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Argument recap: A lift for the mandate? (FINAL UPDATE 5:12 pm) — Analysis — The Supreme Court spent 91 minutes Wednesday operating on the assumption that it would strike down the key feature of the new health care law, but may have convinced itself in the end not to do that because of just how hard …
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Justices poised to strike down entire healthcare law — Demonstrators pray outside the U.S. Supreme Court on the third day of oral arguments over the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. (Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images / March 28, 2012)

Argument recap: Will Medicaid be sacrificed? (FINAL UPDATE 7:08 pm) — Analysis — Unless a closing oration by a top government lawyer stirs some real sympathy for the poor, the new health care law's broad expansion of the Medicaid program that serves the needy may be sacrificed …
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars, The Huffington Post and ACS Blog


The Supreme Court's Dark Vision of Freedom — The court's conservatives apparently believe in the land of the free. Circa 1804. — The fight over Obamacare is about freedom. That's what we've been told since these lawsuits were filed two years ago and that's what we heard both inside and outside the Supreme Court this morning.
Discussion:
Bloomberg, The Caucus, Ezra Klein, News Desk, Washington Post, National Review, CNN, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Business Insider and The New Republic


Justices Ask if Health Law Is Viable Without Mandate — WASHINGTON — On the third day and final of Supreme Court arguments over the constitutionality of President Obama's health care overhaul law, the justices on Wednesday shifted their attention to a question with enormous practical implications …
Discussion:
Opinionator, Roll Call, CNN, Power Line, Politico, Associated Press, White House Dossier, Truthdig and Above the Law


Supremes Won't Save GOP From Itself on Obamacare — A supporter of President Barack Obama's health care reforms(R) argues with several elderly women who are against the reforms in front of the US Supreme Court in Washington, DC after the morning session March 27, 2012, KAREN BLEIER / AFP / Getty Images
Discussion:
The New Republic, The Daily Beast and 2012 Decoded

First severability argument update
Discussion:
Althouse, Ezra Klein and aca litigation blog

Justices suggest Medicaid expansion is unconstitutional
Discussion:
Ricochet Conversations Feed


White House defends embattled solicitor general
Discussion:
Mother Jones, Hot Air, PJ Media, Above the Law, Indecision Forever and National Review

The Morning Plum: What will happen to the uninsured?
Discussion:
New York Times, Liberal Values, ABCNEWS, Salon, The Maddow Blog, The Raw Story, American Prospect and The Stranger …

First Thoughts: Brace yourself for another 5-4 decision
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, No More Mister Nice Blog, Hot Air, The Caucus, Campaign Stops and The Moderate Voice

CNN's Toobin discusses the Toobin factor
Discussion:
NewsBusters.org and Washington Post

A Medicaid Twist in Health-Law Arguments
Discussion:
Washington Monthly and Law Blog

Santorum uses Supreme Court oral arguments on Obama healthcare law to criticize Romney

Reactions: Lawmakers revert to talking points as justices leave them in the dark
Discussion:
Politico


Dem kicked off House floor for ‘hoodie’ in Trayvon Martin protest — Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.) on Wednesday morning was asked to leave the House floor after removing his suit jacket to reveal a “hoodie,” then putting the hood of his sweatshirt on his head to protest the Trayvon Martin killing in Florida.
Discussion:
msnbc.com, Sister Toldjah, Campaign 2012, Outside the Beltway, Politico, Naked Politics, The Gateway Pundit and The Democratic Daily
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Trayvon Martin: Couple who fled home after Spike Lee tweet hires Morgan firm — A couple who say they were forced to leave their home after director Spike Lee re-tweeted their address to his Twitter followers has hired the Morgan & Morgan law firm to represent them.
Discussion:
Ed Driscoll, Riehl World View, The Daily Caller and National Review

Rasmussen does a poll on whether Zimmerman is guilty of murdering Trayvon Martin.
Discussion:
Rasmussen Reports and Outside the Beltway

CNN Poll: Obama leads Romney and Santorum in November showdowns — Washington (CNN) - President Barack Obama holds a double-digit lead over GOP presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum in hypothetical general election matchups, according to a new poll.
Discussion:
Hot Air, Politico and Taegan Goddard's …
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Record Number See Romney Negatively; Obama Outpaces Him in Popularity — Mitt Romney trails Barack Obama by 19 points in basic popularity as the 2012 presidential contest inches closer to the main event, with a record 50 percent of Americans in the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll now rating Romney unfavorably overall.

Top Obama aide calls GOP charges ‘despicable’
Discussion:
Taylor Marsh, The Hill, The PJ Tatler and New York Times

Romney gets flak over Wisconsin anecdote from long ago — Normal — false — false — false — EN-US — X-NONE — X-NONE — MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 — <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true" — DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"


Take It From Me: Defending Obamacare is Super-Hard — It so happens that I'm packing up my apartment and moving out of Washington today after eight years of residence, most of which were spent in politics and government. One of the items I just bubble-wrapped is a framed copy of The L …
Discussion:
Ezra Klein, Mother Jones and News Desk


News Corp. Said to Plan U.S. Sports Network to Rival ESPN — Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. (NWSA) is taking steps to start a national U.S. sports network on cable television aimed at challenging Walt Disney Co. (DIS)'s ESPN, according to people with knowledge of the situation.
Discussion:
Deadline.com, Politico and msnbc.com, more at Mediagazer »

Stealing Christianity — TNR's Tim Noah wrote yesterday about one of my all-time biggest pet peeves: the constant appropriation of the word “Christian” by conservative evangelicals as exclusive to their distinctive and hardly uncontested point of view. What sent Noah off was an NPR story on …
Discussion:
The New Republic and Mother Jones


FBI Taught Agents They Could ‘Bend or Suspend the Law’ — The FBI taught its agents that they could sometimes “bend or suspend the law” in their hunt for terrorists and criminals. Other FBI instructional material, discovered during a months-long review of FBI counterterrorism training …
Discussion:
Guardian, New York Times, emptywheel, Weasel Zippers, Hullabaloo and ACLU


On ‘Mad Men,’ an Opening Scene Straight From Page 1 — The opening scenes of Sunday's season five premiere of “Mad Men,” set in 1966, depicted a sort of knucklehead-racism at work, when young men from the ad agency Young & Rubicam dropped bags filled with water on protesters picketing on the Madison Avenue sidewalk below.
Discussion:
Poynter

GOP running out of gas on Solyndra — House Republicans look like they're running out of ammunition on Solyndra. — Gone are their threats of hauling Rahm Emanuel and Carol Browner up to the Capitol to testify about how they helped the now bankrupt California solar company.
Discussion:
American Prospect, Wall Street Journal and Mother Jones


Former Pakistani dancing girl commits suicide 12 years after horrific acid attack which left her looking ‘not human’ — A Pakistani former dancing girl left fighting for life by a ‘horrific’ acid attack has committed suicide a decade after being heavily facially disfigured.
Discussion:
ThinkProgress and The Right Scoop