Health Care Law-Let's Talk About it

Well, the three days of Supreme Court arguments are over, and I wish I felt optimistic about the outcome, but frankly, I'm nervous. The deck has been stacked against we the people from jump and it wouldn't surprise me one bit to see this court throw out the Affordable Health Care Law entirely.

Take for example, the individual mandate clause, which has been the main point of contention. The GOP and its teabagger mini-mes refused to even consider it when the measure, now law, was being argued on Capital Hill.

That was particularly strange since it was conceived by the GOP think tank, The Heritage Foundation and promoted by every GOP legislator, including three of the four currently running for president, prior to 2008. One of them named Mitt actually wrote it into his health care law when he was governor of Massachusetts.

You would think that when Barack Obama embraced this singularly conservative republican idea, that the GOP would have happily supported him in the bi-partisan manner of governance.

Did they? Hell no! They've been fighting it ever since President Obama said it was a good idea for the people. Makes ya think, it is not about the law, it's about the Black man in the White House.

And now, it is at the Supreme Court. A Supreme Court where one justice and his wife are actually on the payroll of that same Heritage Foundation, which has argued vigorously in favor of throwing out the individual mandate because it now says its “baby” is unconstitutional.

Question....if the individual mandate is unconstitutional today...why was it not unconstitutional when it was a republican idea?

It's a sure bet that Justice Clarence will do his dirty work behind the scenes because as has become typical, Thomas has not opened his mouth in open court these past few days. If the Justices do strike down the law, Thomas will have earned his tainted lucre.

I'm sure wifey-poo Ginny will be so proud of her man.

So what happens if the Affordable Health Care Law is struck down? Do the Repubs have a plan?

Well, no they don't. Not one of them who has taken to the airwaves to call for the law to be struck down have a plan. They just want it gone.

If it does go...

So does allowing parents to cover their kids on their insurance until aged 26.

So does coverage for children and people with pre existing conditions...insurance will once again be allowed to deny coverage.

So does the Medicaid expansion that was to be used to give health coverage to the 45-million people who don't have it.

So does the mandate requiring insurance companies to use most of the money collected from premiums to go to medical costs for consumers.

So does free contraception, birth control and other preventive services for women.

So do the mandates requiring restaurants and food companies to tell us what it is they put in our food.

Striking down Affordable Health Care means that men can still buy viagra or ciallis....

It means that Congressmen will still have their health care without penalty.

It means that the insurance companies and the drug companies, for that matter will not be reined in on cost, which will go up and up unregulated.

SUPCO has promised to issue its ruling in late June.

I'm not holding my breath.

In My Bed? Damn! Supreme Court Agrees!

Supreme Court throws out lawsuit against Westboro Church. In an 8-1 vote with Justice Alito dissenting.You can read the decision here.

(Originally posted in 2006)


 Since I discovered my gayness at the tender age of 5, waking up in bed with a man would be surprising. If that man happens to be the Reverend Fred Phelps, then it becomes grounds for suicide...maybe a bath, then suicide or maybe a shower, a cleansing walk through fire then suicide.

For those of you who don't know the allegedly righteous reverend, Phelps is the guy who leads the Westboro Church of Topeka, Kansas and conducts protests at the funerals of soldiers who have died during the Iraq military action. Phelps believes that the good men and women who died for this country are being punished because they fought to defend a homeland that condones homosexuality.

Phelps thinks everyone who doesn't believe as he does is going to hell and that includes most of us Americans. So he and his family, since that's what makes up his congregation, travels the country protesting at funerals. He's been doing it for a lot of years at gay funerals, but nobody took notice until he crossed the line with the American military. If you want to read exactly what it is that Phelps is saying go to http://www.godhatesamerica.com/ , where you will find that he not only attacks America, but Coretta Scott King, Reggie White, and The Pope in language so vile that I won't repeat it here.

Earlier this week Congress passed a bill banning Phelps protests at cemeteries. The "Respect for America's Fallen Heroes Act" has been sent to White House and Dubya has already indicated that he will sign it into law. The measure, like much of what Congress does, seems good until you fully examine it. The law only pertains to 122 national cemeteries. It doesn't say a thing about all of the other cemeteries in this country. Nor does it keep him from protesting at funerals. He just has to stay 300 feet away.

Phelps has free reign almost everywhere else as long as he stays off federal turf. And there is another thing that bothers me. As reprehensible as I find this man to be, I am troubled that Congress has seen fit to try to stifle him. Despite his ranting and viciously biased ravings, he is an American, protected by the constitution, specifically the First Amendment. He has a god-given right to say whatever the hell he wants.

This is America.

