Legal Argument: Use of Case Law or Refer to the Constitution as Supreme Law of Land in Analysis of ACA

Here is an amazingly thought provoking argument against the Affordable Healthcare Act that uses the Constitution and not established Commerce Clause case law as its underpinning.  Several blog posts ago, I wrote that I wondered how much of my rights were left due to erosion from bad court decisions serving as precedent such as Wickard v. Filburn or Gonzales v. Raich before I actually became a full fledged ward of the state. In my amateur judicial mind, new case law appeared to just keep being based and built upon errant case law that was centered on politically expedient court decisions rather than constitutional interpretation.  If every new or subsequent challenge of unconstitutional law was brought before the court and weighed by the court only against established case law that was – to be frank, a bad opinion, then I postulated that our freedoms are quite doomed.  Supreme Court case law of the early to mid 20th century is not exactly a bulwark of pro-Constitutional rulings.  Fortunately, true legal scholars and professionals who understand the Constitution thought the same thing and banded together to write this argument as to why the Affordable Healthcare Act is unconstitutional. These friends of the court include one of my favorite organizations that support Liberty, The Downsize DC Foundation and DownsSizeDC.org

Amicus Curiae – DEPT. OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, ET AL., Petitioners, v. STATE OF FLORIDA ET AL., Respondents.

The analysis in this amicus urges the Supreme Court Justices to discard the bad habit of relying on Commerce Clause case law since much of the key decisions were from a politically packed court during FDR’s administration.  Instead, the respondents urge the court to look at the health mandate with a fresh new perspective, going back to the actual textual law that is the Constitution – The Supreme Law of the Land.  It really is an argument to behold with awe and great appreciation.  Hopefully a majority of the court will see the wisdom in this argument and overturn the low courts upholding of this constitutional abomination.  The Congress does not have free rein to do what it wants under the Commerce Clause.

Former Ronald Reagan solicitor general Charles Fried, now a Harvard Law Professor, thinks the opposite and that the current Supreme Court led by Chief Justice John Roberts should follow the bad precedent set by previous Supreme Courts and not overturn the ACA law as unconstitutional. “It would be plainly at odds with precedent, and plainly in conflict with what several of the justices have said before.” Here is a link to this opinion of the former conservative lawyer who served under Ronald Reagan.

It would be my hope that a fresh check against the text of the Constitution take place.  I don’t understand exactly what Fried is worried about if today’s court makes its own assessment of the Constitutionality of the law.  What is exactly is wrong if this court abandons the poorly thought out decisions from its predecessors?  Are not mistakes permitted to be corrected?

Obama Care Gets its Day in Court and a Few Other Things on My Mind

My writing has slowed quite dramatically this past month or so.  It seems that not much is really happening that inspires me to write.  I mean, how much can any body rail against socialism and big government before it becomes redundant? So what else is there to write?

Things taking place now for which I am paying attention none the less are:

• Supreme Court hearing the constitutionality of Obama Care.  Hopefully they will find limits to the government’s powers with respect to the commerce clause.  Once they find it legal to compel an individual to have to purchase something from a private entity, then I am sure our constitutional republic is dead.  Charles Krauthammer’s recent article call Obama Care: The Reckoning has me so very optimistic.
• The stock market and its pointless fluttering day in and day out.  Maybe the above will cause it to do something – anything to give an indication of where this economy is headed.  I still harbor convictions that holding gold and silver are necessary to not falling prey to the federal reserves  monetary policy.
• The reconstitution of the York County Republican Committee here in Virginia.  I have left the committee in protest the last 2 bienniums as a result of the committee refusing to admonish the big government embracing on the part of supposed limited government members of the party (see https://livinghereinamerica.wordpress.com/2012/02/02/the-necessary-evil-of-local-gop-party-politics-to-engage-or-not-to-engage/ )  The Committee has a pro-Ron Paul supporter who is running for the chairmanship and there a numerous pro-Constitutional and Ron Paul supporters looking to make the party more conservative in terms of limited government than the other times I participated.
• The remaining period of free agency in the NFL
• The NCAA final four
• The NFL Draft

So as the above plays out, I lay low.  I get up, go to work, come home, enjoy some rest and relaxation with my family and do it again…wondering how long all of it is going to last.

Sovereign Citizens, the Watchful Eye of the FBI, and the Founding Fathers

Recent news accounts like this of the FBI’s announcement that it has concerns with people who claim themselves to be Sovereign Citizens evokes thoughts of our country’s founding.  The patriots who were associated with country’s founding fathers had to consider the threat of apprehension by the authorities when they were contemplating whether or not to break free from the rule of King George and Great Britain.  It is no small thing to break free from an established government.  That is why the American Revolution was so historic in the annals of human history.

