Showing posts with label Kagan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kagan. Show all posts

Friday, February 17, 2012

Breaking: U.S. Supreme Court Meeting Today on Health Care/Eligibility Challenge

PURPURA V. SEBELIUS ASKS IF OBAMA WAS QUALIFIED TO SIGN THE BILL

by Sharon Rondeau

Will the U.S. Supreme Court Decide to Hear Purpura v. Sebelius, which challenges Obama's eligibility to have signed the health care law?

(Feb. 17, 2012) — 11:49 a.m. ET – The Post & Email has just learned that the U.S. Supreme Court will be conferencing today to decide whether or not to hear the case of Purpura v. Sebelius, which challenges the constitutionality of the health care bill and Obama’s eligibility to hold office.

Plaintiffs Nicholas Purpura and Donald R. Laster, Jr. call their challenge the “We the People” brief.

Purpura stated that his case is “the best one” to challenge the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act passed in March 2010 by the 111th Congress and signed by Obama. He had submitted a Request for Reargument to the Supreme Court’s decision not to hear the case on January 17, 2012.

Purpura has stated that “the reason they don’t want to take the case and why they’re most frightened is Count 6,” which claims that if Obama is not eligible to serve as President, the bill is null and void.

A prayer request was put out by Purpura, and today he stated that he is “getting calls from all over the country” in response to it. “People are praying at the Oklahoma Air Force base; people throughout the country…they’re even praying at the Supreme Court! They want their lawsuit heard,” he said.

A new 17-page brief with 15 pages of argument sent to the Supreme Court was dated January 27, with Purpura representing himself. “What I told them flat-out is that you have no choice but to hear this,” Purpura told The Post & Email. “Count 6 is the most important.”

Purpura also said that “Sotomayor and Kagan cannot hear this case” because of their conflict of interest, having been appointed to the court by Obama.

"Count 6" asks how Obama can "exercise the authority of the office of President" if he is not a "natural born Citizen"

Page 7 explains "Count 6," which asks if Obama is a "natural born Citizen" and therefore eligible to serve as President

Count 6 reads:

18. Count 6 Violation Article 2, Section 1, Paragraph 5; No Constitutional question before this Honorable Court surpasses the importance concerning this issue that must be adjudicated. Petitioner has never stated Mr. Obama is not a citizen of the United States. That being said, the Constitutional question exists: is Mr. Obama a “natural born Citizen”, if not; how can he exercise the authority of the office of President? Failure to address this Count would constitute a desertion from ones [sic] sworn fiduciary duty and betrayal of the United States Constitution. (See Article 6, Paragraph 2). The Court must consider during the years Mr. Obama was developing a power base and running for President Congress 8-times attempted to remove the Constitution’s requirement that a president be a “natural-born citizen,” suggesting an organized strategy…

19. Therefore, the question still exists whether Mr. Obama was eligible to sign “Act” in law, make appointments, institute regulations or hold the office of president?

Of this new development, Purpura told The Post & Email:

This is really important, because they’re disenfranchising the voters if they don’t hear it. The first three pages, which are the opening statement, will tell you everything, and so will the last page. The only count that really counts here is Count 6. As you know, there are ballot challenges throughout the country, and what I told them flat-out is, “You have no choice but to hear this because we have a constitutional crisis.” I’m believing, that if you read Count 6, because that’s the most important one in the whole brief, they’re sort-of trapped if they’re honest. Kagan and Sotomayor cannot by U.S. statute participate. So we’re in great shape in reality. But will they obey the statutes, or will they do what this administration is doing: ignoring the law that are on the books in the United States.

Purpura then read from the third page of the brief:

It is incumbent upon this Court to settle the issue of ‘eligibility’ post haste to afford those in the Democrat Party an opportunity to choose an “eligible” candidate to be on the ballot in November. To do otherwise disenfranchises all voters and continues the constitutional crisis that has been escalating since the Courts refused to address Hillary Clinton’s 2008 Presidential campaign’s challenge. To ignore this constitutional challenge will have devastating consequence which this Court bears full responsibility for failing to perform its fiduciary duty pursuant to your sworn oath taken by every Member of this Court.

