John Roberts’ ObamaCare Redo?

When John Roberts was nominated by President George W. Bush to replace Chief Justice William Rehnquist, here is what Townhall Magazine said about him:

If you watched the confirmation hearings for his nomination to be chief justice of the Supreme Court, you know why the Left hates him. Without notes, Roberts, a constructionist, schooled every single one of the Judiciary Committee’s far-Left senators on constitutional jurisprudence.

Having someone of his intellect, worldview and legal understanding as chief justice does wonders to protect the Constitution from those who would amend it by judicial fiat.

I was dubious about Roberts, for one reason: A Republican president nominated him. And that has been historically disastrous for conservatism.

And, of course, the Left had nothing to worry about; John Roberts’ smug little $#!+eating grin was everything it promised to be.

His split ruling on ObamaCare was one of the biggest constitutional sellouts in history.

WaPo:

The first time the Affordable Care Act came before the Supreme Court, its constitutional foundation under attack, John G. Roberts Jr. was its unlikely savior. In a spectacular display of spot-welding, the chief justice joined fellow conservatives on some points and brought liberals on board for others. Roberts was the only member of the court to endorse the entire jerry-rigged thing, and even he made sure to distance himself from the substance of the law. (“It is,” he wrote, “not our job to protect the people from the consequences of their political choices.”) Still, his efforts rescued President Obama’s signature achievement on grounds that many had dismissed as an afterthought.

As long as Justice Anthony M. Kennedy is on the court, he will most often be the decider when the justices split along their familiar ideological fault lines. But, slowly and quietly, Roberts is the one trying to build its legacy.

But no, Roberts made Anthony Kennedy look like a redneck teabagger when the vote came down on this unconstitutional train wreck legislation. Roberts had to look for an Obama lie even Obama disowned to support the administration’s position, his decision was such a mangled contradiction.

Now he has another chance to be the construtionist he lied to the U.S. Congress about being when he was approved.

And then here comes Obamacare II. In King v. Burwell , to be argued Wednesday, plaintiffs say the text of the law must be interpreted in a way that would neuter it, canceling health insurance subsidies for about 7.5 million Americans in at least 34 states. Can Roberts’s portrayal of the Supreme Court as above politics survive another round with the most partisan issue of the decade?

Call me cynical, but I have to wonder what Democrats will use this time to extort this default Ivy League wimp to get him to change his decision.

Roberts may attempt to redeem himself in this his second shot at ObamaCare; Lord knows he seems to care what people think about him enough.

But don’t bet on it. Time after time we’ve seen supposed establishment conservative justices go lefty on us.

Tell me, can Republicans get any worse at picking federal judges?

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