Sovereign Citizens have taken a different interpretation of current prevailing viewpoints of what it means to be an American and living in the United States. In essence, they seem to want to separate themselves from the current laws of the land and live by a different set of rules from the mainstream citizens.  They appear to describe the current laws as illegitimate when pitted against the rights American are described as having as written in the Constitution.  In the video that runs on their website, the woman makes a reference to the USA as a corporation to which the Sovereign Citizens do not want to participate.  I have come across other references about this Corporation over the years and have been interested in learning more about it but then abandoning the issue altogether due to time constraints and thoughts about what does it really matter any way?  Maybe the Sovereign Citizens just had more time and interest in seeing what it is all about.  I am not sure.

Today in the year 2012, the vast majority of citizens are law abiding taxpayers of which many have serious concerns and objections about how our elected / appointed representatives are managing our national, state, and local governments.  It would be members of this segment of American society who organized the Tea Party and /or might be active in the Libertarian political party.  Many people who follow the current rules of the  electoral and political system have expended a good many years of their lives and personal resources to try and get more Constitutionally compliant leaders into government at all levels.

Anybody who has followed American political events over the past 70 years knows that the Republicans and Democrats backed by highly financed special interest groups have claimed wins in most if not all major political campaigns for public office.  It would be very frustrating for any normal person to begin to think that there has to be a better way to push back the problem of the wrong people being elected to run the government because they have what appears to be an inappropriate ability to wield greater influence than a majority of most individual citizens in the election.

Maybe that is what led to this group that calls themselves Sovereign Citizens.  When I think of them and why they do what they do, there is a part of me that can sort of relate and understand and maybe even agree with the rationale as to why they would want to “not play by the rules” of the prevailing form of government.

Let me be clear, I do not condone violence and aggression against other people including the lawful authorities.  That noted, for purposes of trying to understand their behavior and actions so as to learn and maybe improve the situation that is causing the FBI to escalate their surveillance of this group, perhaps Sovereign Citizens simply have more courage to push back and defend themselves from the government in a fashion that based on their political beliefs, can lead to what looks like violence and aggression against the State.

Obviously there is a stigma that mainstream society attaches to people who are members of such fringe groups.  But I get a sense that the fringe is growing.  Maybe the Sovereign Citizens are just an early version, a way-out in-front organized group ahead of the game.  Sooner or later it seems inevitable that more and more supposedly Free People who have become frustrated with their government run amok would form in this coalesced fashion if unable to realize the changes they see as being needed to save their way of life because of a corrupted and unconstitutional electoral and political system and government.

What I wrote above does not seem to differ much with what Thomas Jefferson and the Founders had to wrestle with when they decided to break free from Great Britain.  On the outset of the Revolutionary War, they wrote and affirmed with sacred honor the Declaration of Independence.  The words below from that historic document tied to our country’s founding seem to mimic in some part at least, to what might be compelling the Sovereign Citizens to opt out of the current rule of law.

Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

Framed in this light, are the Sovereign Citizens really that bad or just that misunderstood by the current authorities?

Daily Press Editorial Staff Continues to Impress

Make it two consecutive days that the Daily Press editorial team has impressed me.  Yesterday they wrote of the recent failure on the part of the GOP.  (See immediate preceding blog post).

Today, they share their criticism of the York County Board of Supervisors / administrator for announcing a real estate tax hike on already financially reeling citizen tax payers.  I could not agree more with their admonishment.

Digby Solomon the publisher and Rebeeca Troyer the Editor of the editorial page both deserve credit and positive acknowledgement for their willingness to provide relevant and provoking commentary that is so unlike the majority of mainstream media outlets.

The societal struggles we currently face are doomed to perpetuate unless leaders of our communities are willing to boldly face the brutal facts of our current situation and bring light to the problems  when they need to be aired.  What Mr. Solomon and Ms. Troyer are doing with their editorials the last two days is nothing short of heroic leadership for their community.  I hope they continue to be a leading voice of reason as it will spark the debates needed to advance the solutions.

Here is their opinion today.  http://www.dailypress.com/news/opinion/dp-edt-yorkbudget-editorial-20120222,0,1773062.story

Daily Press Editorial: RIP, GOP Republican Party….

…needs to come to its senses; right now it’s circling the drain

http://www.dailypress.com/news/opinion/dp-edt-ripgop-editorial-20120221,0,7473479.story

How refreshing to see a major media source that shares my very Libertarian like opinion.  Before too long, I wouldn’t be surprised to see them giving Ron Paul more attention.