Source: The Post & Email

Meet the ObamaCare Mandate Committee

Judge Rejects Health Care Law

SCOTAS ObamaCare Hearing

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Why Justice Clarence Thomas Should Not (Needn’t) Recuse Himself… and Why Justice Elena Kagan Should (Must)

gty supreme court class thg 111116 wblog Groups Suggest Elena Kagan, Clarence Thomas Should Be Recused from Health Law Challenge

Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

This question is all about politics, not ethics: If neither Thomas or his wife has a "fiduciary interest" in the case, Justice Thomas is in the clear, says Doug Mataconis in Outside the Beltway. But this isn't about legal ethics, it's an attempt to "deflect attention" from Sen. Orrin Hatch's call for liberal Justice Elena Kagan to recuse herself because of her previous work as Obama's Solicitor General. And unlike the Democrats' "phony" case against Thomas, Hatch has "at least an argument" that Kagan should sit this out.
"House Democrats call on Justice Thomas to recuse himself..."

Let's leave all spouses alone: "I get that this is mostly just rhetorical jousting," since Thomas won't recuse himself voluntarily and nobody can make him, says Kevin Drum in Mother Jones. But either way, "it's a bad idea" to argue that "judges' spouses need to be apolitical creatures or that judges are responsible for what their spouses do." That hurts women a lot more than men, and if it's true, why not ban all lawmakers' spouses from political activism, too?
"Keep spouses out of it"

Justice Elena Kagan was directly involved, herself, with ObamaCare. So, Justice Kagen Should Recuse Herself From ObamaCare Case This is 100% different from the Clarence Thomas situation.

Excerpt:

Federal law requires Supreme Court justices to recuse from a case if they had earlier "participated as counsel" in the case. Justice Kagan did just that when she was Obama's solicitor general, but has never explained why she believes she is nevertheless justified in sitting on the case under this standard.

Carlson: Ginni Thomas Will Not Interview Or Write About Business Clients

Last week Tucker Carlson, who just hired Ginni Thomas for staff on the Daily Caller, said the same thing on Hannity.  He said he saw no reason for Justice Thomas to recuse himself unless the Thomas’s are receiving fiduciary compensation. (In recent weeks, the site has picked up some high-profile new employees, including former Slate and Newsweek blogger Mickey Kaus.)

Thomas is no political shrinking violet. She’s made her name most recently as a conservative advocate and de facto lobbyist — publicly offering her services to clients of the advocacy group Liberty Central and its partner the Patrick Henry Center for Individual Liberty. She’s the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, vocally opposes the health care reform law, and worked in 2010 to elect Republicans to Congress.  But many (maybe most) in Washington are married to people who are in one way or another involved or working either in one of the 3-branches of government, in support or lobbying concerns, CIA or FBI or security related departments or in the media.

The only way that Justice Thomas would be required to recuse himself under this canon would be if his wife has a fiduciary interest of some kind in the outcome of the litigation or if she falls under one of the provisions of subsection (d). The fact that she may be affiliated with a Tea Party group that has taken a position on the Affordable Care Act is not, in and of itself, sufficient to meet the requirements of Canon 3(C)(1), and anyone with a modicum of training in legal ethics would know that.

Recusal is on a case by case basis and unfortunately up to the judge to recuse themselves.  However in this case… the Obama administration knew of the conflict with Kagan and her recusal should have been provision of her confirmation.

The upcoming decision on ObamaCare is not only over changing the quality of healthcare in America, it is about how much power the government has (will have) over Americans to make us buy whatever they choose, if this is not over-turned. It will also give the federal government control over one-sixth of the budget of the United States. Look at their record… does anyone believe they are capable of that responsibility? Just like social security now… in the not so distant future there will be no money in the coffers for anyone’s (but a chosen few) to get healthcare… let alone decent healthcare or anything like what Americans have now.

Kagan was a guaranteed vote for the White House for the administration in case the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act ended up there. Kagan is ineligible to vote on this case and the White House always knew that. But the Congress did not do their job….

Kagan should (must) recuse herself.  Thomas should (need) not. Some pressure from the other judges might help… Encourage them!

