Scattershots – 25sep20 (updated 26sep20)

George Rebane

SCOTUS term limits are now proposed by Democrats.  A bill limiting justices to 18-year terms is to be introduced in the House (here).  The Constitution only specifies that there will be a SCOTUS, and then gives Congress the permission to organize it and set up lower courts.  Why Democrats are suddenly considering reducing the life terms of justices is an interesting speculation.  Is that their alternative to packing the court after President Trump’s third nominee is sworn in?  How will that legislation read – will the sitting justices be grandfathered with their life terms?  If not, how will they be unseated?  The whole process looks like it will be another dust-up between the parties.  It will have no chance of passage until the Dems sweep both houses, and maybe even require their taking the WH.  All such moves are intended to remove the checks and balances built in by our Founders to establish and maintain a democratic republic, and not let it lapse into a pure democracy which is so appealing to the nation's double dummies.  However, the Democrats’ plan for an American autocracy requires that we first become a democracy with an ignorant and malleable electorate.  Then the rest will be easy.

Obamacare popularity drops 5% since 2018.  In the ten years of its existence, the unaffordable Affordable Care Act has managed to eke out only 8.3 million subscribers out of a population of 330 million Americans. (here) There is no more robust statistic that communicates the ‘popularity’ of this unfortunate program of nationalized healthcare that continues to be mismanaged by governments at all levels.  Yet, hearing the Big Lie Democrats talk, you’d think that if Obamacare were replaced by some other safety net program, then the entire country would be on their own, putting on band-aids to treat cancer in the kitchen.  Nothing could be further from the truth; our healthcare system is still the envy of the world which receives a steady stream of medical migrants coming to get treatments unavailable to them at any cost in their nationalized healthcare countries.

[26sep20 update]  Politics causes dementia is a plausible proposition, especially in the ranks of collectivist politicians.  California qualifies as Exhibit A.  Here we have a governor, one who can easily be replaced by a 2x4 with a face painted on it, mandating no more fossil-fueled cars sold in the state after 2035.  In the interval we are supposed to be transitioning to EVs for which no provision is being made for expanded charging stations, let alone expanding the now shrinking power grid as the natural gas and nuclear generating stations are taken off line.  California's sky high electric rates now will soar to heights only seen in third world countries.  Our one-party Democrat politicians are busy actively exploring new frontiers of idiocy.  This is known to all middle-class taxpayers, many of whom are packing their U-Hauls as they join the Great Exodus to greener pastures, and all while our socialists – legislators to locals - are welcoming more welfare recipients and illegal aliens with attractive unfunded programs to succor their every need.  To Democrats reliable voting constituencies are worth every penny they can extract from you.

Comments

[Barry Pruett]

Anytime Democrats lose power, they want to change the rules. Maybe they should just try coming up with better arguments for why things should be the way they want them and why people should vote for socialists.

[George Rebane]

BarryP 1258pm - Arguing for their beliefs and policies has never been a strong suit for lefties of all hues. When asked to provide supportive apologetics for their proposals, their tack is invariably to change the subject and counter-attack with their version of the failures of the Right. This is such a perennial constant in their political behavior since time immemorial, that its expression in these pages over the years can be used as Exhibit A.

[Walt]

They gave us a taste of that already. Obamacare. Healthcare no one could afford to use, and no Dr. would take. And they are still trying to sell that snake oil as the best there ever was.

[scenes]

I'm reading this as a lifetime appointment subject to 'good behavior'.

"The judicial power of the United States, shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The judges, both of the supreme and inferior courts, shall hold their offices during good behaviour, and shall, at stated times, receive for their services, a compensation, which shall not be diminished during their continuance in office."

Has that actually been thrashed out by, well, a court?

Of course, any attempt to alter the court is an attempt to alter policy via the court at this point.

You'd think that if people 'loved their country' they wouldn't be trying to change it constantly.

Eventually radical changes will happen simply due to population replacement. A legal system built on top of a millennium-old substrate of English culture isn't going to last when those people are a small minority and no integration has happened in the meantime.

[Barry Pruett]

Obamacare. What a joke. We still have almost 30,000,000 people uninsured

[George Rebane]

Scenes 235pm - "You'd think that if people 'loved their country' they wouldn't be trying to change it constantly." And that has been the point in these pages for many years. Almost all Democrats constantly demonstrate that they do not love America. It is a forsaken land, conceived in evil, that must be remade at the earliest opportunity.

[The Estonian Fox]

The Democrats showed contempt again for the President when he was booed as he was paying his respects at Ginsburg's coffin. Poor form at a time of mourning.

If it were a Democrat president who was booed while paying respects, this would have been fiery news everywhere.

[scenes]

re: Ginsburg's body.

It's kind of an odd thing. This 'lie in state' business has ramped up remarkably in the last couple of years. For political reasons? Because government officials are slowly turning into royalty?

https://history.house.gov/Institution/Lie-In-State/Lie-In-State/

Maybe we can get the Lenin guys over to do their magic.

