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Apr. 14th, 2011
The Nutter Report........
Apr. 14th, 2011 04:07 amI guess we don't really need the Judicial Branch of the government after all......
Bachmann Wants To Strip Courts of Equal Protection Jurisdiction
posted by: Jessica Pieklo
To her credit Michele Bachmann (R-MN) is not shy about her role as a culture warrior and has come out in front of bold conservative initiatives to eradicate completely the constitutional separation of church and state.
Her latest campaign calls for stripping federal judges of jurisdiction to enforce equal protection laws. Bachmann's motivation is, of course, protecting "traditional marriage" from the nefarious gay agenda. In a speech in Iowa, Bachmann told a group of social conservatives that Congress ultimately controls the scope of Article III federal courts and can, and should, "decide what judges can rule on and what they can't."
Bachmann's proposal may be good at whipping the hard-right base into a froth, but it also gives us a nice illustration of just how radical her understanding of constitutional separation of powers really is.
Stripping federal courts of the power to hear equal protection challenges would require passing legislation that somehow removes the 14th Amendment from federal court jurisdiction--or attempts to circumvent the Amendment all together. Either option flies in the face of our notions of fundamental checks and balances, let alone embraces a vision of America that soundly rejects the democratic ideal of basic equality.
Bachmann Wants To Strip Courts of Equal Protection Jurisdiction
posted by: Jessica Pieklo
To her credit Michele Bachmann (R-MN) is not shy about her role as a culture warrior and has come out in front of bold conservative initiatives to eradicate completely the constitutional separation of church and state.
Her latest campaign calls for stripping federal judges of jurisdiction to enforce equal protection laws. Bachmann's motivation is, of course, protecting "traditional marriage" from the nefarious gay agenda. In a speech in Iowa, Bachmann told a group of social conservatives that Congress ultimately controls the scope of Article III federal courts and can, and should, "decide what judges can rule on and what they can't."
Bachmann's proposal may be good at whipping the hard-right base into a froth, but it also gives us a nice illustration of just how radical her understanding of constitutional separation of powers really is.
Stripping federal courts of the power to hear equal protection challenges would require passing legislation that somehow removes the 14th Amendment from federal court jurisdiction--or attempts to circumvent the Amendment all together. Either option flies in the face of our notions of fundamental checks and balances, let alone embraces a vision of America that soundly rejects the democratic ideal of basic equality.
Gotta love those fiscally conservative Republicans........
Lindsey Graham Declares 'No Nominations Go Forward' Until He Gets A $50,000 Project
posted by: Lindsay Spangler
written by Ian Millhiser, a ThinkProgress blogger
Following in the footsteps of Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL), who placed a hold on over 70 of President Obama's nominees last year in order to extort tens of billions of dollars worth of pork for his state, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) threw a similar tantrum yesterday over a mere $50,000. Graham (R-SC) promised to shut down all executive branch and judicial confirmations in the Senate until he gets $50,000 to conduct a study on deepening the Port of Charleston:
Graham and fellow Republican, U.S. Rep. Tim Scott, spoke at a news conference in Charleston about $50,000 in federal matching funds to move along the process of deepening Charleston Harbor to 50 feet to allow the next generation of larger cargo ships to dock there.
"There is nothing that I will not do to right this wrong," Graham said. "I talked to the vice president. I made it clear to him that none of their nominees are going forward, that the squeaky wheel seems to get the oil. Well nobody's going forward in the Senate until we address this."
( Read more... )
Lindsey Graham Declares 'No Nominations Go Forward' Until He Gets A $50,000 Project
posted by: Lindsay Spangler
written by Ian Millhiser, a ThinkProgress blogger
Following in the footsteps of Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL), who placed a hold on over 70 of President Obama's nominees last year in order to extort tens of billions of dollars worth of pork for his state, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) threw a similar tantrum yesterday over a mere $50,000. Graham (R-SC) promised to shut down all executive branch and judicial confirmations in the Senate until he gets $50,000 to conduct a study on deepening the Port of Charleston:
Graham and fellow Republican, U.S. Rep. Tim Scott, spoke at a news conference in Charleston about $50,000 in federal matching funds to move along the process of deepening Charleston Harbor to 50 feet to allow the next generation of larger cargo ships to dock there.
"There is nothing that I will not do to right this wrong," Graham said. "I talked to the vice president. I made it clear to him that none of their nominees are going forward, that the squeaky wheel seems to get the oil. Well nobody's going forward in the Senate until we address this."
( Read more... )