Federal Gov't Power

The Tea Party folk complain that President Obama is seeking "overreaching power" for the federal government with his health care law. Why didn't they make the same protest when Bush II wiretapped phones and e-mails of US citizens without a court ordered warrant even when the court is a secret one. That was the law and still is-to my knowledge-making his actions illegal and "overreaching" illegal grab for power.

US Constitution

I came across two news items today that might be of interest to those in the Tea Party movement who want to read the Constitution in its "original intent". The "strict constructionist" view of the document is that the government can not do anything not specifically granted to it by the Constitution . Back in 2008 Jack Kevorkian ran for congress-and lost-partly on a platform of assisted suicide being protected by the 9th Amendment. The argument being that the amendment protects peoples rights that are not "explicitly specified elsewhere in the Constitution". Under the "original intent" view this would be a protected right of the people. The second item was in a Cal Thomas column in The Virginian Pilot for today. He noted that some members of Congress wanted the original wording of the Constitution read into the record when recently done in Congress. That would mean that the enslaved population of black Americans would only count as three-fifths of the white population: the "Three-fifths Compromise". In my opinion the Constitution must be seen-and read-as a "living document" that can change or evolve over time. That's what the Supreme Court is there for; to determine if new legislation violates the basic protections in the Constitution. That's why after two hundred and twenty two years the same document still rules this country.

GOP Budget Cuts?

The plan that House republicans want to enact in regard to the federal budget would require cutting $ 100 billion from the budget or returning to a budget set in 2006 that would require a $ 175 billion reduction in spending. The Virginian Pilot from today says the cuts would be in the following areas. Elimination of Legal Services Corp (they provide poor people legal assistance), Amtrak subsidies, community development grants, economic aid to Egypt (why only them?), put a 5 year freeze on the pay of federal workers and cut their work force by 15 %. The White House says cutting $ 100 billion "could force 400,000 childdren out of Head Start, reduce the size of Pell Grants for low income students by $ 1000 and force the Justice Dept to forlough 4000 FBI agents and 900 US marshalls".

Health Care Law 2010

The House voted today to repeal the "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act" of 2010. According to CNN the law is as follows.

1. extends health insurance to 32 million Americans.

2. bars health insurers from denying coverage for pre-existing conditions.

3. eliminates lifetime caps on coverage.

4. allows families to keep children on their policies till age 26.

5. requires Americans to buy insurance if they don't now have it.

6. provides subsidies for small businesses and individuals.

7. requires insurers to cover preventive care.

8. sets up independent review process for people who feel their claims are unfairly denied.

The Dept of Health and Human Services states "130 million nonelderly Americans with pre-existing conditions would be at risk of losing their insurance" without the law.

The CBO says repealing the law would cost $ 230 billion by 2021.

Republicans and Democrats disagree on almost all of this and its impact on the country.

(Source: www.cnn.com/2011/Politics/01/19/healthcare/?hpt=T1).

Arizona Killings 2011 Jan

I read in the paper today that the ammunition for the Glock handgun used to kill 6 people and wound Congresswoman Gabby Gifford was purchased in a Walmart store in Tucson. The article also notes that the gunman had a choice of bullets to buy. The ones he used were "full metal jacket range rounds" but he could have paid more and gotten the "self-defense rounds that mushroom upon impact". I ask myself the following questions. Why does a store that sells toys, food and other home goods also sell bullets? Why can't that type of sale be restricted to a gun shop? Where would the violation of the 2nd Amendment occur in that case? Secondly, I ask why someone has any need at all for a bullet that "mushrooms" on impact causing a greater likelyhood of death. Why would the NRA protect such a weapon?

Shot Heard Around the World

The right wing and Tea Party types have been calling for a "revolution" for awhile now. Sarah Palin has said "don't retreat, re-load". A Texas Tea Party congressional candidate stated that if change does not come by the election process, then it will have be come by armed rebellion. He lost his election. Could the political assassination attempt in Arizona of Gabby Gifford and the killings of five others there be the second coming of the "shot heard around the world"?

Race and Justice

It seems to be still an issue in certain parts of the US today. Consider the case of two sisters sentenced to life in prison for armed robbery of $ 11. They were teenagers at the time of the crime but it was still "armed robbery"-a serious crime. But life in prison seems a bit excessive. The sisters are black and the place is Mississippi (Phil Ochs sang in the 1960' about Mississippi "finding another country to be part of"). The sisters were released from prison this past week after serving 16 years. That is not the end of the story. The older sister has kidney failure and her "medical condition is costing the state a lot of money". You have to wonder why the release now after already serving an excessive prison term; is it the right thing to do or is the state just too cheap to provide medical care to a inmate. The release story takes another turn when it is known that part of the deal is that the younger sister will have to donate a kidney to her sibling. The governor-Haley Barbour-says the sister volunteered. To top it off the NAACP "thanked Barbour" calling his suspension of the sentence a "shining example" of the governor's use of the clemency power. The head of the state NAACP said this was a "great victory for the state of Mississippi (and) two individuals who received an excessive sentence". If this is what passes for a racial victory in Mississippi, I would say Phil Ochs is still relevent.

(Source: "Kidney key to sister's release" by Holbrook Mohr of the AP. In The Record on 12/31/10)