ObamaCare's day in court; What to expect at the most significant hearing since Brown v. Board of Education.

PJ Media  "Monday, March 26, 10:00 a.m. — The Court will hear 90 minutes of argument on whether a federal tax law bars any challenge to the mandate requiring all individuals to purchase or obtain health insurance. At issue will be the 145-year-old Anti-Injunction Act (AIA), which says:

No suit for the purpose of restraining the assessment or collection of any tax shall be maintained in any court by any person, whether or not such person is the person against whom such tax was assessed.

 "It will be a momentous week for the interests of liberty, freedom, and the preservation of a constitutional republic."

George Will column: Obamacare's contract problem  " Under Obamacare, Congress asserted the improper power to compel commercial contracts. It did so on the spurious ground that this power is necessary to solve a problem Congress created when, by forbidding insurance companies to deny coverage to individuals because of pre-existing conditions, it produced the problem of "adverse selection" — people not buying insurance until they need medical care."

IJ correctly says that if the court were to ratify Congress' disregard for settled contract law, Congress' "power to compel contractual relations would have no logical stopping point." Which is why this case is the last exit ramp on the road to unlimited government. H/T to Rush Limbaugh for bringing this article to our attention.

Then perhaps, the government can force you to contract with a builder to upgrade your house, or to add insulation to the attic. Can they then force you to buy certain cars?


Obamacare Comes before the Supreme Court  "America waits for the Supreme Court to weigh the facts and the law, to consider the precedents and the policy, and to issue a decision that will have implications far into the future. Will Congress be limited by the Constitution, or will its authority expand beyond the limits that the Founders intended? Will Americans’ liberties stand? Will Obamacare fall? No matter the outcome of the Court’s ruling in June, Congress can and should act now to repeal Obamacare and rid the land of this intolerable act."


From Legal Insurrection: Obamacare Oral Argument – Day 1  "Via ScotusBlog, it does not appear that the Justices will buy into the administrations arguments, and will rule on the merits (caveat — oral argument questions and comments are not always a reliable indicator):"


From Judicial Watch:  Judicial Watch Asks Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan to Directly Address Obamacare Recusal Controversy


From Liberty Counsel: The first issue to be argued today arises from the case of Liberty University v. Geithner  "Liberty Counsel filed the first private lawsuit against ObamaCare on the same day it was signed into law. This is the only pending case at the Supreme Court that challenges both the individual and the employer mandates. Liberty Counsel filed two amicus briefs with the Supreme Court, addressing both the Anti-Injunction Act and the Commerce Clause."

Tebow in the lion's den

From Oct 27, 2011:  Tim Tebow -- a Fool?   "To be sure, Tim is not the first professional athlete to publicly and robustly express his or her Christian faith. There is a long and storied history of stars who turned a portion of their platform into a pulpit of sorts, from the baseball-player-turned-evangelist Billy Sunday in 1887 to basketball great David Robinson, and, more recently, two of this week's World Series participants, the Cardinals' slugger Albert Pujols and the Rangers' Josh Hamilton.

"I, along with millions of others, admire these athletes not merely because of how they perform -- but because of how they conduct themselves while doing so." 

The above Rich Terrell cartoon  seems to depict New York fans, but mainly -I think- the New York press and  media including  Vanity Fair, which calls Tebow "ostentatiously pious".  Paul the Apostle, in chapter 15 of his letter to the church in Rome warned that those who followed Christ would be considered foolish:

...And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is futile and your faith is empty. 15:15 Also, we are found to be false witnesses about God,because we have testified against God that he raised Christ from the dead, when in reality he did not raise him, if indeed the dead are not raised. 15:16 For if the dead are not raised, then not even Christ has been raised. 15:17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is useless;you are still in your sins. 15:18 Furthermore, those who have fallen asleep ¹⁰  in Christ havealso perished. 15:19 For if only in this life we have hope in Christ, we should be pitied more than anyone. Bible.org

Kerby Anderson at Point of View had this to say last Christmas: 

 And Tim Tebow has been a full recipient of the negative reaction against all things Christian. Who can forget how he was blasted in the run-up to Focus on the Family’s 2010 Superbowl ad?  Pro-lifers are more than familiar with the story of Tim’s mom, Pam, a missionary, with her husband in the Phillippines… counseled to abort her baby to save her life following a placental abruption.  She refused.  That commercial was another platform in which Pam, appearing with Tim, told that story, sending a strong pro-life message without ever using the word “pro-life” or “abortion.”  

