Citizen Cartwright

Health care ruling: Why John Roberts did it

In voting to uphold the law, the chief justice stuck with a traditional Supreme Court principle that if the justices can find any constitutional grounds on which to uphold a law, they should, says veteran reporter on the court Joan Biskupic.

And Roberts followed his own stated principle of narrowly deciding cases and trying to preserve the integrity of the judiciary in polarized Washington, she says.

One aspect of the ruling would enable states not to cover all of their poor residents through their Medicaid programs.

So states like California, Illinois and Maryland may effectively offer all of their residents health coverage. And states such as Florida and Texas — which have refused to implement the law while they challenged it in court — could reject federal aid, leaving hundreds of thousands of their residents without medical insurance.

Here is an Associated Press Q&A on what the health care law means for you. And here is an AP timeline on the country's century of debate over the role the government should play in helping people afford medical care.

The politics of the health care ruling

President Obama can not only argue that his mandate — widely condemned by conservatives — is constitutional, but that the high court is suggesting that Mitt Romney imposed a tax on Massachusetts residents when he signed as governor the state's health care law in 2006, The Boston Globe says.

Eurozone's 'surprise' deal

After 18 disappointing summits, leaders of eurozone nations appear to have finally come up with a set of measures that shows they're serious about solving their debt crisis, The Associated Press says.

After what Reuters calls a "significant shift" by Germany, the leaders agreed after 14 hours of talks on Thursday to let funds intended to bail out indebted governments funnel money directly to struggling banks as well. And they agreed to ease austerity requirements for nations that take bailouts.

Ex-astronauts to hunt for killer asteroids

A team of ex-NASA astronauts and scientists has formed the B612 Foundation — named after the home asteroid of the prince in Antoine de Saint-Exupery's book "The Little Prince" — and hopes to raise money for a private space telescope to scan the skies for small and mid-sized space rocks capable of wiping out a city or continent.

"We know these objects are out there and we can do something to prevent them" from hitting Earth, says former Apollo 9 astronaut Rusty Schweickart.

Also in the news

China's spacecraft returns safely to Earth

Reaction to House vote finding Holder in contempt of Congress

Lying about earning war medals is free speech, Supreme Court rules

Researchers: Four-in-one AIDS drug is safe, effective in clinical trial

FDA panel sees little reason to use metal-on-metal hip implants

Study: Muscle mass linked to bone health

The frenzy over the health care ruling

As I write this in the pre-dawn hours, CNN is reporting that people already are outside the Supreme Court, waiting for this morning's announcement of the health care ruling.

Here is what Politico calls its "pregame look at the best- and worst-case results for key participants in the health-care reform saga — and how they’ll try to spin the decision to the hilt."

The law, thousands of pages long, contains hundreds of changes costing hundreds of billions of dollars and affecting nearly every American from cradle to grave, says The New York Times.

The decision could be a defining moment for Barack Obama's presidency and for Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, Reuters says.

SCOTUSblog says it expects to have the ruling online 25 seconds after it's announced, at about 10:15 a.m.

At the euro summit, no 'magic formula'

On the eve of Thursday's meeting, German Chancellor Angela Merkel held two hours of talks with French President Francois Hollande. But Germany continues to oppose pooling debt, while France insists the eurozone needs further integration.

JPMorgan's trading loss could hit $9 billion

The jump from the initial $2 billion will feed a debate over how strictly big financial institutions should be regulated and whether some behemoth banks are capitalizing on their status as too big to fail to make risky trades, The New York Times says.

“Essentially, JPMorgan has been operating a hedge fund with federal insured deposits within a bank,” says Mark Williams, a professor of finance at Boston University who has been a Federal Reserve bank examiner.

A spokesman for the bank declined to comment to the Times.

Concern about reverse mortgages

As some older Americans try to improve their financial situation by tapping into their home equity using a reverse mortgage, many risk ending up in a worse situation because of confusion over the complex terms of the loans, according to a report by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

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Russia said to back Annan idea of Syria unity government

Lawmakers reach deal on transportation; Keystone is out

Contempt of Congress issue may fizzle after House vote

Congressional panel approves bill on Fed audit

After years of false hope, signs of a turn in housing

Madoff’s brother to plead guilty to fraud in Ponzi scheme

Exxon CEO Tillerson: Climate, energy fears overblown

Water quality of U.S. beaches lacking, annual report says

Texas man gets 40 years in stand-your-ground case

FDA approves lorcaserin, first weight-loss drug in 13 years

Vaccine showing promise for nicotine addiction

Colleges moving toward absolute bans on smoking