Did Scalia Blow It?

There's something quite odd in my view about the Scalia opinion in the back. It's not a Scalia rant by and large; in fact it reads at the outset rather majestically, like he's delivering the opinion of the court. Even more strangely, it refers repeatedly to the "Ginsburg dissent," but Ginsburg is in the majority on most issues. What's all this about? Were the tables turned midway? Did Roberts first sign on to Scalia's opinion and then bail on him? Is that what Ginsburg was ribbing Scalia over in her ACS remarks? I suspect there is an amazing an untold backroom story behind this decision. It may be a while before we learn it. But the sense I have is that Scalia had the votes to take a sledgehammer to ACA, and then lost Roberts. Was it Scalia's overreaching and his overheated rhetoric that did him in? This may make an excellent Supreme Court mystery. But it points in the end to the complicated and rather ornery personality of Nino Scalia as a real burden for the court's conservatives.

http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2012/06/did-scalia-blow-it.html


hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Pelosi: "I did."

Good one, Nancy (who's wearing the same purple pumps today that she wore when Obamacare passed)

Pelosi: What a great victory!

Congressman George Miller: You bet your ass [it is].

Pelosi: I did.

Another HaHaHaHaHa

THU JUN 28, 2012 AT 11:30 AM PDT
Ha ha ha, this is the guy Republicans nominated!
bykos






Ha ha! From Mitt Romney's Courts & The Constitution campaign website page:

Okay, Bill O'Reilly: Time to 'Apologize for Being an Idiot'

"HOPE" returns today

OK - Here is The Answer To The GOP's "It's A TAX, It's A TAX, bla bla bla":

Why The Individual Mandate Is Not A ‘Massive Tax Hike’ On The Middle Class


The mandate can indeed be characterized as a tax, as the Court found. But it is not a massive tax hike on the middle class, much less the biggest tax hike in American history. The tax imposed by the individual mandate amounts to either $695 or 2.5 percent of household income for those who don’t have insurance and are not exempt based on income levels. By comparison, the payroll tax cut extension Republicans repeatedly blocked earlier this year would have added 3.1 percentage points to the tax and cost the average family $1,500 a year.

The mandate, meanwhile, would hit a small amount of Americans — somewhere between 2 and 5 percent — according to a study from the Urban Institute. The number could be even lower depending on the law’s success: in Massachusetts, the only state with an insurance mandate, less than 1 percent of the state’s residents paid the penalty in 2009.

The majority of the Affordable Care Act’s other taxes, such as a payroll tax increase and a tax on high-cost health plans, are aimed at upper-income Americans. In exchange, millions of jobs will be created as new people enter the health care system and millions of people will gain access to affordable, quality insurance that they otherwise would not have. And, as we detailed earlier today, the Court’s decision to uphold the entirety of the law will have significant benefits for the nation’s economy.

MUCH MORE:
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/06/28/508062/fact-check-mandate-tax-hike/

The chief justice’s canny move to uphold the Affordable Care Act while gutting the Commerce Clause.

Obama Wins the Battle, Roberts Wins the War
The chief justice’s canny move to uphold the Affordable Care Act while gutting the Commerce Clause.
By Tom Scocca|Posted Thursday, June 28, 2012, at 11:59 AM ET

............

.........By ruling that the individual mandate was permissible as a tax, he joined the Democratic appointees to uphold the law—while joining the Republican wing to gut the Commerce Clause (and push back against the necessary-and-proper clause as well). Here's the Chief Justice's opinion (italics in original):

Dear conservatives, Unfortunately there's really no way to replace Roberts as chief justice except..

Dear conservatives,

Unfortunately there's really no way to replace Roberts as chief justice except by either convincing him to resign/retire, or by impeaching him.

So to show that I'm not 100 percent partisan, 100 percent of the time, let me reach out in solidarity—

It was total bullshit what Chief Justice Roberts did to you. So I'm happy to join you in calling for his ouster, either voluntarily or via impeachment. Heck, I'll go out of my way to help you accomplish this laudable goal.

That's just how helpful I am.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/06/28/1104023/-Bringing-Left-and-Right-together-over-Justice-Roberts



Oh, how I miss KO and puppet theatre!
KPETE

Pelosi to Kennedy Widow: 'Now Teddy Can Rest'

Source: National Journal


For Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., the Supreme Court's decision provided a vindication and victory for having helped push the health law through - perhaps at the expense of her losing her Speaker's gavel.

Maybe it was the lucky purple pumps she was wearing - the very same shoes she wore on the day the health care law was passed, March 21, 2010.

Pelosi was attending Democratic Whip Meeting in the Capitol Visitor Center when she found out about the decision, according to a narrative obtained from her office. She returned to her office to make phone calls, and left messages for the president and vice president.

Pelosi then called Vicki Kennedy, and was described as telling Mrs. Kennedy: "Now, Teddy can rest."




Read more: http://influencealley.nationaljournal.com/2012/06/pelosi-to-kennedy-widow-now-te.php

Obama camp: Romney missed opportunity to move country forward with his 'callous' statement