Conservatives were mostly encouraged by this week’s oral arguments at the Supreme Court over the president’s health care laws – particularly the fight over the constitutionality of the individual mandate. Ed Whelan is president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center and is a former clerk for Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. He explains why the oral arguments seemed to help Obamacare opponents and why it’s never a good idea to predict a ruling based on oral arguments. Whelan tells us why expectations that Justice Scalia would be sympathetic to the government on the Commerce Clause were really overblown. He also explains what happens next, from justices taking preliminary votes as early as Friday, putting together opinions and justices having the freedom to change their minds until just before the rulings are revealed.
