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Article updated: 3/27/2012 5:38 AM

Controversial health care law originally a Republican idea

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This artist rendering shows attorney Gregory G. Katsas speaking in front of the Supreme Court Justice in Washington on Monday as the court began three days of arguments on the health care law signed by President Barack Obama in Washington. Justices seated, from left are, Sonia Sotomayor, Stephen Breyer, Clarence Thomas, Antonin Scalia, Chief Justice John Roberts and Anthony Kennedy, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Samuel Alito and Elena Kagan.

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As the Supreme Court hears arguments on President Obama's health-care law this week, there is a curious twist: The case largely rests on the constitutionality of a provision that originated deep in Republican circles. Meanwhile, even as Democratic stalwarts warmed to the idea in recent years, one of the last holdouts was the man whose political fate is now most closely intertwined with the mandate: President Obama.

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