A Federal Judge We Can Do Without

Family Research Council

Unqualified. That's how the American Bar Association (ABA) rates the judge that President Obama insists on promoting to the federal bench. This is John McConnell's third trip through the Senate confirmation process since last year--and after two unsuccessful attempts, it looks like Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is finally giving the White House what it wants: a vote. The longer McConnell has waited, the more Senators have learned about his troubling past and politically-motivated agenda. Apart from buying his way onto the nomination list, McConnell has affiliations that should give any rational American pause about his ability to separate ideology from the job at hand. On top of serving as the Director of Planned Parenthood Rhode Island, McConnell and his wife have given handsomely to EMILY List's over the years, an organization dedicated to electing pro-abortion congresswomen.

But perhaps even more troubling is his association with the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a civil rights group-turned-moneymaking attack dog for the Left that fabricates lists of "hate groups" to turn a profit. For 22 years, McConnell has been a proud member of the organization, whose primary agenda is sabotaging debate. McConnell's views are so controversial that even liberals have been too embarrassed to lobby for his confirmation. In a memo to the movement, the Conservative Action Project (CAP) describes, at length, the threat he poses to the court, conservatives, businesses, and the rule of law. Tomorrow, the Senate will vote on whether to give this man a lifetime appointment to the District Court. I strongly urge you to call your Senators and oppose McConnell's nomination to the federal bench. If you don't, Americans will live to regret it.

Contempt

"An administration that has no respect for Congress, the courts or the Constitution has been found in contempt for reissuing a drilling moratorium that a U.S. district judge found overly broad. The Obama administration's trouble with the courts has continued with a judge's ruling last week that the Interior Department's reinstating of a drilling moratorium followed by a de facto moratorium via an overly restrictive permitting process constituted contempt. The administration had issued a drilling moratorium in May in waters deeper than 500 feet after the explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig off Louisiana that resulted in the spill of more than 4.1 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. In June, Martin Feldman of the Eastern District Court of Louisiana struck down Interior Secretary Ken Salazar's original moratorium, saying it was overkill based on flawed reasoning. ... So the administration went back, rearranged a few words and a few deck chairs, and reissued its moratorium. That one was officially lifted in October, although the permitting process, which mysteriously includes shallow-water wells, has had the effect of continuing the moratorium. Feldman was not amused.

'Each step the government took following the court's imposition of a preliminary injunction showcases its defiance,' the judge said in his ruling. 'Such dismissive conduct, viewed in tandem with the reimposition of a second moratorium ... provides this court with clear and convincing evidence of its contempt.' ...

It is not so much that the Obama administration differs with the law, but that it considers itself above it -- even above the Constitution." (emphasis added)--

Investor's Business Daily

We Already Knew This

20 States: ObamaCare Unconstitutional

President Obama's landmark health care reform law is being challenged in court by a coalition of 20 states. Lawyers argued in Florida that Congress does not have the authority to force all Americans to buy health insurance or face penalties.

Attorneys also told the judge Obama care is a bank buster and if cash strapped states are forced to pay more to expand Medicaid programs, they will go broke.

Earlier this week a federal judge in Virginia ruled that citizens can not be forced to buy health insurance. Supporters of the Florida lawsuit want the judge to go further and stop the federal government from enacting health care reform. But so far, two other federal judges have upheld the law.

President Barack Obama's administration says all Americans should have health insurance because everyone requires medical care sometimes to cover catastrophic injuries and chronic diseases.