Ask Marion

Related:

The Agenda Project:  Supreme Control

Kagen: Liberal Supreme

Judiciary Committee Probes Kagan’s Role in ObamaCare at GOP’s Request

Elena Kagan Tied to Obama’s Birth Certificate

Papers Prepared to Disbar Kagan

Video: The Other Barak? (Aharon Barak)

Video: Kagan: Constitution Was Meant To Be "Interpreted Over Time" from RCP Video on Vimeo.

Every American Concerned With Health Care Needs to Read This Conversation

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Justice Kagan should recuse herself from Obamacare case

This spring the U.S. Supreme Court will decide what may well be the case of the century -- the constitutional challenge to Obamacare. But will the case be heard by eight or nine justices?

Before the health care law was even passed, the Department of Justice had been meeting to develop a strategy for defending the law from constitutional attack. Involved in this effort was none other than Elena Kagan, now the newest Obama appointee to the Supreme Court.

See Video at: ObamaCare: Recuse Kagan! - Dick Morris TV Lunch Alert

Federal law requires Supreme Court justices to recuse from a case if they had earlier "participated as counsel" in the case. Justice Kagan did just that when she was Obama's solicitor general, but has never explained why she believes she is nevertheless justified in sitting on the case under this standard.

One simply can't be the coach and referee in the same game. At best, knowing the playbook will color your judgment, and at worst, you'll be on the lookout for chances to give your former team an advantage.

Here are the facts. It took two lawsuits to get "the most transparent administration in history" to release emails detailing Kagan's involvement in the Obamacare defense. Those emails show that, in a highly unusual move, she ordered her staff to become involved in the defense before the law was even passed.

Perhaps this turn of events is explained by the fact that, upon passage of Obamacare, Kagan's reaction to a confidant was "I hear they have the votes, Larry!! Simply amazing."

Possibly most damning is the fact that Kagan received privileged internal strategy about the case. We know this because the Obama administration redacted portions of Kagan's emails under a Freedom of Information Act exemption that specifically prevents the disclosure of government deliberations.

Kagan is prohibited from sharing that privileged information even with her colleagues on the Supreme Court when they in turn deliberate on Obamacare.

In sum, Kagan's direction of the administration's defense, as well as her inclusion in "let's run this by the boss" discussions about the government's strategy, constitute more than enough participation as counsel to require her recusal under the law.

To be fair, as the calls for Kagan's recusal have intensified, some have rushed to her defense, suggesting that she had insulated herself sufficiently from her office's defense of Obamacare.

Her deputy at the Solicitor General's Office, Neal Katyal, has said that she was "walled off from Day One." Why anyone thought Obama's top lawyer had to be walled off of such a monumental case in the first place is revealing in itself.

In any event Katyal apparently breached that wall with impunity by suggesting that she attend Obamacare strategy meetings, by promising to bring her in such meetings "as needed," and by copying her on internal emails discussing defense strategies.

Or perhaps Katyal simply regarded "Day One" as occurring later in the process, such as after the Obamacare challenges were actually filed or after Kagan was put on the short list for a Supreme Court nomination.

But by those times Kagan was already too involved in the government's defense to later sit on the case as a judge. Legally speaking, pre-suit participation in a case still triggers recusal.

The stakes cannot be higher. The Supreme Court will determine whether the federal government has the power to mandate that every American purchase and maintain government-approved insurance from birth until death - all in the name of regulating interstate commerce.

With such a closely divided court, it may all come down to Justice Kagan's vote, but her vote is too tainted. To preserve the integrity of our Supreme Court on the most important case of the century, Justice Kagan should recuse.

Carrie Severino is policy director and chief counsel of the Judicial Crisis Network.

 

By:Carrie Severino | 11/27/11 8:05 PM l Op-Ed Contributor - Washington Examiner

Sunday, July 10, 2011

ObamaCare… the Gift that just keeps on Giving~

JUDICIARY COMMITTEE PROBES JUSTICE KAGAN‘S ROLE IN OBAMACARE...

The House Judiciary Committee has launched an inquiry into Associate Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan’s involvement in the health care overhaul at the request of 49 Republican House members.

The probe will examine whether Kagan, who served as President Barack Obama’s solicitor general prior to her Supreme Court nomination, will be required to recuse herself for cases challenging the health care law, and the accuracy of her answers to the Senate Judiciary Committee during her confirmation hearings last July, CNS News reported.

