High Five to Texas

I'm spending a few days in Austin, Texas and while I was in the Capitol earlier this week, I came across this sign in a hallway:

Yes, tax bills have to originate in the House. No, Obamacare didn't violate this rule.

I addressed this in the comments section of my post on the Supreme Court opinion yesterday, but I wanted to reemphasize the issue, because I'm still seeing it pop up today:

Article I, Section 7 of the Constitution requires tax bills to originate in the House of Representatives, and it was the Senate version of the Obamacare legislation that became law. 

Representative Plakon and Precourt's Role in Inspiring Florida's Lawsuit Against ObamaCare

Thousands protest in front of the Supreme
Court to support overturning ObamaCare

This week, the United States Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case of Florida vs. United States Department of Health and Human Services (for an excellent recap, please see this write-up by the Texas Public Policy Foundation), the lawsuit filed by the State of Florida against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, aka "ObamaCare."

Florida's previous Attorney General, Bill McCollum, filed the complaint on March 23, 2010. The litigation was joined by attorneys general in numerous other states, and some states filed separate lawsuits, but Florida's case has been the linchpin in moving this challenge forward all the way to the Supreme Court.

ObamaCare and its unconstitutional power grab have galvanized conservatives across the country and united them in their opposition to the Obama administration. What many people don't know is the back story behind how Florida's lawsuit came to be. I recently came across some interesting information when I was doing some research for one of my last Florida clients before I leave for Massachusetts.

Give me coffee or give me death!

From Right Wing News

How the heck did I miss this?

Apparently the recent discussions about Obamacare's health care mandate and the whole kerfuffle surrounding Sandra "my law school tuition is $45,000 a year but I should get free birth control" Fluke have led some people to start examining whether the government should mandate other benefits:

Wall Street Journal | Coffee Is an Essential Benefit Too

I'm more of a Hoosier than Dick Lugar

Both of these guys are running for Senate in Indiana.
Only one of them actually lives there.

Indiana Senator Dick Lugar has not owned a home in the state for more than three decades, but he had the audacity to be outraged when a local election board ruled yesterday that he had abandoned his Indiana residence and was ineligible to vote.

POLITICO reported that Lugar characterized the ruling as the result of "a rather concerted campaign by self-appointed persons who believe this is the best way to settle the Indiana election."

Actually, Senator Lugar, it is the United States Constitution that states that this is how Senate elections are supposed to be settled. It's in the third paragraph of Article I, Section 3, to be precise:

Hypocrisy: (noun) From the Greek term for "Senate Democrats"

Today, President Obama appointed Richard Cordray to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) while the Senate was in pro forma session. The CFPB is an unaccountable bureaucratic nightmare that was birthed from the Dodd-Frank bill, and Republicans are rightfully criticizing this latest abuse of power by the Obama Administration. 

The criticism of this appointment is warranted for several reasons:

Meatloaf and Mulligans

Yesterday, the Leon County Circuit Court issued a ruling that removed Amendment 7, also known as the "Religious Freedom Act," from the 2012 ballot:

Quick note about today's Florida Senate Debate

I'll have more to post later, but wanted to post this press release from the Adam Hasner Campaign. It's very telling that John Stemberger would post these statements on Twitter during the debate.

------------------------------------

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 20, 2011

Contact: Douglass Mayer

410-703-5604

Hasner Campaign Comments On Florida Family Policy Council Debate

Orlando, FL - Hasner for Senate Communications Director Douglass Mayer issued the following statement in response to today's Florida Family Policy Council candidate debate:

"Every campaign is going to declare victory on behalf of their candidate. We don't have to - others who haven't endorsed in this race are doing it for us."

Adam Hasner clearly has the best grasp of the social issues especially stem cell research...strong, clear and passionate. Most dynamic of the panel.

- John Stemberger, President Of The Florida Family Policy Council, via Twitter

"George LeMieux's wholesale reinvention on values and economic issues will not stand up to scrutiny from voters and fact-checkers. While some candidates feel the need to exaggerate their resumes - or keep entire portions of it hidden from Florida voters - Adam has a consistent conservative record he's ready to take to Washington. That is why he won today's debate, and why he will win this election to take back our country."

