America’s Koch Nightmare Continues

[BigLouie]

At some point in every person’s life, they have experienced the feeling that they have ”already witnessed or experienced a current situation, even though the exact circumstances of the prior encounter are uncertain and were perhaps imagined.” That feeling, déjà vu, literally means already seen and it may be loosely related to a recurring nightmare of some real or imagined horror that is haunting for the person reliving a frightening sequence of events. Americans will experience déjà vu and a recurring nightmare all at once in the coming months courtesy of the United States Supreme Court and if the nightmare becomes reality, it will be the continuation of conservative’s perverse brand of democracy and the end of blind justice in the judicial system.

The Supreme Court announced on Monday that the high court will hear arguments in March to decide if the Affordable Care Act is constitutional or not. A ruling is expected by July and the main point of contention, the individual mandate, is not the only issue the court will decide. The Obama administration asked the high court to uphold the individual mandate provision, but with 26 states separately demanding the entire law be struck down, the historic healthcare overhaul may be scrapped so the insurance industry can proceed ripping off Americans with impunity. If the law is struck down as unconstitutional, it will be devastating to 30-40 million Americans who exist in the knowledge that any malady that besets them will become fatal or send them into bankruptcy, homelessness, and destitution.

Although it is the first time the court will rule on the ACA, there is a strong possibility that this Supreme Court will repeat the nightmare Citizens United scenario where two Supreme Court Justices took direction on how to vote from neo-conservatives at a Koch Industries secret policy meeting. The Citizens United case has turned out to be a nightmare for Americans who believe that fair elections are those that do not allow unrestricted and anonymous campaign contributions from corporations that adversely affect the election process as well as buying individual politicians without any accountability. The two corrupt justices who are at the center of the controversial ruling, Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia, are regular speakers and attendees at the Koch policy meetings and both criminals voted in favor of Citizens United after meeting with high-powered industrialists that benefitted directly from the ruling.

There have been calls for Clarence Thomas to recuse himself from any hearing on the Affordable Care Act because his wife is an outspoken activist and fundraiser for the tea party, and her particular issue is overturning the health law. Mrs. Thomas is also closely aligned with the Heritage Foundation and she founded the conservative group Liberty Central, but she stepped down in December amid questions concerning a memo under her name calling for the repeal of the “unconstitutional law.” Earlier this year it was revealed the Clarence Thomas concealed his wife’s income on financial disclosure forms and although Clarence claimed ignorance, it is presumed he was hiding the fact that much of his wife’s income came from the Heritage Foundation that has called for the ACA to be repealed or declared unconstitutional to protect the insurance industry.

Antonin Scalia is as corrupt as Thomas for attending the Koch meetings and for his intimate relationship with the chair of the teabagger caucus, Michele Bachmann. Bachmann arranged for Scalia to give instructions to teabaggers in the House on the constitutionality of different legislation. Scalia is notorious for claiming women and gays are not protected under equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. Scalia considers himself a constitutional originalist who interprets the constitution based on what he believes its authors meant and not what the document actually says. Scalia joined Thomas at Koch policy meetings and although he is not as corrupt as Clarence, his character is certainly not above reproach. However, both of the corrupt Justices have made the case they should be removed from deciding the ACA’s constitutionality based on their alliance with conservative think tanks and neo-conservative politicians who oppose the health law; and then there is the small matter of dining with the law firm that will argue against the health law.

The same day the Supreme Court met to consider whether to hear a challenge to the ACA, Scalia and Thomas attended a dinner as featured guests that was sponsored by Paul Clement’s law firm, Bancroft PLLC, put on by the Federalist Society. The Federalist Society is dedicated to advocating for conservative legal principals, and Clement is the lawyer who will argue before the court that the ACA should be thrown out; he was also George W. Bush’s solicitor general. Scalia and Thomas were guests of several groups who challenged the health law, and besides Clement, the National Federation of Independent Business, Pfizer Inc., and Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell were in attendance to give the two corrupt Justices instructions on how to overturn the health law. The fact that Scalia and Thomas attended an anti-health law dinner informs their intention to rule against the constitutionality of the law and if they were not corrupt, they would both recuse themselves from participating in any decision that may eliminate the historic healthcare reform.