Defending Property Rights is in the News and is on My Mind

I was happy to see two media accounts this morning about the issue of property rights.  One an article about a home owner in Yorktown, VA battling his local government for his right to use his rural residential zoned home that has permitted use for agriculture so that he can operate an oyster business (aquaculture).  This battle has been underway for sometime now.  The update this morning is that a well known local civil rights activist is now putting his weight behind the property owner.

The other is national syndicated columnist George Will and his thoughts relating to rent control laws in NYC.

I hope both stories spark an interest on the part of property rights activists and supporters that can lead to all levels of government recognizing that a person’s right to use their property as they so choose is a fundamental component of being free.

Here are links to the stories.  Please, if you are so moved, please take a moment and think about writing a letter to the editor for your local newspaper or to your local government representative at the local, state, and/or federal level and tell them that in no uncertain terms, you favor laws that safeguard the rights of property owners from government theft and control.  A very fast and convenient method of writing your congress representatives and senators is to go to http://www.downsizedc.org and use their tools for doing so.  They also offer many tips on what you can put in your letters.

http://www.dailypress.com/news/york-county/dp-nws-york-garrett-rights-complaint-0216-20120215,0,6300317.story

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/rent-control-laws-foolish-and-unconstitutional/2012/02/14/gIQAcZvbGR_story.html

Capitalism Magazine – “Francisco’s Money Speech” from Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged

We all tend to have unfinished or uninitiated activities or tasks or things that we would like to get around to doing some day.  If we had the luxury of all the time in the world, we could continually keep from doing today what we would hope could be put off until tomorrow.  Unfortunately, we know all too well that none of us is promised tomorrow.  During the year 2010, one particular as yet to be completed task on my list was beginning to gnaw at me.  I had yet to read Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged.

Someone carrying not yet completed desired to-do tasks around in their mind was popularized as a person having a”Bucket List”.  This came about several years ago after actors Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson teamed up on the big screen to make a movie about two aging men and the stories behind them acting out some of the activities on their list of things to do.

As a liberty minded individualist who first learned about Atlas Shrugged years ago from my good friend Gerry back when I was just starting high school,  I grew into adulthood simply thinking that I did not have the time to read it.  How silly of me.

Once I finally got a copy and started reading it just 2 years ago, what I once thought was going to be a labored read turned into a labor of love with the book. The labor was simply the time needed to read it.  Once started, I found I could not put the book down.  It was both a philosophical work and an adventure story all rolled into one.  Like most other things we procrastinate from doing, I found and made time to read it once I realized I enjoyed it.  How silly of me to put it off in favor of what I thought was my busy schedule.

My reading sessions turned into an escape of sorts.  I completed it in about 2-3 weeks, taking about an hour or so daily.  Looking back at the time, Atlas Shrugged served as a balm of sorts for what ailed me insofar as my complete sullied attitude and morale relating to the bad economy, our federal debt, President Obama’s and Harry Reid’s and Nancy Pelosi’s individual health care mandate in the Affordable Healthcare Act, the wars and our country’s overall malaise.  Reading this book helped me see that these problems that are in part based on collectivism and statism are not new.  Ayn Rand wrote of them in the 1950’s.  It helped me refocus my mind as to how I might better cope with what seems the the degradation of our free society.  In many respects, it had me rethink about dedicating some time to writing this blog.

One of my favorite parts of the book was Francisco’s money speech.  Not coincidentally, other readers must also have enjoyed it, as it was very easy to find numerous references to it with a simple google search.  I have provided the link to it below so that it might serve as a primer of sorts for you.  After reading it, maybe reading Atlas Shrugged will be something that you will add to your bucket list.     This topic of sound money is very appropriate for our times.  Many mainstream economists are proclaiming that the recession is ending and that our economy is headed in the right direction. Those of us who look at the economy through the lens of the Austrian school of thought think otherwise.  The threat of a third round of quantitative easing looms and with it, our beloved freedoms take even more of a beating.  Candidate Ron Paul holds the issue of sound monetary policy as a main component of his platform for restoring America.

Please take a moment and read Ayn Rand’s views on money, as told by one of her amazing characters, Francisco D’Anconia.  And as usual, thanks for reading my thoughts here at Wake Up America!

Capitalism Magazine – “Francisco’s Money Speech”

Leaders and How Some Are Guiding Their Organizations From Here to There

Organizations exist for a purpose.  Most formal ones have a mission statement that describes that purpose.  Over the course of time, healthy organizations that want to achieve their mission will set goals and create objectives with performance measures to do so.  This goal planning process is often revisited and updated as time progresses to assess performance toward meeting the stated goals and objectives.

