Republican presidential hopefuls slam SCOTUS Obamacare ruling

WASHINGTON, June 25 (UPI) -- Within minutes of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that federal subsidies under the Affordable Care Act are constitutional, a number of Republican presidential hopefuls promised to repeal the act should they be elected.

For former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Thursday's opinion wasn't the end of his fight against Obamacare. He said that as president he would work with Congress to repeal the law.

"This fatally flawed law imposes job-killing mandates, causes spending in Washington to skyrocket by $1.7 trillion, raises taxes by $1 trillion and drives up health care costs," he said in a statement. "Instead of fixing our health care system, it made the problems worse."

And he's not alone. Fellow Floridian Sen. Marco Rubio again tried to push his alternative to Obamacare, a program he calls Consumer Care.

"I disagree with the court's ruling and believe they have once again erred in trying to correct the mistakes made by President Obama and Congress in forcing Obamacare on the American people," he wrote on Twitter.

"Despite the court's decision, Obamacare is still a bad law that is having a negative impact on our country and on millions of Americans," Rubio wrote. "I remain committed to repealing this bad law and replacing it with my consumer-centered plan that puts patients and families back in control of their health care decisions."

Rubio has suggested a system that uses an "advanceable, refundable tax credit" and proposed reforming insurance regulations to "encourage innovation."

Ben Carson also said he'd repeal the law, writing on Twitter, "those of us who pledge to repeal Obamacare must redouble our efforts and not waste time and energy mourning today's SCOTUS ruling.".

Rick Santorum said the ruling is another reminder that a conservative president must be elected in 2016.

Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry said the Obama administration has ignored the text of the Affordable Care Act.

"While I disagree with the ruling, it was never up to the Supreme Court to save us from Obamacare," he said in a statement. "We need leadership in the White House that recognizes the folly of having to pass a bill to know what's in it. We need leadership that understands a heavy-handed, one-size-fits-all policy does nothing to help health outcomes for Americans."

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee echoed Perry's statement that the Supreme Court shouldn't have been able to "legislate from the bench."

"Today's King v. Burwell decision, which protects and expands Obamacare, is an out-of-control act of judicial tyranny," he said.

South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham slammed the Obama and his Democratic allies for passing through "deeply flawed legislation" without proofreading it and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz found fault with the law's language.

"For nakedly political reasons, the Supreme Court willfully ignored the words that Congress wrote, and instead read into the law their preferred policy outcome," he said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, a physician, said he knows "Americans need a healthcare system that reconnects patients, families and doctors, rather than growing government bureaucracy."

And both Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and Carly Fiorina called Obamacare a failure.

"President Obama would like this to be the end of the debate on Obamacare, but it isn't," Jindal said. "The debate will continue because the law has failed to accomplish its prime objective: containing health care costs."

Fiorina said Obamacare isn't working for the majority of Americans.

"Instead of allowing those with insurance to stay on the plans they knew and liked, millions of people have been compelled to buy health plans that they didn't want," she said in a Facebook post. "We were promised improved access and higher-quality care, but the complexity of Obamacare is preventing the very competition that would allow more and better options for patients."