Even if Scalia and Thomas were not corrupt, the appearance of judicial malfeasance and influence by opponents of the ACA should be sufficient reason for them to recuse themselves, but their history in the Citizens United case set a precedent of undue corporate influence they are comfortable living with. Unfortunately, Supreme Court justices are exempt from the Code of Conduct that governs lower federal judges’ actions and it is why the two neo-conservative activists feel comfortable meeting, discussing, and commiserating with sworn enemies of President Obama and the Affordable Care Act.

This entire scenario is déjà vu and a nightmare at the same time because if the events leading up to and results of the Citizens United case are any indication, the ruling is already decided. The Heritage Foundation has spent too much money on Clarence’s wife to tolerate a ruling that leaves the health law in place, and after both justices studied the Koch Industries tutorial for conservative activist judges, the health law’s unconstitutional ruling is a near-certainty. It is sad that 30-40 million uninsured Americans face the prospect of never having affordable healthcare coverage, and their nightmare will continue as long as there are corrupt conservative justices sitting on the bench; especially when the two cretins are guilty of overt breach of ethics violations.

Neither Thomas nor Scalia will recuse themselves from hearing the health law case so it is up to Congress to impeach the corrupt justices for taking direction from the likes of Koch Industries, Mitch McConnell, the pharmaceutical industry, and especially the lawyers who will argue the health law’s constitutionality before the court next March. It is possible that Americans get to experience a nightmare in the making because they have seen this before in 2010 when the high court ruled against America and in Citizens United’s favor. With four full months before the court hears arguments on the ACA’s constitutionality, corporations have plenty of time to pour unlimited amounts of money into killing the law making this waking nightmare all the more frightening.

[CuteOldGuy]

Ah, Louie. You are so pleasantly predictable.

[gnadfly]

Did BigCuntPaste copy another article without giving credit to original author, providing a link or injecting his personal opinion? For shame.

[chicagoboy]

Originally Posted by gnadfly

Did BigCuntPaste copy another article without giving credit to original author, providing a link or injecting his personal opinion? For shame.

http://www.politicususa.com/en/author/rmuse

[Sensia]

Originally Posted by chicagoboy

http://www.politicususa.com/en/author/rmuse

I like reading all the public responses on that link. But hey, I am for keeping what we have right now with Obama's healthcare plan and making it better. I was for the public option and wished like hell Obama would have stuck with that instead of backing down.

[western.michigan]

Louie, interesting and passionate post. What strikes me as odd is how many Americans simply dont remember or were not yet born when Mr Koch ran for president against Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, and John Anderson in 1980. He was the Libertarian candidate...the Ron Paul of the 1980s. His message was more freedom, less regulation. Many Republicans, perhaps most Republicans, dont understand the difference between a Libertarian and a Republican. It is a hugely important difference and even fewer Democrats understand. Koch is Ron Paul in the corporate world. Ron Paul is Koch in the government world. The most interesting thing is the media coverup that denies the information to the public that Koch actually ran for president as the Ron Paul of his era. Ross Perot was the Ron Paul of the 1990's...I guess Libertarianism (the party of personal liberty) is dangerous to both the Republicans and Democrats which both want to control the great unwashed masses. I am a proud Libertarian and our patron is Patrick Henry. "Give me Liberty or Give me Death" That Patrick Henry.

[CuteOldGuy]

+1

[dilbert firestorm]

30-40 million uninsured figure is misleading.

[Little Stevie]

Originally Posted by CuteOldGuy

Ah, Louie. You are so pleasantly predictable.

As are you, and the rest of the anarchists who think Ron Paul has a chance.

Direct your frustration at the Justices who are on the take from industrial giants and cartels like Uncle Thomas, Scabies, Alito and Roberts. When Kennedy joins them the morons who shout "We want our country back" could get their wish.

BTW, Big Louie, yours was an informative post but then posting facts here seldom elicits too many responses based on logic or knowledge.

Those paid-for scumbags at the SCOTUS could take us back to the early 1800's dragging and kicking and screaming Clarence and his income-hiding white "trophy wife" with the rest of us. Clarence would scream because Michelle Bachmann's version of the "Founding Fathers" abolishing slavery during the Continental Congress didn't really happen.

