Civil & Human Rights

‘Son of Citizens United’ coming in October

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The Term of the U.S. Supreme Court begins, by statute, on the first Monday in October. The 2013 Term begins October 7, 2013.

The very next day, Tuesday, October 8, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral argument in what portends to be the most momentous decision of the 2013 Term. Mark your calendars. It is the case of McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission (12-536), the "Son of Citizens United" monster that may unravel federal campaign contribution limits. The issues presented are:

(1) Whether the biennial limit on contributions to non-candidate
committees, 2 U.S.C. 441a(a)(3)(B), is unconstitutional for lacking a
constitutionally cognizable interest as applied to contributions to
national party committees; and (2) Whether the biennial limits on
contributions to non-candidate committees, 2 U.S.C. 441a(a)(3)(B), are
unconstitutional facially for lacking a constitutionally cognizable
interest; and (3) Whether the biennial limits on contributions to
non-candidate committees are unconstitutionally too low, as applied and
facially; and (4) Whether the biennial limit on contributions to
candidate committees, 2 U.S.C. 441a(a)(3)(A), is unconstitutional for
lacking a constitutionally cognizable interest.

h/t Scotusblog.com

(Update) Voter ID on trial in Pennsylvania

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie: The trial resumed on Tuesday after a four day recess with the state calling Jonathan Marks, a high-ranking state election official. Things got interesting at the end of the day. Judge In Pa. Voter ID Trial Holds Private Hearing: In an 11th-hour move at the end of Tuesday’s session, the plaintiffs’ lawyers … Read more

Happy birthday Medicare

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

On July 30, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Social
Security Amendments establishing Medicare and Medicaid. The guest of
honor at the signing ceremony was former President Harry S. Truman, who
fought for most of his political career to achieve this goal. (h/t Daily Kos for photo).

Johnson

LBJ signs Medicare into law, with Harry S. Truman watching.

Congressman John Conyers, Jr. penned an op-ed for The Hill today, Happy 48th birthday, Medicare:

As I reflect on my 48 years in Congress, at the positive policies
created and those that have had not so positive effects, the enactment
of Medicare is a bold highlight.

I voted for its original passage out of the House during my first
summer as a congressman, during a time that was very different from the
America of today. Prior to Medicare’s creation, only half of older
adults had health insurance, with coverage often unavailable or
unaffordable to the other half because of limited incomes and policies
that cost nearly three times as much for the elderly than the young.

Medicare’s positive impact was more than just extending medical
coverage to more than 19 million elderly citizens in its first year. A
significant requirement of its implementation was provider compliance
with Title VI of the then recently passed Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Almost overnight, this requirement effectively brought an end to segregation in hospitals.

I’m shocked! (not) – GOP won’t fix the Voting Rights Act

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The Neo-Confederate "states' rights" GOP that still clings to its racially polarizing Southern strategy of appealing to the racism of white voters to win elections is going to prevent any fixes to the Voting Rights Act. I'm shocked! (not).

Sahil Kapur reports at Talking Points Memo, The GOP Won’t Let Congress Fix The Voting Rights Act:

Ever since the Supreme Court gutted
a centerpiece of the Voting Rights Act and threw it back in Congress’s
lap, lawmakers in both parties have engaged in happy talk about the
prospects of patching the provision used to proactively snuff out voter discrimination against minorities in the state and local governments where it’s most prevalent.

But it’s looking less and less likely that a fix will be agreed to
because Republicans have little to gain and a lot to lose politically if
they cooperate.

“Ain’t gonna happen,” Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) said late last week, according to Roll Call.