The American Spectator

Boston12GS| 3.3.11 @ 3:12PM

So, now the Obamanists have to formally file an appeal. Big deal, they're not going to pause for an instant implementing Obamacare.

Kudos to Judge Vinson for at least not letting the Obamaninsts completely disrespect his court, but really, your honor, you should not have left such wiggle room in the first place. You presume to be dealing with honorable people who will respect your decisions, but you are mistaken, sir.

Oldefarte| 3.3.11 @ 3:59PM

The only way to stop this is either through IMPEACHMENT or NOVEMBER 2012 ELECTIONS!!!!!!!!!

Chris| 3.3.11 @ 4:12PM

I'm really confused on who this benefits. On one hand, the fact that Obama must speed up the court process can only hurt him since the best defense he has is time-the longer the time the act remains as law, the harder it would be for a Justice to repeal it. Obama seems as if he wanted to drag this out till 2012, but it might now be decided sometime this year.

On the other hand, if Vinson says the law is unconstitutional, yet he grants a stay regardless, you give Obama the headline victory of being able to still implement the Reform Act.

Apparently I am not the only confused one either because I have been to many different sites today (right wing, leftist, and MSM sites) and they all seem to have a different spin on it.

Just who benefits the most from this?

Ellis Wyatt| 3.3.11 @ 4:38PM

The Obama administration asked for a clarification (and it was clarified - the law is unconstitutional and you cannot implement it) and instead they were taken out back and paddled by the court. They clearly did not want what happened to them today.

It does two things, first it gives the Obama administration a time line to file an appeal so they will not be able to simply run the clock. Second, it thrusts this case on the fast track to the Supreme Court, which is not the case the administration would prefer.

The judge also admonished them in a very public way for their contempt of court by continuing to implement the law. It has been ruled unconstitutional and so it is until an appeal says otherwise. Although for an administration that doesn't obey laws I am not sure it will matter.

I wouldn't expect the msm to fully get this or report it.

Ellis Wyatt| 3.3.11 @ 4:43PM

I read my ramble and I should clarify that the stay only gets extended past 7 days if Obama files the appeal. This puts this case (probably the strongest legal case against the law) and not the Virginia case or another more favorable case on the appeals fast track that is headed for the Supreme Court.

Lullabys, Legends and Lies| 3.3.11 @ 6:29PM

Judge Vinson "granted the Obama administration a 7-day stay allowing them to continue implementing the law". Seven days? God created the whole World in 7-days, so that should be plenty of time for the "One" to finish implementing his healthcare law. He is the "One" they've been waiting for now isn't he? No problemo, Comrades!!

Bob H| 3.3.11 @ 8:35PM

How spineless is this FL judge? He says it's unconstitutional, but then he suffers diarrhea of his intestinal fortitude and says, "But don't worry Mr. President, I'm not going to make anyone enforce my legal ruling." Thanks alot judge, you spineless, unpatriotic milquetoast. I think the FL heat and humidity has congealed his gray matter.

bert| 3.3.11 @ 9:28PM

Bob H you are sadly right.

Timely Renewed| 3.4.11 @ 12:40AM

While we all hope that the good arguments in Judge Vinson's opinion are accepted by a majority of the Supreme Court, they labor under the overweening burden of 70 year old Supreme Court interpretations of the interstate commerce clause which have expanded the reach of federal power far beyond any original understanding of the scope of that clause. Until this fundamental distortion of the Constitution is addressed, the leftists will always find other ways to expand federal power over healthcare and every other aspect of our national life even if the litigation against Obamacare is successful, which is not certain. The only sure way to stop not only Obamacare, but the innumerable other ways in which the federal government has increased its power beyond the original scope of the Constitution, is to reverse those Supreme Court cases and restore the interstate commerce clause to its original meaning. Given how entrenched these Supreme Court precedents are, I believe that this will be best accomplished by a constitutional amendment restating the original, very limited scope of the interstate commerce clause. See http://www.timelyrenewed.com

John - TMF| 3.4.11 @ 8:06AM

Ok.. look this is way simpler... than most here ( I don't see where I disagree with any sentiments stated here.)

What we are seeing playing out before us is a fundamental disconnect between the reality of the Sovereign versus the Judicial.

You see, the Obama Regime has absolutely no "need" to obey this particular judge. There is no possible penalty for their defiance of the declaration or any subsequent court order.

