FOXNews.com: Swing justice poses tough questions on ObamaCare at Supreme Court hearing

FOXNews.com FOX News Network - We Report. You Decide. // via fulltextrssfeed.com

Swing justice poses tough questions on ObamaCare at Supreme Court hearing Mar 27th 2012, 16:11 A thoroughly engaged Supreme Court spent two hours debating the constitutional merits of President Obama's health care law Tuesday -- based on the tenor of the arguments it appears to be closely divided and the case may ultimately come down to the views of Justice Anthony Kennedy.  The man often known as the court's swing justice asked several key questions about the scope of the controversial law suggesting he might have doubts about its validity.  "Can you create commerce to regulate it?" Kennedy asked the government's top lawyer defending the law. That question addressed a key issue in the case about whether Congress exceeded its regulatory authority under the Commerce Clause.  Later Kennedy said the law was unique and felt it was "changing the relationship between the individual and the (federal) government." He acknowledged the Court normally gives Congress the benefit of the doubt on laws that it passes but in this instance there was a "heavy burden of justification" necessary for supporters of ObamaCare to prove its legal worth.  What's not clear is if the answers provided by Solicitor General Don Verrilli satisfied Kennedy's doubts and, of course, how he will ultimately vote in the case.  The comments and questions from the other justices generally suggested that they would fall along familiar ideological divisions.  At the start of his arguments, oddly interrupted by a scratchy throat, Verrilli plainly stated that "the Affordable Care Act addresses a fundamental and enduring problem in the health care system and economy."

You are receiving this email because you subscribed to this feed at blogtrottr.com. If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe from this feed, or manage all your subscriptions