US Constitution

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GOP Savages Pelosi Strategy for Passing Health Reform

Critics say Democrats' tactic is unconstitutional

(Newser) - The GOP ratcheted up the already intense campaign against the Democrats' push to pass health care reform yesterday, targeting an obscure legislative move Nancy Pelosi said she might use to get a version of the Senate bill through the House. Outraged Minority Leader John Boehner called the "deem and...

Fla. AG Probing 'Unconstitutional' Health Bill

McCollum says legislation interferes with Floridians' freedom

(Newser) - Florida's Bill McCollum has become the 11th and latest state attorney general to announce an investigation into the constitutionality of health care reform. McCollum, a Republican running for governor next year, says he has grave concerns about the legislation's requirement for all Americans to buy health insurance or pay a...

Counting Blacks as 3/5? OK by Glenn Beck
 Counting Blacks 
 as 3/5? OK by 
 Glenn Beck 
CONSTITUTION ACCORDING TO ...
Dec 15, 2009 9:13 PM CST

Counting Blacks as 3/5? OK by Glenn Beck

Founding Fathers had abolition in mind, says pundit

(Newser) - Glenn Beck today put his spin on a provision in the US Constitution that once counted slaves as three-fifths of a person, painting it as a tool by which Northern abolitionists meant eventually to outlaw the practice. An African-American caller took issue with Beck’s reliance on the founding fathers,...

Orly Taitz Helper Has Scotland Yard Training
Orly Taitz Helper Has Scotland Yard Training
MEET THE BIRTHERS
Nov 23, 2009 8:00 AM CST

Orly Taitz Helper Has Scotland Yard Training

Former British detective puts his skills to use for birthers

(Newser) - Orly Taitz isn’t the only influential foreign-born “birther” trying to prove that Barack Obama is himself foreign-born. Meet Neil Sankey, a former British detective and naturalized American citizen who is using his Scotland Yard skills to look for dirt on the president's origins. Taitz, for one, says he's...

Obama Can, Should Lock Congress In Until Health Vote
Obama Can, Should Lock Congress In Until Health Vote
JACK CAFFERTY
Nov 6, 2009 6:24 PM CST

Obama Can, Should Lock Congress In Until Health Vote

Constitution would allow it, so let's get a yea or nay

(Newser) - Grumpy old man Jack Cafferty is getting tired of Congress dragging out health reform, and wants President Obama to get lawmakers motivated. Using his constitutional powers, Obama should deliver this ultimatum: I’m ordering the Congress to remain in session until both houses vote on a final version of health-care...

Game Plays Out 2011 Obama Coup

Ron Paul fans behind scenario, which also finds Glenn Beck dead

(Newser) - For the burgeoning ranks of political paranoids, a scenario in which President Obama dissolves the Constitution, bans guns and drags the US into a union with Mexico and Canada seems not all that far-fetched. Now, thanks to some Ron Paul supporters, you can prepare for 2011 (yep, that soon!)...

Glenn Beck's Mormonism Is the Apocalyptic Kind

Ties to radical mid-century LDS thought could sully Romney 2012

(Newser) - Most of the media has been understandably wary of tying Glenn Beck’s Mormonism to his jeremiad against President Obama and the enemies of freedom, Adam Reilly writes. And yet, Beck is a clear inheritor of a particular strain of mid-century Mormon political ideology that espoused virulent anti-communism and the...

Supreme Court Will Hear Challenge to Local Gun Laws

Challenge to Chicago handgun ban could neuter local gun control measures

(Newser) - The Supreme Court will take up a case that could radically alter legal precedent regarding gun ownership and Second Amendment rights. The case is an appeal brought by Chicago-area gun owners who challenged the city’s ban on handguns. The high court overturned such a ban last year in Washington,...

Health Foes Fight Mandatory Insurance at State Level

Efforts, mainly GOP-led, appear more symbolic, but could result in court battles

(Newser) - Efforts are afoot in more than a dozen states to outlaw mandatory health insurance, a preemptive strike against federal health reform that, though mainly symbolic and constitutionally dubious, could provoke a court battle that would be costly and delay any plan passed by Congress. “I just don’t want...

Supreme Court Likely to Uphold Alabama Sex Toy Ban

Justices unlikely to make a rights issues out of sex toys

(Newser) - An Alabama statute criminalizing the sale of sex toys will probably be upheld as constitutional if it is challenged in the Supreme Court, Eugene Volokh writes at the Volokh Conspiracy. The statute—which was upheld by the state's Supreme Court Friday and bans the distribution of  "any device designed...

