U.S. Health-Care Law's Insurance Requirement Struck Down in Virginia Suit

Bloomberg  “At its core, this dispute is not simply about regulating the business of insurance -- or crafting a scheme of universal health insurance coverage -- it’s about an individual’s right to choose to participate,” wrote Hudson, who was appointed by President George W. Bush in 2002.*"....

"To overcome that conclusion, the Obama administration ultimately may have to persuade at least one of the five Republican-appointed justices on a Supreme Court that in recent years has limited Congress’s power to regulate interstate commerce."

* Emphasis added. You knew they would throw this in, didn't you?

Holder and Sebelius trot out the auto-insurance canard  "You have to feel for the editors of the Washington Post.  The day after a federal judge rules ObamaCare’s mandate unconstitutional, they get an opportunity to let the woman who runs it and the man who directed its defense publish an essay rebutting the critics dancing on the mandate’s grave.  Once the editors receive it, though, they see that the argument relies on a canard that has been thoroughly debunked for months — and renders the entire exercise useless.  Do the editors kill the celebrity column, or run with it and hope no one notices? Guess:"  CNN photo.

Individual mandate not easily fixable "But here's the tricky part: Justice Elena Kagan, having served in the Obama Justice Department, is surely to recuse herself. With the "liberals" one judge down, even a Kennedy vote to uphold the individual mandate would presumably result in a 4-4 tie. And guess what? If there is a tie, the lower ruling stands. In other words, this is really bad for ObamaCare advcoates." Emphasis added. The Klein article Rubin refers to is next:

Is the Hudson ruling good news for health reform?"Hudson ruled against the government, but he didn't stop it (you can read the full opinion here.). He refused the plaintiff's request for an injunction against the legislation's continued implementation. The construction of the bill's infrastructure will continue. And second, he refused to overrule anything but the individual mandate itself."