUE (@Arianedevogue)
June 28, 2012

In a landmark ruling with wide-ranging implications, the Supreme Court today upheld the so-called individual mandate requiring Americans to buy health insurance or pay a penalty, the key part of President Obama's signature health care law.
The court ruled 5 to 4, wiith Chief Justice John Roberts siding with the majority, that the mandate is unconstitutional under the Constitution's commerce clause, but it can stay as part of Congress's power under a taxing clause. The court said that the government will be allowed to tax people for not having health insurance.
"The Affordable Care Act's requirement that certain individuals pay a financial penalty for not obtaining health insurance may reasonably be characterized as a tax," Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the ruling. "Because the Constitution permits such a tax, it is not our role to forbid it, or to pass upon its wisdom or fairness."
-more at link-

12:45 – Roberts: Not His Job to “Protect People from the Consequences of Their Political Choices”
Here’s a key quote from the decision by Chief Justice John Roberts, who says the court can’t protect Americans from their political decisions.

Members of this Court are vested with the authority to interpret the law; we possess neither the expertise nor the prerogative to make policy judgments. Those decisions are entrusted to our Nation’s elected leaders, who can be thrown out of office if the people disagree with them. It is not our job to protect the people from the consequences of their political choices.