Top Items:

Argument recap: It is Kennedy's call (FINAL UPDATE 3:14 pm) — Analysis — If Justice Anthony M. Kennedy can locate a limiting principle in the federal government's defense of the new individual health insurance mandate, or can think of one on his own, the mandate may well survive.
RELATED:


Toobin: Health law 'looks like it's going to be struck down' — CNN's legal correspondent Jeffrey Toobin reports that the court's conservative wing appeared skeptical of the Obama administration's arguments in favor of the individual mandate provision of the Affordable Care Act.
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers, Taylor Marsh and The Agonist

Audio update from Tom — I stepped out of the oral argument to provide this audio report (at bottom of page). — For those who prefer reading, here is a summary of the report: — Based on the questions posed to Paul Clement, the lead attorney for the state challengers to the individual mandate …
Discussion:
Campaign 2012, Daily Kos, Blue Mass Group and The Stranger …

Hard Questions From Justices Over Insurance Mandate — With the fate of President Obama's health care law hanging in the balance at the Supreme Court on Tuesday, a lawyer for the administration faced a barrage of skeptical questions from the four of the court's more conservative justices.
Discussion:
Law Blog, Mediaite, Ricochet Conversations Feed and Truthdig

People Are Saying That Obama's Healthcare Law Got Massacred At The Supreme Court Today — The Supreme Court just wrapped up the second day of oral arguments in the landmark case against President Obama's healthcare overhaul, and reports from inside the courtroom indicate that the controversial law took quite a beating.
Discussion:
Law Blog, LifeNews.com and Hot Air


Recap: Obama Health Law at the Supreme Court, Day 2 … The main event in the Supreme Court's three-day review of the Obama administration's health-care overhaul law got under way Tuesday morning, with the justices considering whether Congress exceeded its constitutional powers …
Discussion:
The Caucus, Mediaite and Guardian


TPMDC — John Roberts May Have Tipped His Hand On ‘Obamacare’ Reasoning — In a little-noticed exchange Monday, conservative Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts may have tipped his hand that he's entertaining the possibility that the health care law's individual mandate can be upheld …
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars, Capital New York, The Volokh Conspiracy, The New Republic, Politico and Law Librarian Blog


Mandate could be in big trouble after Supreme Court arguements — Before Tuesday, most legal analysts seemed to agree that the Supreme Court would probably uphold health care reform's individual mandate — even if the conservative justices had to hold their noses to do it.
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Reuters, USA Today, New York Times, Guardian, CNN and SCOTUSblog


Wonkbook: Do today's oral arguments matter?
Discussion:
First Draft, Washington Monthly, The Monkey Cage, JunkScience.com and Washington Post

Day 2 at the Court: Well, that Could Have Gone Better
Discussion:
The Incidental Economist and The Reality-Based Community

Skeptical Kennedy signals trouble for Obama's healthcare law
Discussion:
News Desk, Blue Mass Group and The Raw Story

Conservative justices skeptical of individual mandate
Discussion:
ABCNEWS, THE WESTERN EXPERIENCE, Ezra Klein, National Review and Daily Kos

Health Care Mandate Will Affect Few, Study Finds
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Associated Press and msnbc.com

Rough day for Obama health law: Kennedy among mandate skeptics
Discussion:
Politico, Michelle Malkin, nation.foxnews.com and Reuters

Kennedy's “Heavy Burden of Justification” …
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway and Election Law Blog

A Libertarian's Pet Cause Reaches the Supreme Court
Discussion:
Washington Post, Bloomberg, No More Mister Nice Blog, National Review, The Volokh Conspiracy and Poynter

Justices Skeptical of Claims that the Individual Mandate is a Tax

Registered Dem Killed Trayvon — The individual at the center of the controversial Trayvon Martin shooting is a registered Democrat. — George Michael Zimmerman, born Oct. 5, 1983, registered as a Democrat in Seminole County, Fla., in August 2002, according to state voter registration documents.
RELATED:


