[A] closer read of his analysis reveals something peculiar. In fact, as Vinson himself admits in Footnote 27 (on pg. 65), he arrived at this conclusion by “borrow[ing] heavily from one of the amicus briefs filed in the case for it quite cogently and effectively sets forth the applicable standard and governing analysis of severability (doc. 123).” That brief was filed by the Family Research Council, which has been branded as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).
“The Family Research Council (FRC) bills itself as ‘the leading voice for the family in our nation’s halls of power,’ but its real specialty is defaming gays and lesbians,” SPLC says. …
Here is how Vinson lifts FRC’s argument:
Severability is a doctrine of judicial restraint, and the Supreme Court has applied and reaffirmed that doctrine just this past year: “‘Generally speaking, when confronting a constitutional flaw in a statute, [courts] try to limit the solution to the problem,’ severing any ‘problematic portions while leaving the remainder intact.’” […]
The question of severability ultimately turns on the nature of the statute at issue. For example, if Congress intended a given statute to be viewed as a bundle of separate legislative enactment or a series of short laws, which for purposes of convenience and efficiency were arranged together in a single legislative scheme, it is presumed that any provision declared unconstitutional can be struck and severed without affecting the remainder of the statute. If, however, the statute is viewed as a carefully-balanced and clockwork-like statutory arrangement comprised of pieces that all work toward one primary legislative goal, and if that goal would be undermined if a central part of the legislation is found to be unconstitutional, then severability is not appropriate. As will be seen, the facts of this case lean heavily toward a finding that the Act is properly viewed as the latter, and not the former.
Severability is fundamentally a doctrine of judicial restraint. “Generally speaking, when confronting a constitutional flaw in a statute, we try to limit the solution to the problem.” […]
The question of severability is a judicial inquiry of two alternatives regarding the nature of a statute. One possibility is that Congress intended a given statute as a bundle of separate legislative embodiments, which for the sake of convenience, avoiding redundancy, and contextual application, are bundled together in a single legislative enactment. This makes a statute a series of short laws, every one of which is designed to stand alone, if needs be. The second possibility is that a given statute embodies a carefully-balanced legislative deal, in which Congress weighs competing policy priorities, and through negotiations and deliberation crafts a package codifying this delicate balance. Congress is thus not voting for separate and discrete provisions. Instead, Congress is voting on a package as a whole, any modification of which could result in the bill failing to achieve passage in Congress. As both Plaintiffs? briefs and the following argument shows, the Individual Mandate falls within the latter category, not the former.
Racism Is at Home on the Right
Follow the link if you want to see a disgusting, stupid message from a bigot who serves Lush Limbaugh. Some will says this is just one guy; some will say this is made up by the Left or this guy is actually a marxist. Time and time again, the Right excuses or ignores the rabid racists in their midst, all the while prodding and coddling them. See for yourself by following the link. The racist imagery includes hints of dragging a lynched Obama behind a truck. Nice people, bedrock Amuricans. I’m sure the Founders would have loved them. (The Founders of the KKK.) It’s disgusting.
Last week, California State Sen. Leland Yee (D) called on right-wing hate radio host Rush Limbaugh to apologize for mocking Chinese President Hu Jintao and the Chinese language by speaking gibberish “ching chong chang” Chinese on his radio program. Yee, who is Chinese-American and chairs the state Senate Select Committee on Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs, said Limbaugh owes the Chinese-American community an apology for his “pointless and ugly offense.” Naturally, Limbaugh did not apologize, and instead railed against Yee the following day on his radio, calling him out repeatedly by name.
Yee’s call for civility did not sit well with one Limbaugh fan, who responded by sending several racist death threats to Yee’s office this week. “Rush Limbaugh will kick your chink ass and expose you for the fool you are,” the faxes read, threatening him with “death” (warning, contains racial expletives):
Abqjournal Endorses Homophobe in District 2
ABQJOURNAL NEWS/METRO: Candidates Speak on Social Issues
In a questionnaire developed by a conservative group calling itself Concerned Citizens for APS Reforms, candidates gave insight into their views on some controversial issues. Katherine Korte, who is running in District 2, wrote in response to a question about sexual diversity education: "I would define it as teaching children that it is OK to be in a gay/lesbian relationship, to have bisexual tendencies and or perverted views of sex. We don’t need this type of ‘education’ in our schools. There is right and there is wrong. And I don’t want any educator telling my child that sexual diversity is OK …"
Korte said in a later question she does not condone bullying based on sexual orientation.
