"How could a former con law professor be so ignorant?"
Quite a few people have asked me how President Obama, as a “former constitutional law professor,” could prove so ignorant about the Constitution. This former con law professor suggests two reasons: * Obama was not a “professor” in the sense that most people use the term—that is someone who becomes an expert in the subject […]
The fatuous "uniqueness" argument for the constitutionality of Obamacare
Obamacare’s supporters argue that the individual mandate is justified because the health care market is unique—it’s something that everyone uses, and a great deal of cost-shifting now occurs in health care. The argument is fatuous for two reasons. First, the cost-shifting is, for the most part, created by Congress itself—through, for example, mandates on hospitals […]
The Government as Public Trust—One Roman Emperor Showed It Is Feasible
“A public office is a public trust”—common saying, but do we really believe it? The American Founders did. Most of them agreed that public officials should be held at least to the standards imposed on private trustees and other fiduciaries—maybe even higher standards, since government officials can do more damage than private fiduciaries. (A fiduciary—from […]
House Rules Committee: “Violate Your Oath No Matter How You Vote!”
It’s a stunning betrayal of all those hardworking, pro-Constitution Americans who gave U.S. House Republicans their majority. Republicans controlling the House Rules Committee have added sweeping new mandates on the states to a bill repealing part of Obamacare. The result is revised H.R. 5. Just on good government grounds, those two very different items do […]
Why an Amendments Convention is not a “Constitutional Convention”
Sometimes a convention for proposing amendments to the U.S. Constitution is referred to as a “constitutional convention.” That title is both wrong and fatally misleading. The correct name—given by the Constitution itself—is convention for proposing amendments. Other accurate names are amendments convention, Article V convention, or convention of the states. In the Founding Era and […]
The Great Forgetting
The meaning of some of the Constitution’s 18th century terminology was lost during the 19th century, leading to widespread misunderstanding.
II files unique Supreme Court brief in Obamacare case
We have just filed an amicus curiae (“friend of the court”) brief with the Supreme Court arguing that (1) under current Supreme Court rulings, Obamacare’s individual mandate, if it can be justified at all, must be justified under the Constitution’s Necessary and Proper Clause, and (2) scholarly research into the meaning of the Necessary and […]
Contraceptives and Catholic hospitals: The primary issue is Obamacare, not the First Amendment
Does the mandate forcing Catholic hospitals to offer abortifacients and contraception violate the First Amendment? The surprising answer is: Probably not. True, there are serious moral and political issues inherent in requiring religious institutions to offer “treatments” they find theologically offensive. But, despite the claims of many Catholic and conservative commentators, the U.S. Department of […]
Are the detainment provisions of the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act serious?
Are the detainment provisions of the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act serious? Yes they are. This is a complicated area, and there has been a lot of word-fudging in spinning this subject. So bear with me as we take things step by step. * The U.S. Constitution generally guarantees the “Privilege of the Writ of […]
Chickens come home to roost: Obama’s plan to cut federal aid to colleges that don’t limit tuition increases
I observe with some satisfaction that the higher-education establishment is finally learning that if you play with snakes you get bitten. It is no secret that academics were heavily in President Obama’s corner when he ran for President in 2008. Part of the reason was his commitment to transfer other people’s money to them—i.e., more […]
Some Questions for “Progressives” Carping about the Citizens United Campaign Finance Case
The Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United v. FEC has generated a great deal of uninformed, and sometimes hypocritical, whining. In Citizens United, the Supreme Court held that people organized in the corporate form have the same First Amendment rights they enjoy when they organize in other ways. Some opponents of the decision are even […]
II submits brief to protect states from Obamacare bullying
II is submitting not merely one, but two separate brief to the U.S. Supreme Court opposing Obamacare. One will show why the mandate that individuals buy government-approved insurance is unconstitutional. The other, which has now been filed, shows that Obamacare’s Medicaid mandates imposed on states also are unconstitutional. Both briefs are based on a powerful […]