Geraldo Rivera apologizes for ‘hoodie’ comment — Geraldo Rivera is apologizing for his “hoodie” remarks about Trayvon Martin that touched off a media firestorm last week, saying, “I have obscured the main point that someone shot and killed an unarmed teenager.”
Discussion:
Little Green Footballs, ThinkProgress, Mediaite, National Review, msnbc.com, The Raw Story, Gawker and New York Magazine

New details deepen Trayvon Martin controversy — PLAY CBS NEWS VIDEO — (CBS News) SANFORD, Fla. - New information is putting a new twist on the Trayvon Martin case. — It has come out that the unarmed teenager was suspended from school, and is accused of beating up the man who then shot him dead.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, The Daily Caller and The Agonist


Trayvon Martin - Basic Geography May Cut Against Zimmerman (Or Not - See UPDATE) — [Upon booth review of the Zimmerman call to 911 I am reversing the call on the field. The initial address offered by Zimmerman does not jibe with the final location he described - see UPDATE].
Discussion:
Newsy, Salon, ThinkProgress, The Jawa Report and Right Wing News

Spike Lee re-tweets incorrect address of Trayvon Martin shooter
Discussion:
BREITBART.COM, Weasel Zippers, The Daily Caller, TheBlaze.com and iOwnTheWorld.com


Mitt Romney's four-car fantasy home — SAN DIEGO — At Mitt Romney's proposed California beach house, the cars will have their own separate elevator. — There's also a planned outdoor shower and a 3,600-square foot basement — a room with more floor space than the existing home's entire living quarters.


In Secret Documents, Anti-Gay Marriage Group Looked To Divide Gays, Blacks — Blunt language and broad plans from the National Organization for Marriage. A goal: “Fanning the hostility.” Another project: “Sideswiping Obama.” — The leading opponents of same-sex marriage planned …
Discussion:
The Caucus, ThinkProgress, The Raw Story, Colorlines, The Maddow Blog, US Politics and The Daily Dish
RELATED:

Did NOM Hire Someone to Unsuccessfully Find ‘Victims’ of Gay Parents?
Discussion:
ThinkProgress and Asterisk


Obama explains Medvedev open mic incident — SEOUL — President Barack Obama offered an extended explanation here Tuesday of the hot mic moment that caught him asking Russia's president for some “space” and “flexibility” until after November's election. — “The only way I get this stuff done …
RELATED:

Romney: Russia is our number one geopolitical foe
Discussion:
The PJ Tatler, Business Insider, ABCNEWS, ABCNEWS, Washington Post and BBC

Dmitry Medvedev tells GOP: Cold War is over
Discussion:
msnbc.com, ThinkProgress, The Daily Dish and Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog

iPads, Laptops Stolen From Romney Aides' SUV — Stolen Items May Have Valuable Information For Opponents Of GOP Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney — SAN DIEGO — 10News has uncovered a crime against members of Mitt Romney's presidential campaign which may have compromised sensitive information related …
Discussion:
Reuters, The Hill, utsandiego.com, TheBlaze.com and The Caucus


Obama's 2nd-term agenda? House Dems propose raising taxes by 40%, including on middle class — Just what would President Barack Obama do in a second term if had maximum “flexibility”? Consider his first term: Even though Obama was elected along with huge Democratic majorities in the House and Senate …
Discussion:
Hot Air and Conservatives4Palin
RELATED:

House conservatives to unveil budget which balances books faster
Discussion:
Politico and Washington Post

Frustrated Senator Olympia Snowe Gives Obama an ‘F’ — Spinners and Winners — If there were ever a Republican for President Obama to work with, it was Maine Senator Olympia Snowe. She was one of just three Republicans in the entire Congress to vote for his economic stimulus plan in 2009 …
Discussion:
Wonkette, The Hill, Hot Air, ABCNEWS and Hotline On Call

EPA to impose first greenhouse gas limits on power plants — The Environmental Protection Agency will issue the first limits on greenhouse gas emissions from new power plants as early as Tuesday, according to several people briefed on the proposal. The move could end the construction …