I don't veer much into politics on this blog. (To say nothing of the fact that I don't veer into much of anything on this blog these days.) But I do find it worthwhile to point out the excellent job that Cornell alumna Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Class of 1954, did in arguing for the need of Congressional regulation of the health insurance market this week. Sadly, she did a much better job of arguing for the Affordable Care Act than the Obama administration's own lawyers: When U.S. Solicitor General Donald Verrilli made a vague case for regulating economic activity, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg needled him to get more specific about why it’s necessary here — and effectively made his case for him. “I thought what was unique about this,” she said, “is it’s not my choice whether I want to buy a product to keep me healthy, but the cost that I am forcing on other people if I don’t buy the product sooner rather than later.” Ginsburg interjected again when Justice Antonin Scalia grilled Verrilli on whether government can require people to purchase cars if the insurance mandate is upheld. “I thought a major, major point of your argument was that the people who don’t participate in this market are making it much more expensive for the people who do,” she said. When U.S. Solicitor General Donald Verrilli made a vague case for regulating economic activity, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg needled him to get more specific about why it's necessary here and effectively made his case for him.
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