A peek under the robes of an increasingly partisan court
" ... just another political body"
In another 5-4 vote Monday, and without bothering to hear arguments in the case, the U.S. Supreme Court blithely tossed out a longstanding Montana law that barred corporations from making campaign contributions in state elections. States’ rights, it seems, must bow to corporate power in the Roberts court.
Or as Montana Attorney General Steve Bullock noted afterward, “It is a sad day for our democracy and for those of us who still want to believe that the United States Supreme Court is anything more than another political body.”
Bullock’s condemnation of the nation’s highest court as just “another political body” may sound harsh to some ears, but it is depressingly accurate. The Montana law had been on the books for 100 years, and for most of those 100 years its constitutionality had not been called into serious question. It was considered well within established law.
The absurd notions that have now forced its demise — corporations are people and speech is money — are novel law that has been imposed upon Montana and the rest of the country by an increasingly activist, inventive and yes, partisan Supreme Court.
Let’s be honest about this: The increasingly partisan nature of the court is not an accident. It did not occur by magic, but by concerted effort. For at least a quarter of a century, the Republican Party has made the creation of such a court one of its primary goals. The same sort of rigid ideological tests that the party has imposed on candidates for elective office have also been imposed on those it supports for nomination to the federal judiciary. Over a generation, that campaign has succeeded in creating a court that is far more friendly to the powerful than to the individual citizen.
The “smoking gun” in that evolution is of course the court’s “Citizens United” decision, in which the conservative majority decided that bans or limits on corporate expenditures are unconstitutional because “independent expenditures, including those made by corporations, do not give rise to corruption or the appearance of corruption.”
That finding is ludicrous for a variety of reasons. It contradicts common sense, it contradicts history, it contradicts what we can see taking place in plain sight at this very moment and it contradicts the elected politicians who passed campaign-finance laws in the first place. Unlike the unelected justices, those politicians know the system intimately; they know firsthand what power can be wielded by unlimited money spent anonymously.
The people of Montana know it as well. I would strongly advise those interested in the issue to read last year’s 5-2 decision of the Montana Supreme Court (available here) as it attempted to uphold and defend their state’s law against the conservative judicial majority in Washington. The decision lays out in clear language that state’s difficult history in trying to fend off outside corporate control.
It’s also important to note that neither of the two dissenters on the Montana court embraced the logic of the Citizens’ United decision. Instead, they based their dissent on the fact that Montana had no choice but to bow to the federal court’s greater authority, however irrational it might be.
One of those dissenters, Justice James C. Nelson, used the opportunity to express his clear and eloquent disgust with the decision of his federal counterparts. I cannot recommend it more highly.
Here’s part of what he had to say:
“For starters, the notion that corporations are disadvantaged in the political realm is unbelievable. Indeed, it has astounded most Americans. The truth is that corporations wield inordinate power in Congress and in state legislatures. It is hard to tell where government ends and corporate America begins; the transition is seamless and overlapping.
In my view, Citizens United has turned the First Amendment’s “open marketplace” of ideas into an auction house for Friedmanian corporatists. Freedom of speech is now synonymous with freedom to spend. Speech equals money; money equals democracy. This decidedly was not the view of the constitutional founders, who favored the preeminence of individual interests over those of big business.
Furthermore, it defies reality to suggest that millions of dollars in slick television and Internet ads — put out by entities whose purpose and expertise, in the first place, is to persuade people to buy what’s being sold—carry the same weight as the fliers of citizen candidates and the letters to the editor of John and Mary Public. It is utter nonsense to think that ordinary citizens or candidates can spend enough to place their experience, wisdom, and views before the voters and keep pace with the virtually unlimited spending capability of corporations to place corporate views before the electorate….
I absolutely do not agree that corporate money in the form of “independent expenditures” expressly advocating the election or defeat of candidates cannot give rise to corruption or the appearance of corruption. Of course it can. Even the most cursory review of decades of partisan campaigns and elections, whether state or federal, demonstrates this. Citizens United held that the only sufficiently important governmental interest in preventing corruption or the appearance of corruption is one that is limited to quid pro quo corruption. This is simply smoke and mirrors. In the real world of politics, the “quid pro quo” of both direct contributions to candidates and independent expenditures on their behalf is loyalty. And, in practical effect, experience teaches that money corrupts, and enough of it corrupts absolutely.
