Do not go where the path may lead,
go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
One-Off Post on SCOTUS Decision Earlier Today
I published my quick take on the ObamaCare decision earlier today. At some point, I'll review the decision first hand, but I'm already seeing some excellent articles in reaction.
Ilya Shaprio of Cato in "Supreme Court Unlawfully Rewrites Obamacare to Save It" makes a couple of good points which I'll rephrase as follows:
- Chief Justice Roberts sidestepped the real issue: even though he agrees that using the Commerce Clause to mandate the purchase of goods or services is unconstitutional, could Congress effectively tax the citizen up to the amount of the goods or services using unlimited taxing authority? Money is fungible.
[my point] Both Romney and Roberts raised the same point about higher-income people freeloading on the system: why aren't we talking about means-tested user fees/penalties and/or otherwise funding for relevant "free" services through broad-based medical services user transaction fees?
- In essence, Medicaid funding differences shift costs among governments, businesses and individuals.
From ACLJ this past Feb:
In defending the individual mandate in court, the Administration reversed course and began characterizing the penalty as a tax. Last month, DOJ again argued that the penalty is a tax when it filed its opening brief with the Supreme Court in the ObamaCare case the Court will consider this March.
Yesterday, Representative Scott Garrett (R-NJ) asked Director Zients whether the individual mandate penalty for failing to buy health insurance is a tax. Zients answered that it is not a tax.
And now for this week's episode of Dancing with the Stars, we have ABC's George Stephanopoulos leading one President Barack Obama:....
STEPHANOPOULOS: You were against the individual mandate…
OBAMA: Yes.
STEPHANOPOULOS: …during the campaign. Under this mandate, the government is forcing people to spend money, fining you if you don’t. How is that not a tax?
STEPHANOPOULOS: That may be, but it’s still a tax increase.
OBAMA: No. That’s not true, George. The — for us to say that you’ve got to take a responsibility to get health insurance is absolutely not a tax increase.
STEPHANOPOULOS: I — I don’t think I’m making it up. Merriam Webster’s Dictionary: Tax — “a charge, usually of money, imposed by authority on persons or property for public purposes.”
OBAMA: George, the fact that you looked up Merriam’s Dictionary, the definition of tax increase, indicates to me that you’re stretching a little bit right now.
(And I thought I was funny...)
Attorney General Holder In Contempt of Congress:
Thumbs UP!
According to the Washington Times:
The House voted 255-67 to hold Mr. Holder in criminal contempt in a vote that amounted to a political spanking for the attorney general and President Obama, underscored by the 17 Democrats who joined Republicans.
The vote marks the first time an attorney general has been held in contempt by a chamber of Congress.I normally don't like to cover with what I consider partisan squabbling, but in this case of a President whom had run for office on grounds of transparency, it's not just that the Attorney General is holding himself above the law in withholding Fast and Furious documentation from the people's House, but we have a President whom has absurdly asserted executive privilege, probably the most unconscionable, deliberate stonewalling I have seen since Nixon was in office. I myself have not covered the Fast and Furious issue that much in this blog, but I've been watching Chairman Issa for weeks on weeks getting nowhere with the Attorney General.
Free Preventive Care
Free Education
Free Housing
Free Food (Stamps)
Free.....
(with a minimum 2-, 4- or 6-year term commitment to a Democratic officeholder.
All votes are final. Campaign promises are not indicative of future votes.)
Mark J. Perry has an interesting post about the DC public school system. Most of us know the President, unlike Jimmy Carter, has his daughters attend a private school Sidwell Friends (a modest $33K/student). Here are a few takeaways:
- "The cost to educate students in D.C. school ($29,409) is comparable to the tuition of some of the most elite, D.C.-area private-schools, and 2-3 times the tuition of some of the area's private Catholic high schools."
- "The graduation rate of D.C.'s public high schools of only 58.6% for the Class of 2011 (compared to the national average of 75.5% for public schools)"
- "This spending figure ($29,409) is about triple what the DC voucher program spends per pupil—and the voucher students have a much higher graduation rate and perform as well or better academically."
Political Humor
Yesterday in New Hampshire, President Obama said Americans need someone who will wake up every single day and fight for their jobs.
[Obama announced that in the first Presidential debate, Romney will go up against Mike Tyson.]
The latest rumor is that Mitt Romney's running mate will be a white male from Ohio. Or as Romney refers to him, "a person of color." - Conan O'Brien
[..."a person of pallor"]
Musical Interlude: My Favorite Groups
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, "Into the Great Wide Open"
