Daily Topics - Monday - March 22 2010
By Louise
Quote: Health is worth more than learning. -- Thomas Jefferson
Hour One - What is the real impact of health insurance reform and who's Waterloo will it be?
Plus...Dr. Robert "Bob" Letcher - Parkinson's patient targeted by Tea Partiers at rally in Ohio
Hour Two - 36 states are already challenging this legislation on constitutional grounds, is it unconstitutional to force people to buy things from private corporations?
Hour Three - How do we stop China from continuing to eat our lunch? Eamonn Fingleton www.unsustainable.org
Comments
#2
Regarding constitutionality of the mandate,
If no one has pointed this out yet, there IS a precedent for the government forcing people to buy something. In the Supreme Court case Wickard v. Filburn, Filburn was a farmer who grew wheat in excess of what the Agricultural Adjustment Act permitted, and the government demanded that he stop. He challenged his right to grow his own wheat for his own personal home purposes and not for sale on the market. The government challenged that right precisely because if he was growing his own wheat, he was not buying wheat from others (essentially hoarding and not participating in the market.) So in essence, the government forced him to purchase wheat. The ruling extended the purview of the commerce clause so greatly that, according to Wikipedia:
"Wickard arguably marked the end to any limits on Congress's Commerce Clause powers. The Court's own decision, however, emphasizes the role of the democratic electoral process in confining the abuse of the Congressional power, stating that, "At the beginning Chief Justice Marshall described the Federal commerce power with a breadth never yet exceeded. He made emphatic the embracing and penetrating nature of this power by warning that effective restraints on its exercise must proceed from political rather than from judicial processes.""
I think the important part of this is the language Marshall used regarding only political, NOT judicial restraints, which I would *assume* would mean that the courts have essentially no way to strike down legislative powers assumed under the Commerce Clause.
I'm not saying it's not insurmountable, but a conservative lawyer friend of mine actually gave me this information and it was his belief that essentially no legal scholars consider this to be unconstitutional, and most judges and lawyers understand the Commerce Clause to be extremely broad and very powerful.
Maybe someone in the know can add to this thought! Here's the wikipedia page:
#3
Though this will most likely get lost in the sheer volume of comments, perhaps someone could enlighten me as to why health care should be a human right - only to those that are outside the womb? Where is the caring and concern for the children that are now sure to die in even larger numbers as a result of this legislation?
I get it, folks. Don't trample on your rights. But the simple fact remains that when a woman becomes pregnant, she now assumes responsibility for not only her body, but the smaller body within her. How is that trampling a right?
Statistics show that abortion is used primarily as a convenience and not as a life saving measure. The incidents of rape and incest are also statistically infinitesimal.
You don’t have to like it – I don’t like having to get up at 5:00 AM every morning to go to work. I do it because I have a family to support and I have been doing it in some form or another for 30 years.
If health care is a human right, then I suggest that it be a human right for all humans. A saline bath or a crushed skull is hardly adequate health care.
#4
Say it with me "The country is moving to the left." You don't have to believe it, just say it.
Remember the Bloom County where Opus declared he can feel the country moving to the right? Well, the pendulum is due to swing back now. So while this latest "victory" isn't everything we were hoping for, it's evidence things are moving the progressives way.
Don't think it's true? Then spread the meme and make it true. Next time some ditto head blasts you with fox talking points, just say "Well, the country is moving to the left, with or without you."
#5
I'm not certain I'm following you. The poll numbers across the board are indicating just the exact opposite. Rather than moving Left, the pendulum has already begun to swing back towards the Right. Nancy Pelosi has the lowest poll rating in the history of House Speakers – and a few of those were thrown out of office. Obama is at 43 percent meaning that he has not only lost fence sitters, but he is now eroding his base. Not a good move. I suspect that once the bills start to come due for this legislation, that base will erode further. Since at present the only viable alternative is to look towards the Right, I suspect that most will move in that direction.
This isn’t Oz, you know. Just saying, “There’s no place like home, there’s no place like home…” will take you home. Perhaps growing up and realizing that hard work is involved in creating and maintaining polite society should be in order.
There’s an old saying that I have found to be true. If at 20 years of age you are not a Liberal, you have no heart. If at 50 years of age if you are still a Liberal, you have no brain.
#6
You have to see the video reply to 'Tea Partiers Mock And Scorn Apparent Parkinson's Victim'. It is PRICELESS!
'
Anti Healthcare Protest - Town Hall Health Care Reform Protesters - Tea Party Rally:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKBa9K_vAm8&feature=response_watch
Thom's Blog Is On the Move
By webmaster
Hello All
Today, we are closing Thom's blog in this space and moving to a new home.
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@Frank Feuerbacher -
Well, console yourself with this, from Katie Couric's 60 Minutes piece on Rahm last night -
No White House Chief of Staff has ever held that position for 4 full years.