I think that, especially for a Jewish person, the whole spectacle is rather vulgar.

"If it were a Democrat president who was booed while paying respects, this would have been fiery news everywhere."

Of course, but that's the double standard we now live with. The real question will be whether all Presidents are treated as rudely as Trump from here on, or it it's just a one off. Sharing the country with modern Democrats is rather like having an abusive spouse.

[Bill Tozer]

THANK DEMS FOR THE BARRETT NOMINATION

“Among the reasons President Trump has reportedly decided to appoint Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court is that the Democrats already attempted to “Bork” her, but failed, and disgraced themselves in the process while elevating her public profile.”....

“A Democratic senator, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said a group of Feinstein’s colleagues want Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) or Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) to serve as the top Democrat on the Judiciary panel for the upcoming nomination hearings, which are expected to be extraordinarily contentious. This senator is worried that potential missteps by Feinstein could cost Democrats seats.

https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2020/09/thank-dems-for-the-barrett-nomination.php

“She’s not sure what she’s doing,” the Democratic senator said of Feinstein. “If you take a look at Kavanaugh, we may be short two senators because of that. And if this gets [messed] up, it may be the same result.”

Order up some extra popcorn.

P.S. Remember that Kamala Harris is on the Judiciary Committee. Chances she’ll grandstand bigly in the Barrett hearings: 100%.

UPDATE: Here’s Judge Barrett arriving back home at South Bend this evening. She’s trolling the libs hard here—that’s a Whole Foods bag she has in her hand! Millions of grumpy woke Whole Foodies will be even grumpier now.”

[Scott O]

Some Dem dork-dude has already started the smearing of Barrett.
https://primepatriot.com/2020/09/26/dems-launch-smear-attacks-on-amy-coney-barretts-adopted-children/
Gasp - she and her husband adopted black children from Haiti.
“Would it matter if her kids were scooped up by ultra-religious Americans, or Americans weren’t scrupulous intermediaries & the kids were taken when there was family in Haiti? I dunno. I think it does, but maybe it doesn’t, or shouldn’t.”
The man has not one shred of proof of anything he's putting out.
He admits it.
And he's whining that people might 'misinterpret' his words.
There is no limit to the level the left will sink to slime innocent people.
"Ultra religious Americans" - is this going to be a crime in the new America when we get rid of the 'out-dated' Constitution?
Would love to see the lefts' Religiosity Meter.
Is 'ultra' when it goes to eleven?

[Bill Tozer]

@BuckSexton

“So the Democrat attacks on ACB for adopting children from Haiti have already begun-

Take note, America. Watch closely.
The Left is going to show you that it’s a morally bankrupt, vicious creed

The vengeful will of an angry mob, with the selfish mind of a spoiled child”

https://twitter.com/BuckSexton/status/1309707795630088192?
————————-
Buck Sexton
@BuckSexton

“The smearing of Kavanaugh was the ugliest political attack many Americans have ever seen-

And while it’s hard to believe anything could sink lower than that, everyone knows the Democrats will be even more grotesque when they go after Amy Coney Barrett

It will be satanic”

https://twitter.com/BuckSexton/status/1309701269666308098?

[George Rebane]

The smearing of Kavanaugh was historically ugly. But ugly comes in many hues and forms. Democrats have already started smearing Barrett. I predict that before she is sworn in, America will be shown yet one more evil face of our now unabashed socialist Democrats.

[scenes]

"America will be shown yet one more evil face of our now unabashed socialist Democrats."

It doesn't take much for the mask to slip.

https://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/politics/item/37122-transition-integrity-project-founder-wants-execution-of-former-trump-official

It's a reasonably simple two-part plan.

1) Redefine 'Nazi' to mean whatever you like. Anyone not 100% on-board with you is,of course, a 'Nazi'.
2) You can do whatever you like to 'Nazis'. Destroy their history, destroy their stuff, destroy them. It's all good.

[scenes]

"Obamacare popularity drops 5% since 2018."

You do have to wonder how long the ACA Exchanges have left to run.

No doubt there's the utterly predictable death spiral as they consist of four basic customers:

. Highly subsidized poor people.
. Highly subsidized rich people who keep their declared income below the limits
. Highly subsidized sick people (after all, they cost more).
. Pissed-off self-employed people who subsidize the other three groups along with taxpayers.

Of course, nothing keeps the Great State of California from simply inventing a single-payer (or even single-provider) system. Maybe there's not enough grifting to be had as compared to high speed rail. I'd love to see the rules concerning state citizenship in order to qualify.

[Scott O]

scenes - "Of course, nothing keeps the Great State of California from simply inventing a single-payer (or even single-provider) system."
Yeah, the Dems talk big at election time about free health care in CA, but they have yet to do anything substantial.
What's stopping them?
The fact is they're just waiting for the Dems to control the fed govt and have the feds set up socialized health care nation-wide.
Because the feds can print money and CA can't.
End of story.