In a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder on Wednesday, House Judiciary Chair Lamar Smith (R-Texas) requested “relevant documents and witness interviews in order to properly understand U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Elena Kagan’s involvement in health care legislation or litigation while serving as United States Solicitor General.” Smith requested they be made available by July 29.

Federal law bars Supreme Court justices from being involved in cases where their impartiality could be questioned or they previously served in an advisory capacity related to the case at hand.

Rep. John Fleming (R-La.) led 48 of his Republican colleagues in a letter to Smith and House Judiciary Committee ranking member John Conyers (D-Mich.) on June 24, pointing to statements made during her hearings the House members called “contradictory” to released Justice Department documents and urging an investigation.

Kagan said in written responses to the Senate Judiciary Committee that she had no involvement in developing the government’s legal responses to the health care law and was never asked her views or offered them, according to the Washington Times.

Fleming issued a statement Thursday applauding Smith’s request to Holder:

“I am confident that this investigation will uncover even more evidence that Justice Kagan was involved in Obamacare defense activities, contrary to her Senate confirmation testimony. How can any reasonable person believe that Justice Kagan can be impartial on ANY Obamacare case if she was involved in formulating a defense of this destructive law?

Video:  Rep. Fleming Discusses Call For Kagan Investigation

Posted on July 7, 2011 at 2:49pm by Madeleine MorgensternMadeleine Morgenstern

Source:  The Blaze

SCHEDULED MEDICARE PREMIUM INCREASES

For those of  you who are on  Medicare, read the article below. It is about the monthly amount of money you are going to pay  in Medicare premiums in 2011, 2012 and the huge  increase you will pay in 2013. It's  a short but important  article:

Congress will not allow an increase in the social  security COLA (cost of living adjustment); however,  the per  person monthly Medicare insurance premiums are being  increased as follows: 

2009 premium of  $96.40

2012 premium of  $104.20 

2013 premium of  $120.20

And increases to a whopping  $247.00 in 2014!

Thank You  Obamacare!

Congress also gave themselves a $3,000 a  month Cost of Living Adjustment!
Send this to all  seniors that you know.

REMEMBER TO VOTE IN NOVEMBER  2012

And in the meantime you might consider moving from AARP, who sold seniors out for profit on ObamaCare, to the ASA or AMAC.  Just like hating Progressivism and what it is doing to America, you can’t talk about changing it and about making a difference and then buy Progressive Insurance.  You gotta help starve the Beast!!

For anyone who missed the Progressive Insurance information:

Friends it is important that we have and share information like this…I would not be sending this out to you if it had not been confirmed by Snopes.com and Truthorfiction.com.

BTW, Snopes is also a leftist group that receives Soros funds, so be aware when checking.  The aren’t always accurate or truthful, but got this one right!

You’ve seen and smiled at the Progressive Insurance TV commercials.
Well, you’re about to learn the rest of the story:

clip_image001
PROGRESSIVE AUTO INSURANCE

You know their TV commercials, the ones featuring the
actress all dressed in white. What you might not know is that the Chairman of Progressive is Peter Lewis, one of the major funders of leftist causes in America . Between 2001 and 2003, Lewis funneled $15 million to the ACLU, the group most responsible for destroying what's left of Americas Judeo-Christian heritage. Lewis also gave $12.5 million to MoveOn.org and American Coming Together, two key propaganda arms of the socialist left. His funding for these groups was conditional on matching contributions from George Soros, the America-hating socialist who is the chief financier of the Obama political machine.

Lewis made a fortune as a result of capitalism, but now finances a progressive movement that threatens to destroy the American free enterprise system that is targeting television shows on Fox News.

Peter Lewis is making a fortune off of conservative Americans (who buy his auto insurance) that he applies to dismantle the very system that made him wealthy. He's banking on no one finding out who he is, so, STOP buying Progressive Insurance and pass this information on to all your friends.