I cannot agree with the holding that the prevention of corruption in the form of independent expenditures is not a compelling state interest. There is no plausible reason why a state would not want to protect the integrity of its election process against corruption and undue influence; to do otherwise would render the fundamental right to vote a meaningless exercise….
Lastly, I am compelled to say something about corporate “personhood.” While I recognize that this doctrine is firmly entrenched in the law, I find the entire concept offensive. Corporations are artificial creatures of law. As such, they should enjoy only those powers — not constitutional rights, but legislatively conferred powers — that are concomitant with their legitimate function, that being limited-liability investment vehicles for business.
Corporations are not persons. Human beings are persons, and it is an affront to the inviolable dignity of our species that courts have created a legal fiction which forces people — human beings — to share fundamental, natural rights with soulless creations of government. Worse still, while corporations and human beings share many of the same rights under the law, they clearly are not bound equally to the same codes of good conduct, decency, and morality, and they are not held equally accountable for their sins. Indeed, it is truly ironic that the death penalty and hell are reserved only to natural persons.”
President Obama, name that man to the U.S. Supreme Court.
– Jay Bookman
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1,368 comments Add your comment
Jm
June 26th, 2012
11:12 pm
Town crier
The Japanese and Indians know the power of water
G Mare 71(PLEASE VOTE NO ON TSPLOST)
June 26th, 2012
11:12 pm
Get@10:57, yep. We must support the president we have. That said, I must confess that I had a REALLY hard time supporting our last one. In conversation with my adult son, I remarked that I was appalled & amazed by the vitriol re President Obama. Then I had to say that I was among the haters of Pres. Bush. Not a pretty thing to own. SIGH.
Jm
June 26th, 2012
11:13 pm
“I will get ready for a total collapse.”
Where’s your bunker? Manuel’s?
JamVet
June 26th, 2012
11:14 pm
Yep, getalife, there was the 999 Groper, the Serial Philanderer, the Tent Revival nut, the crazy woman and Ricky Global Cooling.
What a clusterf&ck. No wonder the Socialist RINO won the nomination. He must feel like he is the luckiest guy alive to have had those boobs for competition.
But just wait until the Lily White Party has their little circle jerk down in Tampa.
Talk about TV for the dysfunctional!
I may watch a few minutes just to see who makes the biggest ass of themselves. It’s not as if there will be a shortage of possibilities!
Brosephus™
June 26th, 2012
11:14 pm
If the 2nd Amendment means flintlocks then the 1st Amendment means quills.
I think Mr. Gutenberg would disagree with you on that one. Writing was not limited to ink and quills by that time.
—————
Towncrier
Scout kinda makes my point for me with his post on the 4th. If you’re going with a true Originalistic view, then you take things as they were when the Constitution were written. On the other hand, if you want to take advances in technology into consideration, then you are not really looking at it from the original point of view in my book.
I’m not saying that it’s wrong to consider or not consider advances in society. My point is that there are far too many factors to consider when using a true Originalist interpretation IMHO.
Taking your view on the 2nd into consideration, then where do you draw the line on the arms one can bear? Do you limit it strictly to handguns, rifles, and shotguns? Do you add RPG’s or mortars to the list as that is a possiblity that one might face with an invading force? I think the ambiguity in the Constitution is what has allowed us to exist for as long as we have in an ever changing world. If we don’t continue to adjust and adapt to the world, we risk being swallowed up by it.
I personally don’t get into the whole “living constitution” vs “originalist” vs “whatever” debate, but at some point and time, we have to look beyond our personal preferences and look at what is best for the country as a whole. If the country is best served by something I don’t necessarily agree with, I’d rather go that route than force my viewpoint onto others and totally screw this country up.
getalife
June 26th, 2012
11:15 pm
frog,
They can blame me if it will make them feel better.
They will be very depressed .
Jm
June 26th, 2012
11:16 pm
Town crier
For better and sometimes worse, America used to be a land of almost complete and limitless freedom, almost anarchic freedom, even as recently as 100 years ago
No longer
You can only sense it, a little, in parts of the west
JamVet
June 26th, 2012
11:18 pm
TC, your cultural ignorance is interesting.
