Via Brian Beutler: “The ruling ends a Quixotic conservative quest to vanquish Obama’s signature achievement by fiat. It also devastates the GOP’s long-standing appeal to voters that the law exists as a monument to liberal overreach, in defiance of accepted limits on federal power. That Roberts, a conservative emissary to the Court, voted to uphold is particularly devastating.”
Adding to the chaotic swirl as the Supreme Court announced its decision, CNN beat everyone else to the punch by announcing that the mandate had been thrown out:
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As several of our readers noted, the ‘Scalia Freakout‘ ended up being the big tell about this morning’s ruling.
In case you missed it, both Fox and CNN jumped the gun this morning and reported the Court’s overturning health care reform. Watch.
DeMint calls for unconstitutional state-based nullification to fight ‘Obamacare’.
Strangely appropriate because the doctrine of ‘nullification’ was originated and articulated by another Senator from South Carolina, John C. Calhoun.
John Roberts: “The Commerce Clause is not a general license to regulate an individual from cradle to grave, simply because he will predictably engage in particular transactions.”
In case you missed it: my quick take on this morning’s news and why it matters.
1. Conservatives devastated that Chief Justice Roberts chose path of judicial restraint.
2. According to today’s statement, Mitt Romney supports virtually every provision of ‘Obamacare’ other than the mandate that he pioneered.
Like everyone else, we’re still sifting through the opinions. There’s a lot here to digest, and I should caution while the top-line decision to uphold the mandate is still the big news of the day, how substantial that victory was for proponents of the ACA — and for progressive jurisprudence — is still not clear. There are wrinkles and permutations to these opinions that everyone with a stake in these matters will be dissecting in the hours and days and weeks to come.
Here are the big three so far: Read More