The political genius of John Roberts  —  After Chief Justice Charles Evan Hughes deftly beat back Franklin Delano Roosevelt's court-packing proposal, FDR said, with grudging admiration, that Hughes was the best politician in the country.  “That was hardly the way Hughes would have chosen to be remembered …

More Hints that Roberts Switched his Vote  —  Reader Stuart Buck provides more detail as to why the dissent reads like a majority opinion (see also Deborah Pearlstein at Balkanization):  —  1. The dissent has a whole section on severability that is completely beside the point except …

Repeal Is a Fantasy  —  Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney speaks about the Supreme Court ruling on health care in Washington, Thursday, June 28, 2012.  (Charles Dharapak / AP Photo)  —  The Republican Plan B is to repeal Obamacare on Day 1 of a Romney presidency.  —  Good luck with that.

Was the Dissent Originally a Majority Opinion?  —  The four-Justice dissent, at least on first quick perusal, reads like it was originally written as a majority opinion, [something Larry Solum also noticed] (for example, he refers to Justice Ginsburg's opinion as “The dissent") [update …

CNN News Staffers Revolt Over Blown Coverage  —  “Embarrassing.”  “F**king humiliating.”  “Shameful.”  A veteran producer jumps the gun, a young correspondent goes too far, and the network's crisis deepens.  —  News staffers at the cable network CNN, long the gold standard in television news …

Why Romney Won't Repeal Obamacare  —  Mitt Romney, speaking just before noon today, declared that on his first day in office, “I will act to repeal Obamacare.”  I think he chose his words carefully.  As President, he may indeed “act” to repeal it on Day One, but I don't believe he will actually be able to overturn the law.

Evidence that the Votes Shifted After Conference (Initial Vote to Declare Mandate Unconstitutional)  —  After a preliminary read of the opinions in the Health Care Cases (National Federation of Independent Business v. Sibelius), there seems to be substantial evidence that the initial vote …

Obama Wins the Battle, Roberts Wins the War  —  The chief justice's canny move to uphold the Affordable Care Act while gutting the Commerce Clause.  —  There were two battles being fought in the Supreme Court over the Affordable Care Act.  Chief Justice John Roberts—and Justice Anthony Kennedy …

Did Nino Scalia Firmly Think He Had His “Constitutional Moment”, and His Majority?  —  Sure sounds like he did not search-and-replace his text to correct it when Roberts peeled off.  —  Successfully electing George W. Bush 5-4 was not enough for him.  He thought he had repealed the ACA 5-4 as well.

Conservative Republicans Turn On Former Hero, Chief Justice John Roberts  —  Conservative Republicans used to be huge fans of Chief Justice John Roberts — until this morning.  —  Over the course of just a few hours, Republicans' warm feelings toward the Chief Justice (see the top twelve Republican songs …

Blog chatter: Impeach Roberts  —  Furious conservative activists lashed out Thursday in the blogosphere at Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts for siding with the left and upholding the individual mandate in “Obamacare,” with some even calling for his impeachment.

How far the four dissenters were willing to go  —  In a 5-4 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act.  But as the political, legal, and policy world scrutinizes the details of today's ruling, it's worth pausing to appreciate just how far the four dissenters …

I'm Not Down on John Roberts  —  Having gone through the opinion, I am not going to beat up on John Roberts.  I am disappointed, but I want to make a few points.  —  First, I get the strong sense from a few anecdotal stories about Roberts over the past few months and the way he has written …