She is as dumb as Sarah Palin who said Paul Revere rode through the countryside waning the British not to trample on our 2nd Amendment Rights. Her bovine-brained followers actually took to Wikipedia to edit history until they were locked out of the page.

Sarah was so dumb she didn't even remember the "One if by land, two if by sea" story let alone the fact that Revere rode under cover of night at least partially to keep from being discovered.

Women would lose the vote. Children would again be working in factories and the Robber Barons of the late 19th century would pale in comparison to the havoc wreaked on society by the Kochs and the rest of the serial polluters, banksters and Wall Street Casino owners.

[CuteOldGuy]

I don't think Ron Paul has a chance, and it is sad. If you tried liberty, you might like it. Now, other than the Kochs buying Thomas and Scalia dinner, what other evidence do you have that they are bought and paid for? What makes you think they would take us back to the 1800's? And what makes you think that Ron Paul, or I, am an anarchist?

[Laz]

Ron Paul may not have a chance but he is creating a significant group of people that believe in his message. If someone can follow him and build that following change can occur. It may be slow but if they focus on building a group in Congress it can change the country for the better.

As for Obamacare I do not want a government that can order me to buy a product. I can accept it if they tell me that if I do not take responsibility for myself that they will not be there to bail me out if something happens, but to force me to buy something is too much power.

[joe bloe]

Originally Posted by western.michigan

Louie, interesting and passionate post. What strikes me as odd is how many Americans simply dont remember or were not yet born when Mr Koch ran for president against Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, and John Anderson in 1980. He was the Libertarian candidate...the Ron Paul of the 1980s. His message was more freedom, less regulation. Many Republicans, perhaps most Republicans, dont understand the difference between a Libertarian and a Republican. It is a hugely important difference and even fewer Democrats understand. Koch is Ron Paul in the corporate world. Ron Paul is Koch in the government world. The most interesting thing is the media coverup that denies the information to the public that Koch actually ran for president as the Ron Paul of his era. Ross Perot was the Ron Paul of the 1990's...I guess Libertarianism (the party of personal liberty) is dangerous to both the Republicans and Democrats which both want to control the great unwashed masses. I am a proud Libertarian and our patron is Patrick Henry. "Give me Liberty or Give me Death" That Patrick Henry.

I'm pretty sure Perot wasn't a Libertarian; I voted for him. David H Koch actually ran for vice president on the Libertarian ticket in 1980 with Ed Clark at the top of the ticket. The main stream media sure hates the Koch brothers.

My favorite Libertarian was Harry Browne, who ran for president in 1996 and 2000 as the Libertarian party nominee. Harry Browne said that when you vote for a Rebublican instead of a Democrat, you're just voting to go to Hell more slowly.

This country has been going back and forth between Democrats and Republicans for a long time; and it looks like our journey to Hell is just about complete.

[Doove]

Originally Posted by Laz

As for Obamacare I do not want a government that can order me to buy a product. I can accept it if they tell me that if I do not take responsibility for myself that they will not be there to bail me out if something happens, but to force me to buy something is too much power.

And i don't want to live in a society that allows people to die because they're not able to afford insurance.

[joe bloe]

Originally Posted by Doove

And i don't want to live in a society that allows people to die because they're not able to afford insurance.

If Obamcare isn't repealed you'll be living in a society that allows people to die because the government rations healthcare. Obamacare will inevitably cause shortages and the quality of our health care system will be destroyed.

Our private (for profit) health care system isn't perfect but it has produced more advances in medical technology than all the other countries in the world combined. America's advances in prescription drugs, imaging technology, and surgical procedures have been a benefit to the whole world.

If the Democrats succeed in destroying our private health care system, it will be a tragedy not just for us but for the world.

[Doove]

Originally Posted by joe bloe

If Obamcare isn't repealed you'll be living in a society that allows people to die because the government rations healthcare. Obamacare will inevitably cause shortages and the quality of our health care system will be destroyed.

Obamacare won't ration healthcare any more than insurance companies already ration healthcare. Your statement is just absurd.

If the Democrats succeed in destroying our private health care system, it will be a tragedy not just for us but for the world.

Kind of like the way our government controlling the defense industry has hindered defense technology?