The CNN Daily Mash-up is a roundup of some of the most interesting, surprising, curious, poignant or significant items to appear on CNN.com in the past 24 hours. We top it with a collection of the day's most striking photographs from around the world.
Your quote of the day comes from a Supreme Court decision you may have heard about. Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the majority, wrote in the opinion's pivotal paragraph:
The federal government does not have the power to order people to buy health insurance. ... The federal government does have the power to impose a tax on those without health insurance.
CNN iReporter Jannet Walsh of Murdock, Minnesota, was both pleased and disappointed by different parts of the Supreme Court's health care ruling. She's unemployed and Catholic, and she questions whether religious institutions can be forced to provide access to birth control.
It's going to be great for people to get health care, but I still think we're going to wonder how we're going to pay for it. ... I'm left wanting to know more, and want someone to address those points.
The House of Representatives voted Thursday to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in criminal contempt for refusing to turn over documents tied to the botched Fast and Furious gun-running sting - a discredited operation that has become a sharp point of contention between Democrats and Republicans in Washington.
The 255-67 vote marked the first time in American history that the head of the Justice Department has been held in contempt by Congress. Almost every House Republican backed the measure, along with nearly 20 Democrats.
A large number of Democrats - including members of the Congressional Black Caucus and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi - walked off the House floor in protest and refused to participate in the vote.
The criminal contempt charge refers the dispute to District of Columbia U.S. Attorney Ronald Machen, who will decide whether to file charges against Holder. Most legal analysts do not expect Machen - an Obama appointee who ultimately answers to Holder - to take any action.
House members are also expected to pass a civil contempt measure Thursday afternoon. The civil measure would allow the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform to file a lawsuit asking the courts to examine the Justice Department's failure to produce certain subpoenaed documents, as well as the validity of the administration's recent assertion of executive privilege over the documents in question.
Legal experts contacted by CNN have said, based on recent precedent, that it could take years for the courts to reach any final decision.
Fast and Furious, a so-called "gun-walking" operation, allowed roughly 2,000 guns into Mexico with the goal of tracking them to Mexican drug cartels. Two guns found at the scene of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry's fatal shooting were linked to the operation. Guns from the operation have also been linked to an unknown number of Mexican civilians' deaths.
FULL STORYOn June 28, the Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Care Act in a 5-4 ruling. In the hours after, CNNâs audience was incredibly active in expressing their opinions on the decision.
Some CNN commenters and iReport contributors had personal stories to share:
roaringwoman
As a cancer survivor⌠my life would have been over without health insurance. It's a necessary evil, but without it, hospitals would be closing their doors, and people would be dying. And don't blame Obama or any other political force because the insurance monster has been around for a long, long, time ruling patients, doctors and hospitals.
Amelia
If you own a vehicle you are required to have it insured. If you don't you pay fines...I don't see the big deal, if they make it affordable I would jump at the chance to insure my family. I work for an attorney, and since it is a small firm, he does not offer insurance.
Natfka
I have 62 employees currently, and since I will be mandated to provide healthcare, I have two options now: Cut deeply into the pockets of the company, myself and its employees, or cut my staffing down to 49 people so as to not hit that 50 person benchmark for mandatory coverage. So 13 people are gone, or 62 (plus myself) take cuts in vacation and or pay raises. I have not made the decision yet, but I won't let my company and all of its employees take such a big hit.
iReport assignment: Your reaction to health care ruling
darb123
As a person with a pre-existing condition that was hereditary, I am glad. Maybe [now] I can purchase insurance. No insurance company will insure me. I have to use my state Medicare-type program. I don't mind paying at all. I still pay for my own prescriptions to the tune of $200 a month. I had no choice a few months back when I had gotten extremely ill and had to go to a regular local hospital. I stayed overnight and the cost was $6,000. Not an Obama fan either!
Many readers pointed out the potential benefits of the lawâs implementation:
c_apples
Most of you that have a problem with health care reform have no issues paying your Social Security and Medicare taxes on your paycheck. In fact, I'm sure the majority is counting down the days until they can take advantage of the Social Security and Medicare they have paid into. How is this health care as a tax any different?
flannelgal
People against this law have chosen to limit where they get their information about this law. Currently, when a person who has no insurance requires emergency care, tax payers pay for it, and the [federal] debt mounts. Now, all least the coffers will be replenished by all people, and all people get health care, preventative health care to boot. Thank you, President Obama, and everyone who worked hard to make this happen for all Americans.
Leeford68
I donât like being forced to pay for wars I donât want.
I donât like being forced to pay for roads I donât drive on.
I donât like being forced to pay for schools when I donât have kids....
But I accept the fact that I have to pay for all of these things that create a better community for all of us to live in.
Obama: Supreme Court ruling on health care a victory for all Americans
The Supreme Court is expected to rule today on the constitutionality of President Obama's health care law. Once a ruling is issued, watch CNN.com Live for reaction and fallout to the decision.
Today's programming highlights...
9:00 am ET - Anti-health care law rally - The Supreme Court will be the place to be today because of the health care ruling. Before the ruling is announced, conservative groups opposed to the Affordable Care Act will stage rally outside the Court.
10:00 am ET (est.) - Health care ruling revealed
An Indiana man is demanding a direct apology from a Transportation Security Administration agent in Florida who, the man says, spilled his grandfather's ashes during an airport bag check - and then laughed off the incident.
And John Gross is also demanding that the TSA release any security surveillance tapes of the incident - tapes that the federal agency claims simply don't exist.
Gross, 30, was returning home from visiting family in Orlando, Florida, on June 19, carrying with him a portion of his grandfather's ashes that had been passed along by an uncle - a "real sentimental kind of guy," says Gross - when he approached TSA screeners. A female agent wearing blue latex gloves inspected the contents of his bag, says Gross, including the jar clearly labeled "Human Remains."
"I said, 'Please be careful, these are my grandpa's ashes,'" Gross told CNN Wednesday. But, he said, the agent proceeded to stick her finger in the jar then accidentally spilled its contents on the airport floor.
She then laughed, according to Gross - not an uproarious cackle, but a chuckle that he found offensive nonetheless.
"She thought it was funny," he said. "I wanted to smack her."
FULL STORY
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