GOP Senate v. Obama’s liberal judicial appointments

The U.S. Supreme Court in 2010. Top row: (left to right): Associate Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Stephen Breyer, Samuel Alito, and Elena Kagan. Bottom row: Clarence Thomas, Antonin Scalia, Chief Justice John Roberts, Anthony Kennedy, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Circuit Courts awash with radical leftwing ideologues

The recent report that Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg had a heart stent implanted to clear a blocked artery during the court’s current session is more than just an item of passing interest. The 9-member court hears its next round of oral arguments on Monday.

The 81-year-old Ginsburg, a radical liberal (video) who has suffered multiple and serious health problems, is emblematic of the aging High Court bench. Ginsburg has yet to top the longevity of Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., who was on the court from 1902 to 1932 and was 90 when he finally retired, but she’s within spitting distance of the record.

Her age and ill-health point to a serious situation as Barack Obama still has two years to stack the Supreme Court. He has been resolutely at work doing so throughout his tenure with the 13 federal circuit courts, which handle upward of 60,000 cases a year —- compared to the Supreme Court’s fewer than 100 cases. He has diligently created Democrat majorities on the courts that function as mini-supreme courts since they establish precedent on previously unaddressed issues in their circuits, and have the last word in nearly all of the cases that come before them. Not only has Obama appointed leftist ideologues, but young lawyers who will serve for many years. Currently, he has seven circuit vacancies to fill.

Now with Republicans in control of the Senate for the first time since Barack Obama took office, he should find it harder to appoint left-wing lawyers to judgeships. Since he took office in 2009, the number of circuit courts with Democrat majorities has increased from one to nine. Whether he compromises on some of his nominees, including any to the Supreme Court, may depend on the willingness of the new Republican majority to engage the president on judicial philosophy.

Terry Eastland, an executive editor at The Weekly Standard has written a fact-filled two-page review of the subject titled, Obama’s Makeover of the Judiciary. This is an important article that should not be missed. Eastland addresses the issue of the all-important willingness of the new GOP majority Senate to slow the march of liberal judges onto the courts.

The Heritage Foundation provides an overview of the cases on the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2014-2015 docket. The Court’s argument calendar can be accessed here on the Supreme Court’s website.

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Seeing Red AZ rates a backhanded first place award

Kudos from the Phoenix New Times

Okay. We can take it.  It’s all in fun, after all.  Or is it? At any rate, the bizarro-world* leftists at the Phoenix New Times tabloid have awarded Seeing Red AZ the “Best Right-Wing Blog, 2014.” We are even credited as a valuable resource “for reporters and researchers.”

They got us right on our view of John McCain, but skewed the facts on nearly everything else, as was doubtless their intent. We missed the issue in which the award was initially given since the publication is not on our regular reading list.  Still, we take a deep bow and emulate director James Cameron, hooting at the academy awards he was “King of the World.” Cameron simply omitted the all-important two words, “blog” and “Arizona.”

Thanks, Phoenix New Times. Perhaps you‘ll learn a thing or two as you venture into that “journey into darkness” with us. Stranger things have happened. Prior to seeing the light, conservative icon Ronald Reagan had once been a Democrat union leader.

 

* New Times’ description of the mindset of our readers.

Taxpayers on the hook for $2 trillion+ funding Obama’s amnesty

The Heritage Foundation’s expert on welfare and entitlement spending, Robert Rector, reports that illegal aliens who receive amnesty and work permits through Barack Obama’s executive actions will draw $2 trillion over their lifetimes in taxpayer-funded government services. Rector  based the figure on estimates that 4 million* illegal aliens will benefit from the actions and will live an average of 50 years.

“The net cost —- which is total benefits minus total benefits paid in —- of the amnesty recipients I estimate will be around $2 trillion over the course of their lifetime,* Rector told Breitbart News. “What [Obama] is doing is he is putting these 4 million people —- who on average have a 10th grade education —- into the Social Security and Medicare programs.”

In May 2013, Rector estimated the costs of the John McCain and Jeff Flake-led Gang of Eight’s 844-page amnesty bill, S. 744  to be $6.3 trillion. He applied that methodology to Obama’s executive amnesty. Rector looked at how much the average beneficiary would earn in wages over their lifetimes and then calculated how much they would draw in taxpayer benefits.

