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Carney: No Plan B if Court Strikes Down Obamacare

March 23, 2012

The Obama administration is all-in on the Affordable Care Act, which will go before the Supreme Court beginning on Monday.

When asked if President Obama had made any back up plans if the Supreme Court strikes down the individual mandate, White House press secretary Jay Carney replied, "not that I’m aware of."

Instead, the administration is working to get healthcare reforms in place at the state level, Carney said during his White House briefing on Friday.

"We are of course working with the states to implement the provisions of it, and we believe very strongly in the argument that the Affordable Care Act is constitutional."

Carney also lashed out at reporters who repeatedly questioned why Obama chose not to celebrate the second anniversary of the healthcare bill, which was signed on Mar. 23, 2010.

"If the implication is that the president has not fully taken ownership of the Affordable Care Act … look at the campaign’s video," he said. "This is not a debate we will shy away from."

On Friday, the president chose to speak out for the first time on the high profile shooting of Trayvon Martin, a black Florida teen shot dead by a Latino neighborhood watch member. He called the death "a tragedy."

Carney defended the timing of the comment, saying that media attention made a comment from the president "inevitable."

The administration tapped Vice President Joe Biden to comment on the anniversary of the Affordable Care Act as he visited Coconut Creek, Florida.

The Supreme Court will hear three days of oral arguments on the constitutionality of Obamacare and the individual mandate beginning on Monday. A ruling is expected in June.