Verify at Snopes:  http://www.snopes.com/politics/business/peterlewis.asp
http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/a/aclu-lewis.htm

Cross-Posted By Blogger to True Health Is True Wealth and Daily Thought Pad at 7/09/2011 11:41:00 AM

Related:

Obama Fixed Medicare With Rationing

Senate Confirms Elena Kagan As Newest Supreme Court Justice… Another Nail in America’s Coffin

Papers Prepped to Disbar Elena Kagan

Dirty Little Secret:  Rationing is at Heart of ObamaCare

The 10 Worst States for Retirees

Saturday, July 9, 2011

JUDICIARY COMMITTEE PROBES JUSTICE KAGAN‘S ROLE IN OBAMACARE AT GOP’S REQUEST

The House Judiciary Committee has launched an inquiry into Associate Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan’s involvement in the health care overhaul at the request of 49 Republican House members.

The probe will examine whether Kagan, who served as President Barack Obama’s solicitor general prior to her Supreme Court nomination, will be required to recuse herself for cases challenging the health care law, and the accuracy of her answers to the Senate Judiciary Committee during her confirmation hearings last July, CNS News reported.

In a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder on Wednesday, House Judiciary Chair Lamar Smith (R-Texas) requested “relevant documents and witness interviews in order to properly understand U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Elena Kagan’s involvement in health care legislation or litigation while serving as United States Solicitor General.” Smith requested they be made available by July 29.

Federal law bars Supreme Court justices from being involved in cases where their impartiality could be questioned or they previously served in an advisory capacity related to the case at hand.

Rep. John Fleming (R-La.) led 48 of his Republican colleagues in a letter to Smith and House Judiciary Committee ranking member John Conyers (D-Mich.) on June 24, pointing to statements made during her hearings the House members called “contradictory” to released Justice Department documents and urging an investigation.

Kagan said in written responses to the Senate Judiciary Committee that she had no involvement in developing the government’s legal responses to the health care law and was never asked her views or offered them, according to the Washington Times.

Fleming issued a statement Thursday applauding Smith’s request to Holder:

“I am confident that this investigation will uncover even more evidence that Justice Kagan was involved in Obamacare defense activities, contrary to her Senate confirmation testimony. How can any reasonable person believe that Justice Kagan can be impartial on ANY Obamacare case if she was involved in formulating a defense of this destructive law?

Video:  Rep. Fleming Discusses Call For Kagan Investigation

Posted on July 7, 2011 at 2:49pm by Madeleine Morgenstern Madeleine Morgenstern

Source:  The Blaze

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Documents Show Elena Kagan's Conflict of Interest on ObamaCare

Supreme Control… an exploration of the New “Activist” Court

Documents Show Elena Kagan's Conflict of Interest on ObamaCare | Western Journalism.com

by Ben Johnson

clip_image001[4]

Laugh now… Because you will not be able to vote on the ObamaCare decision when it goes before the Supreme Court!!  You must recuse yourself!

Documents uncovered by a legal watchdog group prove Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan was involved in the Obama administration’s legal defense of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as “ObamaCare.”

Judicial Watch has released a number of administration communiqués that show Kagan, who was then Solicitor General, presided over the president’s response to lawsuits asserting the government health care bill is unconstitutional.

On January 8, 2010, Brian Hauck, Senior Counsel to Associate Attorney General Thomas Perrelli, wrote to Kagan’s deputy, Neal Katyal, asking for the office’s assistance in “how to defend against the inevitable challenges to the health care proposals that are pending.” Three minutes later, Katyal replied, “Absolutely right on. Let’s crush them. I’ll speak with Elena and designate someone.” After Katyal volunteered, Kagan responded, “You should do it.”[1]

A few hours later, Katyal updated Hauck, writing, “Brian, Elena would definitely like OSG [the Office of Solicitor General] to be involved in this set of issues.” Katyal added,”I will handle this myself, along with an Assistant from my office, (Name RedactedBJ), and we will bring Elena in as needed.”(Emphasis added.)

The Justice Department continues to withhold a series of e-mails that would disclose Kagan’s exact role in the negotiations. However, it has turned over the Vaughn index, which describes the items being stonewalled in general terms. These include seven e-mails written from March 17-21, 2010. Kagan was copied on three e-mails that discuss “what categories of legal arguments may arise and should be prepared in the anticipated lawsuit.” Another four dealt with “expected litigation” against the health care law; Elena Kagan wrote one of the four being withheld.

