Obama will visit Century Village West Palm Beach, a retirement community of 6,400 people, on Thursday evening.

“We’re very excited about the president coming,” said Phillip Ward, a West Palm Beach resident. “We have a good, good feeling about President Obama being re-elected.”

Much of the conversation at Century Village is expected to center on health care and protecting what supporters call secure and healthy retirements.

The visit is significant; in 2008, the president lost the vote of people over 65 by ten points.

“We want to make sure that our parents and grandparents and, ultimately, us — we — you, will be able to continue to live a productive and happy life as we live into our nineties,” said Jeri Muoio, City of West Palm Beach Mayor.

On Wednesday, Republicans in Florida launched a preemptive attack on the president.

“He’s bringing a street fight. Chicago-style politics,” said Lenny Curry, chair of the Republican Party of Florida. “The Republican Party of Florida is not going to play nice. He wants a street fight. His campaign wants a a street fight. We’re going to engage.”

Recent surveys of Florida voters showed Obama in a dead heat with presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney.

So far this election cycle, Romney and Republicans in Florida have raised $15.9 million — nearly double what Obama and Democrats have raised.

Nationwide, federal election filings showed Romney and Republicans raised more money in June than Obama and Democrats.

Obama could become the first president to be out raised by a challenger if the trend continued, political analysts said.

– Alex Sanz

The decision marked a pivotal point in the presidential race and gave Republicans unexpected ammunition to energize supporters in the battle for the White House and to fight health care reform as a new tax on people who don’t obtain health insurance.

Roberts’ vote, along with those of the court’s four liberal justices, preserved the largest expansion of the nation’s social safety net in more than 45 years, including the hotly debated core requirement that nearly everyone have health insurance or pay a penalty.

The aim is to extend coverage to more than 30 million people who now are uninsured.

The 5-4 decision meant the huge overhaul, still taking effect, could proceed and pick up momentum over the next several years, with an impact on the way that countless Americans receive and pay for their personal medical care.

It also vindicated the president’s most significant legislative accomplishment.

Obama said the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold his health care overhaul was a “victory for people all over the country” and would make their lives more secure.

He said the decision upholds the fundamental principle that in America — the wealthiest nation on earth — no one should fall into financial ruin because of an illness.

“The highest Court in the land has now spoken.  We will continue to implement this law.  And we’ll work together to improve on it where we can.  But what we won’t do — what the country can’t afford to do — is refight the political battles of two years ago, or go back to the way things were,” he said.

The president said that people with pre-existing medical conditions would not be discriminated against and people would be able to afford quality health care.

Breaking with the other conservative justices, Roberts read the judgment that allows the law to go forward.

He explained at length the court’s view of the insurance mandate as a valid exercise of Congress’ authority to “lay and collect taxes.”

The administration estimates that roughly 4 million people will pay the penalty rather than buy insurance.

Congress called the payment a penalty, not a tax, but Roberts said the court would not get hung up on labels.

Among other indications it is a tax, Roberts said, “the payment is collected solely by the IRS through the normal means of taxation.”

“Because the Constitution permits such a tax, it is not our role to forbid it, or to pass upon its wisdom or fairness,” Roberts said.

Many Republicans oppose the law, arguing that it marks a government takeover of health care at the same time it curtails Medicare spending and raises taxes.

They also point to studies that predict private employers will be forced to reduce or eliminate coverage and that the legislation will wind up costing far more than estimated, raising federal deficits as a result.

The decision should help hospitals by adding millions of people to the rolls of the insured, expanding the pool of health care consumers.

But by the same reasoning, insurance companies will also gain millions of premium-paying customers.

Even though she was in the majority in the ruling, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg took issue with the court’s reasoning that the individual mandate, which would require most Americans to purchase health insurance, was an invalid use of the Constitution’s clause giving Congress the power to regulate interstate commerce; Ginsburg said the mandate should have been supported under the commerce clause.

She also said the entire law should have been upheld as written and without forcing any changes to the Medicaid provision.

The majority found problems with the expansion of Medicaid but said it could proceed as long as the government didn’t threaten to withhold a state’s entire Medicaid allotment if it didn’t take part in the extension.

Ginsburg, in a statement from the bench, said that even though the health care law survives, the court’s position on the commerce clause “has been set awry.”

Meantime, Mitt Romney, the president’s Republican challenger, opposed the health care overhaul and was expected to double-down on his campaign pledge to repeal the law if he is elected.

He called the decision incorrect and said on Thursday that it was “bad law” and would raise taxes and cut Medicare.

“This is the time of choice for the American people. Our mission is clear: If we want to get rid of Obamacare, we’re going to have to replace President Obama. My mission is to make sure we do exactly that. That we return to the American people the privilege they’ve always had to live their lives in the way they feel most appropriate. Where we don’t pass on to coming generations massive deficits and debt, where we don’t have a setting where jobs are lost,” he said.

