When 3 (or 4) Supremes are not enough
WASHINGTON — Sharp questioning by the Supreme Court's conservative justices cast serious doubt Tuesday on the survival of the individual insurance requirement at the heart of President Barack Obama's historic health care overhaul.
Arguments at the high court focused on whether the mandate for virtually every American to have insurance "is a step beyond what our cases allow," in the words of Justice Anthony Kennedy.
But Kennedy, who is often the swing vote on cases that divide the justices along ideological lines, also said he recognized the magnitude of the nation's health care problem and seemed to suggest that it would require a comprehensive solution.
It's hillarious that the wise men (and women, a few of them) of the Washington punditocracy are convinced that the Supreme Court and its 5-member conservative majority will find it reasonable and just to OK health care reform for the good of the nation...just like the sensible wing of the Republican Party was going to silence the crazies in the Tea Party, etc., etc. When will they learn?
I do think this could go either way, but I'm convinced that corporatist Gang of Five would have no problems killing this thing and leaving 30 or so million American uninsured and one bad day away from bankruptcy. It's what they do.
If you don't think that, you've been asleep for the last 20 years.