Health Care At The High Court

The Supreme Court takes up the constitutionality of President Obama’s health care reform. We’ll have the high court hearing on tape, and top analysts on their deliberation.

It’s the constitutional heart of the matter today on health care reform before the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington.  Can the federal government require citizens to have – buy - health insurance?  Opponents say that’s an offense to liberty.

Supporters say it’s the only way to keep free-loaders off the public’s back.  Certainly, the economics of the Obama health care reform do not add up without it.  Republicans used to back it.  Now they’re fiercely against it.  And there sits the Supreme Court, with all its tradition and leanings and politics.

This hour, On Point:  the high court, the Constitution, and health care.
-Tom Ashbrook

Karen Tumulty, national political reporter for the Washington Post.

Brian Fitzpatrick, a professor at Vanderbilt Law School.

Theodore Ruger, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School.

The New York Times "The Supreme Court on Monday began three days of epic arguments over the 2010 health care overhaul law with a sort of appetizer — a 90-minute debate over whether the Court yet has the authority to hear the case."

USA Today "Health coverage for more than 30 million people. The power of Congress to regulate interstate commerce. President Obama's re-election. The reputation of the Supreme Court and the legacy of its chief justice."

Slate "Forget precedent. Ignore Scalia’s musings. Next week’s health care argument before the Supreme Court is all about optics, politics, and public opinion."

Here's the transcript of the first day of Supreme Court oral arguments in the case over the health care reform legislation. You can hear an audio recording of the case here.

[Use the navigation bar at the bottom of this frame to reformat the excerpt to best suit your reading experience.]
http://www.scribd.com/doc/86794666/11-398-Monday