Obama Care: Mar 8, 2013

Friday, March 8, 2013

Letter from the President -- Regarding the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act of 2013

Letter from the President -- Regarding the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act of 2013 | The White House Skip to main content | Skip to footer site map The White House. President Barack Obama Get Email Updates Contact Us Go to homepage. The White House Blog Photos & Videos Photo Galleries Video Performances Live Streams Podcasts 2012: A Year in Photos

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For Immediate Release January 29, 2013 Letter from the President -- Regarding the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act of 2013 TEXT OF A LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENTTO THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVESAND THE PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE January 29, 2013 Dear Mr. Speaker: (Dear Mr. President:) In accordance with section 902 of the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act, 2013, I hereby designate as emergency requirements all funding so designated by the Congress in the Act pursuant to section 251(b)(2)(A)(i) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, as amended, as outlined in the enclosed list of accounts. The details of this action are set forth in the enclosed letter from the Deputy Director for Management of the Office of Management and Budget.

Sincerely,

BARACK OBAMA

Blog posts on this issue January 31, 2013 5:39 PM ESTWatch: "Fireside Hangout" with Cecilia Muñoz on Immigration Reform

Watch the full video from a Google+ Hangout with Director of the Domestic Policy Council, Cecilia Muñoz on immigration reform.

January 31, 2013 5:33 PM ESTHighlighting Inclusion, Diversity and Human Rights at the Special Olympics World Winter Games

The Secretary of Agriculture is leading the U.S. Presidential Delegation to the 2013 Special Olympics World Winter Games.

January 31, 2013 12:13 PM ESTThe Posse Foundation Selects First Cohort of Veterans for College Success Program

The Posse Foundation has teamed up with Vassar College to launch its Veterans Posse Program, helping veterans succeed at home and in school.

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Specialty Groups Back IPAB Repeal

A coalition of medical specialties said Tuesday that it supports a bill to repeal the controversial cost-control board in President Obama's signature healthcare law.

The Alliance of Specialty Medicine — a coalition of specialty groups including brain surgeons, plastic surgeons and heart doctors — said it wants Congress to repeal the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB).

The IPAB is one of the most controversial pieces of the Affordable Care Act, and it has never been popular with doctors. The panel would have the authority to make targeted cuts in Medicare's payments to doctors if the program's overall costs rise faster than a certain rate.

"The Alliance understands and appreciates concerns with the rising costs of health care," the group wrote in a letter to lawmakers Tuesday. "However, the process and structure of the IPAB is fraught with potential unintended consequences and the IPAB lacks the clinical expertise and the research capacity to examine the national and regional effects of proposed recommendations to ensure patients are not unduly impacted."

Reps. Phil Roe (R-Tenn.) and Alyson Schwartz (D-Pa.) recently reintroduced their bill to repeal the IPAB. It could easily pass the House, but likely would not get a vote in the Senate on its own. The Alliance wrote to Roe and Schwartz to express its support for the measure.

Although the IPAB technically makes recommendations to Congress, its power is vast. The healthcare law requires Congress to take up the IPAB's recommendations quickly, and lawmakers can only stop the panel's cuts from taking effect by passing equivalent cuts elsewhere in the federal budget.

"The Alliance strongly opposes the IPAB or any other board resulting in an inappropriate delegation of Congress’ oversight responsibilities," the Alliance letter said. "Significant health care decisions must not be made by a group of unelected, unaccountable individuals with little or no clinical expertise or the oversight required to protect access to care for America’s seniors."

House Republicans' rules for the 113th Congress, though, said they will not abide by the law's timing constraints, meaning IPAB cuts won't move as swiftly through Congress as intended. And Obama has yet to nominate anyone to the board. It's hard to find willing nominees, and anyone selected for the polarizing panel would likely face deep opposition from Senate Republicans.

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Vermont Legislature Debates Controversial ‘Right To Die’ Bill

The Vermont Senate’s Health and Welfare Committee has taken up a controversial measure that would “allow physicians to prescribe lethal doses [of medication] to those with less than six months to live who request the option.” If the bill were to pass, it would make Vermont only the third state after Oregon and Washington to legalize a so-called “right to die” measure.

