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Feb. 8, 2013
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Jewish World Review
July 2, 2012/ 12 Tammuz, 5772
Different Shades of Lipstick on the Same Socialist Pig
By
Arnold Ahlert
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
Some observations on last week's Supreme Court rulings:
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Observation One: Chef Justice John Roberts demonstrated two frightening traits last week: an utter disrespect for the law and a scary level of inconsistency. On Thursday, when he was busy announcing that the Court was taking something it was given, namely a "mandate," and turning it into something else, namely a "tax," a tremendously disturbing precedent was established. National Review's Andrew McCarthy explains it best:
"Led by Chief Justice John Roberts, the Supreme Court decided that Americans have no right to due process. Indeed, the Court not only upheld a fraud perpetrated on the public--it became a willing participant...."
"Let's say that, back when I was a prosecutor, I tried and convicted a man on a charge of conspiring to sell narcotics. I can prove he was conspiring, but it was really to sell stolen property. I convict him but, on appeal, the court holds, 'The prosecutor's evidence that it was drugs the defendant conspired to sell is wholly lacking.' At that point, the conviction has to be dismissed, and if I want to try him a second time, this time for conspiring to sell stolen property, I've got to indict him and start the whole process over again."
"Let's suppose, however, that the appeals court instead said, 'Eh, drugs, stolen property, what's the big whup? You just wrote the wrong commodity into the indictment. So let's not bother with a whole new trial at which you'd have to prove the correct charge to a jury. Let's just rewrite the indictment and pretend that it says 'stolen property' instead of 'narcotics.' Then we can uphold the conviction and call it a day.'"
That explains the disrespect part. Here's the inconsistency. Using the same "logic," Roberts, et al, tossed the part of the healthcare law requiring states to expand their Medicaid programs, essentially declaring the Obama administration's thuggish threat to withhold all Medicaid funding from states that refused to expand their programs a violation of federalism, aka state sovereignty. Yet two days earlier, when Roberts sided with the majority in the Arizona case, he said that state's attempt to rein in illegals overstepped federal authority, knowing full well that a totally compromised Obama administration, based on the lawsuit itself, had no intention of exercising that federal authority.
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The administration made that crystal clear immediately following the Tuesday decision, when they announced that they would not be processing any of the information given to them by Arizona law enforcement officials, who are now allowed to inquire into someone's immigration status. In other words, Arizona can tell the feds who and where the illegals are, but the feds aren't going to do anything about it. That essentially eviscerates state sovereignty, leaving Arizona unable to defend itself from the onslaught of illegals, and a federal government on the record as ready to let it happen.
Roberts joked that he was heading to an "impenetrable fortress" following last week's handiwork. I've got a better idea. Spend a couple of weeks on an Arizona ranch perched near the Mexican border. Bring your four fellow Justices who approved this monstrosity with you. With any luck, you'll all get some firsthand experience regarding the real-world consequences of your "cleverness."
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Observation Two: I will never be a syndicated Beltway columnist. Unlike George Will or Charles Krauthammer, I am incapable of turning s**t into shinola for the purpose of assuaging conservative sensibilities. Will was thrilled with the idea that the Court reigned in the abuse of the Commerce Clause, again by turning the mandate to buy health insurance into a tax. "By persuading the court to reject a Commerce Clause rationale for a president's signature act, the conservative legal insurgency against Obamacare has won a huge victory for the long haul," Will writes. "This victory will help revive a venerable tradition of America's political culture, that of viewing congressional actions with a skeptical constitutional squint, searching for congruence with the Constitution's architecture of enumerated powers."
Like hell it will. Congress just got handed the power to tax every American, simply for being alive. Thus the power to tax--as opposed to mandate--just became unlimited. This makes George feel a lot better. Anyone not blinded by Beltway-inspired B.S.? Not so much.
Krauthammer was equally egregious. He congratulated Roberts for "pulling off one of the great constitutional finesses of all time." He claimed Roberts is both a "constitutional conservative" and the Court's "custodian" who protected its "legitimacy, reputation, and stature" by not overturning Obamacare, "presumably on political grounds..."