That you love to share it on this forum is particularly humorous…
And it shall be, when they say unto thee, Wherefore sighest thou? that thou shalt answer, For the tidings; because it cometh: and every heart shall melt, and all hands shall be feeble, and every spirit shall faint, and all knees shall be weak as water: behold, it cometh, and shall be brought to pass, saith the Lord GOD. ~Ezekiel 21:7
Jm
June 26th, 2012
11:19 pm
Hell, 80 years ago
I blame Eisenhower (and FDR)
Highways and entitlements transformed this country. A little for the better, a lot for the worse IMO
getalife
June 26th, 2012
11:20 pm
GMare,
I watched w on the campaign trail and knew he would be a disaster.
We actually had unity after the attack and then he decided to cut and run from Afghanistan and obl to occupy Iraq.
The rest is history. I could not cheer on destruction of my country but will cheer on efforts to save my country.
0311/8541/5811/1811/1801
June 26th, 2012
11:22 pm
Headline: “German court rules religious circumcision on boys an assault”
“Circumcising young boys on religious grounds amounts to grievous bodily harm, a German court ruled Tuesday in a landmark decision that the Jewish community said trampled on parents’ religious rights.”
But tearing it apart in the womb does not?
God help us.
http://news.yahoo.com/german-court-outlaws-religious-circumcision-172728400.html
getalife
June 26th, 2012
11:22 pm
jm,
Went to Manuel’s at a music festival.
Bunch of cons talking politics.
We left after one beer.
JamVet
June 26th, 2012
11:23 pm
I watched w on the campaign trail and knew he would be a disaster.
No doubt. The man did not know his elbow from his _______. Look at the legacy he left behind.
I was shocked that that mental midget sold millions of mental midgets in this country that he was NOT a mental midget.
TWICE!
Jm
June 26th, 2012
11:24 pm
America 100 years ago
Hunting on limitless lands, no permit, no EPA, no dea (no bath salts either)
Lots of open range
Just go do what you want, when you want, how you want
Now, he’ll, you can’t have more than 2 chickens in your back yard
You can’t build a home on your own land
You can’t do much other than sit and breathe on any land you own
And everything has pretty much been marked up, divided up, fenced off, roped off, and is off limits
America has gotten crowded (Alaska and some western states excluded)
Towncrier
June 26th, 2012
11:24 pm
“I personally don’t get into the whole “living constitution” vs “originalist” vs “whatever” debate, but at some point and time, we have to look beyond our personal preferences and look at what is best for the country as a whole. If the country is best served by something I don’t necessarily agree with, I’d rather go that route than force my viewpoint onto others and totally screw this country up.”
The main impetus to all of my posts on the Constitution here on this blog is that it is supposed to be a standard. Everyone acknowledges that. But the reality is far from different. It is, as I have said, more like an NBA rulebook, which is often ignored by referees. To the extent it is, then the referees (or SC justices) become the de facto standard. And since they are not accountable to “The People”, then they are breaking everything. Sadly, things are so far out of sync that it would take a herculean effort to bring our practices and the Constitution into conformity (probably by changing both). But unless that is done, we are without a real anchor and could drift who knows where.
0311/8541/5811/1811/1801
June 26th, 2012
11:25 pm
Brosephus:
O.K. ………… but you make my point.
Lead type is o.k. …………. but not computers !
Brosephus™
June 26th, 2012
11:26 pm
My time is up for the night. Catch y’all later.
Jm
June 26th, 2012
11:26 pm
Getalife 11:22 sorry bub. Don’t like talking to cons in person?
When did Manuel’s get taken over by cons? A lot of old ibs will be shocked.
getalife
June 26th, 2012
11:26 pm
jm,
It’s 2012.
You cons always want to go backwards.
0311/8541/5811/1811/1801
June 26th, 2012
11:27 pm
Towncrier:
“But unless that is done, we are without a real anchor and could drift who knows where.”
Which is what Washington predicted over 200 years ago !
“If in the opinion of the People, the distribution or modification of the Constitutional powers be in any particular wrong, let it be corrected by an amendment in the way which the Constitution designates. But let there be no change by usurpation; for though this, in one instance, may be the instrument of good, it is the customary weapon by which free governments are destroyed.”
It can cause the destruction of our Republic.
Towncrier
June 26th, 2012
11:27 pm
“TC, your cultural ignorance is interesting.”
That is funny, JV. One, that you would be quoting the bible and two, I would not remember that “weak as water” comes from it. Good catch. But were do the spines fit into your mixed metaphor?
Towncrier
June 26th, 2012
11:28 pm
“Which is what Washington predicted over 200 years ago !”
Washington sure was a great man, huh Scout?