“Given their expected earnings, from someone who has a 10th grade education, they will draw about three dollars worth of benefits out of those programs over their lifetimes for every dollar they put into them. But the overall cost in outlays will be around a trillion dollars for those programs alone,” Rector said. “The bottom line to understand this is you are taking millions of people with a 10th grade education and giving them access to the largest entitlement and welfare system in the globe.”

Carrying the deceptive title, “Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act,” S.744, clearly an amnesty bill, was approved in the Senate June 27, 2013 by a vote of 68 to 32, with the disappointing support of 14 Republicans. The Republican-led House did not pass the amnesty proposal. Check out the actual roll call vote to see how the individual senators “represented” their constituents.

* Editor’s note: Robert Rector uses 4 million illegal aliens in his cost analysis. Other reports put the number well in excess of 5 million, which would up the ante on the $2 trillion figure. Here on the White House website, the figure is acknowledged as 11 million as Obama sets forth the unenforceable provisions of his unilaterally imposed scheme which bypasses congress as he spits in the eye of the U.S. Constitution.

 

2014 Thanksgiving message to our readers

The First Thanksgiving by Jennie Augusta Brownscombe

We take a moment to reflect today on the many blessings we enjoy as citizens of this great land, and wish the abundant bounties of this uniquely American holiday to each and every one of our readers.

Do yourself a favor and read this inspiring Thanksgiving Proclamation issued in 1789 by President George Washington. The first paragraph references God a total of five times:

“Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me to “recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:”

Read it in its entirety here. We recommend this inspiring proclamation for reading aloud at your dining table today. It’s a gift your friends and family will long remember. 

AZ Republic calls violent criminality “rally…vandalism”

Under the mild headline “Ferguson protesters rally across U.S. for 2nd day,” the increasingly erratic and radically leftist Arizona Republic newspaper boldly puts its bias on display, with this opening sentence: “People protesting the Ferguson, Mo., grand-jury decision took to the streets in some U.S. cities for a second day Tuesday, even as others were still cleaning up vandalism from the night before.”

In the small community of Ferguson alone, wild gangs first looted and then torched businesses, set fire to police cars, intimidated law-abiding citizens and stormed city hall, breaking out windows. In addition to perpetrating such crimes, thuggish mobs blocked roadways in major cities imperiling safety.

How do such savage acts of feral criminality morph into rallies?  The Republic employs the same understatement technique as U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, America’s chief law enforcement officer, who blandly said he was “disappointed” by the violence.

What the Republic tamely calls “vandalism“ is blatant criminality that began in Ferguson and has run rampant through American cities with large black populations. The looters and arsonists are criminals who conveniently used the grand jury decision not to indict white police officer Darren Wilson in the fatal shooting of black Michael Brown as an excuse for violent acts against innocent business owners —- devastating their years of sacrifice to create a livelihood for themselves and their families.

The small-statured convenience store owner who 6’4” and nearly 300 lb. Brown shoved aside during his strong-arm robbery (video) just prior to the shooting, had his business and inventory destroyed during the riots.

Michael Brown’s crude ex-con stepfather* Louis Head, incited arson in the town of Ferguson yelling,”Burn this bitch down.”

Through its choice of descriptive words, the Arizona Republic gives its explicit approval to the acts of brutality perpetrated by gangs of thugs. The decision makers at the daily fish wrapper should be ashamed.

*H/T The Smoking Gun

Credibility problems with lawyers defending Obama’s overreach

April Fool’s Day is still months away, but the gags keep coming

The U.S. Department of Justice recently released a letter* citing 10 legal academics at colleges across the country defending Barack Obama’s imperial executive action —- bypassing congress —- which grants amnesty to millions of foreign nationals who have illegally entered the United States.

But while the DOJ touts these professors’ prominence, their neutrality is certainly questionable.

In the letter, the legal scholars say they don’t always see eye-to-eye on presidential power and immigration policy, but that they “are all of the view that these actions are lawful.”