Jennifer Marshall of Heritage writes: Why Tim Tebow Keeps Smiling

When Pam Tebow was counseled to abort her baby to save her own life, the doctor referred to him as a “mass of fetal tissue.”   (Emphasis added)

“(M)aybe she just called me that to toughen us up for the names I would be called the first time I played at LSU,” ... It’s true. He’s kept smiling while showing remarkable magnanimity toward critics. One, former Broncos QB Jake Plummer, suggested toning down the religious rhetoric. 

Tebow responded that if it’s a good idea for a husband to tell his wife he loves her as often as he can, then wouldn’t it be appropriate to do the same when it comes to the most important relationship in his own life? “If people want to bash me for that, that’s OK. It really won’t bother me. At least they know what I believe.”

From the all-caps blog: "GREAT AFRICAN-AMERICANS WHO'D EACH BE BETTER PRESIDENT THAN THE ABYSMAL BARACK HUSSEIN SOETORO OBAMA"

It's either cut and paste this font as is or manually retype the entire text. As a two-fingered typist, this is the way it has to be. TD
The Astute Bloggers 

Allen West

HERE ARE SOME OTHER GREAT GOP' ERS WHO HAPPEN TO BE/(WERE) BLACK:
FREDERICK DOUGLASS; DR. MARTIN LUTER(sp) KING JR., JACKIE ROBINSON; EDWARD  BROOKE; RON CHRISTIE; LARRY ELDER; JAMES FARMER;  SAMUEL FULLER; JAMES MEREDITH; ROD PAIGE; SAM PIERCE; JOSEPH RAINEY; MICHAEL STEELE; LYNN SWANN;  SOJOURNER TRUTH; HARRIET TUBMAN; BOOKER T. WASHINGTON;  IDA WELLS; (PARTIAL LIST!).
OH YEAH: EVEN ELDRIDGE CLEAVER WISED UP!
IT'S LONG PASSED(sic) TIME THE LEFT WISED UP AND STOPPED RACE-BAITING.


Here are some African-American Columnists and conservative blogs TW links to:
Armstrong Williams 

conservativeblackchick.com/
blackquillandink.com/
Star Parker
Mychal Massie
LaShawn Barber
Thomas Sowell
wakeupblackamerica. 
These are just a few; we are always looking for more. TD

Barone: Obama campaign doc: not morning in America/ George Will calls Obama "Alibi Ike"

Michael Barone "Barack Obama's 17-minute video "The Road We've Traveled" gives us an idea of how he wants to frame the issues in the fall election.

http://townhall.com/political-cartoons/2012/03/19/97491 

"The first thing you notice about the video is that the atmosphere is dark, wintry, minor key. You see but don't hear the election night crowd in Grant Park, then the video switches to graphics about the economic meltdown following the financial crisis of 2008.

"There are see gloomy scenes throughout. Obama economic advisers arrive in a bleak Chicago after a snowstorm. The president is shown in the Oval Office through a window at night."

....  "The Washington Post's fact checker has already given the video three of a possible four Pinocchios for the Obamas' description of his mother's insurance situation in her final illness."
....  "The Washington Post's fact checker has already given the video three of a possible four Pinocchios for the Obamas' description of his mother's insurance situation in her final illness."

http://townhall.com/political-cartoons/2012/03/21/97556 

From RealClearPolitics: Obama’s gasoline excuse machine  "Inhibiting domestic oil production and increasing energy dependency on unfriendly regimes consigns the nation to persistent economic hardship. It doesn’t take a wizard to divine what polls are saying: If you want a second term, put down the magic wand, drilling bans and green fantasies. Let the free market provide affordable gas."  On the other hand...


