Monday Political Grab Bag: Supreme Court Takes Health Care Law's Pulse...

Three days of historic Supreme Court arguments on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act started Monday in a case that could decide the fate of the controversial health-care law. A new CBS News/New York Times poll found that 47 percent of respondents opposed the law while 36 percent approved it.

President Obama was overheard on an open microphone during a security summit in South Korea telling Russian President Dmitri Medvedev that he would have "more flexibility" on missile-defense talks following the U.S. election, a moment that will undoubtedly be used by his Republican opponents to portray him as wobbly on security issues and a political cynic.

Rick Santorum's decisive win Saturday in Louisiana, which was expected, did little to change the dynamics of the race for the Republican presidential nomination. Mitt Romney still holds a large delegate lead and Santorum still has no clear path to the nomination himself.

Santorum got somewhat salty with a New York Times reporter at a campaign stop in Wisconsin when the journalist asked Santorum to clarify a criticism of Romney. Santorum later used the moment to underscore his GOP bona fides. On Fox News he said: "If you haven't cursed out a New York Times reporter during the presidential campaign you aren't a real Republican,"

Former Vice President Dick Cheney received a heart transplant over the weekend. The transplant for the 71-year old whose history of cardiac problems goes back decades, raised questions because Cheney is significantly older than the typical heart-transplant patient.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Email
  • Flipboard
Frank James joined NPR News in April 2009 to launch the blog, "The Two-Way," with co-blogger Mark Memmott.
Related Content
  1. A world champion didn't start rock climbing until after he lost his sight
  2. Wellspring Health Access is Wyoming's only clinic to provide surgical abortions
  3. Some Wyoming Republicans want to limit the secretary of state after Trump's pick wins
  4. Environmentalists sue after the White House resumed sales of oil and gas leases