Despite this very purposeful activity, many organizational leaders fall short of reaching their goals due to an inability to understand where the leverage points lie within their organization’s processes.  The systems in which today’s businesses and organizations exist are much more complicated than in the first half of the 20th century.  Yet many leaders still rely on linear means of looking at how things get done in their transacting of business.

Singular causes leading to singular effects is not the way reality exists.  This reductionist and mechanistic view point is great at isolating and helping to understand snapshot views of some simple phenomena that occurs, but it falls way short in helping to lay out a road map that can potentially address a multitude of cause and effect relationships which always include dynamic feedback on the system in which the operating reality takes place.

Fortunately, there is a solution available to help leaders find find their way to help navigate their organization down the right road to success.  Systems dynamics modeling is an affordable and effective tool that can be used by leaders and decision makers to help them make better decisions that account for the elusive pitfalls that lie beyond the capability of the human mind to understand complex interconnections that exist within our systems.

Systems dynamics modeling can help in strategic planning, teaching and communication, and policy formulation.  Whether it be in health care, production, finance, or social sciences – this skill set permits mental models of how reality exists to be tested for accuracy – BEFORE possible decisions are put into action.  The modeling is only as good as the mental model is mapped, but when done so correctly using the proper tools, the dynamic display of the stocks and flows of the system yield tremendous value at improving understanding.

If you are interested, please take a look at some of the examples of systems dynamic models that my former professor Paul Stepanovich created.  He is the person who introduced my to the benefits of Systems Thinking and Systems Dynamic modeling while taking his classes for the health care management tract of my Master’s Degree program.

Liberty Call Out: Please Join Me in Making Monthly Downsize DC Foundation Donations

The other day I received my IRS approved tax contribution statement for 2011 from the Downsize DC Foundation.  Money I send to them as a donation to help them in their wonderfully successful initiatives to defend my Liberty is tax deductible.

Take a look at some of their latest success.  http://www.downsizedc.org/blog/you-won-in-the-supreme-court

I am so pleased and enthused with how well Jim Babka and James Wilson and their team at Downsize DC are spending my donations on behalf of liberty that I am prepared to urge others to join me as a donor to their Downsize DC Foundation.  In fact, I will increase my already existing monthly  $20 pledge by $1 for every new person who signs up to make at least a $20 monthly recurring donation to the Downsize DC Foundation.  Here is the link to set it all up.  https://secure.downsizedcfoundation.org/contribute/

My offer to increase my donation by $1 for every new donor will last until 11:59 pm ET on Thursday night February 9, 2012.  Please post a comment to this post right here on my Wake Up America blog to let me and others know that you arranged an online recurring monthly pledge.  I will confirm it with the folks at the Downsize DC Foundation and then gladly match your joining the effort by increasing my monthly pledge by $1.  With any luck, my efforts with your help will result in 20 new people pledging to make monthly tax deductible donations.

Please note: On the slight chance that this modest goal is exceeded, I might need to cap the increase  as to how much more I can match.  My family is far from wealthy but we desire to contribute our money to the cause of liberty and would hope that others will join us.

Once again, here is the link to set it all up.   https://secure.downsizedcfoundation.org/contribute/

Thanks in advance and I remain yours in Liberty.

Robert E. Lehman

Obama is Fixing Economy? Homeowner Mortgages Continue to Default Leading to Foreclosure Proceedings

Today’s online and print versions of the Daily Press newspaper show a still astonishingly high number of public notices for property mortgage foreclosures.  http://classifieds.dailypress.com/classifieds?category=public_notice

I am a bit confounded as thought I recalled the President indicating during his State of the Union Address last month that his economic recovery plan was working.  There is similarly positive indices posted at the various National Associate of Home Builders websites.  http://eyeonhousing.wordpress.com/ and http://www.nahb.org/default.aspx . Apparently, news of the recovery in progress has not yet reached my community’s housing market.

Today’s 30-year fixed rate are still hovering just over the all-time lowest rates at 4.00%.  http://www.bankrate.com/mortgage.aspx

So why are so many people here still going facing foreclosure when there is a chance to save the property by doing a refinance to a much more affordable rate?  There could be a number of reasons.  Maybe they are unemployed.  Maybe the appraised value of the property has plummeted and they are very much upside down.  Regardless, if one small metropolitan service area such as the lower Peninsula of the Hampton Roads area of Virginia (Cities of Newport News, Hampton, Poquoson, Williamsburg, and counties of York and Gloucester) has 128 published foreclosure notices then clearly the economy is not yet on the road to recovery.

Call me confused and dumbfounded.  Or better yet a skeptic. I am that same guy who also thinks the stock markets are oversold and headed for a steep decline.  But that’s another post for another day.