The Judge. political

[nmanley]

Worth a listening to.

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=7n2m-X7OIuY

[nofearengineer]

Great speech. Don't even get me started on James Madison, my hero. He would have shuddered at the notion of the Patriot Act being used on U.S. citizens (he would have been totally fine with it being used against foreigners).

[nmanley]

Agreed!

[WTL]

Good clip.

Often times the interpretation of the Constitution comes down to the meanings of various words. "regulate" interstate commerce is but one example. Another good one is the meaning of word "militia" in the 2nd amendment.

It seems some people want to have the ability to apply the 2010 definitions of words to a document drafted in the early 1800s. But by doing that, the Constitution no longer has the same meaning or use. In fact, if we were to create a type of ice cream that was to be called "general welfare", soon you could have lawyers by the same standards arguing that the Constitution guarantees free ice cream provided by the federal government for all the citizenry. Yes that is an absurd example, but the practice is absurd so why not argue for something I can use.

[nmanley]

Yep, Love the avatar gif.
Wish some of our people in Washington would try it too.

[nofearengineer]

Well WTL....that is what you get when the idiots in Washington and the lawyers consider the Constitution "a living, breathing document."

Translation:

We don't like how restrictive the Constitution is on government, so we'll just change our interpretation of it until we can get away with what we want.

[Rebbasser]

Give 'em hell, Judge!

Outstanding clip. Thanks for posting it!

[TN_Bassin]

Well he points out the first steps to the death of democracy, and the rise of autocracy. It may not happen in the next 50 years but, just like anything else, it is a growing problem. The USA as a nation is still very young. Look at every other nation that is in existence and even those that aren't. Each one had a period of where the government was totally autocratic. The USA hasn't experienced this yet. I'm sure someone will point out the colonies and England, but that wasn't the United States of America, and it also wasn't as autocratic as history makes it out to be.

The bipartisan steps Obama is taking is just one step to dissolving democracy. Look at Hitler and his Nazis. What was the first thing he did to solidify his power? He got rid of other rival parties. I'm not saying Obama is going to be the next Hitler, but look at the similarities of all other Autocratic forms of government out there. I'm also not saying that Obama doesn't have the well being of American Citizens at heart, but just as communism looks good on paper not all things are as spectacular as they seem. Of all of these autocratic societies they are all centralized around a specific way of thinking, with the illusion of it being for "The Greater Good". Do some research on the early rise of Hitler and Stalin and see if you can see some similarities in our own government today.

I'm not saying that the form of government our forefathers laid down in the constituion is perfect. But I do know that it isn't for corrupt polititians, who are in the pockets of their financial backers, to decide what is right and wrong in the constitution.

[Abbeysdad]

Unfortunately...'regulation' is a slippery slope. I'll defer commenting on abuse of power for a moment. I was thinking of the FDA and how dangerous our lives could be without such a watchdog. Even with such a body, I was put on a drug (neurontin - for a back issue) that was later taken off the market after many who took it committed suicide...so then they put me on a drug (vioxx) that was later taken off the market for causing heart attacks! How many dangerous drugs never get prescribed because the risk outweighs the benefit?

And lets not ignore all of the downright dangerous foods that don't end up in our pantry because of due diligence.

Of course, I also don't like the idea of Uncle Sam, with hands firmly in my wallet telling me what food and drugs I should or shouldn't take. On the other hand, I'm darn sure I can't trust pharmaceutical companies or growers in foreign countries to be looking out for my health and well being.

As for national health care, I just don't know. I can say that medical costs are through the roof and overly inflated. If you can't get insurance, most folks can't afford basic medical care and many go without.
In this great country, that's just wrong!

[WTL]

The health care system is screwed up because it is so regulated and dependent on cutting edge technology.

As for drugs, there are also plenty of examples of people with terminal diseases who die every year who are denied the ability to take experimental drugs that could save their lives because the FDA is dragging their feet. And as you say, the FDA then still gets it wrong.

Medical journals, without the FDA saying yes/no to drugs, would still publish reports on the effectiveness or dangerousness of drugs so its not like arsenic would end up being pushed as a cure to the cold.

[nofearengineer]

The problem with the FDA is just another example of Americans' willingness to absolve themselves of responsibility, and act as if they had no other choice. Unfortunately, you can't ask someone to step in and govern something, without giving up some of the right to complain about it.

For every lawyer out there filing a lawsuit on behalf of someone who was denied medical care or medication they deemed they were "entitled to," there are fifty other lawyers filing lawsuits over harmful side effects of other drugs. Is it any wonder the FDA walks on eggshells?

If you want miraculous, cutting edge drugs, you get three choices:

a) risk of problems by way of free, educated choices by the consumer, or
b) an agency such as the FDA dragging their feet so as to minimize the risk of problems. Notice I didn't say eliminate. This simply can't be done or you get the third evil,
c) over-cautious release of new drugs to the point that people die waiting for them.

Me? I would pick the first evil. I'm for dissolving the FDA, as well as about a thousand other alphabet soup agencies.

If you think the problem with the FDA is bad now....just wait until the government has taken over, and healthcare is just a commodity. There won't be anyone left to sue.

[screwballl]

Its too late, we are a welfare state... and unless someone comes along and wipes clean the slate of most of the laws signed in the past 200 years, it will only get worse.

Atlas Shrugged, here we come full steam ahead.

[bassinbob]

Do you really think the drug companies and the health institutions want to find drugs and cures that really work? I don't. Feed us bull about all the wonderful drugs and methods of curing and tons of people are still not being cured. What if they did find a drug/cure for cancer. All the money spent on keeping patients coming back and treating gone? Not in your lifetime. Give us hope about a drug and a cure then take it away.
The constitution was created to keep government under control. God gave us our rights. The government is taking them away. If the health bill is voted in there will be no way to get rid of it. Just like all the temporary taxes levied on us.
I feel sorry for our children.

[WTL]

Speaking to the comment about Atlas Shrugged, in that book the idea is to withdraw sanction from those who perpetuate the "looting" of the citizens via excessive taxation and regulation. The title comes from a line in the book where a character refers to Atlas, the greek figure who held the world on his shoulders. I believe it is John Galt who says his advice to Atlas would be to "shrug" or let the world fall so that it can be rebuilt.

Thats one idea, but lets face it, its a book (and a spottily written one at that).

A better idea is state nullification of federal laws. Its far from a sure thing, but considering there is no other solution its worth pushing. If we could get just one state to stand up to the federal government, the talent drain to that state would be such that it would start a process of decentralization that could possibly circumvent the washington leviathan.

[nofearengineer]

Good point, WTL. I am also not truly enamored of Ayn Rand's writing. It's interesting stuff, and full of valuable observations, but she was a pretty weird person.

Luckily for me, Indiana is one of the states who has been flexing its muscles getting ready for nullification. We've already threatened it on many items, like gun laws and the coming healthcare holocaust.

[Abbeysdad]

I have to disagree - I believe that 'real' health care professionals DO care about curing disease. It's only bean counters and money grubbing hospital and pharmaceutical executives on the 'business' side of health care that would prolong misery for greeds sake. To say otherwise is about like saying farmers are promoting obesity to keep food prices up.

[Bob Smith]

I beleive that Reagan had the right idea and something should've been done back then.. It's called Tort Reform. Our health care system and medical professionals are the best in the world, so is our pharmacology. The financial risks are so great that the costs have risen to offset the myriad legal ramifications of the ambulance chasers that exist today. Just watch the television commercials and you see that medical malpractice suits are alive and well these days.