First, who is going to enforce such an order? The judge has no actual power. He can order and declare all that he wants; but those orders and declarations are just paper and hot air absent an enforcement mechanism. If a judge issues a warrent for the arrest of a suspect, and that suspect is the mayor, to whom the chief of police is beholden, then the mayor is in no danger. If that happens to be the last available executive in the chain, then who might I ask is going to arrest him?

Second, the legislature is powerless at this point. Regardless of the unethical, defiant, or illegal activity of the Executive, there is little or nothing that can be done by Congress.

Here is some truths:
-There is going to be ZERO attempts to impeach The One. Congress has the votes to do it, but once again there is no possible way there are enough votes in the Senate to actually remove him from office.

-IF there were enough votes in both houses of Congress to Impeach and convict, we get Biden - woot, woot, hooray... Gaffo-matic Joe... who is equally as corrupt and bad as Obummer... sure. We'd have to impeach and convict him, too.

-IF we did actually succeed, by some non-human intervention, in removing both Obummer and F-Bomb... How long would it be before the riots and looting would be stopped?

No, if Judge Vinson were to explicitly order the Administration to halt all Obamacare activities, those activities would just be conducted and the administration would say that they were halted. In short, it would lie and ignore, instead of just ignore.

So, the tactic is to stall, throw sand in the gears, abuse process, and flat out ignore rulings until the clock runs out on the administration. The hope is that by then enough people are out of work, destitute, and fully dependent on government for there housing, food, and medical care, that any effort to over turn it will be refused at the point of the mob.

The brutal truth is that Liberals DO NOT believe in the fundamental Rule of Law. Liberalism/Marxism/Leftism/Fascism/etc. is about the Rule of Man. It is a return to kings, arbitrary assertions of authority, dominion, and above all centralized power; just the labels are changed to fool the ignorant...

My guess is that in seven days the administration will come up with some a procedural stall, or file some sort of oddball appeal on some arcane point of clarification or to the Appellate Court for a stay, etc.

Judge Vinson can throw all of the paper with words on it that he wants, the Administration disagrees, so it will do what Libs always do when they disagree with Conservatives... call names, ignore, and ultimately do what ever they please.

Yeah.. He should have applied the 2x4. It would have been like smacking a concrete wall, but hey it would have made for a better show.

R/John - The Mighty Fahvaag

JimH| 3.4.11 @ 8:58AM

This type of argument is only complicated when viewed through the lens of civil liberties as enumerated in the Bill of Rights. These types of arguments and counter claims of whose rights take precedence get bogged down in all kinds of legalisms. In a strict libertarian interpretation this should be viewed purely as a matter of property rights. If the demonstrators are on private property, they can be there only as long as the owner permits. The libertarian argument against yelling FIRE in a theater is simply that doing so is a violation the theater owner’s property right. The person yelling fire is then either a trespasser or violating the implicit contract he agreed to when buying the ticket. Public property can be more complicated. But even here there are established rules regarding access and use based on the nature of the property. For example I am not allowed to play my boom box in a school or just walk onto any military base. From the pictures I’ve seen of these idiots’ demonstrations it is not clear to me that they are on public lands where demonstrations are legitimate. I would think that at the least they could be cited for disturbing the peace or creating a public nuisance.

JimH| 3.4.11 @ 9:10AM

Please ignore the above. It was meant as a reply to another subject.

ShalomMetsJets| 3.4.11 @ 1:17PM

The stay of the ruling pending appeal is pretty standard and done so that the status quo ante does not change should the appeals process drag on. There have been several rulings now regarding the Obamacare debacle, some striking it down, some upholding it. The problem is that all the decisions have been made on the district level, which gives no precedential value and only limited applicability. Even a decision by the various circuit courts of appeal will only be applicable in the individual circuits. At some point the case or cases will have to be decided by the Supreme Court if only to resolve what is sure to be a conflict between the circuits regarding the constitutionality of the Obamacare nonsense. One then can only hope that the Supreme Court agrees with Judge Vinson.

All American American| 3.4.11 @ 2:21PM

The SCOTUS is not the end of the line for Obamacare as discussed in earlier threads this week. The (supposedly) sovereign States also have a say. Its just sad that so many "conservatives" don't kow this. That's what all these 10A challenges and nullification talk are all about.