In the same week, Perrelli announced a White House meeting “to help us prepare for litigation.” Katyal wrote Kagan, “I think you should go, no?” Kagan ended the paper trail cold, responding, “What’s your phone number?”

This White House and its allies have a history of producing documents that airbrush high-level attendees out of controversial meetings. The Center for Public Integrity has declared the White House visitor logs are “riddled with holes.”

Once Kagan had been nominated for the High Court, Katyal decided Kagan had never been involved in the proceedings in the least.

One year ago yesterday, Justice Department spokeswoman Tracy Schmaler wrote an e-mail acknowledging Katyal was “point” (of reference) on defending ObamaCare, but asking him, “Has Elena been involved in any of that to the extent SG office was consulted?” Katyal responded, “No, she has never been involved in any of it. I’ve run it for the Office, and have never discussed the issue with her one bit.” (Does anyone innocent speak that way?) Katyal later insisted Kagan had been “walled off from Day One.”

After Katyal alerted Elena to the inquiry, a jittery Kagan jumped in, instructing Schmaler, “This needs to be coordinated. Tracy, you should not say anything about this before talking to me.”

This author noted in February that Barack Obama refused to produce documents revealing Elena Kagan’s role in defending ObamaCare. (Obama has long engaged in selectively enforcing the law on FOIA requests.) The reason is simple: without her vote, the signature bill of his presidency is likely to be found unconstitutional.

The justices will soon hear two legal challenges from the states of Virginia and Florida, which already cleared lower courts.

Federal statute 28 U.S.C. 455 demands that a judge must step aside “in any proceeding in which his impartiality might reasonably be questioned” or in which he (or she) “participated as counsel, adviser or material witness concerning the proceeding or expressed an opinion concerning the merits of the particular case in controversy.”

By telling Katyal he “should do it,” Kagan appointed the point person who defended ObamaCare. Further e-mails from March 24 reveal Kagan was copied

on the administration’s plan to coordinate with U.S. attorneys in fighting state lawsuits against ObamaCare. And she may have attended the administration’s meeting mentioned in the e-mail.

Frankly, it strains credulity to believe the president’s most important legal adviser provided no legal advice on this issue.

Obama knows the Constitution is “a charter of negative liberties. It says what the states can’t do to you, says what the federal government can’t do to you, but it doesn’t say what the federal government or the state government must do on your behalf.” He considers the Constitution“the fundamental flaw of this country that continues to this day.” To complete his revolution, he has packed the Supreme Court with justices sure to rule his way.

At present, the court is relatively evenly split between constitutionalists Antonin Scalia, , Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, and John Roberts versus progressive revisionists Elena Kagan, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor, and Stephen Breyer. (Anthony Kennedy, the “swing vote,” regularly cites foreign law in place of the U.S. Constitution.)

Kagan is regarded as politically savvy. While clerking for ultra-liberal Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, Kagan urged Thurgood not to allow the Supreme Court to hear cases if she believed the court would rule against her, creating Originalist precedent. For example, she advised Marshall to refuse the case of a female prisoner who wanted the state to pay for her abortion. Kagan worried the court would rule against the woman, writing, “This case is likely to become the vehicle that this court uses to create some very bad law on abortion and/or prisoners’ rights.” At Harvard and elsewhere, Kagan has been known for her smooth handling of competing groups, working them around to her way of thinking.

Without Kagan, Obama loses at least one, and perhaps two, pivotal votes, and ObamaCare goes the way of the National Recovery Administration and the Agricultural Adjustment Act.

At a minimum, Kagan’s actions constitute “the appearance of impropriety.” Elena Kagan must recuse herself when the state challenges reach the High Court.

If she violates this federal statute, she should be impeached and removed from her seat.

Then again, one can hardly expect this from the same people who did not have the guts to keep her from being confirmed in the first place.

ENDNOTES:

1. Thomas Perrelli appears to have played a role in dropping the voter intimidation case against the New Black Panther Party. Katyal is currently acting as Kagan’s replacement.

Source:  Floyd Reports

Video: The Agenda Project: Supreme Control