Ted Cruz: DOJ argues that International Treaties can trump Constitution

While we are focused on this major healthcare fiasco, we have to know the administration will keep the minions moving the agenda. Perhaps the most dangerous time since we are so distracted. Ted Cruz snagged this action that Eric Holder and crew have before the Supreme Court. At the end of the post, a comment left at the Washington Examiner. First a refresher on our gal Ginsberg.

Update: Recall Justice Ginsburg has fired the latest salvo in the ongoing debate about the Court’s use of foreign and international law sources in constitutional adjudication.   On Friday, she gave a speech to the International Academy of Comparative Law at American University, entitled “A decent respect to the Opinions of [Human]kind”: The Value of a Comparative Perspective in Constitutional Adjudication.  Not surprisingly given her earlier opinions, Justice Ginsburg comes out strongly in favor of the Court’s use of foreign and international law materials to interpret U.S. law, including the Constitution. Read more

Via Washington Examiner:

“If the administration is right, the treaty power could become a backdoor way for the federal government to do everything from abolishing the death penalty nationwide, to outlawing homeschooling, to dramatically curtailing the states’ rights to regulate abortion,” she told the Washington Examiner.”

Justice Department attorneys are advancing an argument at the Supreme Court that could allow the government to invoke international treaties as a legal basis for policies such as gun control that conflict with the U.S. Constitution, according to Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas.

Their argument is that a law implementing an international treaty signed by the U.S. allows the federal government to prosecute a criminal case that would normally be handled by state or local authorities.

That is a dangerous argument, according to Cruz.

“The Constitution created a limited federal government with only specific enumerated powers,” Cruz told the Washington Examiner prior to giving a speech on the issue today at the Heritage Foundation.

“The Supreme Court should not interpret the treaty power in a manner that undermines this bedrock protection of individual liberty,” Cruz said.

In his speech, Cruz said the Justice Department is arguing “an absurd proposition” that “could be used as a backdoor way to undermine” Second Amendment rights, among other things.

Keep reading…

Comment:

“Perhaps we can get a treaty with the allied countries who were spied upon to impeach Obama and bypass Congress if that is the case.”

Obama could/should have changed loss of insurance but did not

The story is not that “Obama knew” that policies would be terminated, but that Obama made this happen, and could unmake it with a phone call, but chooses not to, is the header from a post from Infidel Blogger’s Alliance. Rather than Obama being a helpless hapless bystander to events, and pondering if he did or did not know, the post makes these excellent points:

From Ace:

The news world, and the right blogosphere, from what I can tell, is still missing the story here. 

The story is not that “Obama knew” that policies would be terminated. That’s damning. But what is hugely damning and very important going forward is not that Obama knew, but that Obama made this happen, and could unmake it with a phone call, but chooses not to. 

This is not just about having knowledge that events beyond Obama’s control would unfold — this is about events directly at his control. Regulation-writers are executive employees, and as such, answer to the president and not Congress. 

This means Obama has the actual power — not the puffed up, falsely asserted unconstitutional power, but the genuine legal power — to call this agency and tell them, “We sold this bill as permitting people to keep their insurance; please re-write the regulations in a way that will honor this promise.” 

Remember, regulations are supposed to add details to the spirit of the law. They are not supposed to change the meaning of the law. 

Obama’s regulations — written at his behest, or at least with his connivance — change the meaning of the law to render the “grandfathered policy” provision a nullity.

Obama has it within his power to call up the HHS reg-writers and instruct them to honor the promise he made time and again for two years. And he doesn’t want people to know this, because he is determined to break that promise. 

That promise was always a lie, and not a meaningless lie at the periphery, but a central lie propping up the political campaign for ObamaCare. Had he told Americans that they would be losing their current health care in order to be dumped into what is effectively a high-risk pool, so that they could subsidize high-risk clients, the public would have rejected the law even more strongly than he did. 

So he lied. And lied. And lied. And lied some more. 

And even at this late date, he could still choose to honor his promise. 

But he won’t, because he can’t — he always intended to take people’s insurance away from them. 

Always.  

