Posted on 07/01/2012 10:47:39 AM PDT by Kaslin
CBS News broke a huge story on Sunday's Face the Nation concerning the Supreme Court's Thursday ruling on ObamaCare.
According to Jan Crawford, CBS legal and political correspondent, Chief Justice John Roberts was initially going to strike down the individual mandate requiring citizens to buy health insurance, but changed his mind over the objections of the conservatives on the Court (video follows with transcript):
CBS News: Roberts Initially Wanted to Strike Down ObamaCare Mandate But Changed His Mind
NORAH ODONNELL, SUBSTITUTE HOST: We're going to start first with Jan because you've done some reporting. The big question was why did Chief Justice John Roberts do what he did? And you've learned some new details right?JAN CRAWFORD, CBS LEGAL AND POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right. What was striking about this decision was that it was the conservative Chief Justice that was providing that decisive fifth vote, joining the liberals to uphold the Presidents signature achievement. And Norah that was something that no one would have expected back in 2005 when President George W. Bush put him on the Supreme Court, and that was something that not even the conservative justices expected back in March when the Court heard arguments in this case.
I am told by two sources with specific knowledge of the Court's deliberations that Roberts initially sided with the conservatives in this case and was prepared to strike down the heart of this law, the so-called individual mandate, of course, that requires all Americans to buy insurance or pay a penalty. But Roberts, I'm told by my sources, changed his views deciding to instead join with the liberals.
And he withstood-- I'm told by my sources -- a month-long desperate campaign by the conservative justices to bring him back to the fold, and that campaign was led, ironically, by Justice Anthony Kennedy. And why that's ironic is because it was Justice Kennedy that conservatives feared would be the one most likely to defect. But their effort, of course, was unsuccessful. Roberts did not budge. The conservatives wrote that astonishing joint dissent united in opposition, and Roberts wrote the majority opinion with the four liberals to uphold the President's signature achievement.
ODONNELL: Has this there been anything like this on the Court before? I mean, that's extraordinary that the Chief Justice, according to your report about a month ago decided to do this and then was lobbied unsuccessfully.
CRAWFORD: Yes, that has happened before, and often in high-profile, controversial cases including Justice Kennedy who's changed his views in a very high-profile case involving a woman's rights on abortion back in 1992. And justices do change their mind. There is precedent for that. One justice told me that surprisingly enough it happens about once a term. But in the case of this magnitude with so much on the line, conservatives believed they had Roberts vote in this case, and there's quite a lot of anger within the hallways of the Supreme Court right now.
Roberts is just another soul for Satan.
Rogers is an activists judge and a fool. Too bad he cannot be impeached. Newt was right, we need to purge activists AH from our courts. Rogers now is Americas number one enemy of our rights.
Roberts IMHO will go down in history no different than Beneditc Arnold or the Rosenbergs.
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The guy on the right hurt the country much more than the other person.
“Im more and more convinced that he was threatened in a way that had teeth.”
Probably; it’s how the Chicago mob/political machine operates. Blackmail and worse are SOP for these people. Roberts knows better; this isn’t what his life has been about. Something evil was threatened, I believe.
Well, maybe he is a genius compared to your written opinions.
Don’t tell me... he ‘evolved’ on the issue, right? ;-P
Roberts found a “behavior tax” in the Constitution? Wow, I wonder how Congress is going to use it’s new “behavior tax” power. GOP appointed Justices screwing us and the Constitution yet again. But of course we just have to keep voting GOP, lol, same old same old, one more time.
An image comes to mind of Obama with the same look and saying nearly the same thing that Yamamoto said shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
screw you. I had a brain tumor, and I NEVER did idiotic things like Roberts just pulled. And before you start an epilepsy mimi, know you’ll be insulting about 2% of the population. Moron.
IMO, the President and his party threatened to unleash hell on the conservative justices.
They for the most part are pretty obscure to the general public away from the court; imagine what they’d face having the Occupy crowd down their throats all the time.
Guess we’ll never know.
I still have nothing but disgust for the other 4 justices, especially the liberal progressive women. None of them are qualified to do anything. They are ideologues who know nothing of nor care nothing for the law. They honestly believe in making it all up as they go along. And they seem to know nothing about the lives of ordinary Americans whom they are supposed to serve.
That is my take also. He thinks the dims have the winning hand due to demographics and hitched his wagon to them.
I don't think he was threatened. I think he lies awake at night thinking about the "Roberts Court" and its place in history. He wants to be in the pantheon of noted Chief Justices.
His vote was all about John Roberts and nothing else. No need for the tin foil when occam's razor gives the answer.
OR this could just be spin by Kennedy clerks to try and rehab his damaged image after his despicable Arizona SB1070 decision, among others.
It's time to bite the bullet, grab the "third rail" and start impeaching Federal judges for violating their oaths, right up through the Supreme Court. It's our right and duty. We know what the Constitution says; it's purposely written in everyday language so that ordinary men and their representatives can understand it.
It is a disservice to our country, and to the many honest judges up and down the levels of the judiciary who have to deal with these irrational, corrupt fruitcakes and their shoddy work, not to impeach the offenders. Let the campaign begin today. House indicts, Senate convictsis that right?
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