...Vinson said the GOVERNMENT EVEN CONCEDED THAT ITS INTERPRETATION OF THE COMMERCE CLAUSE TO SUPPORT THE INDIVIDUAL MANDATE "BREAKS NEW LEGAL GROUND" AND IS "UNPRECEDENTED." He concluded, "If it has the power to compel an otherwise passive individual into a commercial transaction with a third party ... it is not hyperbolizing to suggest that Congress could do almost anything it wanted. It is difficult to imagine that a nation which began, at least in part, as the result of opposition to a British mandate giving the East India Company a monopoly and imposing a nominal tax on all tea sold in America would have set out to create a government with the power to force people to buy tea in the first place."http://washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/editorials/2011/01/judicial-drubbing-obamacare#ixzz1CiU7sbZi
Vinson also turned the government's logic on its head in his ruling that the mandate is not severable from the rest of the legislation. ON THE ONE HAND, THE GOVERNMENT MAINTAINED THE MANDATE COULDN'T BE SEVERED FROM THE REST OF THE BILL BECAUSE IT WAS ESSENTIAL TO THE OPERATION OF THE ENTIRE HEALTH CARE REFORM PROGRAM. BUT THEN THE GOVERNMENT ARGUED CONVERSELY THAT THE MANDATE WAS SEVERABLE BECAUSE THE 2,700-PAGE BILL CONTAINED MANY PROVISIONS ONLY TANGENTIALLY RELATED TO HEALTH CARE. Severing the mandate was also impossible, Vinson said, because he would then have to rule on how doing so affected each of the hundreds of provisions in the law. Doing that, Vinson argued, would require him to exceed his own authority as a judge by acting as a legislature....
This is going to SCOTUS and should be expedited there.
How the MSM treated the Obamacare story
ABC, CBS and NBC on Monday night devoted more than half of their evening newscasts to the turmoil in Egypt, but while CBS AND NBC SQUEEZED IN BRIEF MENTIONS OF HOW A FEDERAL JUDGE AGREED WITH 26 STATES THAT THE ENTIRE OBAMACARE LAW IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL, ABC’S WORLD NEWS DIDN’T UTTER A SYLLABLE ABOUT THE MAJOR SETBACK FOR THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION. Anchor Diane Sawyer, however, made room for a full story on an impending snowstorm and four minutes for a new series, “Families on the Brink: What to Do About Mom and Dad?”
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/brent-baker/2011/02/01/abc-s-sawyer-spikes-federal-judge-s-ruling-against-obamacare#ixzz1Cj5ccaPy
Of course the media isn’t tilted to the left. They just had more important things to talk about.
The cost of oil
In case you haven’t noticed, OIL PRICES IN THE UNITED STATES DIFFER FROM THOSE IN THE REST OF THE WORLD. Usually the variance is just a few dollars, but over the last few weeks the difference between West Texas Intermediate prices and Brent crude, which is sourced in Europe’s North Sea, has widened to about $10.
That means that while Americans are buying oil at just over $90 a barrel, the price Europeans and Asians are paying is already over $100. And if the turmoil in Egypt spreads to its oil fields and the Suez Canal, a major transit point for European supplies, THAT SPREAD COULD EXPAND EVEN MORE.
But so far the spread, which began widening before demonstrators took to the streets of Cairo, has little to do with the Middle East. It is mostly about a big buildup of crude in the Cushing, Okla., oil depot. CUSHING IS FLUSH PARTLY BECAUSE DEMAND IN THE UNITED STATES IS ONLY SLOWLY RECOVERING. BUT MOST OF ALL, IT IS A RESULT OF INCREASING IMPORTS OF REFINED SYNTHETIC OIL PRODUCED FROM CANADIAN OIL SANDS, now the single most important source of imported oil.
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/31/in-an-oil-price-gap-the-scent-of-tar-sands/?ref=science
The price of oil is being artificially inflated by the turmoil in the Mideast. But the Mideast is losing its place as the cradle for oil. Rather than peak oil, we keep finding more and more oil in new locations. Last year we discovered 67% more oil than we used.
How do taxes work?
During his State of the Union address, President Obama said the current tax system is broken. "Those with accountants or lawyers to work the system can end up paying no taxes at all," he said. "But all the rest are hit with one of the highest corporate tax rates in the world. It makes no sense, and it has to change."
Just how broken is the corporate tax system? Consider the tax rate paid by two of America's biggest companies — WAL-MART AND GENERAL ELECTRIC. WAL-MART PAID 34 CENTS IN TAXES FOR EVERY DOLLAR OF PROFIT IT MADE IN THE PAST THREE YEARS. GENERAL ELECTRIC PAID JUST 3.6 CENTS ON THE DOLLAR.
Welcome to the mysterious world of the corporate income tax, says tax expert Len Burman at Syracuse University. "There are big companies that consider their tax departments to be profit centers," he says.