GO READ THE WHOLE THING.  which includes this other part of their story:

Under Pressure From The White House, NBC Throws Its Reporter Under the Bus and Censors News That Obama Wrote Regs to Disqualify and Terminate Health Insurance Policies

New FBI Director has agents visiting MLK monument

I could not resist a revisit of James Comey, the new FBI Director, when I read that he now has new agents visiting MLK’s monument. Two posts today. First a refresher on Comfey:

What you will not hear from the Obama-friendly media, and our somnolent members of Congress, is this: Not only was the Patriot Act expanded under the supervision of Comey, Mueller and Ashcroft, when Comey left the AG’s office in 2005 he went to work as the top lawyer for…wait for it…”Big Brother” himself – Lockheed Martin.

When most people hear Lockheed Martin they think military contracts. Well, welcome to 1984. “Big Brother” is another name for Lockheed Martin, and security and surveillance is their game. They’ve been working closely with the National Security Agency (AKA: NSA, as in No Such Agency) for many years.

So ask yourself: Why would the Obama regime appoint a new FBI Director who works for a prime contractor that sells NSA the technology to spy on Americans? Would PETA hire a fur coat distributor?

Oh, by the way, where’s John Ashcroft today? Why he’s on the Board of Directors of Blackwater USA, which now goes by the harmless sounding name – Academi – conjuring up images of ivy-covered buildings and lounging intellectuals.

So in the days ahead, when the media and politicians tell you that James B. Comey will stand up for your civil liberties as FBI Director (citing a hospital room performance over the Patriot Act), remember: If Comey didn’t support spying on Americans, why would he work for a leading company that sells the government the tools to spy on Americans?

Are the manufacturers of hunting rifles against hunting?

Comey and Ashcroft – Lockheed Martin and Blackwater: Defenders of our civil liberties?

Do you think that Comey will be one wit different than the former Director? Recall:

FBI Director: I have to check to see if Obama can kill citizens on U.S. soil

January 26, 2013

FBI Director Robert Mueller on Wednesday said he would have to go back and check with the Department of Justice whether Attorney General Eric Holder’s “three criteria” for the targeted killing of Americans also applied to Americans inside the U.S.
Pressed by House lawmakers about a recent speech in which Holder described the legal justification for assassination, Mueller, who was attending a hearing on his agency’s budget, did not say without qualification that the three criteria could not be applied inside the U.S.
“I have to go back. Uh, I’m not certain whether that was addressed or not,” Mueller said when asked by Rep. Tom Graves, R-Ga., about a distinction between domestic and foreign targeting. Graves followed up asking whether “from a historical perspective,” the federal government has “the ability to kill a U.S. citizen on United States soil or just overseas.”
“I’m going to defer.

Here we have Mueller telling us its Drones away here in the United States. Connect the dots folks

Via Daily Caller:

New FBI Director James Comey will tell all the Bureau’s new agents and analysts to visit the monument to Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in Washington, D.C.

“I’m going to direct that all new agents and analysts also visit the Martin Luther King Memorial here in Washington,” said Comey, whose term runs for 10 years.

Keep reading…

Obama knew all along millions would lose their insurance

By now I am sure most who pay any attention regarding Healthcare have heard this. What doesn’t add up is it is NBC news that caught this. Every Hospital, every insurance company scans the Federal Register where all of the new “Rules” come out, each and every day.  One needs to think on this one. Why now is it coming out? Why didn’t the insurance companies pick this up? Who are the double dealers. Still a puzzle is why the Hospital Association supported this. The Healthcare CEO in my company warned of the coming debacle. It was clear to all of us. Little reported are the tens of thousands being laid off in Healthcare. Medicaid and Medicare reimbursements don’t begin to cover the cost of care. It was always the private insurance patients that covered the loss. The most unreported story of the day. Government owned Hospitals next. So, with that, here we go:

By Lisa Myers and Hannah Rappleye NBC News

President Obama repeatedly assured Americans that after the Affordable Care Act became law, people who liked their health insurance would be able to keep it. But millions of Americans are getting or are about to get cancellation letters for their health insurance under Obamacare, say experts, and the Obama administration has known that for at least three years.

This story has been republished here

Four sources deeply involved in the Affordable Care Act tell NBC NEWS that 50 to 75 percent of the 14 million consumers who buy their insurance individually can expect to receive a “cancellation” letter or the equivalent over the next year because their existing policies don’t meet the standards mandated by the new health care law. One expert predicts that number could reach as high as 80 percent. And all say that many of those forced to buy pricier new policies will experience “sticker shock.”

