Obama Administration Will not Defend DOMA

From the NYT:

President Obama, in a striking legal and political shift, has determined that the Defense of Marriage Act — the 1996 law that bars federal recognition of same-sex marriages — is unconstitutional, and has directed the Justice Department to stop defending the law in court, the administration said Wednesday.

Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. announced the decision in a letter to members of Congress. In it, he said the administration was taking the extraordinary step of refusing to defend the law, despite having done so during Mr. Obama’s first two years in the White House. - Letter from Justice Department.

Commentary:
- Is this an Executive Power Grab?
- Does the President Have a Duty to Defend Laws Passed by Congress?

Will Health Care Survive the Courts:

From the UPI:

The repeal of healthcare reform by the U.S. House earlier this month may have been a feckless exercise of political theater but there is no playacting when it comes to the legal challenges now elbowing their way through the U.S. courts.

The U.S. Senate is extremely unlikely to follow the House's lead, and President Obama has vowed to veto the repeal if it does. But the legal challenges to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act by 28 states and others inevitably are headed to a U.S. Supreme Court dominated by a 5-4 conservative majority expected to be at least philosophically sympathetic.
File this under checks and balances and federalism, among other things.

Ted Cruz and Scott McCown Debate Health Care Law and the Tenth Amendment

A couple of smart guys (Texans!) come to opposite conclusions regarding what the Tenth Amendment means and whether the Affordable Health Care Act is constitutional.

- Scott McCown - yes its constitutional.
- Ted Cruz - no its not.

Who is Scott McCown?
Who is Ted Cruz? He wants be your next Senator.