Brosephus™
June 26th, 2012
11:29 pm
Scout
————–
Towncrier
I agree that we are adrift. We may not completely agree on the causes, but we both see the problem that we have.
Jm
June 26th, 2012
11:29 pm
“You cons always want to go backwards.”
Me, not a con. But yes, I have some nostalgia for an earlier, younger, more raw and vibrant America
Towncrier
June 26th, 2012
11:32 pm
Okay guys, I’m out…good night to all.
Jm
June 26th, 2012
11:34 pm
Iof course, if I was black,i think I’d have this much nostalgia: 0
(excluding things like auburn ave etc)
getalife
June 26th, 2012
11:35 pm
jm,
It can only get better after a collapse.
It boggles my mind that Americans expect a different result from the gop.
JamVet
June 26th, 2012
11:35 pm
TC, apparently unlike you, I’ve read the Bible. On more than one occasion. It is one of the great works of literature in the Western Hemisphere.
But more tellingly is that you are so uninformed that you’ve never even heard that phrase used in common parlance.
And even more tellingly than that is that rather than check it out first, you simply put your feet in your mouth and say something stupid. Mainly because you are becoming that obsessed with me.
Enjoy it, because I do.
OK, off to see the sandman.
Tomorrow promises to be another awesome day…
0311/8541/5811/1811/1801
June 26th, 2012
11:36 pm
Brosephus:
I hear you.
TAPS !
Jm
June 26th, 2012
11:37 pm
Getalife
Romney is a Keynesian (don’t tell anyone though)
barking frog
June 26th, 2012
11:39 pm
Jm
i thought he was Mexican.
Jm
June 26th, 2012
11:39 pm
“weak as water”
U haven’t tried firewater
Or jack neat
Jm
June 26th, 2012
11:39 pm
Frog
He is. Dual citizenship.
barking frog
June 26th, 2012
11:41 pm
Jack Daniels tastes like tea.
St Simons - he-ne-ha
June 26th, 2012
11:42 pm
you palefaces slay me
you broke it, you bought it
haha
i think i’ll stay right where i’m at
Jm
June 26th, 2012
11:43 pm
Good read, bad Koch bros
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-26/natural-gas-cars-can-drive-us-toward-a-better-economy.html
Jm
June 26th, 2012
11:44 pm
Frog, I agree
barking frog
June 26th, 2012
11:45 pm
st. simons
my wife is sha anee also.
barking frog
June 26th, 2012
11:46 pm
Jm
i think they add tea leaves
to the barrel when aging.
Jm
June 26th, 2012
11:49 pm
Frog Probably
ok I’m out cheerio
G Mare 71(PLEASE VOTE NO ON TSPLOST)
June 26th, 2012
11:49 pm
Say it isn’t so; Manuel’s taken over by the cons? Wow. I & my NOW activist friends used to meet there often. DAMN, JUST DAMN!
Oscar
June 26th, 2012
11:49 pm
For better and sometimes worse, America used to be a land of almost complete and limitless freedom, almost anarchic freedom, even as recently as 100 years ago
_________
Total mythology.
Oscar
June 26th, 2012
11:51 pm
G Mare 71(PLEASE VOTE NO ON TSPLOST)
June 26th, 2012
11:49 pm
_______
Just about lived there for a while in the early sixties. Well, maybe a coupld of nights a week. But it felt like home.
St Simons - he-ne-ha
June 26th, 2012
11:51 pm
i dig you, frog
beautiful, spooky chicks huh
awesome, with a little scary thrown in
barking frog
June 26th, 2012
11:54 pm
st. simons
yeh. don’t go to sleep mad.
G Mare 71(PLEASE VOTE NO ON TSPLOST)
June 27th, 2012
12:10 am
Oscar, I was raisin’ babies in the early ’60s so didn’t get to Manuel’s ’til the early ’90s when I hooked up with NOW. Also got to The Other Side about then, a TOTALLY amazing experience for this then East Cobb housewife. So now we of the revolution are older & our Vicki has died of breast cancer. I can only hope & pray to our Goddess that there are young women to take our places.
hryder
June 27th, 2012
1:42 am
I am tired of the BS regarding so many of our so called leaders claiming that they should not be held responsible for certain problems needing attention because other holders of the Oval Office’s elected position caused or created them. If offered as an excuse for inaction, that person should be impeached, found guilty, and be banished from our memories. All but Washington inherited ALL problems that remained unsolved from previous administrations and accepted that when being sworn into office following election. Only a totally biased moron would claim otherwise when reading the oath of office. Such a moron could easily avoid “others problems”, by not ever running for office and taking the chance of being elected and responsible for ALL the associated and required duties of being President.
chuckles
June 27th, 2012
4:32 am
Hi Jay interesting reporting, and not new news, you know.