Full story at NBC News

Mooch Obama’s Obamacare website bud is in charge $2 Billion Sandy relief fund

As if  the headline Obamacare Website Company Had Ties to Obama Fundraising, Michelle Obama story at News Max wasn’t enough corruption for one day, now we find this same company, CGI Federal is in the Hurricane Sandy money give-away to the tune of $1.7 Billion. The only thing is they have only given out 1.2 percent of the funds. First the drill about Mooch and her best bud.

Toni Townes-Whitley, a senior vice president at CGI Federal, is a Princeton classmate of First Lady Michelle Obama, the Daily Caller reported. In addition to being college classmates, both Obama and Townes-Whitley are members of the Association of Black Princeton Alumni.

Close access to the White House was also enjoyed by other senior CGI officials, reports The Washington Examiner.

The Examiner reported that visitor logs show that “CGI Federal President Donna Ryan visited the White House six times prior to her company being selected to do the IT design work behind the high-profile website.”

CGI Federal Inc., the mastermind behind healthcare.gov, is assisting the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in the distribution of $1.7 billion in relief for Hurricane Sandy.

The Associated Press revealed Tuesday that a mere $700 million of the $60 billion federal aid package – 1.2 percent of the total funds – has been given to victims of super storm Sandy.

Nearly a year after the devastating storm, a majority of the 24,000 families that have requested monetary assistance have yet to receive a penny from the federal aid package.

In a memo obtained by FreedomWorks titled, “Minutes of the 295th meeting of the members of the Housing Trust Fund Corporation held on May 9, 2013, at 8:30 a.m.,” CGI Federal is tasked with implementing the Disaster Housing Assistance Program. Additionally, they are asked to aid in the implementation of the Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery Program, an assistance program that had recently obtained $1.7 billion.

Read more: Daily Caller

Obama trys to sell Solar – Wind leases on Federal land, but no one came

Here is a feel good story for a Sunday. Obama held a party and no one came. At least for now. Be sure though that he will twist a few arms to find some lucky benefactor of his largess willing to step out in the wind or sun for a buck or two. What he wants to do is tie up hundreds of thousands of acres so no other form of extracting resources will occur that might benefit you and me. Here we go:

The Obama administration has been pretty jazzed about their sweet plans to auction off leases for certain parcels of the one-third of the surface area of the United States they control, largely in the western United States, for the express purposes of developing wind and solar farms to which they hope they’ll be able to point as evidence of the success of their not-quite-”all of the above” energy agenda

I think it’s safe to surmise that the day was something of a letdown for them, via the Denver Business Journal:

The nation’s first federally run auction for a chance to develop solar power projects on public lands was a bust.

No bidders showed up for the auction by the federal Bureau of Land Management, which was held Thursday in Lakewood.

“We did not have any bidders come to the sale and we did not receive any sealed bids on the sale,” BLM spokeswoman Vanessa Lacayo said. …

“The BLM had received interest in developing the sites, that’s why we moved forward,” she said. “It’s hard to say why we didn’t have any bidders.” …

“We will evaluate today’s auction as we look at future opportunities to offer lands in Solar Energy Zones for development, both in Colorado and other Western states,” the statement said.

H/T: Hot Air

McCain depressed – Boo Hoo!

Your depressed? We have you to thank that we have this monarch regime in power after you ran one epic fail campaign against him. If not for the Tea Party, the Democrats would still have control of the House and we would be in full toilet mode. Thanks McRino.

Via Washington Times:

Sen. John McCain’s daughter says that her father is “depressed” and “frustrated” with the impact the “hyper-conservative wing of the party” is having on national politics, including on the recent government shutdown.

“We’re both frustrated with the idea that only the hyper-conservative wing of the party is going to represent the masses,” Meghan McCain said in a joint interview with ABC and Yahoo News.

Ms. McCain, who has her own reality show “Raising McCain,” said the last time she can remember her father was so depressed about the state of politics was after his failed 2008 presidential bid.

“He is so depressed. He is so downtrodden,” the 29-year-old said. “The way he’s talking about it, how he’s never seen it this bad in his 30-plus years in office.”

Keep reading…

Sebelius ‘I don’t work for those who don’t like me’

While hundreds of thousands of Americans are losing their insurance, or get news that their policies are skyrocketing, our gal can’t make the Congressional hearing but can make a “Gala” the night before, and the day of the hearing is out pimping this albatross that hangs around our necks. Better yet, she apparently is not clear about who she works for. It gives new meaning to tone death. Do you think maybe she could have at least listened to the hearing? Her scheduled appearance next week should be worth the price of admission.

