Sunday Roundup

This week was all about the Supreme Court -- and the suddenly surprising John Roberts. First, the Chief Justice guided the court through a split-the-baby decision on Arizona's immigration law, allowing the noxious "show-your-papers" provision to stand while striking down three others. (Splitting the baby was very much in vogue: see News Corp.) Then came the landmark health care ruling in which Roberts, perhaps mindful of a recent poll showing three-quarters of Americans think he and his fellow justices allow political views to influence their decisions, found a narrow way to uphold Obamacare -- a move that left many conservatives fuming, caused Justice Kennedy to accuse Roberts of "vast judicial overreaching," and prompted Albert Brooks to tweet: "It's a terrific day in America. I'm gonna go out and get wildly sick." Much closer to home, we mourned the passing -- and celebrated the life -- of Nora Ephron (see here, here, here, here, here -- and read Nora's HuffPost posts here).

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Comments

[nunuit505]

10:32 PM on 07/01/2012

It's really just too bad that conservatives are "fuming "over Roberts' call to reason. They're expected to fume about anything and everything that does not directly benefit them personally. Who are those that go against health care? Why has the media not identified and profiled them, the way they do everyone else, from farmer to rocker? The truth is that America is not about being the American that supports equality, it's about the American who resides within the corporate castle, the sweet little guy who knows that he's protected, would never bite the hand that feeds him, and votes the way he's been conditioned to - for everyone at the top, and all of his friends who want to get there someday.

[niumarmion]

09:17 PM on 07/01/2012

One advantage is that more people will learn the names of the justices of SCOTUS.

[Mac Howard]

09:08 PM on 07/01/2012

"mindful of a recent poll showing three-quarters of Americans think he and his fellow justices allow political views to influence their decisions, "

It's not only Americans who think that way. From here down-under there seems to be about as much respect for objectivity in the Supreme Court as there is in the average NFL crowd.

[Scrt]

06:43 PM on 07/01/2012

Why would Albert Brooks need me to pay for his healthcare. I don't think he understands this plan. If it's like the mass plan and they say it is the only people on it are the very poor and the rest of us pay more and get less benefits from our private insurers to support them. Be careful what you wish for.

[moundiou]

05:52 PM on 07/01/2012

Closer to home, we also are sad about DSK and Anne Sinclair separation...

[ntmessage]

04:46 PM on 07/01/2012

So Roberts is not an activist judge after all. I doubt he cares about public opinion, either. Was he not the one that called out the scene at the state of the union as troubling and yet still said that corporations and unions can have the same campaign laws with citizens united? If it was Alito, would all be forgiven for mouthing truth during one of Obama’s big sell jobs at the state of the union?
Obama is taxing the middle class like crazy, in many ways, and very day; yet continues to be adamant about not taxing the middle class. Roberts is saying that you live with the politicians you elect even if they lie. This ruling was not about Roberts or words. The progressive lie throughout the years is calling things what they are not. Taxes are fees, tolls, etc. The ACA is certainly not affordable at all. The $95 dollar tax becomes $3,000 in short order. Hoping that no one will notice? If not yet, they will.
The ends justifying the means are precisely why the country is so unsettled. Overlooking institutions, rules, congress, etc is a heavy price for society to pay. Holder’s “issue” is a constitutional crisis for any other President. Stopping the Pipeline, attacking the court, edicts that the only laws that need to be followed are where the Church must act against their beliefs. Trail lawyer tricks? Maybe. The uncertainty, disarray and borderline tyranny is a heavy price, indeed. Penalty or Tax?

[Marob3658]

06:42 PM on 07/01/2012

Romney also levid a tax on those in Massachusettes that refused to buy healthcare and he also called it a fee. What's the difference?

[nmcanopus]

08:31 PM on 07/01/2012

You seem to be blind to the fact that the health care financing system in this country before the ACA was completely broken. Health insurance premiums were sky rocketing, 30 % of the health care dollars were going to insurance company profits/overhead, a massive cost shifting tax was being levied on those with insurance to pay for those who did not, US corporations were in a poor position to compete with those in countries with universal health care, ERs closing, etc.

[airforcevet43]

02:19 PM on 07/01/2012

Sunday Talk was as disappointing as ever!

Re.th.ug governors and talkingheads were on all over the airwaves to flame outr.age over the Healthcare decision.

Conservatives should get on with it...........STOP this NONSENSE b/c its the LAW. Our people need JOBS/JOBS/JOBS but who cares, right?

If the MEDIA wanted to stop the charade then all they would have to do is point out that anyone who is unhappy with the ACA constitutionality decision could seek a waiver for their state.....like Vermont will do (Single Payor)

*********STATE INNOVATION WAIVER***********

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2011/02/obama-endorses-senate-bill-to-let-states-opt-out-of-health-care-law-three-years-earlier/

The waiver would allow them to craft their own plan for creating HEALTHCARE.......the only requirements, which they squeal that they can accomplish more effectively and cheaper, is to cover as many people with similar care.