What can a citizen do about it is the 10,000,000 question. Any suggestions?
waiting for 50 years and for them to drop is that the only solution to change? I’m not suggesting anything violent or illegal, Im just curious.
"Let Detroit Go Bankrupt"
June 27th, 2012
6:07 am
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1IhXZD4Txs
Normal Free...Pro Human Rights Thug...And liking it!
June 27th, 2012
6:31 am
Good morning to all y’all…a fine day coming…
http://news.icanhascheezburger.com/2012/06/26/political-pictures-barack-obama-game-of-votes/
http://news.icanhascheezburger.com/2012/06/26/political-pictures-one-man-army/
Normal Free...Pro Human Rights Thug...And liking it!
June 27th, 2012
6:38 am
Testing, testing…if this works this for some of last nights bloggers…
http://cheezburger.com/6363693056
Normal Free...Pro Human Rights Thug...And liking it!
June 27th, 2012
6:38 am
OK…Cool.
Jay
June 27th, 2012
6:53 am
G Mare, you knew Vicki? Do you know how her son is doing?
K Conway
June 27th, 2012
7:04 am
Poor Crybaby Obama and his extreme left wingers love to blame everybody if they don’t get their way! Everyone is a racist if they don’t go for all of their political crap! Obama will just bypass congress to make his own laws and not enforce the laws of the USA! They will all follow the Pompus Piper off the cliff!!!!!!!
Normal Free...Pro Human Rights Thug...And liking it!
June 27th, 2012
7:12 am
Don’t blame K Conway for his 0704…he was just CONNED that WAY…
Brosephus™
June 27th, 2012
7:25 am
Normal
Just give him the customary “bless your heart” and keep moving on…
Jack
June 27th, 2012
7:28 am
One way to bring those bad old corporations to their knees would be to quit working for those rascals.
G Mare 71(PLEASE VOTE NO ON TSPLOST)
June 27th, 2012
7:29 am
Yes, Jay, I was her intern at the lege one session. We worked together for some years after that before she got sick. Have not heard anything about Will recently, but will try to find out. What an amazing woman she was!
Granny Godzilla - Union Thugette
June 27th, 2012
7:31 am
I don’t need to peek under the robes of the Justices…..
I saw the picture in Jon Steawrts book.
EEEEEK!
Jay
June 27th, 2012
7:32 am
She was a brave woman, G Mare. And devoted to Will.
stands for decibels
June 27th, 2012
7:37 am
from jm’s link @ 11.43:
A recent article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences concluded that, given current leakage rates of methane in the production of natural gas, vehicles that run on the fuel “are not a viable mitigation strategy for climate change.” It estimated that converting from gasoline to natural- gas vehicles would adversely affect the climate for at least 80 years, and switching from heavy-duty diesel vehicles would exacerbate greenhouse-gas effects for 300 years.
Methane leakage would have to be reduced to 1 percent to 1.6 percent to make natural-gas conversions beneficial for the climate over the next few decades, the same study found. Estimates of current leakage are debated, but they are very likely much larger than the break-even rates. The Environmental Protection Agency recently announced regulations that will indirectly lead to lower methane emissions from shale gas production. It is worth exploring more efficient approaches (potentially even a permit-trading system) to reduce methane leakage as natural gas is produced and transported.
Get the methane leakage issue solved, or at least mitigated significantly, and I’ll consider hopping aboard the natural gas bandwagon.
(Obviously we need to empower locals to do the kind of water table testing and protection to ensure that frakking isn’t poisoning their supply–that goes without saying.)
stands for decibels
June 27th, 2012
7:37 am
oops, sorry forgot to apply italics. Last two grafs are my dopey commentary on the two grafs above, if not obvious.
stands for decibels
June 27th, 2012
7:39 am
he was just CONNED that WAY…
good Lord. And how.
Brosephus™
June 27th, 2012
7:42 am
(Obviously we need to empower locals to do the kind of water table testing and protection to ensure that frakking isn’t poisoning their supply–that goes without saying.)
