Damon Root on Justice Scalia's ObamaCare Problem
When the U.S. Supreme Court hears oral arguments later this month on whether the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act's individual mandate, which requires all Americans to buy or secure health insurance, oversteps Congress' lawful authority to regulate interstate commerce, the Obama administration will be drawing heavily from the legal arguments of a surprising ally: conservative Justice Antonin Scalia. That's because in 2005, when the Supreme Court last heard a major Commerce Clause challenge to a federal regulation, Scalia sided with the liberal majority and wrote a sweeping opinion in favor of federal power. As Senior Editor Damon Root reports, the Obama administration repeatedly cites Scalia's arguments in its defense of the health care overhaul. But will the government's play for Scalia's vote pay off?