That's right; INSTEAD OF CONCENTRATING ON MAKING LIGHT BULBS, POWER PLANTS OR WHATNOT, COMPANIES USE THE TAX SYSTEM TO BOOST THEIR PROFITS.
http://www.npr.org/2011/01/29/133311907/for-many-companies-low-taxes-are-key-to-profits?sc=17&f=1001
GE has been a big contributor to the Democratic Party. Obviously that pays off.
What Independents Want
…..That’s the finding of Resurgent Republic, a Republican polling outfit that applied the views of independents to the House. For instance, 63 PERCENT OF INDEPENDENTS OPPOSED THE MANDATE TO BUY HEALTH INSURANCE in Resurgent Republic polling. That translated into 276 House seats, a solid majority.
The views of independents are crucial because they represent the nation’s critical bloc of swing voters. Their switch away from Democrats in 2010 produced a Republican landslide. Independents overwhelmingly voted for President Obama in 2008 and Democratic congressional candidates in 2006 and 2008…..
Applying their views to the House, THE RIGHT TO PURCHASE HEALTH INSURANCE ACROSS STATE LINES – WHICH IS CURRENTLY ILLEGAL – WOULD PASS 334 TO 101. Repeal of Obamacare would be approved 244 go 191, almost identical to the 245 to 189 vote for repeal in the House in January. REMOVING THE INDIVIDUAL MANDATE WOULD PASS 267 TO 168.
On fiscal issues, the views of independents are remarkably conservative. Were they in charge, THE HOUSE WOULD VOTE 231 TO 204 TO CANCEL UNSPENT ECONOMIC STIMULUS FUNDS and use the money to reduce the deficit. A measure to freeze total federal spending at 2010 levels would pass 260 to 175. THE REQUIREMENT OF A TWO-THIRDS MAJORITY TO PASS NEW SPENDING WOULD BE APPROVED 282 TO 153…..
http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/what-independents-want_541115.html
More bad news for the left.
It’s almost unanimous
A recent Gallup poll shows that ONLY 5 PERCENT OF AMERICANS FAVOR INCREASED STIMULUS SPENDING AS THE BEST APPROACH TO IMPROVING THE U.S. ECONOMY.http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/gallup-only-9-democrats-favor-increased
The poll also found that when broken down by party affiliation only 9 percent of self described Democrats see increased stimulus spending as a the best way to get the U.S. economy moving again
Unfortunately, in that 9% are a lot of elected Democrats in Washington.
Fannie and Freddie and reform
THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION FAILED TO RELEASE A REPORT TODAY ON HOW FREDDIE MAC AND FANNIE MAE COULD BE REFORMED, despite being required to do so by the Dodd-Frank law passed last summer.
Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R., Texas), who chairs the House Republican Conference, said in a statement that the White House’s failure to meet the deadline MADE IT “CRYSTAL CLEAR THAT THE PRESIDENT IS NOT SERIOUS ABOUT REFORMING FANNIE MAE AND FREDDIE MAC.”
“The Obama Administration’s repeated inability to propose a plan to reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac calls into question their commitment to taxpayer protection and their ability to effectively govern on this issue,” Hensarling added. “After more than $150 billion in Fannie and Freddie bailouts, we can no longer afford to allow the Administration to kick the can down the road.”
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/258499/white-house-misses-deadline-freddie-mac-fannie-mae-report-katrina-trinko
As the Typhoid Mary of the economic meltdown, you would think the Obama Administration would make this a priority.
EXCLUSIVE: 'Waiting For Superman' Director Talks Backlash From Teachers' Unions
'Waiting for Superman'
FILMMAKER DAVID GUGGENHEIM UNLEASHED A WEALTH OF CONTROVERSY LAST SEPTEMBER WITH THE RELEASE OF HIS DOCUMENTARY “WAITING FOR SUPERMAN,” which tackled the failures of the American public education system. But five months later, Guggenheim said THE BACKLASH AGAINST HIM FROM TEACHERS’ UNIONS REMAINS STRONG, and he blames them in large part for not allowing improvements to be implemented into the system.
“The hardest part (of making the film) was the unions and the teacher's union is one (part) of why we aren't going as fast as we can with the reforms,” Guggenheim told FOX411’s Pop Tarts at the Directors Guild of America (DGA) Awards in Hollywood on Saturday night, where he was nominated for Outstanding Achievement in Documentary Feature filmmaking. “AND THAT WAS A DIFFICULT PIECE BECAUSE I BELIEVE IN UNIONS – I'M A MEMBER OF THE DIRECTOR'S GUILD, THE UNION TONIGHT. THAT'S A DIFFICULT THING TO SORT OF DISSECT THAT ISSUE.”
The teachers’ unions in question were not immediately available for comment.
But even though change isn’t happening as fast as Guggenheim would like, HE TAKES PRIDE IN THE FACT THE FILM SIMPLY SPARKED FODDER FOR DEBATE.
http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2011/02/01/exclusive-waiting-superman-director-talks-backlash-teachers-unions/?test=faces
The problem isn’t unions per se, but rather public employee unions. Businesses have to compete in the marketplace. Teachers Unions in the meantime not only don’t have to compete in the marketplace, but use political clout to keep their monopoly alive.
