The United States Supreme Court has ruled on the Affordable Care Act and ruled that the individual mandate can be upheld as a valid exercise of the taxing power of the US Constitution. The decision written by Chief Justice John Roberts held that the law was not a valid exercise of the Commerce Clause but was a valid exercise of the Taxing Power. Surprisingly this was a 5-4 … [Read more...] about Supreme Court Upholds Affordable Care Act
(UPDATE XI) Court Upholds Individual Mandate As Roberts Sides With Liberal Justices
In this case . . . it is reasonable to construe what Congress has done as increasing taxes on those who have a certain amount of income, but choose to go without health insurance. Such legislation is within Congress’s power to tax. ~ CHIEF JUSTICE ROBERTS America's great shame -- and there is much shameful about this once great nation these days -- is that it has been … [Read more...] about (UPDATE XI) Court Upholds Individual Mandate As Roberts Sides With Liberal Justices
Around the Sphere (News and Blog Roundup)
Our roundup of news and blog links. Links do not necessarily reflect the opinions of TMV or its many writers. (Bloggers are welcome to send links for future editions). DECODING SCOTUS: Andrew Sullivan on how the Supreme Court ruling on health care may not be what people immediately think it is at first glance. IS THE BLAME ELSEWHERE? A suspended Politico reporter points … [Read more...] about Around the Sphere (News and Blog Roundup)
Gas Prices Will Likely Drop Below $3 a Gallon for 4th of July Holiday Weekend
Get ready for gas prices to drop below $3 a gallon --- and for the political football to be tossed around again: South Carolina is the first state to see its gas prices drop below $3 a gallon – the first time a state price has been that low since January. AAA, the national motorists’ organization, forecasts that within the next week, the Palmetto State, whose average … [Read more...] about Gas Prices Will Likely Drop Below $3 a Gallon for 4th of July Holiday Weekend
DEA’s ‘El Chapo Fiasco’ Sets Drug War Back for ‘Years’ (El Universal, Mexico)
Embarrassing, unprofessional, clumsy, self-destructive: all of these adjectives and more could describe last week's arrest in Mexico of a man thought to be the son of one of the Hemisphere's most wanted: Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán. According to columnist J. Jaime Hernández of Mexico's El Universal, the mistake has badly damaged U.S. and Mexican authorities in terms of … [Read more...] about DEA’s ‘El Chapo Fiasco’ Sets Drug War Back for ‘Years’ (El Universal, Mexico)
Dreading The Ruling Reaction
Regardless of how the court rules tomorrow on Health Care I know I will be sick of the partisan sniping very quickly. The side that gets the ruling it wants will spend the day crowing about how the other side has no validity at all and anyone who agrees with them is dumb or evil The side that does not get the ruling it wants will spend the day grumbling about how the … [Read more...] about Dreading The Ruling Reaction
Washington Post Refuses Team Romney’s Request for Retracting Bain Outsourcing Story
The Washington Post has turned down the Romney's campaign's request that it retract its Bain Capital outsourcing story, a story many pundits believe has the possibility of causing some long term damage to the presumptive Republican nominee: The Washington Post is standing by its reporting on Bain Capital’s outsourcing under Mitt Romney, and will not retract a recent story … [Read more...] about Washington Post Refuses Team Romney’s Request for Retracting Bain Outsourcing Story
Justice Scalia Should Quit
WASHINGTON -- Justice Antonin Scalia needs to resign from the Supreme Court. He'd have a lot of things to do. He's a fine public speaker and teacher. He'd be a heck of a columnist and blogger. But he really seems to aspire to being a politician -- and that's the problem. So often, Scalia has chosen to ignore the obligation of a Supreme Court justice to be, and … [Read more...] about Justice Scalia Should Quit
DNC Convention
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Blogging Atlas Shrugged: Chapter 5
Red Hot Objectivist Love. Or: Childrearing for the Non-Looter. Those are my subtitles for Chapter 5 anyway, which is really entitled "The Climax of the d'Anconias." I must confess to enjoying this chapter more than the first four. Although my reaction was schizoid: part "this is unbelievably silly" and part "well that was at least interesting." In this chapter we finally … [Read more...] about Blogging Atlas Shrugged: Chapter 5
American Voters Once Again Overlook Ethical Transgressions
Charlie Rangel won a Democratic primary election for Congress in New York City yesterday, guaranteeing his re-election. Once again, voters disregarded ethical lapses by a politician and sent that person back to Washington in spite of his actions. Either voters aren’t aware of what these officials have done, or they just didn’t care. In either case, this successful bid by Rangel … [Read more...] about American Voters Once Again Overlook Ethical Transgressions
World Ends Tomorrow, Details After This Message
A tipping point for the national psyche is here as Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia prepare to rule on health care reform, in a decision as predictable as their 2000 vote to put George W. Bush into the White House rather than Al Gore, leading to John Roberts in the chief’s chair of the Supreme Court. In throat-clearing mode, Justices pass up a chance to rethink their … [Read more...] about World Ends Tomorrow, Details After This Message
Let’s Put Real Teeth In Teen Abstinence Laws!
