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Tuesday Political Grab Bag: Supreme Court Gets To Nub Of Health Care Issue

Supreme Court oral arguments on the Affordable Care Act entered their second day Tuesday, with the justices moving from the technicalities of the first day to exploring the legal issues at the heart of whether the law is constitutional or not.

President Obama used humor to downplay a partisan tempest caused by a candid comment to Russian president Dmitri Medvedev that was picked up by an open mic in which Obama said he'll have "more flexibility" in missile-defense negotiations after re-election.

The Environmental Protection Agency was expected to issue on Tuesday the first regulations restricting greenhouse-gas emissions from new power plants. The new standard is expected to be easily met by natural gas-powered plants but would essentially ban new coal-burning facilities since their emissions generally exceed the new limits.

Rick Santorum has performed much better with Protestant evangelicals than with Catholics which has come as something of a surprise since the Republican presidential candidate is a very vocal Catholic himself.

Some House Republicans are urging Speaker John Boehner and other GOP leaders to do more to acknowledge the reality of an improving economy and to start taking credit for the improvement instead of allowing Obama to claim all the credit.

Newt Gingrich has started to charge $50 for posed photos with him at campaign events, which is being read as a signal that his presidential effort is desperate for cash to keep going.

Some Senate Republicans, including Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, were working on their own version of the DREAM Act which would offer a path to citizenship to certain young undocumented immigrants in an attempt to make the party more attractive to Hispanic voters.

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

Frank James joined NPR News in April 2009 to launch the blog, "The Two-Way," with co-blogger Mark Memmott.