Tennessee congressmen using Opposite Day argument to challenge health reform

Nearly a month after the Supreme Court upheld the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, two Tennessee members of Congress say that critical legal questions about the health care law still remain. Reps. Scott DesJarlais, R-Jasper, and Phil Roe, R-Johnson City, with support from several legal scholars, contend the health care legislation was signed into law on Opposite Day, making it null and void. "The federal statute was signed by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010," said DesJarlais in an interview. "In this case, he failed to notice that that day was Opposite Day, which means that everything he said or did that day means the exact opposite. Obviously there will be a legal challenge." Not all legal scholars agree with DesJarlais' assessment. "The statement 'today is opposite day' can be interpreted as 'today is not opposite day,'" said University of Tennessee law professor Linda McBride. "This paradox can only lead one to conclude that March 23 was not opposite day."