Presumably on political grounds? According to whom? A bunch of whiny liberals, including the president, who attempted to intimidate the Court by suggesting that a decision against Obamacare constituted judicial activism? Sorry, Charlie. What you see as a great finesse looks more like classic CYA of an earth-shattering magnitude. Either the Court abides by the rule of law or it doesn't, all the "legitimacy, reputation, and stature" in the world notwithstanding. The federal government now controls one-sixth of the nation's economy, and unless the nation elects a Republican president, Senate and House, it stays that way. And even if that happens and they vote to eliminate this hideous law, then what? The libs take it back to the courts, and this whole circus starts all over again.
Observation Three: Americans are going to learn a terrible lesson. They're going to learn that having healthcare insurance is distinctively different than having healthcare itself. Think of Obamacare in terms of an electronics store offering the lowest price--by far--on a 50-inch plasma TV. You go to the store to buy one and they tell you, "yes that's the price, but we're currently out of stock." When the massive onslaught of the entitlement class overwhelms the government's ability to deliver actual healthcare services, Americans are going to find out a lot of critical drugs, surgical procedures, etc., etc. will be "out of stock" for extended--and no doubt fatally for some--periods of time.
And those that are available will be rationed just like they are in Britain, where only last week, one of their top surgeons admitted that the British National Health Service (NHS) may be "prematurely ending the lives of as many as 130,000 elderly patients annually." He noted that of the 450,000 annual deaths of patients under NHS care, about 130,000 are of patients who were on an end-of-life care method called the Liverpool Care Pathway (LCP) LCP was characterized as an "assisted death pathway rather than a care pathway." In America, that "pathway" will be handled by the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) that was just given the power to ration Medicare services for millions of seniors. And Sarah Palin was excoriated for referring to this bunch of unelected bureaucrats as a "death panel." Go figure--while you still can.
Observation Four: Winston Churchill once said, "Americans will always do the right thing... after they've exhausted all the alternatives." We've got one last chance to do the right thing, literally and figuratively, in November. The choices are quite stark: we either remain nation where every meaningful decision in our lives will be increasingly usurped by our Democrat "betters" in Washington, D.C.--the very people knowingly/ leading us to Greek-style oblivion--or we hand the keys over to Republicans, who themselves get one last chance to prove they are something other than collaborators aiding and abetting Democrats.
Obamacare constitutes the largest tax increase in the history of the planet. And it is aimed precisely where people like me and others always predicted the government would go when they need to raise real money: the middle class. If there is one bit of schadenfreude that emerges from this swamp, it is the thought of seeing the faces all those self-righteous OWS types when the government comes a-callin' and tells them they have to buy health insurance, or pony up a an ever-escalating "tax" for refusing to do it.
Either way it cuts into one's tent and drum budget quite severely.
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Previously:
06/27/12: We're Going to Do What We Want, and We Dare You to Stop Us
06/25/12: Fast and Furiously Diverting Attention from the Economy
06/20/12: So Much For Stopping the Leaks
06/18/12: Another Feckless Attempt to Change the Conversation
06/12/12: Mr. Obama's Latest Fantasies and Fabrications
06/04/12: Progressivism: An Adolescent Ideology
05/21/12: Drones Against Democracy
05/17/12: Pay Up --- Or Else
05/07/12: A Tale of Two Women
05/01/12: 2012: The Economic Paradox No One Wants to Talk About
04/23/12:2012: A Referendum on Our National Character
04/13/12: Feel This
04/11/12: Teaching Dependency
04/04/12: Network News Shapers
04/02/12: Stabbing Israel in the Back Is More Like It
03/19/12: Gas Pains and Debt Bombs
03/12/12: Israel Under the Bus
03/05/12: Baby Steps Down the Road to Depravity
02/27/12: Debasing Our Military, One Politically Correct Moment After Another
02/20/12: The 'New Normal' of Rampant Illegitimacy
02/13/12: Sandwiches or Freedom?
