You know, this is something like the third or fourth SCOTUS case in the last couple years with a “strange bedfellows” alignment of the Liberal bloc and some of the Conservatives where the initial reaction has been that of a huge victory for the Left but upon reflection looks like sly victory for Conservatives.
I’m wondering if the Conservatives on the Court have figured out a way of manipulating the Liberals into Conservative-favoring majority opinions. Give up on some minor point to win several major points and walk away with a solid 6-3 or even more solid 7-2 majority that dispels the notion of partisan bias.
Even though I strenuously disagree with the decision (”strenuously” isn’t actually a strong enough word for my feeling on this - the damn thing should have been struck down immediately and in it’s entirety), I have wondered if that’s what Roberts was trying for with the ObamaCare opinion. While the opinion left the piece of garbage standing under the auspices of the Gvt’s ability to tax, Roberts pulled all four Liberal Justices into supporting a majority opinion that defined - for the first real time since the New Deal iirc - good limits on what the Federal Gvt can do in the face of the 10th Amendment.