The bill has aroused significant passions in both supporters and detractors, with each side claiming that their views represent a more humanitarian approach to public health issues for the terminally ill:

Earlier Tuesday, [the committee] heard from former Gov. Madeleine Kunin, who described watching her brother, former state Sen. Edgar May, die last month.
“He told me, ‘I want to die.’ We were all shocked,” Kunin said, as she addressed committee. “He didn’t want to live an incapacitated life.” [...]
Kunin said her brother didn’t need a lethal dose of medication, as the bill allows. Instead, having suffered from a series of strokes, he voluntarily withdrew his medications and had his feeding tube removed. His doctors and family went along with his wishes, she said. [...]
Edward Mahoney, president of the Vermont Alliance for Ethical Health Care, was in the audience listening as Kunin testified. An opponent of the bill who is also scheduled to address the committee this week, Mahoney said her story was compelling but also shows why such a law is not needed. Her brother’s doctors followed his wishes and made him comfortable, Mahoney said.
Kunin disagreed. “I wouldn’t say we don’t need the law. This was a unique situation,” she said, whereas someone else might be in more pain. “We have to respect the wishes of the dying person.”

The bill is expected to receive a full vote in the Vermont state Senate, and the outcome is likely to be close and unpredictable, as the issue has cut across party lines and regular partisan polarization.

Oregon and Washington’s physician-assisted suicide laws have shown that a very low percentage of the terminally ill actually request or utilize them. That lends some credence to the argument that only Americans in dire need of such procedures would pursue them, and that a lack of access to these provisions encourages self-inflected harm and suicide, which might increase the suffering of the terminally ill.

Still, others argue that “right to die” legislation embodies a race to the bottom. Massachusetts voters overwhelmingly voted down a similar law in the most recent election cycle.

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As Part Of Lockdown Drill, School Fires Off Blanks In The Halls

Students at a high school in Illinois experienced a uniquely terrifying school shooting drill on Wednesday. Instead of conducting a regular school lockdown, Cary-Grove High School administrators simulated gunfire by shooting off blanks in the hallways while students locked their classroom doors, pulled the curtains, and hid.

The drill, understandably, upset some parents in the area, who received a letter ahead of time telling them what their children would be experiencing:

The simulation will take approximately 15-20 minutes, during which time teachers will secure their rooms, draw curtains, and keep their students from traveling throughout the building. Please note that we will be firing blanks in the hallway in an effort to provide our teachers and students some familiarity with the sound of gunfire. Our school resource officer and other members of the Cary Police Department will assist us in sweeping the building to ensure that all students are in a secure location during the drill. At the conclusion of the drill, we will take some time to process what occurred and then we will return to our normal classroom routine.
I encourage you to discuss the drill with your student both before it happens and after. These drills help our students and staff to be prepared should a crisis occur, but it may cause some students to have an emotional reaction.

Schools and parents have gone to exceedingly extreme lengths, in the wake of the horrific killing of 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School, to come up with ways to prepare for school gun violence. A school district in Texas is considering allowing teachers to carry concealed weapons; parents have been purchasing bulletproof backpacks for their kids to take to school; the South Carolina legislature is even considering making a gun training class for high schoolers; and some parents even packed a gun for their sixth-grader to bring to class.

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Presidential Memorandum -- Delegation of Authority to Suspend the Provisions of Title III of the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (LIBERTAD) Act of 1996

Presidential Memorandum -- Delegation of Authority to Suspend the Provisions of Title III of the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (LIBERTAD) Act of 1996 | The White House Skip to main content | Skip to footer site map The White House. President Barack Obama Get Email Updates Contact Us Go to homepage. The White House Blog Photos & Videos Photo Galleries Video Performances Live Streams Podcasts 2012: A Year in Photos

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Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release January 31, 2013 Presidential Memorandum -- Delegation of Authority to Suspend the Provisions of Title III of the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (LIBERTAD) Act of 1996

January 31, 2013 MEMORANDUM FOR THE SECRETARY OF STATE SUBJECT: Delegation of Authority to Suspend the Provisions of Title III of the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (LIBERTAD) Act of 1996 By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including section 301 of title 3 of the United States Code, I hereby delegate to you the authority to suspend the provisions of title III of the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (LIBERTAD) Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-114; 22 U.S.C. 6021-6091), as authorized by section 306(c)(2) of the Act. You are authorized and directed to publish this memorandum in the Federal Register. BARACK OBAMA

Blog posts on this issue January 31, 2013 5:39 PM ESTWatch: "Fireside Hangout" with Cecilia Muñoz on Immigration Reform

Watch the full video from a Google+ Hangout with Director of the Domestic Policy Council, Cecilia Muñoz on immigration reform.