Court: Ashcroft on Hook in Post-9/11 Detention Case

Bush attorney general slammed for imprisonment without charges

(Newser) - Former Bush attorney general John Ashcroft can be held personally responsible in a lawsuit brought by a US citizen who was detained on suspicion of being a material witness to terrorism but was never charged with a crime, an appellate court ruled today. Abdullah al-Kidd alleged the detention, begun in...

Sneak Attack on Electoral College Gains Ground
Sneak Attack on Electoral College Gains Ground
OPINION
Jul 17, 2009 1:42 PM CDT

Sneak Attack on Electoral College Gains Ground

(Newser) - Opponents of the Electoral College are making progress on an end run around the institution with the goal of setting up a system that would decide the presidential election solely on the popular vote, Tara Ross writes for the Weekly Standard. “Formally eliminating the Electoral College through a constitutional...

Blame Founding Fathers for Paralysis on Climate Change

Minority's outsize power prevents real change: Tomasky

(Newser) - Barack Obama's narrow victory last week, when the House passed the climate change bill by just 7 votes, raises the question of why it's so tough to get change enacted even when the president is popular and his party has majorities in both houses of Congress. The problem Democrats face...

US Army Evangelism: Is It a 'Crusade'?
US Army Evangelism:
Is It a 'Crusade'?
glossies
Jun 19, 2009 8:30 PM CDT

US Army Evangelism: Is It a 'Crusade'?

(Newser) - US Army chaplains have distributed Arabic-language Bibles in Iraq, told soldiers to "hunt people for Jesus," and speculated that President Obama is a secret Muslim. Enough already, says a religious rights watchdog: Led by Air Force veteran Mikey Weinstein, the group is suing the Pentagon over alleged religious-based...

How We Can Get Rid of This Guy


 How We Can 
 Get Rid of 
 This Guy 
OPINION
Feb 19, 2009 2:02 PM CST

How We Can Get Rid of This Guy

(Newser) - Even with everyone in sight calling for his head, even after he’s been caught lying multiple times about his appointment, Roland Burris seems determined not to step down. But there is a quick way to be rid of him, law professor Garrett Epps writes for Salon: The Illinois legislature...

'Just to Be Safe,' Obama Should Redo Oath: Experts

Lawyers advise he retake fudged oath to avoid controversy

(Newser) - OK, it's probably not going to come up in court, but some constitutional lawyers tell the San Francisco Chronicle that Barack Obama should retake his flubbed oath just to be on the safe side. Presidents Coolidge and Arthur did after similar gaffes. It "would take him 30 seconds, he...

Ky. Atheists Fight 'Foolish' Security Law

Amendment says state relies on 'almighty God' for protection

(Newser) - Atheists are kicking up an almighty fuss about legislation that states Kentucky's safety and security can only be achieved through reliance on God, the Chicago Tribune reports. Bluegrass State unbelievers have filed a lawsuit seeking to have the offending law repealed, saying they fear their security may be in the...

Constitution May Sink Hillary's State Chance

Lawmakers can't take federal post for which their Congress raised the salary

(Newser) - Should Barack Obama nominate Hillary Clinton for secretary of state, the confirmation process could be the least of her worries, the Washington Post reports. The Constitution prohibits any member of Congress from assuming a federal post whose salary has been increased during the lawmaker’s term; cabinet salaries have risen...

Bush Could Block Probes Even After He Steps Down

Soon-to-be ex-prez has Truman, Nixon precedents for keeping executive privilege

(Newser) - President Bush may be able to maintain his executive privilege to block investigations even after he leaves office, the New York Times reports. Harry Truman successfully claimed he had the right not to testify in 1953, nearly a year after he left office, and Richard Nixon later used Truman's case...

'The Oracle' Forgot One Thing: We're Greedy
'The Oracle' Forgot One Thing: We're Greedy
OPINION
Oct 18, 2008 11:50 AM CDT

'The Oracle' Forgot One Thing: We're Greedy

Founding fathers quickly figured out people couldn't be trusted to be selfless

(Newser) - If those who ignore history repeat it, Alan Greenspan must have slept through a few Constitutional history classes. In promoting the risky derivatives market, the former Federal Reserve chairman was depending on individuals' restraint and care for the greater good. But Americans just aren't that altruistic, as the Founding Fathers...

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