That fracked water might also be a good alternative fuel source. What byproduct is created when you burn water?
stands for decibels
June 27th, 2012
7:43 am
It is true that Rand Paul offered an amendment to the Flood Insurance bill that would require “personhood to begin at conception. It is stupid and one of the things with which I have serious disagreeemnt with my party. Republicans can get silly on occassion regarding abortion.
Mighty Righty, if you’re around, I wanted to acknowledge this–this candor is nice to see.
stands for decibels
June 27th, 2012
7:53 am
That fracked water might also be a good alternative fuel source.
From what I understand, frakking has the potential to mess up some water tables, and not others; it really depends on where and how it’s done. Problem we have is that powerful interests are trying to keep local residents from performing meaningful before/after chemical tests to monitor what’s happening (sorry, no link, this is from recent memory) and that’s a nonstarter.
But I’m not such a tree-hugger that I can’t embrace less-horrible energy development here in hopes of lessening greenhouse gas reductions and suchlike.
Mighty Righty
June 27th, 2012
7:54 am
stands for decibels
Thank you. I don’t know how anyone can agree with everything members of a political party do or believe.
Brosephus™
June 27th, 2012
7:56 am
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/25/among-times-square-elmos-relief-to-be-rid-of-one-of-their-own/?partner=rss&emc=rss
On Monday, the day after the police ejected a man wearing the furry, red costume from Central Park for exploding into an obscenity-laced rant, other Elmos around New York said they recognized the man from previous clashes and expressed hope that his brush with the law would help their trade’s reputation.
In between posing for photos and harassing tourists for tips, the offending Elmo would often treat tourists and fellow Sesame Street impersonators alike to xenophobic and anti-Semitic tirades. The man in the costume, whose name was not released because he was not arrested, was taken to Metropolitan Hospital Center for a psychological evaluation, the police said on Monday.
The man would shout “crazy stuff” about the other impersonators, said Luis, 25, a Peruvian immigrant who has been donning an Elmo suit for about six months. He often worked the pedestrian plaza on Broadway between 42nd and 43rd Streets, where Luis and a few other men in furry suits ambled from street corner to street corner Monday afternoon, keeping a wary distance from one another.
Youtube has a collection of videos of the guy ranting. Hopefully, he’ll get the help he needs.
massachusetts refugee
June 27th, 2012
7:57 am
mighty – word!
stands for decibels
June 27th, 2012
7:57 am
MR, I’ll toss you a wee bone. I’ve laid into Obama over how he’s handled HAMP, and I’ll dump all over him for allowing the Trans-Pacific Partnership to advance as far as it has.
see also:
http://www.citizen.org/documents/release-controversial-trade-pact-text-leaked-06-13.pdf
G Mare 71(PLEASE VOTE NO ON TSPLOST)
June 27th, 2012
7:57 am
Yes, Granny G, eeeeww! And really funny.
stands for decibels
June 27th, 2012
7:58 am
the offending Elmo would often treat tourists and fellow Sesame Street impersonators alike to xenophobic and anti-Semitic tirades
This reads a lot funnier than it must have been to experience in real life.
Jm
June 27th, 2012
7:59 am
Sfd 7:37
The leakage they’re talking about isn’t into the water table (which is highly nlikely)
Rather, it is about pipe entrance and surface drilling and pipeline leaks
Mighty Righty
June 27th, 2012
7:59 am
Jack
June 27th, 2012
7:28 am
One way to bring those bad old corporations to their knees would be to quit working for those rascals
Great point. We should stop buying their products too.
Brosephus™
June 27th, 2012
7:59 am
dB
I’ve seen some of those articles relating to the testing. My view is that those wanting to squash the testing know the results will contradict what they’re peddling. If you’re not doing anything wrong, you won’t try to stop the process that would prove it.
stands for decibels
June 27th, 2012
8:00 am
From my link:
“The top U.S. trade official effectively has said that the administration must keep TPP secret because otherwise it won’t be able to shove this deal past the public and Congress,” said Wallach. “The airing of this one TPP chapter, which greatly favors foreign corporations over domestic businesses and the public interest and exposes us to significant financial liabilities, shows that the whole draft text must be released immediately so it can be reviewed and debated. Absent that, these negotiations must be ended now.”