“If we want good jobs and a bright economic future, for ourselves and for our kids, we must replace Obamacare. That is my mission.”

FLORIDA REACTION

In Florida, the lead state in the challange to health care reform, Governor Rick Scott was unsure how the state would comply with the decision.

Scott would not say whether the state would opt out of an expansion of the Medicaid program that was ordered under the overhaul.

The Supreme Court decision made it clear that states would not forfeit federal Medicaid money if they refused to authorize the expansion.

“If you look at every government program in the world, they over-promise, they run out of money, they underpay providers and then that rations care,” Scott said. “On top of that, as bad as it’s going to be for patients, it’s going to be just as bad for taxpayers. We’re not going to be able to afford this.”

Scott, who has been a sharp opponent of the health care overhaul, also could not say whether the state would set up its own health care market as required under the law.

Earlier, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio echoed calls for the law to be repealed.

“What’s important to remember is that what the Court rules on is whether something is constitutional or not, not whether it’s a good idea,” he said.

“While the Court has said that the law is constitutional, it remains a bad idea for our economy, and I hope that in the fall we will have a majority here that will not just repeal this law, but replace it with real solutions that will insure more people and cost a lot less money.”

REPEAL EFFORT

On Capitol Hill, House Speaker John Boehner agreed and said the law needed to be repealed.

The Ohio Republican said in a statement that the law would hurt the economy by increasing health care costs and making it difficult for small businesses to hire.

A vote to repeal the law was scheduled for the week of July 9th.

Read reaction to the ruling and share your comments here: http://scrbliv.me/51229.

– Alex Sanz and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

The decision to stay out of the long-running legal feud means that an appeals decision favorable to the metro Atlanta area will stand, a situation bound to frustrate authorities in Florida, Alabama and even southern Georgia who complain Atlanta uses too much water upstream at the expense of wildlife, fisheries and people downstream on the Chattahoochee River.

That river basin serves multiple states.

From Atlanta, the Chattahoochee flows south, running along the border of Alabama and Georgia.

It merges with the Flint River at the Florida border and becomes the Apalachicola River, which cuts south across the Florida Panhandle and empties into the Gulf of Mexico.

Communities in Alabama and Florida have argued that Atlanta has no legal right to take water from Lake Lanier, a federal reservoir on the Chattahoochee that sits northeast of the city, and that Atlanta’s water usage harms fisheries and drinking water supplies downstream.

In 2009, U.S. District Court Judge Paul Magnuson ruled against Atlanta and signed an order that would have severely restricted the city’s withdrawals from the reservoir to levels last seen in the 1970s — when the city was a fraction of its current size — unless the political leaders of Alabama, Florida and Georgia struck a deal ending the impasse.

No deal has been struck.

Last year, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the looming water cutoff and found that Atlanta had a claim to water from the reservoir. The court instructed the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to determine how much water the city can use.

ARIZONA IMMIGRATION LAW

On Monday, justices also struck down key parts of Arizona’s immigration law — but not the provision requiring police to check the immigration status of someone they suspect is in the United States illegally.

Even there, though, the justices said the provision could face additional legal challenges.

And while upholding the “show me your papers” requirement for now, the justices took the teeth out of it — by prohibiting police officers from arresting people on minor immigration charges.

The ruling was unanimous in allowing the status check to go forward. But the court was divided on striking down the other provisions.

The provisions that were struck down include one that required all immigrants to obtain or carry immigration registration papers.

Also rejected was a provision making it a state criminal offense for an illegal immigrant to seek work or hold a job.

And the justices said police can’t arrest suspected illegal immigrants without warrants.

The Obama administration had sued to block the Arizona law soon after it was enacted two years ago.

Five other states have adopted variations on the law. Parts of those were on hold pending the outcome of this case.

Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas said they would have allowed all of the challenged provisions to take effect.

In Arizona, Governor Jan Brewer called the Supreme Court’s decision a victory for all Americans and said the heart of the law can now be enacted.

Brewer says law enforcement that use the law to violate a person’s civil rights will be held accountable.

Nevada Senator Harry Reid said after Monday’s decision that the high court was right to strike down most of Arizona’s immigration law, which President Barack Obama and many Democrats say is unconstitutional.

But Reid said he is concerned that the high court upheld one provision that requires police to check immigration papers of people they stop for other violations.

That, Reid said predicted, “will lead to a system of racial profiling.”

CAMPAIGN SPENDING, JUVENILE JUSTICE

Justices reaffirmed the Supreme Court’s two-year-old decision relaxing limits on corporate campaign spending and reversed a Montana court ruling upholding state restrictions.