02/10/12: Progressive Obsolescence
02/06/12: Safeguarding Kids No Match for Following Procedure
01/29/11: 2016: R.I.P. GOP
01/26/11: Obama's Happy Talk Versus Bernanke's Action
01/23/11: South Carolina Goes for the Media-Masher
01/17/11: Nuking the Strait of Hormuz?
01/09/11: Coercion and Incentive Are Not Interchangeable Terms
01/06/11: Will We Retire Obama --- or the Constitution?
01/03/11: Dumb -- or ‘Disabled?’
12/27/11: Islamists ‘Celebrate’ Christmas
12/19/11: A Deficiency of Decency
12/16/11: Better a A War On Whiners Than Christmas
12/12/11: Anybody But Obama
12/07/11: Connecting the Feckless Foreign Policy Dots
12/05/11: Can We Keep Our Republic?
11/28/11: Cyber Crack-heads
11/21/11: Water Water Everywhere, But Not a Drop to Think
11/18/11: Walking along Avenue J(ew)
11/09/11: Military Scandal, Media Blackout
11/09/11: Open-Mics and Closed Minds
11/07/11: Back in the EU--SSR
10/31/11: Camping Out in La-La Land
10/14/11: Bagman Tim
10/13/11: Are Colleges Too Big to Fail?
10/11/11: Why aren't they upset when their child is mugged in school?
10/07/11: I Stand With the ‘One Percenters’
10/03/11: Can We Legalize Assassination?
09/29/11: Tim, Liz and Bev Equals Moe Larry and Curly
09/26/11: No Acknowledgment of Israel? No More Money
09/19/11: ‘Jobbing’ America
09/16/11: Carville knows a few things about ‘crazy’
09/12/11: Contemptible Krugman
09/09/11: Solving the 9/11 Invitation Controversy
09/06/11: Our Progressive Economic Wrecking Crew
09/01/11: Summer Swoon
08/29/11: The Real American Fanatics
08/24/11:The Five Stages of (Progressive) Grief
08/22/11:The Inevitable Descent From Progressivism to Nihilism
08/22/11: Perry Stands Firm. Obama Stands Mute
08/15/11: Give Me a Flatscreen TV, or Give Me Anarchy!
08/11/11: Resign, Mr. President
08/08/11: Facts? We Don't Need No Stinkin' Facts
08/03/11: Manufactured Crises
08/01/11: Stay Healthy, America --- or else!
07/28/11: Existential Crisis, Part 2
07/25/11: Three-Out-of-Four Americans Are Radicals
07/21/11: What Does Two Plus Two Equal?
07/18/11: News Nuggets
07/13/11: The ‘Write Stuff’
07/11/11: Completely Expectable ‘Unexpectedness’
07/07/11: Organized Cheating
07/05/11: Stimulating Disaster
06/30/11: Progressivism Masquerading as Education
06/27/11: America: Greece With Better PR
06/23/11: NBC-ya Later
06/19/11: One Man's Conversation About Race
06/10/11: An Exhibitionist in an Exhibitionist Age
06/07/11: NAACP Betrays Black American Schoolchildren
06/02/11: For the First Time in My Adult Life . . .
05/31/11: If I Were President
05/25/11: California Dreamin'
05/23/11: On Wisconsin!
05/20/11: Obama's Farewell to Israel Speech
05/16/11: ‘Krauthammering’ Amnesty
05/11/11: Bounce, My Backside
05/09/11: The Epicenter of Progressive Contempt for the Rule of Law
05/03/11: SEALing Osama's Fate
05/02/11: The Education plantation
04/24/11: The Bell May Toll for Jersey Toll Collectors
04/19/11: From Medical Dependency to Dependency on the Welfare State
04/14/11: Trumping the Debate
04/06/11: It Takes a Bigot to Expose a Death Cult
04/04/11: Charlie and Snookie --- and Barack
03/30/11: ‘Disabling’ America, One Lawsuit at a Time
03/28/11: The MSM Kills the ‘Kill Team’ Story
03/23/11: Another Military Scandal
03/21/11: Barry, Joe, Helen and Wisconsin Teachers
03/16/11: The Inevitable Viability of Conservatism
03/14/11: Progressives in Their Own Words
03/09/11: $61 Billion in Cuts --- Vs. $223 Billion in One Month of Spending
03/07/11: Bean Bag B.S.
