WASHINGTON — Colorado Attorney General John Suthers called Monday's opening salvo at the U.S. Supreme Court on the federal Affordable Care Act a "preliminary skirmish" and said he had no inkling of how the court would rule, based on the day's arguments.

Monday's 90 minutes of testimony on the Anti-Injunction Act evaluated whether the mandate that every U.S. citizen purchase health care is a tax or a penalty.

"They (the justices) basically said, 'Congress didn't call it a tax — why should we call it a tax?' " Suthers said in an interview afterward.

Suthers will be in the courtroom today too for the two-hour arguments about the constitutionality of requiring Americans to buy health insurance.

He is among 26 state attorneys general who sued the federal government after Congress passed the law two years ago.


Attorneys representing the U.S. government are expected to argue that virtually everyone intersects the health-care system at some point in their lives and that Congress has the authority to regulate the commerce of it by requiring that Americans purchase some kind of health insurance.

U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, a Denver Democrat, obtained a ticket for Monday's hearings and said there was a grand juxtaposition between the somber chambers inside the marble building and the protests and chants outside.

"The spectators are hushed, and the mood is serious," she said. "You have people marching around and chanting and all the spectacle of that."

DeGette got a seat from congressional Democrats. The Supreme Court doled out a handful of tickets to leadership from both sides, and DeGette's staffers say she was chosen because she has worked so long on health care.

U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn, a Republican from Colorado Springs, will attend today's hearing — a ticket he received from Republican leadership.

Lamborn said Monday that he'll be "listening and cheering on the side that says this is unconstitutional."