Tennessee recently enacted the toughest pro-abstinence sex education law in the nation, surpassing in breadth (and this one does take your breadth away) kindred efforts in 30 other states. This Tennessee law aims to do away with "gateway sexual activity" that leads to you-know-what-by teens. What such gateway activity is, however, is not articulated by the state … [Read more...] about Let’s Put Real Teeth In Teen Abstinence Laws!
Not So Fast And Furious
Fortune sums up a six month investigation, "the ATF never intentionally allowed guns to fall into the hands of Mexican drug cartels. How the world came to believe just the opposite is a tale of rivalry, murder, and political bloodlust." Interesting reading: Quite simply, there's a fundamental misconception at the heart of the Fast and Furious scandal. Nobody disputes that … [Read more...] about Not So Fast And Furious
Fending Off Failure: The International Criminal Court’s New Chief Prosecutor
Guest post by Ali Ezzatyar With its failure to complete a single trial or conviction, the International Criminal Court (ICC) is sinking into irrelevance less than a decade after its birth. The important idea that leaders can and should be accountable for their atrocities, even if they fail to be tried at home, also faces extinction. The reality is, the ICC's failures are a … [Read more...] about Fending Off Failure: The International Criminal Court’s New Chief Prosecutor
Breaking: House Panel Votes to Hold Attorney General in Contempt (UPDATED)
UPDATE: An eye-opening account of the real Fast and Furious scandal “A Fortune investigation reveals that the ATF never intentionally allowed guns to fall into the hands of Mexican drug cartels. How the world came to believe just the opposite is a tale of rivalry, murder, and political bloodlust.” Please read all about it here UPDATE: The Hill reports … [Read more...] about Breaking: House Panel Votes to Hold Attorney General in Contempt (UPDATED)
Obama’s Meddling Supreme Court Problem
It seems the only roadblock to Obama's Imperial Presidency is that annoyance of the Supreme Court. A few days ago, the Court announced its split decision regarding the Arizona Immigration Law and set the administration on a course of abdicating its responsibilities to uphold federal law in the detainment and seizure of people who are here in the United States illegally. In … [Read more...] about Obama’s Meddling Supreme Court Problem
Mourning Nora Ephron
She was never boring. In movies, novels and essays, Nora Ephron, who died yesterday at 71, had a gift for breathing life and wit into everything she touched. We met cute. On the day Lynda Bird Johnson came to work for me at McCalls in 1966, I found Ephron, a reporter for the New York Post, wandering the office corridors and threw her out of the building. A few years … [Read more...] about Mourning Nora Ephron
Israelis and Russians Bound Again by Battle Against Nazis (Kommersant, Russia)
Israel President Shimon Peres may be the most effective Western weapon for getting Russia to more-strongly support keeping nukes from Iran. On President Valdimir Putin's surprisingly warm visit to Israel on Monday, Israelis in the person of Peres gave the world an impressive lesson on the exercise of soft power. According to this news account from Russia's Kommersant, by … [Read more...] about Israelis and Russians Bound Again by Battle Against Nazis (Kommersant, Russia)
Impossible to Predict the Supreme Court Health Care Ruling
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