03/02/11: A ‘Green’ Catastrophe in the Making
02/28/11: Ain't Noting Like the Real Thing
02/23/11: Progressive Rot vs. the ROTC
02/21/11: Wisconsin: Progressivism in All its Ugly Glory
02/18/11: News reporters --- or Narrative Shapers?
02/16/11: The Presidents Budget Proposal: An Obamination of Progressive Profligacy
02/14/11: Only Another 9/11 Will Alter the Illegal Immigration Status Quo
02/10/11: Is O'Reilly losing his touch or is he just irresponsible?
02/07/11: Tossing Britain Under the Bus
02/03/11: Starving the World In Order to Save It
01/31/11: Walking the Middle East Tightrope
01/27/11: Small-scale Terrorist Attacks: Big Strategy?
01/24/11: Jeffery Immelt: A Crony Capitalist In Charge of Job Creation
01/20/11: An ‘Intimate’ Prime-time Interview
01/17/11: Progressives: Always Angry, Newly Desperate
01/12/11: Twain vs. the Totalitarians
01/10/11: Politically Correct Passports?
01/05/11: Showdown at the Fiscal Corral
01/03/11: Reading the Constitution Aloud is a Good Start
12/30/10: Getting Our Moral Mojo Back
12/27/10: PC Airport Safety is an Oxymoron
12/23/10: Getting America Back On Track
12/20/10: A Collectivist Coalition of Convenience
12/15/10: The President Who Wasn't There
12/13/10: Tech-No!
12/08/10: A Lethal Military, Inclusive or Not
12/06/10: The ‘Unexpected’ Consequences of Progressivism
12/01/10: Leakers and Losers
11/29/10: ‘We Won’, Part One
11/22/10: Keep Your Hands Off My Constitution
11/17/10: Grope and Change
11/14/10: Taking Back Our Country, One School At a Time
11/11/10: Checks (and Balances), Please
11/08/10: Curtain Up, Progressives Down
11/04/10: Last Chance, Republicans
11/01/10: By Their Own Words Shall Ye Know Them
10/28/10: Progressive Determination to Undermine American Elections
10/25/10: Shock, but more importantly, action: De-Unionize Public Schools now
10/20/10: Multiculturalism? Check, Please
10/18/10: Healthcare: ‘Alice in Wonderland’ vs. The Constitution
10/11/10: Vote for Restoring the Rule of Law in November
10/11/10: Dems: Running From Clarity
10/07/10: Hypersensitive Hogwash
10/04/10: ‘Comprehensive’ Con Artists
09/29/10: Why Dems Are Going Down in November
09/27/10: The Unholiest of Unholy Alliances
09/22/10: Two Words for Republicans to Remember: ‘I Won’
09/20/10: Purging ‘Me First’ Politicians
09/17/10: No More ‘Lesser of Two Evils’
09/15/10: ‘Recovery’ Arms Race
09/13/10: ‘Bigots’ in the Majority --- Again?
09/09/10: Giving Voters Something to Vote For
09/07/10: Irresponsible Dems, Incomprehensible Bills
09/02/10: War Weary Americans vs. Implacable Islamists
08/31/10: A ‘Dream’ Debased
08/25/10: American ‘Bigots’ Versus Media Propagandists
08/23/10: Recovery Bummer
08/19/10: An Unholy Alliance of Radicals
08/16/10: You've Lost America, Mr. President
08/13/10: The Twin Towers of Progressive Disconnect
08/11/10: A Far Better ‘National Discussion’
08/09/10: It's ‘Only’ One Dead Nun
08/06/10: Incremental Tyranny
08/04/10: Ground Zero Mosque: Context Counts
08/02/10: The Arizona Ruling: a Gift for November
07/29/10: The United Cities of America
07/26/10: JournoList: ‘Coordinated’ Ideological Bankruptcy
07/20/10: Go For Broke Or Get Out of the Way
07/14/10: You're a Liberal/Progressive if You Believe…
07/12/10: $33-an-hour--For Sleeping On the Job
07/08/10: Extortionist Government
07/06/10: ‘Commerce Clause’ Totalitarians
07/01/10: Another Public School Travesty in MA
06/30/10: Calling YOUR Bluff, Mr. President
06/28/10: A Trifecta of Progressive Corruption
06/23/10: Plug the Darn Hole --- In Our Border
06/21/10: Our Empty-Suit-in-Chief
06/16/10: Betraying Our Children
06/14/10: Who Gets the Benefit of the Doubt?
