Jonathan Cohn, from the New Republic, runs through three basic questions the Supreme Court will likely address in next week's oral arguments about Affordable Health Care Act:
1 - What are the limits of the federal government's power to regulate interstate commerce?
2 - What are the limits of the "necessary and proper" clause?
3 - Is Medicaid coercive to the states?
Use this to set up some discussion in class about the upcoming case.
Cohn points out that if the Supreme Court decides to overturn this case, then it will have to rethink a variety of decisions it has made over the years. Some - not all - conservatives have been itching for a case that allows for the court decisions made during the New Deal to be over-turned. This might well be that case, but it will set in motion changes that could well go beyond what opponents of the bill envision.