George Will calls Obama "Alibi Ike" 

President Barack Obama blamed Fox News for his political woes in a private meeting with labor leaders in 2010, saying he was “losing white males” who tune into the cable outlet and “hear Obama is a Muslim 24/7,” according to journalist David Corn’s new book, “Showdown. 

Hot Air 

How Many Negative Images of Men Do You See on TV in 10 Minutes?

tvtropes

PJ Media  ""I was watching the show House Hunters last night on HGTV and noticed that, even with such a neutral show, in the space of ten minutes I saw two commercials that were abusive to men. In one commercial, a woman was angry at a man at work and dumped a cup of coffee on him. In another, a man was in the grocery store aisle anxiously trying to decide whether his wife (or girlfriend) wanted the sweetener Stevia or real sugar. He was terrified that if he bought her sugar, she would be angry as she was off sugar that week, but he was also afraid that she would get mad if he bought her artificial sugar as she would think he thought she was fat." " 
From a comment to this post by AVCurmudgeon :

And the one (some asthma medication) with the female trekking guide leading a guy across a swaying rope bridge. She moves confidently, he is unsteady and she says “watch your step!” He says “Thanks!” As though he couldn’t have thought of that one for himself.Actually my overall pet peeve is the never-ending flood of quasi-anorexic babes being presented as “tough guys”. Cote de Pablo (Ziva), Kathryn Erbe (Eames) and Marissa Hargitay (Olivia) pull it off. The others? I can only laugh. 

More on the challenge of ObamaCare

Heritage: Obamacare’s Dreadful Anniversary  "There are even more consequences under Obamacare: families will pay higher taxes; businesses will face new mandates and costs; investment income will get hit with new taxes, discouraging investment and harming economic growth; Americans who purchase medicine with Health Savings Account or Flexible Savings Accounts will face new limitations; those who purchase medical devices will face higher taxes; and marriage is penalizedas a result of the new subsidy scheme.

"There are significant moral implications, too. Heritage’s Sarah Torre wrote yesterday of news about an abortion surcharge, which follows the HHS mandate that insurance plans must cover on abortion-inducing drugs and contraception:

http://townhall.com/political-cartoons/2012/03/21/97539 

Alan Caruba: Obamacare Versus the U.S. Constitution   "The likelihood is that a federally administered health care system will destroy what is widely regarded as the best private sector health system in the world. It will put the government squarely between the physician and his patient, determining who receives treatment and the amount and cost of that treatment. 

"The issue of contention for many Constitutional scholars and others is Obamacare’s demand that everyone either purchase a health insurance program or pay a fine for not doing so. Congress asserts this under the Commerce Clause, Article I, Section 8, Clause 3, that says it shall have the power “To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with Indian Tribes.” 

http://terrellaftermath.com/ 

Can Obamacare Be Undone?  "The short answer is, yes, Obamacare can be undone, if Republicans maintain their House majority in November, elect a Republican president, and get 50 Republican seats in the Senate. Obamacare can be repealed using the reconciliation process, because a simple one- or two-page repeal bill would have to be considered “germane” to the budget.

Many conservatives believe that the Supreme Court will do the heavy lifting for them, by striking down the law. But this is highly improbable."

NRO Symposium

Let's see...What's been happening in the world of Code Pink's allies?

Christian war graves desecrated in Libya 

"Amateur video footage of the attacks, posted on video sharing site YouTube and social networking site Facebook, showed men casually kicking over headstones in a war cemetery and using sledge hammers to smash a metal and stone cross.

 "One man can be heard saying: "This is a grave of a Christian" as he uprooted a stone headstone from the ground.  "Another voice in the footage says of the people buried in the cemetery: "These are dogs."

Common occurrence for years in France: Jewish graves desecrated in Strasbourg, France     "France’s Jewish community is reeling after yet another anti-Semitic attack on a cemetery. Nearly 100 tombs were desecrated at a Jewish graveyard near the eastern city of Strasbourg. It is the third such attack in the space of six months. Nazi inscriptions and swastikas were discovered by police on patrol in Brumath. 