06/07/10: Politically Correct Warfare
06/01/10: Bill Maher's ‘Black’ President
05/25/10: A Mosque At Ground Zero
05/23/10: Libs Stand Tall --- For Mexico
05/19/10: The 'Unintended Consequences' of Liberalism
05/17/10: 'Los' Suns: Stuck on Stupido
05/12/10: Union Audacity: Yes We Will!
05/10/10: Greeks, Leaks and and Double-Speak
05/05/10: Twelve Million Illegals --- or Thirty?
05/02/10: Republicans: Playing Not to Lose Doesn't Cut It
04/28/10: Arizona: Progressivism's Waterloo?
04/26/10: Son of Amnesty
04/22/10: Mortgages and Moral Meltdowns
04/20/10: Bashing Christians — Or Gays?
04/15/10: Personal Integri-‘tea’
04/12/10: Fools, Tools and Ghouls
04/08/10: (Tea) Party On
04/05/10: The Triumph of Mediocrity
04/02/10: Two For the Road
03/29/10: The Innate Immorality of Liberalism
03/24/10: The Art of War
03/22/10: I Want My Country Back
03/18/10: A Perpetual Process
03/17/10: American Exhibitionists
03/15/10: A Light Bulb Moment of Clarity
03/10/10: Little Things Mean A Lot
02/03/10: Budgetary Fork in the Road
02/01/10: Liberal Economic Illiteracy
01/27/10: ‘Roe-ing and Wade-ing’ Back to Reason
01/25/10: Arrogance When Up, Denial When Down
01/20/10: Connecting the Educational Dots
01/19/10: The Next Tea Party?
01/15/10: The Myth That Keeps on Giving
01/13/10: Airport Security Begins Away From the Airport
01/11/10: Secrets and Lies
01/08/10: Embracing Bigotry — or Rejecting Bullying?
01/06/10: Hanging by an Ideological Thread
01/04/10: Our ‘Wonderama’ Bureaucracy
12/30/09: A Day Off
12/28/09: Dangerous Myths
12/25/09: I, Me, Mine
12/23/09: A Very Harry Christmas
12/21/09: My Opinon
12/18/09: The Party of Repeal
12/15/09: Privileged Exemption
11/30/09: ‘Settled’ Science and Unsettled Children
11/30/09: American Sharia Law
11/23/09:The Trial (Travesty) of the Century
11/04/09: American Vampires and Their Political Enablers
11/01/09: ‘Opting Out’ of Insanity?
10/28/09: Cell Phones Cause Brain Cancer. Brain Required
10/26/09: Communism: Nazism With Better PR
10/21/09: Just Asking
10/16/09: Cost Projections vs. Actual Costs, or Hope and Change vs. Reality
10/14/09: News you can use …
10/07/09: Incremental Insidiousness
10/05/09: MIA: Common Sense and Common Decency
09/30/09: Iran: Bad Options and Unpreparedness
09/21/09: Crying Racism: the Last Refuge of Scoundrels
09/11/09: 9/11 Cannot Be Sanitized
09/08/09: ‘Truthers’ and Consequences
09/01/09: A ‘Paper Trail’ Challenge for the Mainstream Media
08/31/09: Drowning in Amorality
08/26/09: The Republican Recovery Program
© 2011, Arnold Ahlert
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