It is what these young military people fight and die for. Yes, his acts are a slap in the face and blatant disrespect of our military, but illegal, or unconstitutional, I don't think so. What is Congress going to do, pass a law to stifle every other group who voices discontent or disrespect? What about using the hate crimes law? Phelps violates those every time he opens his mouth. Fine him. Turn the IRS loose on him. Take away his privileged status as a Church. But let him keep talking. That's his right. And mine. And yours.

Justice Thomas Stands Alone

Lone Dissenter on Supreme Court Ruling on Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Why am I not surprised...

The Supreme Court rules 8-1 to uphold a section of the Voting Rights Act, that would have literally torn the heart out of the law, if the vote had gone the other way....

Uncle er, Justice Thomas was able to remove his nose from Justice Scalia's nether regions long enough to seemingly form an opinion of his own....It was the wrong opinion...but it was apparently an independent one since Scalia voted with the majority...

You can read the Thomas Opinion here...

What I am understanding is that Thomas dissented because he feels that the law oversteps its bounds, bordering on unconstitutional when it comes to dealing with violence against Blacks who try to vote in elections.

According to Thomas....Jim Crow violence doesn't happen anymore....Any problems that arise are for the states to handle and the US Government should stay out of it...

Okay....

I guess....the hanging chads in Florida were the product of my imagination...

I guess the Supco ruling giving Dubya the White House was a product of my imagination...

I guess....Blackwell's repeated attempts to steal the election for George Bush the younger are a product of my imagination....

I guess that republican in California who was changing minority votes this past election, in order to trick them into supporting John McCain, were a product of my imagination...

I guess the GOP intimidation of new voters in Ohio in this past election are a product of my imagination...

I guess the ongoing persecution of ACORN and its voter registration of minorities is a product of my imagination...

Jim Crow violence doesn't happen anymore...huh?

Then that guy who got dragged in Texas, must have tied himself to back of that pick up truck...

And those nooses that mysteriously appeared on the office door of the college professor at Princeton, I believe...she must have defaced that door herself...

What about the kids in Jena....did they hang those nooses from the tree in the school yard?

The ruling by the Supreme Court, today sidesteps the bigger issue....Many people think the Voting Rights Act of 1965 has outlived its usefulness since we, as a nation, elected Barack Obama to the White House...

I disagree with that and I point to the evidence of those states who have repealed affirmative action.....

Since some states have done that....their schools and universities have returned to being bastions for white kids...

Check it out....

Gutting of the Voting Rights Act....would accomplish the same sort of backwardness....

By Any Means Necessary

One of the most useless institutions within our government is the electoral college. Maybe it was good in the beginning, but it long ago outlived whatever usefulness it had. For those of you who don’t know, the electoral college was set up by our founding fathers to elect the president and vice president of the United States. What we, the citizens engaged in back on November 4th was actually an indirect election. In other words we voted for the electors who will ultimately vote for the president and vice president.

The electoral vote will happen on December 15th. You can read about the history of the electoral college here.

The electoral college’s foundation, like the proportionment of representation for the House of Representatives is built on the backs of my ancestors....slaves, in other words. Check out the three fifths compromise, used to determine how many representatives are given each state of the union. And as long as I have been able to understand, I have been in favor of abolishing the electoral college and for changing the formula for apportioning congress.

What all this means is that technically, Barack Obama has still not been elected president, despite the vote on November 4th. As I have written previously, there are people out there who are attempting to keep Obama out of the White House by any means necessary.

GOP lapdog, Alan Keyes has filed suit in California challenging Obama’s birth. Now he is joining a couple of other folks who have mounted a campaign to convince the members of the electoral college to not vote for Obama, alleging he is not qualified to be president.

In fact there is a whole web campaign to “stop Obama.” You can read about it here. If you would like the read Keyes’ writ of mandamus, click here.

One of Keyes’ suits is already in the Supreme Court. It will be heard or I should say Obama must file an answer by December 1st, which is tomorrow. Justice David Souter will preside. I consider Souter one of the good guys on SUPCO, so I’m hoping he dismisses Keyes’ suit.

I don’t for a minute believe that the electoral college will go against the popular vote, but it can happen. The electors are not bound, really. They have promised to follow the will of the people, but it’s not law, which makes me nervous.

If this hurtle is successfully passed, then Americans need to think about taking back control of its vote. The time is now for abolishing the electoral college, before some other fool dreams up another way to steal the election and the White House from the people.

Still Second Class

One step forward, two steps back....The Supreme Court, driven by its conservative male members, continues to dictate to women what they do with their bodies. The decision to uphold the federal ban on partial birth abortions was 5-4...Roberts, Alito, Thomas, Scalia and Kennedy voting in the majority.

I guess women and their doctors will have to check with their congressman before scheduling a procedure to protect their own health. Guys, you still have carte blanche to do what ever you want with your body. Go ahead, pop another viagra and celebrate.