The Trayvon Martin tragedy: Let the racial demagoguery begin; it's what the left does

Here We Go… Jesse Jackson: “Blacks Are Under Attack” "Meanwhile, across town from where the Martin slaying took place, the trial started for Shawn Tyson, a black youth who is accused of murdering two British tourists in Miami. Tyson made the two tourists strip off their shirts then shot them dead… Don’t expect any major headlines on this story. It doesn’t fit the media narrative." 

Bing 

Jesse Jackson bringing the hate  "This is one reason why it is impossible to talk intelligently about race in this country. There are too many people invested in ratcheting up emotion and hate when it comes to the way in which incidents like the Trayvon Martin tragedy are portrayed.
"Jesse Jackson - who probably felt left out of media coverage - has put both feet into the controversy."

...."Zimmerman can only be arrested if he broke the law, not because Jesse Jackson and protestors believe he should be. A grand jury is looking into whether the law was broken. So is the Justice Department. The idea that protestors(sic) should be able to pressure a grand jury in to doing what it wants is so out of whack with the very concept of justice, that Jackson makes a mockery himself of the justice system."  Emphasis added. 

Also this by Rick Moran: "And if we had a president instead of a race baiter, he'd look nothing like Obama."  "The president's rush to enter the fray proves it was done for political purposes, and not to calm a tense situation that has been blown out of proportion by the racialists in the African American community that support him."

Could it be said that the President has acted stupidly?  Again?

MEDIA IGNORES OCCUPY’S VIOLENT HIJACKING OF TRAYVON MARTIN  "So why hasn’t the media caught onto the fact that Occupy Wall Street is violent? They have. They just don’t want to report it. That would spoil their narrative about Rush Limbaugh, incivility, and the brilliant shining light that is Occupy. Instead, police officers will continue to have to take the brunt of the Occupy Wall Street random rage." 

Zimmerman was on the ground being punched when he shot Trayvon Martin

"On March 16th, the Sanford police department released new details to the Orlando Sentinel. Once again, these details have been ignored or changed by the media.

1. The witness reports that George Zimmerman was on the ground and Trayvon is on top of him punching him.
2. The witness says that George Zimmerman was screaming and yelling for help.
3. Police arrive and find Zimmerman bleeding on his face and the back of his head. He also has had grass stains on his back. All this confirms the story told by Zimmerman and the witness.
4. Police play the 911 tape for Trayvon Martin's father, who tells police that the voice screaming is not the voice of his son.

"Now that you know the suppressed facts of the case, you can for form a better more balanced opinion. Maybe you still think Zimmerman was wrong to pull the trigger. However, I think you will come to the conclusion that the "mainstream" clearly is pushing an agenda. Even when they have to grossly alter and adjust a story to fit that agenda."

Follow-up to the above article: "Since my first article on this subject I have received both a tidal wave of support and a tidal wave of hateful vitriol. I've been called every slur in the book. I believe that the popularity of my article is responsible for Fox Tampa Bay breaking their silence, and I feel completely vindicated."

 Legal Insurrection: But there is another set of parents who don’t want to see their son sacrificed for political purposes if in fact he didn’t commit a crime: 
"This case is not going to be as simple as some are making it out to be.
"I hope the new prosecutors on the case can take a dispassionate view of the evidence, and do not charge or not charge based on appeasing the loudest voices."


JustOneMinute: Trayvon Martin - Grist For The Mill    "The Sanford PD has put up a web page on the Trayvon Martin shooting.  Incuded is a listing of each 911 call made by George Zimmerman.

"Let's break some news - first, he made forty-six 911 calls between 2004 and the present, not, as widely reported, in the past fourteen months."

