--- description: Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia didn't carry the majority in his fiery decision on Obamacare, but he did get off a few good lines. title: The 7 Best Lines from Justice Scalia's Obamacare Dissent image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Supreme Court](/tag/supreme-court/) ## Supreme Court Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # The 7 Best Lines from Justice Scalia's Obamacare Dissent ## Video: Supreme Court Upholds Obamacare Tax Subsidies [Watch (HLS stream): Supreme Court Upholds Obamacare Tax Subsidies](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/N52WtovW.m3u8) (0:54)  _Published 2015-06-25. Handing the Obama administration a victory, the U.S. Supreme Court voted 6-3 to uphold nationwide Affordable Care Act tax subsidies._ by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 25, 2015 2:49 PM CUT by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 25, 2015 2:49 PM CUT Supporters of the Affordable Care Act won the battle of opinions at the Supreme Court Thursday, but critics may win the battle of words. The [6-3 majority opinion](http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/14pdf/14-114%5Fqol1.pdf "undefined") in King v. Burwell upholds subsidies to millions of Americans buying health insurance through Obamacare, but it does so in relatively bloodless language about deferring to congressional intent. But the fiery dissent from conservative Justice Antonin Scalia — joined by Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito — features a number of zingers, applause lines and harshly worded criticism. Here’s a look at seven of his best lines: **Scalia starts by bashing the majority opinion:** --- > “” --- **Then he shows how depressed the case makes him:** --- > “” --- **Then he questions his colleagues’ motivation:** --- > “” --- **Then he uses a word from the 19th century to criticize their logic:** --- > “” --- **Then he uses a euphemism for what he thinks of their logic your grandma might have used:** --- > “” --- **Then he suggests an** **alternate name for Obamacare:** --- > “” --- **Then instead of ending with the typical “I respectfully dissent,” he writes this:** --- > “” --- ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3935650/supreme-court-obamacare-antonin-scalia/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3935650/supreme-court-obamacare-antonin-scalia/"},"headline":"The 7 Best Lines from Justice Scalia's Obamacare Dissent","datePublished":"2015-06-25T14:49:43.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T08:32:24.471Z","description":"Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia didn't carry the majority in his fiery decision on Obamacare, but he did get off a few good lines.","url":"https://time.com/3935650/supreme-court-obamacare-antonin-scalia/","keywords":["Supreme Court","Health Care","Obamacare","Affordable Care Act","Antonin Scalia topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ryan Teague Beckwith","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/supreme-court/","name":"Supreme Court"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3935650/supreme-court-obamacare-antonin-scalia/","name":"The 7 Best Lines from Justice Scalia's Obamacare Dissent"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Supreme Court Upholds Obamacare Tax Subsidies","description":"Handing the Obama administration a victory, the U.S. Supreme Court voted 6-3 to uphold nationwide Affordable Care Act tax subsidies.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/N52WtovW/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-06-25T14:51:23.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/N52WtovW.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3935650/supreme-court-obamacare-antonin-scalia/","duration":"PT54S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3935650/supreme-court-obamacare-antonin-scalia/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```