January 31, 2013 5:33 PM ESTHighlighting Inclusion, Diversity and Human Rights at the Special Olympics World Winter Games

The Secretary of Agriculture is leading the U.S. Presidential Delegation to the 2013 Special Olympics World Winter Games.

January 31, 2013 12:13 PM ESTThe Posse Foundation Selects First Cohort of Veterans for College Success Program

The Posse Foundation has teamed up with Vassar College to launch its Veterans Posse Program, helping veterans succeed at home and in school.

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Unevolved: Meet The Prominent Conservatives That Haven’t Budged On Immigration

Since the election, top Republicans have implored their own party to “evolve” on comprehensive immigration reform in order to finally reflect the public consensus.

A number of Republican and Democratic lawmakers have embraced a Senate framework with a pathway to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. Parts of the Senate proposal appeal to conservative calls for increased border security, employment enforcement, and visa tracking (enough to even temporarily convince Rush Limbaugh). However, a string of groups that helped defeat immigration reform in 2007 are already ready and eager to derail any bipartisan talks.

Echoing the 47 percent rhetoric that plagued Mitt Romney during the election, immigration opponents have panned the Senate framework for a tough road to legalization as “amnesty” or a “pointless” attempt to attract Latinos to the Republican party.

Many of these groups played a role in defeating the last attempt at immigration reform in 2007. Numbers USA, a group founded by anti-immigration activist John Tanton, slammed the Senate discussions as “amnesty 2.0? and pledged to defeat it, while another of Tanton’s groups, FAIR, directed membership to tell Congress “how ridiculous it is.”

The National Review rejected immigration reform as “pointless” in a staff editorial, where they claimed Hispanics would never be welcomed in the Republican party:

While many are in business for themselves, they express hostile attitudes toward free enterprise in polls. They are disproportionately low-income and disproportionately likely to receive some form of government support. More than half of Hispanic births are out of wedlock. Take away the Spanish surname and Latino voters look a great deal like many other Democratic constituencies. Low-income households headed by single mothers and dependent upon some form of welfare are not looking for an excuse to join forces with Paul Ryan and Pat Toomey. Given the growing size of the Hispanic vote, it would help Republicans significantly to lose it by smaller margins than they have recently. But the idea that an amnesty is going to put Latinos squarely in the GOP tent is a fantasy.

Erick Erickson opposes it for somewhat different reasons, calling it a plan “based on faith in government, not free enterprise or the American people.” According to Erickson, this is a debate “Democrats can use to get the GOP to fight itself,” ignoring that even a majority of Republicans embrace a pathway to citizenship.

Some Republican lawmakers have rejected reform, as well. Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) called Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) “naive” and “nuts” to allow a path for legalization, and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) took a predictably similar hard line. As the House begins to craft its own plan, longtime reform opponents Lamar Smith (R-TX), the former House Judiciary Chair and Lou Barletta (R-PA) claimed it amounted to “amnesty.”

While parts of the Republican party remain unchanged on the issue, the national and political momentum clearly backs a pathway to citizenship for the nation’s 11 million undocumented immigrants.

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‘Don’t Say Gay’ Bill Sponsor: ‘The Act Of Homosexuality Is Very Dangerous’

TN Sen. Stacey Campfield (R)

Tennessee state Sen. Stacey Campfield (R) has reintroduced his “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which not only prevents public school educators from discussing the existence of LGBT people, but now also would mandate teachers and counselors out LGBT students to their parents without their consent. Campfield’s views on homosexuality live up to the threat of his odious bill, according to Nashville Public Radio:

CAMPFIELD: I can’t speak from personal experience, but being homosexual in and of itself is not deadly or dangerous. The act of homosexuality is very dangerous.

He made similar comments in a video interview with The Tennessean, blaming the likelihood of getting AIDS for his “deadly” condemnation. Watch it:

Campfield is borrowing his narrative from the “love the sinner, hate the sin” motto adopted by the Catholic Church and other religious groups to sugarcoat their continued stigmatization of gays and lesbians. A person’s sexual orientation is a core part of their identity that transcends any sexual behavior they might engage in. To separate the two is to erase the community entirely.