Russian visitor to the Tunnel Wall

Someone from the Russian Federation in Moscow clicked on the link below in the Tunnel Wall. Oddly, they found it by searching the words " her helpless captive"

http://tunnelwall.blogspot.com/2012/01/marines-show-taliban-who-is-number-one.html

Domain Name		mtu-net.ru ? (Russian Fed.)
ISP		ZAO MTU-Intel
Location		Continent  :  Asia Country  :  Russian Federation  (Facts) State/Region  :  Moscow City City  :  Moscow

ObamaCare at two years of age

The Supreme Court Weighs ObamaCare ; Congress's power to regulate interstate commerce is broad but not limitless.  
"On Monday, the Supreme Court will begin an extraordinary three-day hearing on the constitutionality of ObamaCare. At stake are the Constitution's structural guarantees of individual liberty, which limit governmental power and ensure political accountability by dividing that power between federal and state authorities. Upholding ObamaCare would destroy this dual-sovereignty system, the most distinctive feature of American constitutionalism." 

How to Replace Obamacare 

"History suggests that, now that Obamacare is with us, the law cannot be reversed without a credible proposal for what should take its place. Those reforms must account for both the strengths and the weaknesses of our health-care system, and must solve the problems that contributed to the demand for Obamacare in the first place. There is room for debate about the particulars of these reforms, and different components of our health-care system will call for different kinds of fixes. What any effective solution must involve, however, is the creation of a true market in health coverage—one that drives efficiency through competition, and places health-care decisions in the hands of consumers and taxpayers, where they belong." 



Charles Krauthammer: Obamacare: The reckoning ..."This type of prevention is free — no co-pay. Why? Is contraception morally superior to or more socially vital than — and thus more of a “right” than — penicillin for a child with pneumonia? "
...."“Religious” exemptions to this edict extend only to churches, places where the faithful worship God, and not to church-run hospitals and charities, places where the faithful do God’s work. Who promulgated this definition, so stunningly ignorant of the very idea of religious vocation? The almighty HHS secretary."
...."Rarely has one law so exemplified the worst of the Leviathan state — grotesque cost, questionable constitutionality and arbitrary bureaucratic coerciveness. Little wonder the president barely mentioned it in his latest State of the Union address. He wants to be reelected. He’d rather talk about other things.

"But there’s no escaping it now. Oral arguments begin Monday at 10 a.m."

Ironically, where before most popular protest movements opposed powerful governments, the trend now has been to demand more and stronger government control over society.

http://theweek.com/section/cartoon/12/224371/barack-obama 

Obamacare ensures healthcare is a right "And then there’s the birth control thing. How, pray tell, did we get to the point that a woman who wants to have sex, but who doesn’t want to be out of pocket for her condoms or other forms of birth control, can tell you that you have an obligation to play for her birth control pills? It’s her right! Hand over the money! That’s were we are in America today … women have a right to demand that someone else pay for their birth control so that they can have sex without fear of becoming pregnant." 

...."perhaps some conservative group should form an organization that will provide women with all the birth control they could possibly need … with one requirement. The woman must be a registered Democrat or must have an Obama 2012 bumper sticker on her car. Providing these women with birth control would be a genuine public service."

(Emphasis added) 

Alan Caruba: Closing Ranks, Winning the Election

Warning Signs "I am surely not breaking any new ground by suggesting it is time for Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich to end their primary campaigns and to urge that the Republican Party close ranks behind Mitt Romney.
"This needs to be said by anyone and everyone who wants to see Obama defeated in November. 
"It would be an act of patriotism for both men, Santorum and Gingrich, to end their campaigns. I make no mention of Ron Paul because he was always a sideshow.
"In this week’s column, Ann Coulter spells out why Santorum is hardly worthy of support. "



This is a hard fact for those of us who truly like this man personally.

http://townhall.com/political-cartoons/ 

Oops! Wildrose party to rethink the wheels on Danielle Smith’s campaign bus

National Post  “We do think that if this is the absolute worst thing to go wrong in the campaign, then that’s not too bad,” Stubbs said. “We’ve been having a bit of laugh because of the attention it’s been getting. Somebody suggested we submit a picture into Leno or Letterman to get international attention, as well as the national coverage we’ve been getting.”

"However, she also suggested that not everyone is amused."

Hat tip to Jeff Hayden, Plano, TX