Personalities, politics emerge from decision's aftermath

Personalities and politics swirl around news about Monday's ruling in the Virginia health law challenge, with news outlets detailing how judges in different cases reached their conclusions and examining Judge Henry Hudson's ties to a GOP consulting firm. More reports also surround the related political dust-ups and posturing.

The Wall Street Journal: Judges Divided On Health Care Law
Within a fortnight of each other, two federal judges in Virginia, relying on identical precedents and hearing carbon-copy arguments, issued diametrically opposed decisions on the constitutionality of the federal health-care overhaul (Bravin, 12/14).

The Washington Post: Health Care Judge Says He Has No Day-To-Day Involvement With GOP Firm
A federal judge who ruled Monday that a key provision of the nation's sweeping health-care overhaul is unconstitutional said recently that he had no plans to divest from a Republican campaign consulting firm. In a recent interview, U.S. District Court Judge Henry E. Hudson said that he invested in the company before joining the bench in 2002 and that he has no day-to-day involvement with the company (Helderman, 12/14).

National Journal: GOP Goes On Offense After Health Care Ruling
Monday's decision in Virginia that a key part of Pres. Obama's health care reform bill is unconstitutional has cast a renewed spotlight on his signature legislative achievement and Republicans are using the development to go on offense in different ways in races across the country (Sullivan, 12/14).

National Journal: Romney Agrees Health Care Law Is Unconstitutional
Likely presidential contender Mitt Romney is praising the court ruling that called President Obama's health care plan unconstitutional, even though he spearheaded a similar insurance requirement as Massachusetts governor. "The court ruling supports Mitt Romney's view that 'Obamacare' is an unconstitutional power grab by Washington," said Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom. "We should repeal the law and return to the states the power to determine their own health care solutions" (Reinhard, 12/15).

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Health Reform Setback
While many Republicans had expected a Virginia federal judge to strike a blow against the new health reform law, his ruling that a key provision was unconstitutional added new fuel to this already raging political fire (Dupree, 12/14).

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This article was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.