The Supreme Court just saved Obamacare, again

[View in browser]( [Mother Jones Daily Newsletter]( June 17, 2021 Hi, I'm Beth Eisenstaedt, and I'm doing a little newsletter takeover today because we just published something very exciting: our first-ever [Impact Report](. It shines the spotlight on the work of my colleagues over the past year, and how—with [the support of the Mother Jones community](—our journalism has inspired change. Impact happens in a lot of ways: It can fuel direct change by launching a congressional investigation or [changing laws](; it can challenge entrenched, [unjust systems]( baked into our democracy or shift the narrative by exposing long-term [corruption](; and perhaps most significantly, journalism [amplifies voices]( that may have been otherwise suppressed. And it happens in the inspiration we find when we see journalism create change on a personal level, in the lives of our readers, the subjects of our stories, and our reporters themselves. I hope you take some time to click around in [the report](—there are all sorts of goodies to uncover—and that you find a story that surprises you, a change you couldn't have imagined happening, or something that moves you. And I hope you'll recognize the value of investing in independent journalism. If you're inspired by what we've accomplished, I hope you'll [make a gift today and help us reach our big $350,000 goal]( that you can [read more about here](. Thank you for being part of our community and inspiring us to produce journalism that makes change. —Beth Eisenstaedt Advertisement [ACLU]( [Top Story] [Top Story]( [The Supreme Court Just Voted to Uphold Obamacare]( The justices dismissed a Republican lawsuit for lacking standing. BY ABIGAIL WEINBERG [Trending] [Critical race theory panic is everywhere—just in time for Juneteenth]( BY NATHALIE BAPTISTE [Manchin and Sinema are pushing Biden to execute the GOP’s corporate tax agenda]( BY NOAH LANARD [The House just voted to finally overturn the 2002 Iraq War authorization]( BY DAN SPINELLI [Yes, we have an aristocracy in America—and it's thriving]( BY MICHAEL MECHANIC Advertisement [ACLU]( [The Big Feature] [Special Feature]( ["Twitter philanthropists" bail out a lucky few—and leave millions more behind]( A private equity CEO launched a movement that reveals the holes in the social safety net. BY HANNAH LEVINTOVA [Fiercely Independent] Support from readers allows Mother Jones to do journalism that doesn't just follow the pack. [Donate]( [Recharge] SOME GOOD NEWS, FOR ONCE [More Chess Stars Are Denouncing a Cheating Billionaire]( It started with good intentions: Raise funds for pandemic relief in India, the world’s hardest-hit country in measures of death and devastation by COVID. The biggest names were set to play, including five-time world chess champion Viswanathan Anand. Among his opponents was Nikhil Kamath, the country’s youngest billionaire, who made his fortune by co-founding a brokerage company. But as the game progressed, Anand, who was universally expected to lay waste to his billionaire opponent, faced a series of suspiciously flawless moves from Kamath. They were so computerlike that onlookers wondered if Kamath was running an engine in violation of the rules. Miraculously, the billionaire won. The game of a lifetime. And sure enough, soon after public pressure and a global outcry, Kamath confessed to cheating: “I had help from…computers,” he [announced](. “It is ridiculous that so many are thinking I really beat Vishy in a chess game. That is almost like me waking up and winning a 100mt race with Usain Bolt.” “This was fun for charity,” Kamath added. “In hindsight, it was quite silly” to deceive the legendary champion and supporters of COVID relief on the global stage. “Apologies.” His cheating has come under [scrutiny]( as an affront to Anand, who graciously [said](, “I just played the position on the board and expected the same from everyone,” and called it a “fun experience upholding the ethics of the game” from one side. But it gets worse before it gets better. Chess.com’s chief chess officer and Fair Play Team leader shared a statement making heads spin, saying the cheating billionaire would not stay banned: “Given…that not all the rules were properly understood, neither Chess.com nor Anand himself see any reason to uphold the matter further,” in effect relaxing the site’s strict rules against cheaters and letting a billionaire slide on account of prominence, a gesture scarcely afforded to nonbillionaires and noncelebrities. But there’s good news. Top players are speaking out against it, among them five-time US champion Hikaru Nakamura, who [blasted]( the decision: “There have been people caught cheating against me…and I don’t think they get unbanned, so I don’t really buy this. It just feels like [a] slap on the wrist.” “I thought the rules would be the same for billionaires. I was naive. They can cheat,” said Lichess.com founder Thibault Duplessis. Nakamura agreed: “I’m definitely associated with Chess.com but I have to say I actually do agree with Thibault here. This is just ridiculous. If someone cheats in a game of chess, you can’t have a separate set of rules just because they happen to have a lot of money. I guarantee you that if [the player cheating] was someone who’s not of prominence, they would have stayed banned. Plain and simple.” “Too bad Bill Gates was not aware of the billionaire club rule back then: engine help allowed,” chess historian Olimpiù G. Urcan [said](, recalling 23-year-old Magnus Carlsen’s defeat of Bill Gates in [nine moves]( in 2014. Happy Thursday. (Our Recharge department welcomes fundraisers against chess-dabbling billionaires, with no engines allowed, at recharge@motherjones.com.) —Daniel King Did you enjoy this newsletter? Help us out by [forwarding]( it to a friend or sharing it on [Facebook]( and [Twitter](. [Mother Jones]( [Donate]( [Subscribe]( This message was sent to {EMAIL}. 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