Via NRO:

“The majority of people calling for me to resign I would say are people who I don’t work for and who do not want this program to work in the first place. I have had frequent conversations with the president and I have committed to him that my role is to get the program up and running and we will do just that.”

Keep reading…

Obama to put Marines in “girly hats” UPDATE

UPDATE for the nay sayers. Form and update at below link:

“When they voted on a universal cap (either the Dan Daly cap or the male frame cap) it was a 50/50 split, with 6 members (5 males and 1 female) voting for the Dan Daly cap as the universal cap and 6 members (5 males and 1 female) voting for the male frame cap as the universal cap,” the memo noted.

View this document on Scribd

“The Working Group head (a female) provided the tie breaking vote in favor of the Dan Daly cap.”

Confirmed story at http://nypost.com/2013/10/25/marines-fight-to-save-face-after-girly-hat-plan/

The form, obtained by The Post, clearly instructs the troops – both male and female — to choose one cap: either the new, slim, female-friendly “Dan Daly” style or the traditional cover that Marines have sported since 1922.

Vote was 6 to 5 in favor of unisex

As if the Marines don’t have enough to think about, how about this plan. Let’s have unisex hats for the Marines. They look more like porter hats than military, but whatever can be done to diminish the Marines let’s have at it. In case the pic gets cut off on your computer, the link to the full pic is here: NY Post

Thanks to a plan by President Obama to create a “unisex” look for the Corps, officials are on the verge of swapping out the Marines’ iconic caps with a new hat that some have derided as so “girly” that they would make the French blush.

The hats are thinner and smaller, aimed at looking equally good on  females as  well as males. They’re called the “Dan Daly” hat, in honor of  a Long Island  sergeant who earned the Medal of Honor during World War  I.

“We don’t even have enough funding to buy bullets, and the DoD is pushing to spend $8 million on covers that look like women’s hats!” one senior Marine source fumed to The Post. “The Marines deserve better. It makes them look ridiculous.”

The thin new hats have a feminine line that some officials think would make them look just as good on female marines as on males — in keeping with the Obama directive.

H/T:NY Post

Two original hats on left, two on right are the suggested.

Belgium Eyes Child Euthanasia – How far behind are we?

While one can be quick to be appalled when reading what Belgium has in store for children, recall that we are not so far behind with our DHHS Sibelius. Just connecting a few dots for those who still think Obamacare is going to be swell.

Recall this? Kidney Patients told to accept death, forgo Dialysis –  Asking Kidney Patients to Forgo a Free Lifeline

As they calmly say:

“It was meant to keep young and middle-aged people alive and productive, many of the patients who take advantage of the law are old…

One idea, promoted by leading specialists, is to change the way doctors refer to the decision to forgo dialysis. Instead of saying that a patient is withdrawing from dialysis or agreeing not to start it, these specialists say the patient has chosen “medical management without dialysis”.  ”That is the preferred term,”

Obama said

We will change the way we pay for health care – not by procedure or the number of days spent in a hospital, but with new incentives for doctors and hospitals to prevent injuries and improve results. . . . If we’re wrong, and Medicare costs rise faster than we expect, this approach will give the independent commission (Death Panels) the authority to make additional savings by further improving Medicare.”

Sebelius:

says it isn’t her place to pick and choose transplant recipients— The plight of a dying 10-year-old girl in urgent need of a lung transplant has  been taken up by some GOP lawmakers, and it’s shining a light on what critics  say is a questionable policy that puts children further down the waiting list. Read more: Politico

BRUSSELS — Since euthanasia was legalized in Belgium in 2002, Belgians have been euthanized for blindness, depression, anorexia nervosa, and a botched sex change operation.

Now, Belgians want to allow euthanasia for children.

Under legislation currently being debated in the Belgian Parliament, terminally ill or suffering children under 18 could be euthanized if they request it, their parents consent to it, and an expert deems the child capable of understanding their decision.

The bill is widely supported and is expected to become law.

Euthanasia is now considered medical therapy in Belgium.

Not only do two-thirds of Belgians favor the new euthanasia bill, but in a controversial poll, three-quarters said it would be okay for parents to euthanize their sick children without the child’s consent.

“The child does not have the maturity to get married or to buy alcohol or to buy cigarettes if he is 14. Now we are saying that because he is suffering, he might have the possibility to ask for euthanasia,” Carine Boucher, with the European Center for Bio-ethics in Brussels, said.

More at CBN News