Of the 10 letter signers, seven are registered Democrats. Two live in states that don’t release party affiliation, but they both donate exclusively to Democrat candidates. The lone Republican, Eric Posner, is also an exclusive Democrat donor and has repeatedly written that Obama can literally “do whatever he wants” when it comes to executive authority.

Three of the lawyers work at the University of Chicago, where Obama taught constitutional law.

Another, Lee Bollinger, is the president of Columbia University, where Obama did his undergrad work. Bollinger is also directly involved in the effort to make Columbia the site of Obama’s presidential library.

Duke University professor Walter Dellinger, another who signed the letter, served in the Clinton administration and has an ongoing friendship with U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan, who was nominated by Obama.

Finally, there’s Laurence Tribe, a mentor to Obama at Harvard Law School, who called him “the best student I ever had and the most exciting research assistant.” He also campaigned for Obama.

* The DOJ letter is missing from its website.

 

Alert to AZ GOP Precinct Committeemen

Arizona Freedom Alliance has posed this informative article regarding McOrchestrated efforts to unseat conservative precinct committeemen at Legislative District Organizational meetings throughout the state.

Take time to read it. Knowledge is power.

Awaiting GJ decision: Will mob rule reign in Ferguson? UPDATE

Taught by Obama, Ferguson vigilantes employ lawless tactics, pump up divisiveness

The aftermath of the Aug. 9 shooting death of unarmed black teen Michael Brown by white police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri has ignited a firestorm of protestors. Many are imported from outside the state to incite riots, including emboldened members of the Revolutionary Communist Party and New Black Panthers as spotted by the Blaze.

In anticipation of the worst, barricades have been erected around the building where a grand jury has been deliberating.

This surveillance video showing 6’4” and nearly 300 lb. Michael Brown engaged in a strong-armed robbery of a convenience store, just before the shooting, exposes him as less than an innocent “gentle giant” as he has been portrayed.

Last week in anticipation of the grand jury decision —- likely to come Monday —- Gov. Jay Nixon declared a state of emergency, even activating National Guard troops, as he cited the “possibility of expanded unrest.”

Businesses in both Ferguson and neighboring Clayton have boarded their windows in anticipation of violence and rioting if the decision is not to the mob’s liking.

Ryan Lovelace writing for National Review reports on the coarse disregard for police requests that the agitators outside the police department disband.

The Obama White House sent a message that escalation of protests was acceptable when it sent three officials to attend Brown’s funeral —- three more than it sent for former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s funeral, which it snubbed last year. 

The administration has devoted considerable resources as it highlighted the case. At the time, Attorney General Eric Holder personally visited Ferguson and assigned dozens of investigators to conduct a federal civil rights probe.

The double standard, reported by the Washington Times, became ever more apparent as unarmed white 20-year-old Dillon Taylor was killed by a black police officer in Utah, with no White House representatives at his funeral and no federal probe underway.

November 24, 2014 8:25 PM

Ferguson Grand Jury: No indictment

Looting, fires and pandemonium in cities across U.S. follow decision

 After hearing all of the evidence based on a full investigation, a 12-person grand jury returned no indictment in the highly publicized and racially charged case involving white police officer Darren Wilson, 28, in the shooting death of black teenager Michael Brown, a suspect in a strong armed robbery.

The fact that the mixed race grand jurors did not shrink from their duty out of fear of violence  renews faith in our legal system, that functions on presentation of facts rather than intimidation. The jurors were not sequestered, and knew full well the political ramifications of their decision.

Grand jurors do not decide guilt or innocence.  After weighing a full presentation of evidence, it is the duty of the 12 citizens to determine probable cause as to whether or not sufficient evidence exists to bring charges that will then be presented in a criminal trial.

Officer Wilson’s safety has been an issue since the Aug. 9 shooting, but a recent bounty on his head has put authorities on heightened alert. He is expected to resign his post with the Ferguson Police Department.

As predicted, absolute chaos has taken over, but not just in Ferguson. Mob mentality rioters in cities across the country are setting fires to businesses, looting stores, shooting weapons and overturning police cars. With tensions further inflamed by fiery speeches by Al Sharpton and his ilk, mobs rioted in New York City, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Chicago, Oakland and Washington D.C.