But Campfield’s views are more absurd than that. He doesn’t just believe that homosexuality is “dangerous” because of the potential spread of HIV, he actually believes that AIDS “came from the homosexual community — it was one guy screwing a monkey, if I recall correctly, and then having sex with men. It was an airline pilot, if I recall.” He also believes that homosexuality is a “learned behavior” comparable to bestiality. Defending his bill, Campfield has described any teacher who might mention the existence of gay people as “radical,” because they ought to “spend more time on arithmetic.”

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One Student Shot At Price Middle School

Police are reporting that a 14-year-old student was shot in the back of the neck at Price Middle School in Atlanta, Georgia on Thursday afternoon and is awake and breathing. One teacher was also injured from being trampled after the shot was fired. At least one suspect is in police custody.

Parents are not being allowed to come to the school at this time and the kids are not able to leave. Early reports suggest that the shooting was a result of an altercation between students from another school.

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Presidential Memorandum -- Coordination of Policies and Programs to Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women and Girls Globally

Presidential Memorandum -- Coordination of Policies and Programs to Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women and Girls Globally | The White House Skip to main content | Skip to footer site map The White House. President Barack Obama Get Email Updates Contact Us Go to homepage. The White House Blog Photos & Videos Photo Galleries Video Performances Live Streams Podcasts 2012: A Year in Photos

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For Immediate Release January 30, 2013 Presidential Memorandum -- Coordination of Policies and Programs to Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women and Girls Globally

January 30, 2013 MEMORANDUM FOR THE HEADS OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES SUBJECT: Coordination of Policies and Programs to Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women and Girls Globally Promoting gender equality and advancing the status of all women and girls around the world remains one of the greatest unmet challenges of our time, and one that is vital to achieving our overall foreign policy objectives. Ensuring that women and girls, including those most marginalized, are able to participate fully in public life, are free from violence, and have equal access to education, economic opportunity, and health care increases broader economic prosperity, as well as political stability and security. During my Administration, the United States has made promoting gender equality and advancing the status of women and girls a central element of our foreign policy, including by leading through example at home. Executive Order 13506 of March 11, 2009, established the White House Council on Women and Girls to coordinate Federal policy on issues, both domestic and international, that particularly impact the lives of women and girls. This commitment to promoting gender equality is also reflected in the National Security Strategy of the United States, the Presidential Policy Directive on Global Development, and the 2010 U.S. Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review. To elevate and integrate this strategic focus on the promotion of gender equality and the advancement of women and girls around the world, executive departments and agencies (agencies) have issued policy and operational guidance. For example, in March 2012, the Secretary of State issued Policy Guidance on Promoting Gender Equality to Achieve our National Security and Foreign Policy Objectives, and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator released Gender Equality and Female Empowerment Policy. The Millennium Challenge Corporation issued Gender Integration Guidelines in March 2011 to ensure its existing gender policy is fully realized. My Administration has also developed a National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security, created pursuant to Executive Order 13595 of December 19, 2011, to strengthen conflict resolution and peace processes through the inclusion of women, and a Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence Globally, implemented pursuant to Executive Order 13623 of August 10, 2012, to combat gender-based violence around the world. Improving interagency coordination and information sharing, and strengthening agency capacity and accountability will help ensure the effective implementation of these and other Government efforts to promote gender equality and advance the status of women and girls globally. By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and in order to further strengthen the capacity of the Federal Government to ensure that U.S. diplomacy and foreign assistance promote gender equality and advance the status of women and girls worldwide, I hereby direct the following: Section 1. Strengthening Capacity and Coordination to Promote Gender Equality and Advance the Status of Women and Girls Internationally. (a) Enhancing U.S. global leadership on gender equality requires dedicated resources, personnel with appropriate expertise in advancing the status of women and girls worldwide, and commitment from senior leadership, as exemplified by the critical and historic role played by the Office of Global Women's Issues at the Department of State. To assure maximum coordination of efforts to promote gender equality and advance the status of women and girls, the Secretary of State (Secretary) shall designate a coordinator (Coordinator), who will normally also be appointed by the President as an Ambassador at Large (Ambassador at Large) subject to the advice and consent of the Senate. The Ambassador at Large, who shall report directly to the Secretary of State, shall lead the Office of Global Women's Issues at the Department of State and provide advice and assistance on issues related to promoting gender equality and advancing the status of women and girls internationally. (b) The Ambassador at Large shall, to the extent the Secretary may direct and consistent with applicable law, provide guidance and coordination with respect to global policies and programs for women and girls, and shall lead efforts to promote an international focus on gender equality more broadly, including through diplomatic initiatives with other countries and partnerships and enhanced coordination with international and nongovernmental organizations and the private sector. To this end, the Ambassador at Large shall also, to the extent the Secretary may direct, assist in: (i) implementing existing and developing new policies, strategies, and action plans for the promotion of gender equality and advancement of the status of women and girls internationally, and coordinating such actions with USAID and other agencies carrying out related international activities, as appropriate; and (ii) coordinating such initiatives with other countries and international organizations, as well as with nongovernmental organizations. (c) Recognizing the vital link between diplomacy and development, and the importance of gender equality as both a goal in itself and as a vital means to achieving the broader aims of U.S. development assistance, the Senior Coordinator for Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment at USAID shall provide guidance to the USAID Administrator in identifying, developing, and advancing key priorities for U.S. development assistance, coordinating, as appropriate, with other agencies. (d) The Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs (or designee), in close collaboration with the Chair of the White House Council on Women and Girls (or designee) and the Ambassador at Large (or designee), shall chair an interagency working group to develop and coordinate Government-wide implementation of policies to promote gender equality and advance the status of women and girls internationally. The Working Group shall consist of senior representatives from the Departments of State, the Treasury, Defense, Justice, Agriculture, Commerce, Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Homeland Security; the Intelligence Community, as determined by the Director of National Intelligence; the United States Agency for International Development; the Millennium Challenge Corporation; the Peace Corps; the U.S. Mission to the United Nations; the Office of the United States Trade Representative; the Office of Management and Budget; the Office of the Vice President; the National Economic Council; and such other agencies and offices as the President may designate. Sec. 2. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this memorandum shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect: (i) the authority granted by law or Executive Order to an executive department, agency, or the head thereof; or (ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals. (b) This memorandum shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations. (c) Upon designation as such by the Secretary, the Coordinator shall exercise the functions of the Ambassador at Large set forth in this memorandum. (d) This memorandum is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person. (e) The Secretary of State is hereby authorized and directed to publish this memorandum in the Federal Register. BARACK OBAMA