By a 5-4 vote, the court’s conservative justices said the decision in the Citizens United case in 2010 applies to state campaign finance laws and guarantees corporate and labor union interests the right to spend freely to advocate for or against candidates for state and local offices.

The majority turned away pleas from the court’s liberal justices to give a full hearing to the case because massive campaign spending since the January 2010 ruling has called into question some of its underpinnings.

The Supreme Court also said it was unconstitutional for states to pass laws that automatically sentence juveniles to life in prison without parole for murder.

Monday’s 5-4 decision is in line with others the court has made, including ruling out the death penalty for juveniles and life without parole for young people whose crimes did not involve killing.

The decision came in the robbery and murder cases of Evan Miller and Kuntrell Jackson, who were 14 when they were convicted.

Miller was convicted of killing a man in Alabama. Jackson was convicted of being an accomplice in an Arkansas robbery that ended in murder.

A decision on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was expected later this week.

– Alex Sanz and the Associated Press contributed to this report

“The health care law is making our community health centers stronger and ensuring more Americans get the care they need,” said Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

The department said the expansions would help 81,432 additional patients abd create 5,640 jobs.

The grants, part of a $128.6 million package announced this morning, will go to community health centers in 41 States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Northern Mariana Islands.

“Health centers serve more than 20 million patients nationwide and are an integral part of our health care system,” said Mary K. Wakefield, Ph.D., R.N., administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration. “These awards demonstrate our commitment to increasing access to quality health care through the creation of new health center sites.”

In 2011, the department said health centers employed more than 138,000 people including 9,900 physicians, 6,900 nurse practitioners, physicians’ assistants, and certified nurse midwives, 11,800 nurses, 10,300 dental staff, 4,400 behavioral health staff and more than 12,500 case managers, health education, outreach and transportation staff.

The 5,640 jobs created through the awards will go to doctors, nurses, dental providers, and many other staff supporting services to more than 1.25 million new patients, the department said.

In Florida, the grants were awarded to Central Florida Health Care in Avon Park, Genesis Community Health in Boynton Beach, Walton County Health Department in DeFuniak Springs, Osceola County Health Department in Kissimmee, Union County Health Department in Lake Butler, Citrus County Health Department in Lecanto, Rural Health Network of Monroe County in Marathon, Brevard Health Alliance in Melbourne, Banyan Community Health Center in Miami, Community AIDS Resource/Care Resource in Miami, Rural Health Care in Palatka, Suncoast Community Health Centers in Rusk, Sarasota County Health Department in Sarasota, Community Health Centers of Pinellas in St. Petersburg and Tampa Family Health Centers in Tampa.

– Alex Sanz

“I look forward to them giving us the database but, again, we don’t have a choice but to sue them this afternoon,” Scott said.

Before his announcement, the governor repeatedly accused President Obama‘s administration of “stalling” by not releasing the database that Scott said would have helped identify non-citizens from its voter rolls.

“The debate is over,” Scott told FLDemocracy in an interview Monday. “We clearly have proof that non-citizens are voting in our elections. As your governor, I have an obligation to enforce the law. And, I intend to do that.”

Last week, Scott, who asked the Department of Homeland Security for its federal citizenship database, defied a United States Department of Justice order to stop the state’s purge of its voter rolls after government officials said it was illegal.

County elections officials suspended the purge and said they would not follow through with the state’s efforts until its legality could be resolved.

Florida has flagged 2,700 potential noncitizen voters and sent the list to county elections supervisors, some of whom found the data and methodology to be flawed and problematic. The list of potential noncitizen voters – many of whom have turned out to be lawful citizens and voters – disproportionately hit minorities, especially Hispanics.

When asked again about what recourse he had if Florida election supervisors did not purge voter rolls, Scott said “all elected officials will do the right thing.”

“We know individuals are voting in our elections that don’t have the right to vote. That’s wrong. It’s illegal. It’s a crime,” he said. “Everybody wants to make sure that U.S. citizens vote in our elections. Non-citizens don’t vote in our elections. So, I’m very comfortable that the right thing will happen here.”

On Friday, the American Civil Liberties Union announced it was suing Florida to stop its controversial program designed to purge noncitizen voters from the rolls.

AFFORDABLE CARE ACT

On Monday, Scott also weighed in on the United States Supreme Court’s review of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and other issues.

“I’m very optimistic that the Supreme Court will do the right thing and make sure that we all know that the federal government can’t tell us what we should be buying,” he said.

“If they don’t, I’m hopeful in this election we’ll elect individuals that will repeal it. It’s the biggest job-killer ever. It’s horrible for patients. It’ll push more jobs out. And, there’s no way, as citizens, can we afford it.”

