Wednesday, February 22, 2012

High Court to make 'monumental' decision

Today we are watching the nightly news, which is mostly political minutia. Try to be patient. During the last week of March, we will be able to listen to the U.S. Supreme Court hear arguments as to whether Obamacare is constitutional, or whether Obamacare is worthless law conjured up by liberals that exceeds Constitution authority.

The Supreme Court will rule whether an individual can be forced to buy health care insurance, whether the totality of Obamacare must be thrown out if the first part is illegal (severability), and whether the legal questions are even "ripe" since parts of the law have not taken effect yet. In real time the justices will ask questions of the litigants since the hearings will be broadcast (audio only). We will be talking about what may be the most important legal decisions of our lifetime. I keep using the term "monumental" purposely.

The court will decide this monumental case in June. Then, President Obama will campaign in July, August, September and October as a president who had the court give a stamp of approval to his main claim to fame -- Obamacare.

Or, Obama will campaign in those same four long months as a president who spent almost all of his time forcing absolute junk law down our throats, utilizing a process reserved for other types of legislation, and by intimidating senators and House members to vote on 2,500 pages of Obamacare and approve it, without having time to even read the legislation before voting.

I think the Supreme Court will not simply strike the whole law down as unconstitutional. I think the justices will throw the law out totally and choose to use very strong language in the written decision that literally exposes Obamacare as an unconstitutional joke.

Naturally, the four losing, left-leaning justices will disagree. Call me Judge Dave. I will be only one of the millions of armchair jurists watching this Super Bowl of legal challenges. I hope everyone pays as much attention to the legal details of this monumental case as they did "stats" in the Giants versus New England game.

David F. Lipton

Key Largo and

Beachwood, N.J.

Send a delegation to Cuba to discuss drilling

During the BP oil disaster, Cubans, like all of us who live in the Keys, must have felt real anger, desperation and fear. Despite government reports about how well we handled ourselves, the fact is we were just plain lucky that the Loop Current didn't connect to the heart of the spill. The fact was we were completely unprepared. The sad fact is we still are.

Now Cuba is going to drill even deeper, only 90 miles away from us. One misstep, even one small "burp" will be a disaster, not only for us, but for all coastal areas, especially immediately downstream of the Gulf Stream current.

We can't rely on studies to protect us; they take too long to implement. We cannot rely on U.S. negotiations; after all, as well meaning as they might be, it's us in the direct line of fire, not them.

We should send a delegation of local government officials, citizens, and businesses -- recreational and commercial fishermen, hotel owners, ecological groups, and all parts of our society -- to Cuba as soon as we can to information-share and fact-find. To get as much information as we can regarding their drilling operations and plans for safeguards if something goes wrong.

But most importantly, we must go to Cuba to share concerns, and make them public. For we, like the Cuban people, depend on our waters to nourish and sustain us. We must open a dialogue, not only with Cubans but with the Bahamians and anyone doing offshore oil drilling, for we are all part of One Human Family and it is the water that joins us all.

Joel Biddle

Key West

Letter-writer appears to be a Bush supporter

... Can I deduce from the tone of [Lawrence E. Root's] letter that [he] supported "W" and his policies? He left us with quite a legacy, didn't he? A few that pop out at me: two wars started and no accounting for them in the federal budget, a bridge to nowhere, a drug bill for the drug companies and tax breaks for the rich and famous.

I am still waiting for the rich to start creating jobs. Is there a time frame on those jobs? How long do we have to wait? Has it been 10 years yet? These are just a few of my favorite bodies of work by "W." But Obama is the least qualified in our history?

I am reminded of the quote by Lauren Bacall about how to whistle. I'll look that one up after the 2012 election.

Mike Eden

Key West