Blog posts on this issue January 31, 2013 5:39 PM ESTWatch: "Fireside Hangout" with Cecilia Muñoz on Immigration Reform

Watch the full video from a Google+ Hangout with Director of the Domestic Policy Council, Cecilia Muñoz on immigration reform.

January 31, 2013 5:33 PM ESTHighlighting Inclusion, Diversity and Human Rights at the Special Olympics World Winter Games

The Secretary of Agriculture is leading the U.S. Presidential Delegation to the 2013 Special Olympics World Winter Games.

January 31, 2013 12:13 PM ESTThe Posse Foundation Selects First Cohort of Veterans for College Success Program

The Posse Foundation has teamed up with Vassar College to launch its Veterans Posse Program, helping veterans succeed at home and in school.

En español Accessibility Copyright Information Privacy Policy Contact USA.gov Developers Apply for a Job

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How States Lose $600 Million On A Worthless Corporate Tax Break

There’s no shortage of corporate tax giveaways at both the federal and state levels. Lawmakers of all stripes love to use the tax code to subsidize companies, either directly or indirectly.

But in some instances, federal tax breaks for corporations undermine state budgets. As the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities detailed today, one particular tax break will cost states $600 million next year:

The federal government created this tax break, known as the “domestic production deduction,” in 2004. Since most states base their own tax codes on the federal tax code, the tax break was carried over into many states without specific legislative scrutiny or a vote. Now it is costing not only the federal government but also 25 states a large amount of money. By 2014, it will cost these states over $600 million per year.
The deduction — enacted as Section 199 of the federal Internal Revenue Code — allows companies to claim a tax deduction based on profits from “qualified production activities,” a sweeping category that goes well beyond manufacturing to include such diverse activities as food production, filmmaking, and utilities — a substantial share of states’ corporate income tax base.