Few other candidates provided a definitive answer to the sexual diversity question
ABQJOURNAL NEWS/METRO: Candidates Speak on Social Issues
ABQJOURNAL OPINION/EDITORIALS: Journal Selections for APS School Board
District 2 — Katherine Korte
Katherine Korte is passionate about quality education for Albuquerque’s children and is enthusiastic and committed to fixing flaws in the system. …The Journal endorses Katherine Korte for the District 2 board seat.
ABQJOURNAL OPINION/EDITORIALS: Journal Selections for APS School Board
Environmentalists are Communists. WTF?!
2023-08-18: this post is 12 years old. I’ve written hundreds of posts since then. Please look around. Thanks.
Martinez’s pick for enviro chief: Environmentalists are communists | New Mexico Independent
“I think that there are individuals, [Obama science czar John] Holdren apparently among them, a very large number who have taken the — shall we say captured the environmental movement and turned it into what was previously considered the communist movement,” Schmitt said in a 40-minute interview with Jones. “And that’s just something that people of common sense are going to continue to have to counter and wake up enough so that they can take control of their government again.”
Later in the interview, Schmitt expanded on the theme saying that this came to be after the fall of the Soviet Union.
“I think the whole trend really began with the fall of the Soviet Union,” Schmitt said. “Because the great champion of the opponents of liberty, namely communism, had to find some other place to go and they basically went into the environmental movement. That’s not to say there aren’t some major and significant environmental issues, particularly at the local level, but they converted environmental activism to a political movement and some would say a religious movement.”
If confirmed by the state Senate, Schmitt would be in charge of the Mining and Minerals Division, State Parks Division, Oil Conservation Division and Energy Conservation Management Division.
Martinez’s pick for enviro chief: Environmentalists are communists | New Mexico Independent
Another Dream Keyboard
In the dream, I was visiting a lab. Someone held up a printout. In the header, there were three sets of numbers (possibly one or more dates), flush left, centered, flush right. Each date appeared in blue and underlined, like an unvisted link. Each number was followed by a space and a lowercase-m. The lab workers speculated about this problem. I said, “bring up the page and let’s look at it.” Somebody brought the page up on a small wall-mounted screen; everyone stared rather blankly at it. I said, “look at the source.” The keyboard operator hesitated. “Press Ctrl+F4.” Simultaneously, the guy next to me said, “Press Shift plus (something) (something).” “Or that,” I said. This guy may have been Lem from Better Off Ted. (A delightful corporate-science comedy. Cancelled.) As the others wandered off, I stepped up to the screen. The keyboard jutted from the wall. It was about the size of a netbook keyboard, although uniquely wide. There were not very many keys. A large area was taken up by some formulas – it looked like a tiny whiteboard on the keyboard. I couldn’t find a PgDn key, so I used the down arrow to move through the code. “Hmmm,” I said, surprised, “It’s a literal.” (An actual ‘m’ appeared in the source code.) Speaking to someone across the room, I said, “I can show you how to fix this.” She seemed unenthusiastic. Another person (Leonard from The Big Bang) offered, “You could use Room _____ upstairs, I guess.” “No, I can show you here, now. It won’t take 5 minutes. Fifteen at the most.” I woke up.
That last matter is the application of the Three Times Rule that developed years ago. Whenever I quoted to a client how long a computer-related project would take, Merri joked, “times 3.” Well, “joked.” It always took longer than quoted / expected.
This is the second keyboard dream I’ve had recently (no real surprise, although the nature of the keyboards has been). Moreover, this is the third recent dream that could be job-stress related. Considering that I haven’t worked in two months and don’t plan to work for another four, it seems odd timing. Perhaps I’m deep into decompression or my subconscious wants to remind me I’m not missing anything. Except a paycheck. There’ll be more, won’t there? (Simpson’s reference.)
“There is not enough time to do all the nothing we want to do.” – Bill Watterson
He gets me.
Shocking and Depressing Quote of the Day
ABQJOURNAL UPFRONT: Mentally Ill Free To Buy Guns in N.M. by Tom Cole
There were nearly 1,000 involuntary commitments of the mentally ill in 2010 alone, according to the state Administrative Office of the Courts. … We are talking about tens of thousands of people in New Mexico who by law shouldn’t have firearms.