STAND YOUR GROUND

As the debate over the shooting death of Miami Gardens teenager Trayvon Martin and state’s so-called Stand Your Ground law continued, Scott said the second Task Force on Citizen Safety and Protection town hall would provide valuable feedback for state legislators.

Hundreds of people from across the state were expected to attend the second town hall in Longwood, near Orlando, on Tuesday.

The town hall was the first that would be open to public comments.

“My goal is to have this feedback in time [for the next legislative session] so that we can look to see if anything needs to be changed with regard to the law,” Scott said.

Martin’s parents were expected to deliver a petition to the panel with more than 340,000 signatures in support of a change to the law.

REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION

Scott said it was still unclear what role he would play in Tampa when Florida plays host for the 2012 Republican National Convention in August.

“I have never been to a convention before. This will be my first convention. I look forward to welcoming everybody into Florida [and] into Tampa,” Scott told FLDemocracy.

Scott said he looked forward to the four-day convention elevating the state’s profile.

“It’s a big economic boon to Tampa,” he said. “I think the expectation is a $175 million boon to that community. It’s a way for us to highlight and promote Florida.”

Scott said more than 50,000 people were expected to attend the convention.

WISCONSIN RECALL ELECTION

The first-term governor, whose popularity has waned since his election, also weighed in on efforts to recall Wisconsin governor Scott Walker.

“If they elect you the first time, and you did what you said you were going to do, you know, you’ll get re-elected,” he said.

“It’s also helpful if what you say you’re going to do does work. In Wisconsin’s case, jobs are coming back, the perception of Wisconsin as far as a good place to do business has dramatically improved, so I think that’s that helped Governor Walker.”

Last week, Walker defeated Milwaukee mayor Tom Barrett to become the first governor in the United States to survive a recall election.

The effort had been driven by union and Democratic leaders after Walker eliminated most collective bargaining agreements for the state’s public employees.

– Alex Sanz

Billed as a Stand Up for Religious Freedom rally, many said the mandate was is in conflict with their faith.

“It’s just dead against the teachings of the church I belong to and, as far as I know, it’s against the teachings of almost every religion on the face of the Earth,” said Robert Flynn, a West Palm Beach resident.

According to organizers, churches would be exempt from the coverage but faith-based universities and hospitals would not be.

“It might be good for the government but it’s not good for the people involved,” said Maria Adriano, a Jupiter resident.

“Anybody who has any kind of conscience issue that they hold dear, this or anything else, would realize that that sort of verbal trick really doesn’t assuage your conscience,” she said.

Organizers said more than 63,000 peopled gathered for similar rallies in late March.

“If they can take this little piece of the First Amendment away from Americans the next piece is you,” Flynn said.

Among those who supported a rally in West Palm Beach was the Diocese of Palm Beach.

– Alex Sanz

    A key part of the health care reform legislation, signed into law by President Barack Obama on March 23rd, 2010, required that insurers cover pre-existing conditions beginning in 2014.

    In the interim, the government set up a Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan, or PCIP, as a bridge to provide coverage to people with pre-existing conditions.

    “There’s still a lot of uncertainty about who they’re going to cover and who they’re not going to cover and what qualifies as a policy and what doesn’t,” said Gary Boice, a retired and Boynton Beach resident.

    The government denied Boice’s application for PCIP coverage three times because it said he had creditable coverage — something with a wide and varied definition.

    Creditable coverage, according to the United States Department of Health and Human Services, includes group health and military insurance plans, COBRA and Medicaid.

    It also includes limited health insurance or ”mini-medical plans” – what Boice has.

    PCIP doesn’t cover someone whose had this kind of coverage within six months of applying for it.

    “It’s not an incentive for people to do the right thing. They’re incentivizing people to go without insurance,” said Benjamin Stille, a financial advisor and insurance specialist at BGS Financial Services.

    “For me to advise people to not have insurance so they can get into this pool that will cover their pre-existing conditions but, in the interim, in that six-month period of time, they run the risk of, you know, just having life happen,” he said.

    According to the Government Accountability Office, enrollment in PCIP is significantly lower than first projected.

    As of March 1st, 4,584 people in Florida had been enrolled; 56,257 people had been enrolled nationwide.

    Sixty-nine of the people denied coverage by the federally-run PCIP program had been denied for having creditable coverage within six months of applying for it.

    “As long as it has a co-pay or a deductible they consider that insurance,” said Shelley Nachum, a personal chef and Delray Beach resident. “They want me to go uninsured for six months before they would consider my application. It’s crazy.”

    Sources at the Department of Health and Human services said the six-month creditable coverage requirement was a Congressional mandate.

    The PCIP program, sources said, was designed to immediately help consumers who were uninsured and had a pre-existing condition.

– Alex Sanz