Websites indicate US Reps, Sens main money streams

D.C. lobbyists do the heavy lifting, saving home town folks the back aches

Most of us have ended up on congressional mailing lists. Issues large and small provoke the incessant emails warning of dire consequences unless we immediately cough up cash. The requests hit breakneck speed preceding elections and the release of quarterly reports, where a competitive showing is crucial to incumbents seeking reelection and desirous of quashing upstart challengers.

But how much do they actually need us? Are the home folks of either party the backbone of incumbent’s revenue streams?

As dedicated observers of the political scene, our interest was piqued as we stumbled onto MapLight, a newly launched site that promotes itself as “Revealing Money’s Influence on Politics.” Check out the golden links along the top of the home page.

There is an abundance of fascinating information here which we have just begun to examine. 

Among the items that provided a chuckle was this dual list (House and Senate) showing who gets the most money from the agricultural chemicals companies.

Who’da guessed John McCain, who is legendary for spreading manure, would be a top recipient of the fertilizer industry?

Take a minute to read the Research Guide and look into the navigation tools —- especially those that show the correlation between donations to politicians and the corresponding favorable votes they cast. It’s all there on “Contributions By Vote.” 

“Money Near Votes” shows all contributions given within days, weeks, or months of a vote, and the effect of that dough on voting yes or no.

You’ll want to check out any House or Senate member here and see who their major donors are and how much they give. Incumbency pays well, which is why it’s so difficult to oust entrenched Washington players.

Another intriguing site revealing the political money trail is the Sunlight Foundation.  Its home page, Political Party Time, has this compelling intro:

“From the early hours of the morning until late in the evening, politicians are breaking bread and sipping cocktails with donors. Sunlight’s Party Time lets you know who’s fundraising and where.”

Not surprisingly, a good portion of the fundraising takes place in Washington, D.C.

 

Obama’s raw contempt for constitution’s separation of powers & Update

Statements from Arizona’s D.C. delegation

The President of the United States, a onetime senior lecturer who later claimed to be a “constitutional law professor,” has shown his ineptness regarding the subject.

By unilaterally implementing his brazen amnesty scheme via executive order —- bypassing congress —- he has rejected the voice of America’s voters. Barack Obama has exceeded his authority for what he undoubtedly views as  pure political gain.

This is Obama speaking more rationally to a live Univision audience in March 2011:

“With respect to the notion that I can just suspend deportations through executive order, that’s just not the case,” Obama said at the time.

“We’ve got three branches of government,” he instructs.  “Congress passes the law, the executive branch’s job is to enforce and implement those laws and then the judiciary has to interpret the laws,” he says.

“For me to simply through executive order ignore those congressional mandates would not conform with my appropriate role as president.”

When Obama was first sworn into office he had large Democrat majorities in both the Senate and the House. They were so large he could have designed and passed a bill exclusively through the Democrats. Instead he pushed healthcare reform and gun control bills. Now after a major 2014 midterm election loss repudiating his policies, and putting both the Senate and House in GOP control, an angry Obama has bypassed congress altogether.  This comes despite the fact that he has repeatedly acknowledged he does not have the authority to take such action.

Obama’s sagging polling numbers speak volumes. He will have no legacy as he leaves office in two years. Still, the question remains, are his actions legal?

These are the responses to Obama’s executive order under “press releases” from Arizona’s Republican members of congress. Rep. Trent Franks has a page titled “In the News.” His most recent newsworthy issue does not address this massive overstep of presidential authority.

 Rep. Gosar Responds to President Obama’s Unlawful Executive Amnesty Order

 Rep. Salmon Responds to President Obama’s Unilateral Immigration Actions

 Rep. Schweikert Secret Science Bill Passes the House

Trent Franks: Stand Up For Religious Freedom

 Longtime amnesty leader, John McCain attempts to feign outrage: 

Senator McCain on Pres. Obama’s Executive Action on Immigration

McCain’s amnesty doppelganger Sen. Jeff Flake  issued this two sentence equivocation:

Flake Statement on Obama’s Immigration Executive Order