Courts & Law

No sympathy for the devil

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Joseph Ratzinger aka "Joey Rats," better known today as Pope Benedict XVI, announced that he is resigning from the Papacy on Monday. I didn't even know that was a possibility, I had to look it up. The last pope to resign was Gregory XII in 1415 as part of a political settlement to end the Western Schism when there were three claimants to the throne: the Roman Pope Gregory XII, Avignon Antipope Benedict XIII, and Pisan Antipope John XXIII.

Canon law does not specify any particular individual or body or people to whom the pope must manifest his resignation (Judy Blume's book title immediately popped to mind: "Are you there God? It's me, Margaret" — I quit), but Pope Celestine V in 1294 issued a solemn decree declaring it permissible for a pope to resign, and then he immediately resigned — "I'm outta here!"  Since Celestine's decree was never revoked, he set a precedent for a valid papal resignation. Who knew? They didn't teach us Vatican palace intrigue in my Catholic catechism classes.

"Joey Rats" was the Vatican enforcer for Pope John Paul II — who is no saint — before ascending to the throne himself. He was Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, formerly known as  the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Roman and Universal Inquisition (yes, that Inquisition). It was his job to cover-up the numerous pedophile priest sex crimes and to reassign these priests to enable them to avoid criminal prosecution. "Joey Rats" had compassion for the sinner priests, but apparently not so much for their innocent victims. (I went to Catholic school with some of these victims).

A GOP Tyranny of the Minority: The ‘New Nullification Crisis’

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

A little more than a week after Senate Democrats decided not to weaken the filibuster,
Republicans are vowing to filibuster President Barack Obama's nominee
to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau unless its powers are substantially
reduced. So how's that filibuster deal working out for you, Harry Reid? GOP to Filibuster Obama's Consumer Watchdog Pick:

WSbullThe CFPB was created as part of the 2010 financial regulation bill
specifically to prevent financial institutions from engaging in the kind
of exploitative practices that helped lead the country to the brink of
economic collapse in 2008. Since January 2012, when Obama appointed
former Ohio attorney general Richard Cordray to head the bureau, it
has done exactly that—reigning in unscrupulous mortgage lenders, credit card companies, and debt servicers.

But the CFPB has only been able to do those things because Obama, using
what's called a recess appointment, installed Cordray in his post while
most of Congress was on vacation—an attempt to bypass Senate
Republicans' efforts to block the nomination. Before Cordray was picked
and blocked, Republicans had vowed to filibuster Elizabeth
Warren, who came up with the idea for the bureau and helped found it,
too. That didn't go as well as they had hoped: Warren recently returned
to the chamber as the new Democratic Senator from Massachusetts.

Asymmetrical opposition: Anti-immigrant GOP to engage in gay bashing to kill reforms

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The nativist and racist base of the GOP that is anti-immigrant and opposed to any immigration reforms that would create a pathway to citizenship has settled upon asymmetrical opposition: it will engage in gay bashing to kill any immigration reform legislation. "We're not against immigrants based upon their nationality or race — but no gays!"

This is a strategy to divide the religious community between those who support humane treatment for immigrants, and those who are fundamentally opposed to marriage equality based upon religious doctrine. These are often one and the same groups, e.g., the Catholic Church, so this asymmetrical strategy forces religious groups to choose between competing values.

Tea-Publicans are on the wrong side of public polling on both issues with majorities of Americans favoring both marriage equality and immigration reforms with a pathway to citizenship.

It remains to be seen whether the U.S. Supreme Court will derail this asymmetrical opposition with a landmark decision on marriage equality this year before the immigration reforms come up for a final vote in Congress.

The Washington Post reports, In immigration debate, same-sex marriage comes to the fore:

President Obama is aiming to grant same-sex couples. . . equal immigration rights as their
heterosexual counterparts.

But the measure has inspired fierce pushback from congressional
Republicans and some religious groups, who say it could sink hopes for a
comprehensive agreement aimed at providing a path to citizenship for 11
million undocumented immigrants.

HB2306: AZ Legislature proposes increasing the influence of big money on elections

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Citizens united

by Pamela Powers Hannley

So, here's the deal…

Arizonans passed the Citizens Clean Elections Act in 1998, but since the Arizona Legislature likes to do whatever they want to do and not necessarily what the people want, they have been trying to kill Clean Elections for years.

The Supreme Court helped them out in 2010, when it said matching funds to help level the playing field for Clean Elections candidates was unconstitutional because it violates free speech. (The Roberts Court made this decision basically the same week as the infamous Citizens United case which said corporations are people and money = speech.)

Now, Rep. Eddie Farnsworth– obviously doing the bidding of corporate masters– has proposed HB2306 which would increase the influence of big money on Ariozna politics.

From Arizona Advocacy Network:

HB 2306 would double the allowable PAC contributions to candidates, thus disregarding limits set by Arizona voters in the Clean Elections Act.  Not only does this spurn voters, but it also violates the Voter Protection Act because it does not promote the intent of voters to reign in Big Money influence.

Find out how you can stop this legislaion after the jump.

Conservative activist judges chicanery to nullify executive authority

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The Friday news dump headline was that a panel of conservative activist judges of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that President Obama's recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board last year exceeded his constitutional authority. Court Rejects Obama Move to Fill Posts.

Per usual, the lazy "lamestream media" followed the lead of the conservative media entertainment complex asserting that "President Obama violated the Constitution," a bright shiny object to distract from the real scandal of what these conservative activist judges had done — nullify a provision of the Constitution.

Brian Beutler at Talking Points Memo does an excellent job of explaining what really has occurred here. Will Conservative Judges Help Republicans Nullify The Recess Appointment Power?:

An expansive Friday decision by a three-judge D.C. Circuit Court of
Appeals panel threatens to cripple two government agencies and
significantly limit the president’s power to bypass the Senate
confirmation process by making recess appointments.

If ultimately upheld by the Supreme Court, the opinion in a case
involving the National Labor Relations Board will also strengthen the
Senate minority’s incentive to block top-level presidential appointments
— and empower a controversial GOP strategy of nullifying certain
executive branch agencies by refusing to allow their designated leaders
to be confirmed.