Anything that slows down the process is bad for the administration, because the Chrysler sale doesn’t hold up well under scrutiny. Also, Ginsberg’s decision raises all kinds of questions for Sotomayor. The Court will probably be asked to hear other TARP cases, and the administration will probably keep arguing that TARP is beyond the Court’s reach. What does Sotomayor think about the legality of using TARP as an all-purpose executive-branch slush fund? Over at Heritage, Andrew Grossman has posted an analysis of the decision that includes this bit at the end:
The Constitution matters: Too often, the Supreme Court defers to the government on economic policy rather than enforce the Constitution’s limits on government powers. This is because only four Justices on the Court today adhere to the Constitution as it was originally written. The rest allow their personal preferences to influence their decisions, leading to an ever-larger and more powerful federal government. That’s why it is crucially important the President nominate judges who follow the law as it was written, not as they think it should be. Otherwise, there is no hope that the federal government will continue to respect the rights of its citizens and the limits of its own power.