It looks like the end for Dominique Strauss-Kahn and Anne Sinclair. As the new editor for the French edition of the Huffington Post, she gets a life of her own, and as she puts it, "a chance:"

“This is a chance for me,” Ms. Sinclair said. “The Huffington Post gave me a chance.”

In the interview later with Elle, she said, “I am neither a saint nor a victim. I am a free woman.”

Dominique, by contrast, is unemployed, facing criminal investigation in France, and becoming something of a pariah, according to the Times. [More...]

Spain-Italy in the Euro2012 final Sunday. VAMOS ESPANA!!! Our banks are broker than yours!!!

Tour de France starts tomorrow. Wiggins the favorite. I took a flyer on Valverde at 33-1.

Open Thread.

Upholding ACA, laying groundwork to strike down New Deal

Yesterday, a happy day for many of us, where the Affordable Care Act was upheld in a 5-4 decision (PDF) authored by Chief Justice John Roberts, there is a dark cloud attached. The Chief Justice accepted the federal government's argument that Congress had exercised its taxing power in enacting the mandate. But rather than being a judicial minimalist and deciding only those constitutional questions that must be decided, the Roberts Court bulled on to decide issues that need not have been addressed—whether the mandate exceeded the Congress' Commerce and Necessary and Proper power.

And the Roberts opinion on the scope of the national government's power to address national problems is a shot across the bow to the Supreme Court's New Deal jurisprudence that underpins our modern national government.

(Continue reading below the fold)

Update: The second hour of the bond hearing can be watched here on YouTube.

As the judge today considers whether to grant George Zimmerman bond, the City of Sanford is reeling from the costs of the investigation and prosecution to date. It's asking that the State of Florida chip in.

The costs so far: $385,000, including:

* $96,000 in overtime
* $182,000 in regular time
* $106,000 in other expenses

These costs don't include expenses of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the state attorney's office or the special prosecutor.

[The vote to hold him in contempt] "may make for good political theater in the minds of some, but it is - at base - both a crass effort and a grave disservice to the American people."

"Whatever the path that this matter will now follow, it will not distract me or the men and women of the Department of Justice from the important tasks that are our responsibility," Holder said. "A great deal of work for the American people remains to be done - I'm getting back to it. I suggest that those who orchestrated today's vote do the same."

The House has approved a civil contempt of Congress resolution against Holder. The vote was 258-95. Earlier, via Politico:

The House has voted to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress, the latest fallout from the "Fast and Furious" scandal. The vote was 255-67, with 17 Democrats joining the majority Republicans in voting yes.

The opinion is here.

Here'a a new thread to discuss the Supreme Court decision and related topics. (I haven't read it yet, I just got out of court. I'll chime in later, I'm sure.)

BTD - Radio most of the day but I promise to discuss ACA here at Talk Left tomorrow if anyone is still interested.

The New Zealand High Court has invalidated the search warrants executed on #Kim DotCom and his co-defendants. The raid on the Dotcom Mansion was illegal and based on invalid search warrants. The Judge also found that it was "unlawful for clones of digital material seized to be sent to the FBI."

Dotcom wiped tears from his eyes and left court as Mr Davison said his client had been "ripped from his family'' and was now before the court asking for the legitimacy of the police actions to be looked at.

Summary of Findings, from the 56 page decision: [More...]

BTD will be on the radio (please join him), and I'll be getting ready for court when the Supreme Court releases its historic decision on the Affordable Care Act. The decision will be available on the court's website.

According to C-Span, these are the four issues:

• Whether the court has jurisdiction over a tax law that has yet to take effect,
• Whether the individual mandate is constitutional,
• Whether the court can strike down only part of the law without striking down the law in its entirety,
• And whether the law's extension of Medicaid is constitutional.

Put even simpler, the decision will address jurisdiction, the individual mandate, the fate of the rest of the law — and separately, the Medicaid provision.

For the legal-minded among you, check out ScotusBlog. It's plain English version (which maybe should be called plain English for lawyers) is here. Here are some potential scenarios in plain English as to the effects of the ruling should it go one way or the other.

Here's a thread to discuss all aspects of the decision and the potential effects -- legal, economic, political, and personal.

Thursday morning, starting at 9 am ET, Daily Kos Radio will be presenting live coverage and reaction to the Supreme Court's momentous decision on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act. You can listen here. We'll be taking calls as well (Skype calls preferred.) What we'll be talking about - via Adam B:

President Obama is coming to Colorado Springs Friday to tour the wildfire areas which continue to ravage Colorado. Here's a map showing how big the red zone is. Around 200 - 300 homes have been destroyed, and more than 30,000 people evacuated.

More here. The photo galleries are pretty amazing.

There are more than 900 firefighters battling the fires which now cover more than 15,000 acres. The good news is the federal, state and local governments are working together. And far better prepared. Lessons learned from the disaster days of Hurrican Katrina when the feds couldn't get anything together.

Check out the website for the National Interagency Fire Center -- it's very informative and confidence-inspiring.

The military has sent two MAFF's to Colorado Springs. Whats a MAFF? [More...]

Peter Madoff will plead guilty Friday in federal court to charges based on his role as a compliance officer for Bernie Madoff's firm. While the charges will include "falsifying documents, lying to regulators and filing false tax returns", the Times says he is essentially agreeing he was an "enabler."

Peter Madoff has agreed to a prison term of 10 years, prosecutors said in a letter filed with the court on Wednesday. As part of his plea deal, he has agreed to forfeit $143 billion, a staggering penalty that he is not likely to be able to pay.

...The guilty plea does not amount to an admission that Peter Madoff knew about or participated in his brother’s Ponzi scheme. Rather, it confirms the government’s allegations that Peter Madoff served as a sham compliance officer who exercised little if any legal oversight over the firm’s operations, effectively enabling his brother’s crimes.

The Trustee in the Madoff case says he will be distributing more than $8 billion to victims this week, bringing the total distributed to $9 billion, out of $18 billion sought to be recovered.

I think Andrew Koppelman gets it in one paragraph:

The philosophy they relied upon, which I’ll call Tough Luck Libertarianism, holds that property rights are absolute and any redistribution to care for the sick violates those rights. If you’re sick, and you can’t afford to pay for medical care with your own money, that’s your tough luck. The judges’ willingness to read this notion into the Constitution is very big news, dwarfing even the fate of the ACA, which is itself the most important social legislation in decades.