The TPP is the first trade pact the Obama administration is negotiating. Today’s leak further complicates the administration’s goal of completing TPP negotiations this fall. Already the TPP timeline was generating political headaches for the Obama re-election campaign, as repeated U.S polling shows that majorities of Democrats, Independents and GOP oppose more NAFTA-style trade deals.
Brosephus™
June 27th, 2012
8:00 am
This reads a lot funnier than it must have been to experience in real life.
I looked at a couple of the videos last night, and I would not have wanted my child to be around to hear any of that stuff.
stands for decibels
June 27th, 2012
8:04 am
I would not have wanted my child to be around to hear any of that stuff.
nor I mine, I’m sure. (not that I’ve seen the videos, and now I really don’t want to.)
kawasaki kid
June 27th, 2012
8:09 am
Any chance of our law-making representatives fixing this democracy-killing ruling by the Supremes? Sadly, no.
stands for decibels
June 27th, 2012
8:10 am
Homosexuality has existed for millenia and there is clear historical evidence it was being practiced in the 19th century
Reminds me of a snappy little ditty from those amazing 70s visionaries…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cKuqBGrvy8
godless heathen
June 27th, 2012
8:10 am
Bro,
The people that want all the testing want the producers to pay for all the testing and they will be very difficult to satisfy no matter how much testing is done. Hard to prove a negative.
Tundra Dude
June 27th, 2012
8:12 am
A peek under the robes of an increasingly partisan court
My PC (pre-coffee) offering from the Tundra:
If 21st century jurists are expected to decipher 18th century hieroglyphs,
they should be required to wear powdered wigs.
stands for decibels
June 27th, 2012
8:15 am
Any chance of our law-making representatives fixing this democracy-killing ruling by the Supremes? Sadly, no.
I’m not quite so pessimistic that some self-correction will happen before terribly long. I would hope that after the citizenry get a load of what will be, likely, the most horrific barrage of BS political adverts they’ve likely EVER seen in a general election, that:
1) at minimum, legislation will move forward to require disclosure of SuperPAC contributors; I really don’t think that Mitch McConnel & Co.’s current efforts to keep this under wraps will withstand some public pressure although, depressingly, it will happen too late to affect anything happening in 2012.
2) Don’t give up on the notion of a Constitutional amendment. We’ve done it before, we can do it again. (I can’t imagine how one would word such a thing that’d pass the supermajority of state legislatures, though. Need more coffee I guess.)
Stevie Ray..Clowns to the left and Jokers to the right..here I am...
June 27th, 2012
8:18 am
Kawasaki,
How is subjecting suspected illegals to legal status democracy killing? Since the fed’s have no clue how to close the border (clearly don’t want to lose voting block resulting), what’s the answer?
godless heathen
June 27th, 2012
8:19 am
Methane leakage can be dangerous alright.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/06/27/man-allegedly-draws-gun-on-neighbor-for-passing-gas/?test=latestnews
TaxPayer
June 27th, 2012
8:20 am
“EPA’s analysis of samples taken from the Agency’s deep monitoring wells in the aquifer indicates detection of synthetic chemicals, like glycols and alcohols consistent with gas production and hydraulic fracturing fluids, benzene concentrations well above Safe Drinking Water Act standards and high methane levels.” – EPA draft report “Investigation of Ground Water Contamination near Pavillion, Wyoming”, December 8, 2011.
stands for decibels
June 27th, 2012
8:20 am
(clearly don’t want to lose voting block resulting),
Really sick of seeing this BS repeated. For someone who claims to be playing it down the middle, you sure do seem happy to play utterly fact-free right-wing riffs.
You have no way of knowing how future generations of so called “anchor babies” are going to vote. Nor do I. They could turn out to be as reactionary-conservative as your average Teaper, fercryinoutloud.
Stevie Ray..Clowns to the left and Jokers to the right..here I am...
June 27th, 2012
8:21 am
Stands,
Agreed amendment only hope to eliminate conflict of interests our elected, self serving idiots enjoy….at least by the approval ratings most of the taxpayers have figured out that our interests take a back seat to corporate contributions and re-election. IMO, this is why we remain and will remain (no matter which party is on top) subjected to an impotent system….Same conflicts will keep idiots from effecting amendment…
Brosephus™
June 27th, 2012
8:22 am
godless
If I produced a product that I knew was safe and faced the same allegations, I would have no problem in paying for the testing to prove me correct. That’s just my thought process though. I’d find a willing 3rd party with no ties to the issue to do the testing. If the product is as safe as I say it is, why would I worry. It would be a small price to pay in order to keep my business running.
stands for decibels
June 27th, 2012
8:22 am
And another thing. Since when do the dopey, go-along-to-get-along, kneeling-before-the-alter-of-Big-Binness-and-throw-chicken-bones-to-Labor Democrats have the kind of long-term vision-thing that they could ever concoct such a scheme as to raise anchor babies to vote Democrat 18 years down the road?
