Obama’s attack on Supreme Court

President Barack Obama’s attack on the Supreme Court appeared to backfire, when the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals issued an order giving the Justice Department until noon Thursday to state whether the administration truly believes courts lack the authority to strike down mandates that they determine are unconstitutional.

On Monday, Obama said that striking down his signature healthcare legislation would be an “unprecedented, extraordinary step” and would demonstrate a lack of “judicial restraint” by the Supreme Court.

He also pointed out that the nine Supreme Court justices are unelected, suggesting that it would therefore be undemocratic for them to overturn Obamacare, which narrowly eked through Congress by a seven vote margin in the House of Representatives.

“This is liberals in shock over watching their side being demolished in oral arguments,” Fox News commentator Charles Krauthammer said Tuesday, pointing out the courts have had the authority to strike down unconstitutional provisions for over 200 years. “And [they are] trying to bully the Supreme Court into ending up on their side in a case which they clearly had lost intellectually and logically.”

The order from the 5th Circuit for the Justice Department to clarify its position on judicial authority came during a separate challenge to Obamacare brought by physician-owned hospitals.

As a Justice Department lawyer began arguing the government’s case, Appeals Judge Jerry Smith interrupted the presentation to ask if the 5th Circuit Court had the legal authority to strike down a law it finds to be unconstitutional. CBS News reports that when the government lawyer answered affirmatively, the judge stated that it was not clear to “many of us” that the president agrees.

The three-judge panel then gave the Justice Department until noon Thursday to provide a three-page letter clarifying whether it believes courts have the authority to pass judgment on the constitutionality of laws. “Clearly, Jerry Smith was upset by the president’s remarks and he has every right to demand clarification,” judicial expert Curt Levey of the Committee for Justice told Newsmax. “Obviously, he’s making a point as well as requesting clarification.

“But the president left himself open to that,” Levey added. “Of course the president doesn’t really believe the Supreme Court can’t strike down unconstitutional laws. But if the president’s going to say things like that to demagogue, then he is responsible for them.”

Many observers saw the president’s remarks as a clumsy attempt to “work the refs” and influence the court’s decision on his healthcare reforms. His challenge to the independent judiciary branch of government provoked widespread criticism from both sides of the aisle Tuesday.

“For the president to imply that the only explanation for a constitutional conclusion contrary to his own would be out-of-control conservative justices does the court a disservice,” wrote Washington Post correspondent Ruth Marcus, who has been a staunch defender of the president’s policies.

The Wall Street Journal, meanwhile, published a pointed editorial taking the president to task.

 “Mr. Obama's remarks suggest he is joining others on the left in warning the justices that they will pay a political price if they dare to overturn even part of the law,” it stated. “As he runs for re-election, Mr. Obama's inner community organizer seems to be winning out over the law professor.” By upping the ante, the 5th Circuit focuses more attention on a misstep that the administration would prefer go unnoticed. The president came under attack from the left and right Tuesday over what looked like a blatant attempt to intimidate the court and influence its verdict. He quickly backed off from his challenge to the judiciary, however. “The point I was making is that the Supreme Court is the final say on our Constitution, and all of us have to respect it,” he said. “But it’s precisely because of that extraordinary power that the court has traditionally exercised significant restraint and deference to a duly elected legislature. Obama went on to assert that overturning congressional legislation was so extraordinary that the burden of proof would be on those who felt it could be unconstitutional.  That view, however, appeared to be at odds with the position of the key swing vote in the case, however: Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy.

“I understand that we must presume laws are constitutional,” Justice Kennedy said to U.S. Solicitor General Donald B. Verrilli on the second day of oral arguments last week. “But, even so, when you are changing the relation of the individual to the government in this, what we can stipulate is, I think a unique way, do you not have a heavy burden of justification to show authorization under the Constitution?”

 How naive is he to think that our Supreme Court cannot overturn an unconstitutional law. Then when he realizes that he was WRONG, he attempts to threaten and intimidate them. I think the power we gave him has gone to his head. These are precisely the reasons why he is so ineffective in office. I think it's time we took back the power. YES, we the people have that power!!!

 THE TIME FOR CHANGE HAS COME! WE NEED A LEADER WHO CAN AND WILL GET THIS COUNTRY BACK TO WHERE IT BELONGS AND OUT OF THE GUTTER WHERE OBAMA PUT US!

NOVEMBER ELECTIONS ARE COMING! REMEMBER THESE THINGS WHEN YOU GO TO CAST YOUR VOTE.

Obama very Bad for Economic Recovery

Forbes magazine editor and former presidential candidate Steve Forbes tells Newsmax that Mitt Romney will win the GOP presidential nomination and defeat President Obama in the November election. But he warns that an Obama victory — perhaps even the anticipation of an Obama win — will lead to a market selloff and another recession.

Forbes is president and CEO of Forbes Inc. He ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 1996 and 2000, urging the adoption of a flat income tax with a single tax rate. He makes frequent appearances on the Fox News Channel.

“I think Romney will win the election against Obama. But if you have a good conservative core in the Senate you’re going to get things on his desk, the president’s desk, that I think are going to be much stronger for the country, much better for the country, than if they weren’t there.

“So this isn’t just about winning a particular race, it’s also about having the cadres, so to speak, who can make positive things happen.”

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke has warned of a pending fiscal cliff that the nation is approaching. The Bush tax cuts are set to expire on the first day of 2013, and deep spending cuts are also in the works.

Asked if lawmakers in Washington will be able to deal with this “cliff” without causing turmoil in the markets, Forbes responds: “After the November elections, if President-elect Romney makes it clear that he’ll sign temporary legislation on January 20 extending those tax rates for a few months so Congress can make deliberations on a whole new tax bill, I don’t think the markets are going to have much of a hiccup. I think they’ll make the Bush tax rates retroactive to January 1.

“So the key is who wins the election. If Obama happens to win, I think you’ll see a market selloff. I think we’ll be on the way to another recession. And I think the markets, if they anticipate Obama will win — markets don’t wait for a bad thing to happen, they sell off before it happens.”

He was also asked if he believes a Republican White House and GOP Congress would implement a flatter tax code.

“I don’t think you’re going to get a proposal from Mister Romney on the flat tax,” he declares.

“As a matter of fact when I ran 15 years ago, he did ads against the flat tax. But the key thing is if you have the right people in the House and the Senate, the tax bill — and there will be a tax bill or tax bills plural — will be shaped in a way where I think we will get dramatic simplicity.

“We might not get a pure flat tax but we’ll get something pretty close to it, and maybe the flat tax itself. I don’t think Romney is going to resist if he sees there is strong support for genuine tax simplification. I don’t think he wants to meet the fate that the senior George Bush met when he went against the base of the party.

“So the key thing is to have a good base in the Senate, a good base in the House, and then I think we can positively shape the tax legislation.

Commenting on the United States recently surpassing Japan as the nation with the highest corporate tax rate, Forbes says: “It’s part of the reason why the U.S. economy is not doing well, why this recovery is so punk — proportionately probably even worse than from the early ‘30s.

“Normally when you have a big downturn you have a sharp upturn, at least initially. This time we didn’t get a sharp upturn. This year we’re going about 40 miles an hour on a superhighway when we should be doing about 80, and one of the reasons is the uncertainty about taxes and the high tax burden.”

Everything this man has done has been to the detriment of the country. This country needs to get back to the greatness it once had. No president has done so much damage in such a short period of time. Time for a change is NOW. We need not be fooled into thinking he can accomplish anything he said during his first campaign. HE’S ALL TALK.