These deductions are largely worthless, and many states have tossed them overboard. But 25 states still leave it intact:

As CBPP noted, “Firms can claim the domestic production deduction for profits from all qualifying domestic activities — meaning activities that occur anywhere within the United States. As a result, a multi-state firm can claim the deduction in a conforming state for production activities in any state, not just the state where the firm is filing.” They also benefit large firms at the expense of small.

State efforts to encourage corporate growth and job creation through the tax code usually encourage a race to the bottom, as corporations play states off each other in order to secure the most preferential treatment, and then feel no hesitation about up and leaving later. Of course, paying corporations to create jobs is only one of the bone-headed ways states try to generate economic activity.

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Tea Party Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli: Scalia Is Too Liberal

Justice Scalia & Senator Kennedy: Kinda the same

Justice Antonin Scalia is easily the Supreme Court’s most strident conservative. He defends torture and finds little wrong with executing the innocent. He once argued that the Constitution does not protect women from gender discrimination (although he’s since backed off this statement somewhat). Scalia compared same-sex attraction to murder. He believes our immigration law should look to antebellum laws excluding “freed blacks” from southern states for guidance. And he spent the much of the Supreme Court arguments on the Affordable Care Act parroting conservative talking points against health reform.

Yet, according to Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli (R), Scalia’s really just a squishy liberal:

At the annual gathering of the conservative National Review Institute, held at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, Cuccinelli appeared on a panel discussing the topic, “Does the Constitution Have a Future?” During the session, he criticized President Obama, suggesting the president had a malleable vision of the meaning of sin and of the Constitution.
“And really the way to fight back, given the governmental structure we have, the primary way is to get good judges who don’t accept what is wrong as right after a while,” Cuccinelli said, according to a video clip of the discussion. “Justice Scalia is in this category: ‘Well, we’ve been doing it wrong for a while, so now it’s part of the Constitution.’ I don’t buy that. I don’t buy that. And that needs to be reflected in the judges selected by the president, not this president, but the president generally, and approved by the Senate. They need to take that a lot more seriously than they do.”

To explain this a bit, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, conservative justices created new, artificial limits on the federal government’s power — such as saying that the Constitution did not permit Congress to regulate manufacturing, mining or agriculture. They then wielded these extra-constitutional limits to strike down basic workplace protections such as child labor laws or laws protecting the right to organize. The Supreme Court abandoned this misreading of the Constitution in the 1930s, and Justice Clarence Thomas is the only member of the current Court who embraces this misreading. Justice Scalia repeatedly refused to join opinions by Thomas pining for the days when manufacturing was considered immune to federal regulation and national child labor laws were considered unconstitutional.

Cuccinelli disagrees with Scalia on this point. He’s claimed that “[w]e want judges who will do nothing but apply the law as it was written and originally understood.” And, in one of his briefs challenging the Affordable Care Act, he tipped his hand to indicate a broader agenda to return to the days when child labor laws were tossed out because they exceeded Congress’ constitutional authority to “regulate commerce.” Cuccinelli’s brief embraces Thomas’ view that “the founding generation distinguished between commerce on the one hand, and manufacturing or agriculture on the other, as distinct things.”

Of course, Cuccinelli’s understanding of Constitution history is dubious at best, but that’s beside the point. The point is that Cuccinelli thinks judges are bound by the founders’ understanding of the Constitution, and he also agrees with Justice Thomas that the founders would not have approved of child labor laws.

And so Justice Scalia is a villain, because he won’t join Thomas’ noble crusade against the most basic labor protections.

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Obama Care

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Friday, March 8, 2013

Letter from the President -- Regarding the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act of 2013

Specialty Groups Back IPAB Repeal

Vermont Legislature Debates Controversial ‘Right To Die’ Bill

As Part Of Lockdown Drill, School Fires Off Blanks In The Halls

Presidential Memorandum -- Delegation of Authority to Suspend the Provisions of Title III of the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (LIBERTAD) Act of 1996

Unevolved: Meet The Prominent Conservatives That Haven’t Budged On Immigration

‘Don’t Say Gay’ Bill Sponsor: ‘The Act Of Homosexuality Is Very Dangerous’

One Student Shot At Price Middle School

Presidential Memorandum -- Coordination of Policies and Programs to Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women and Girls Globally

How States Lose $600 Million On A Worthless Corporate Tax Break

Tea Party Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli: Scalia Is Too Liberal

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