Jeez.
Stevie Ray..Clowns to the left and Jokers to the right..here I am...
June 27th, 2012
8:23 am
Stands,
Take some Tums….the voting block is the existing Latino votes…do you think they want the immigration laws enforced? Just cause it’s a talking point of the right and your guys get the votes doesn’t make it true…I’m not referring to anchor babies…I agree with Obamas approach per executive order…
stands for decibels
June 27th, 2012
8:24 am
SR, just so it’s clear, my rants @ 8.20 & 8.22 aren’t really directed at you so much as the presumption that’s out there and repeated by lots of folks, including plenty on the left.
Stevie Ray..Clowns to the left and Jokers to the right..here I am...
June 27th, 2012
8:25 am
Stands,
Take an extra Tum, see my 8:21 post. I don’t even know what an anchor baby is..
Stevie Ray..Clowns to the left and Jokers to the right..here I am...
June 27th, 2012
8:27 am
Stands,
I hear you…but IMO any and every decision make by DC is driven 100% by the money behind it….Neither the clowns or jokers want real immigration reform or border closing….neither does Latino voting block…just another issue we get screwed by definition of “person”….
stands for decibels
June 27th, 2012
8:28 am
I don’t even know what an anchor baby is..
Michelle Malkin. (kidding… sorta.)
It’s a rather repulsive term used by some to describe children of undocumented American residents who are conferred citizenship by birth. The presumption is that gajillions of scary brown folk scheme to come here just to pop out babies, making those families harder to deport.
Obviously there’s enough of an element of truth/credibility to the scenario, but to dismiss this as a mere “anchoring” process is pretty insulting, bigoted, and… well, kind of like referring to human beings as “illegals”. Just not decent.
TaxPayer
June 27th, 2012
8:29 am
In December 2011, the Environmental Protection Agency found official evidence that poisonous chemicals from fracking had contaminated water near drill rigs in Pavillion, Wyoming. That study has now been backed up by an independent expert. In a report released today, commissioned by several environmental groups, Dr. Tom Myers writes that:
After consideration of the evidence presented in the EPA report and in URS (2009 and 2010), it is clear that hydraulic fracturing (fracking [Kramer 2011]) has caused pollution of the Wind River formation and aquifer… The EPA’s conclusion is sound.
AU Liberal in ATL
June 27th, 2012
8:30 am
I swear, Miss Peadawg, you sound more like Peabrain every time you open your mouth, or type on your keyboard. I check out this blog occasionally, and every time, there you are making a fool of yourself.
godless heathen
June 27th, 2012
8:33 am
Bro: ” It would be a small price to pay in order to keep my business running.”
And I would agree except the companies know from experience that they will not be dealing with reasonable people. The challenge “Prove you haven’t affected groundwater.” is not going to be a small price item.
The fracking process needs to be closely regulated and reasonable testing needs to be performed. Just don’t fall into the trap of believing that because the companies aren’t willing to pay for all the testing that someone might want, that they are hiding something.
Taxpayer: Noone is saying that GW can’t be affected by fracking, but with proper control, it’s an acceptable risk.
stands for decibels
June 27th, 2012
8:35 am
the horror… the horror.
“WND.com, which is essentially an even stupider version of The Daily Caller, has brought the infamous former Atlanta Braves closer onto the site as a political columnist.”
I really can’t look at his column. The pic alone is enough to kill my appetite and libido for at least a coupla days.
Brosephus™
June 27th, 2012
8:36 am
Obviously there’s enough of an element of truth/credibility to the scenario, but to dismiss this as a mere “anchoring” process is pretty insulting, bigoted, and… well, kind of like referring to human beings as “illegals”. Just not decent.
Did I ever tell you about the first (and only thus far) time I saw a USC child that petitioned for his family to come live here? They were not from South of the border. They were not even from the Western Hemisphere. They were from this little country that sits on the Mediterranean Sea that has lots of the locals angry at it all the time.