BUT THAT'S TOO MUCH WORK FOR TV PERSONALITIES

[TurnToTheLeft]

02:58 PM on 07/01/2012

AGREED, Thank you.

f/f

[earthinretrograde]

02:05 PM on 07/01/2012

Albert Brooks was right. It is a great day, because the Roberts court is showing promise of doing exactly what a court is supposed to do with the law. I'm impressed. I didn't expect this integrity.

[viko]

01:56 PM on 07/01/2012

Imagine if Sandra Day O'Connor Republican Supreme Court Judge did not stay around to vote for Bush catastrophe fraud elections in Florida elections and did not get a hole in one the very next day confirmed by the AZ News Papers. Imagine if Sen John Mc Cain was right about the economy . We all lived happily ever after. If Obama could pull this off in view of the state of the rent a wreck Nation he was handed saying no to everything. What can he do do with four more.
Fix 23 million foreclosed houses occupied and get jobs for a bunch of people out of work because we had a war and gave free tax to the rich and transferred the wealth of the nation to the rich.
can't we all just get along.
Even this epitaph died with it's owner this week.
Get a life America.
We would have been better to sever the baby.

[michaelwg]

01:44 PM on 07/01/2012

"It's a terrific day in America. I'm gonna go out and get wildly sick"

This is the same kind of bad logic as:

"If the top tax rate is too high people will stop struggling for wealth"

Just purely terrible reasoning abilities.

[RSGmusic]

12:20 PM on 07/01/2012

Nora Ephron was an angle of a person and Hp will miss her always!

[RedWhiteandBlueState]

12:05 PM on 07/01/2012

O Wisconsin - Scott Walker... Really? It's so sad. The guys is just SO, so special.

[traveler291]

11:47 AM on 07/01/2012

as much contempt as i have for politicians, i have even more for these self-absorbed journalists who feel they are rock stars who can't ask the basic question; "do you remember the question?"

they just smile and take in the spin and then move on. note to journalists, quit trying to be their friends and get your questions answered. pound-pound-pound and if they get mad, so what.

[pastgone]

02:21 PM on 07/01/2012

Yep. Journalists now compete to see who can put the best shine on the latest spin. Arianna "sold out to big corporate America" is just another.

[IgnoranceIsStrength]

09:09 AM on 07/01/2012

Houston, we have a problem. We need jobs. One thing always is constant. At the back of the pack is America's middle class. We even have various groups supposedly representing U.S. labor who seem to be interested in illegal immigrants instead. Even worse, we have numerous lobbyists spinning out economic fiction, trying to claim offshore outsourcing is good for America or displacing U.S. workers with foreigners is somehow good economically. Neither is true. Worker displacement is worker displacement and if anyone is alive these days, the employment statistics say it all. Indeed we saw the foreign born getting majority of the jobs from 2008-2010. We need jobs for U.S. citizens, American workers. We also need a big legal rubber stamp proclaiming U.S. workers are preferred for all jobs within our shores.

http://www.economicpopulist.org/content/immigration-banter-leaves-us-workers-dust

[terra33]

02:47 PM on 07/01/2012

With obamacare new taxes and massive regulation on business forget about the jobs.

[Fireslayer]

08:58 AM on 07/01/2012

The ingrates in the insurance industry who have massive premiums handed on silver platter are setting up for a fall. Payback will be a single payer, Medicare for All system now that Obama and the voters know who their enemies truly are in this election. Everyone knows the Tea Baggage came into play when the insurance industry gave them 50,000 phones and personnel to create them.

Time to cut the greed players out of the game. Medicare for All saves 30 cents on the health care dollar from this nation's most pernicious form of legalized gambling- private health insurance.

[dastardlydynamo1]

10:50 AM on 07/01/2012

Roberts' decision was the only way for him to save the health insurance industry.

Right now, we have the same system that the Swiss are using.

Big Pharma will be hit next year.

[RSGmusic]

12:18 PM on 07/01/2012

How can they do that with a cap?!

no corporation would sign a contract with a cap! Illogical thinking DD1

[terra33]

02:55 PM on 07/01/2012

FYI the only reason medicare is so good is because we have a private half that picks up a lot of the cost for medicare. Medicare raises the cost for the private side of our system. We already have socialized medicine and it isn't working. Medicare/medicaid are broke. Understand government already sets the prices for half our healthcare system (through medicare/medicaid/schip) government influences prices for the private side. We may have private healthcare but private isn't free markets when government controls production and consumption. There little competition to drive cost down. Obamacare is just a vast expansion of our already failed government system.

[Brian S Earman]

05:01 PM on 07/01/2012

I'm sorry, but what is it that you think should be competing instead of Medicare? What competition do you think is inhibited by Medicare? Private Insurance companies? We have medicare because old people are uninsurable in the private health insurance markets, they are too expensive to be viable consumers of the product. Those companies don't want to insure old people. Medicare certainly doesn't inhibit competition between providers. So what in God's name are you talking about?