------------------------------------

Stemberger also posted this about McCalister's answer on the pro-life issue: "[McCalister] consistently gets 10th Amend issues wrong and confused. Constitutional and policy positions two different animals."

I'll post more later when I can get in front of a computer again...including some great video from after the debate...stay tuned!

UPDATE: Here's the links to Stemberger's tweets referenced above if you are curious: here, here, and here.

Why it's unconstitutional for Obama to raise the debt ceiling unilaterally

I have been seeing an unusual (and somewhat alarming) Constitutional issue pop up during the last few months' debt ceiling debate: does the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution authorize the President to raise the debt ceiling without approval from Congress?

This post will be a little more legalese than you are used to reading here, but please bear with me. Obama admitted recently that his attorneys are not convinced that they could win the argument that the Fourteenth Amendment really does grant him the power to raise the debt ceiling, but the idea keeps resurfacing.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geitner engaged in a common misinterpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment in a recent Huffington Post interview, we have multiple examples of the current administration's, shall we say creative, view of the law (most recently with the "Fast and Furious" debacle), and now Obama has admitted he sought legal advice on the issue (which means he's thinking about doing it!), I think it's important to discuss the constitutional law issues with as many people as possible so we are prepared if the White House does try this maneuver.

Let's start with the text of Section 4 of the Fourteenth Amendment, the section that has been cited as potentially granting authority to the President to raise the debt ceiling. As you can see, there is nothing in the text that mentions the President or any sort of executive power or rights whatsoever:

One Year Later...

Happy 1st Birthday to my Blog :)

One year ago today, I published my very first blog post, appropriately titled, "Some thoughts on the First Amendment."

It's appropriate that I started this blog with a discussion of the First Amendment, because I've had to rely on my constitutional right to free speech a few times to defend myself (here, here, and here).

I draw inspiration from the motto of RedState's Erick Erickson to "fight the left and clean up the right."  Anyone who thinks that harassing or threatening me will shut me up is sorely mistaken, and the attacks have only furthered my resolve to continue criticizing those who deserve it.

It's hasn't been all fights and challenges. There's been a lot of fun in the past year. Some highlights:

• Having a front row seat to the amazing journey that was the Marco Rubio campaign (and having a good laugh at Charlie Crist's expense along the way) 

 

• Attending my first ever Conservative Political Action Conference as an Official CPAC Blogger and getting to meet in person so many of my favorite conservative bloggers.

• Meeting the hosts of one of my favorite shows, RedEye on Fox News, as well as frequent RedEye guest Stephen Kruiser, at CPAC...and then seeing some of my photos from CPAC end up on RedEye a week later:

• Being invited to be a guest on Flashpoint, local talk radio, conservative podcasts, and other media appearances. In case you haven't noticed, I'm a little (OK, very) opinionated and getting to share my thoughts and debate political topics is always a lot of fun.

• Becoming a semi-quasi-almost celebrity on Twitter. I signed up for Twitter in March 2009 as "@rumpfshaker" as a bit of a joke on my last name and this epic song, but didn't really participate in the twitterverse much until about a year ago. Now I'm followed by more than 2,200 people and consistently ranking near the top of the "Top Political Tweeters in Florida" lists that Saint Petersblog publishes each month. Twitter has been a great resource for me too, as I've crowdsourced everything from restaurant recommendations to a frightening (but fortunately quickly resolved) computer virus attack last week.

• Getting to meet so many conservative leaders and politicians over the past year, too many to list. There's really no substitute for getting to hear a candidate speak in person, unabridged and uncensored. A few minute clip of a TV interview is not the same, never mind an over-produced 30 second ad. That's why I won't ever endorse a candidate unless I've met him or her in person.

• My "12 seconds of fame" - discovering Charlie Crist's debut TV ad for his new gig at Morgan and Morgan, posting it on YouTube, and watching it go viral the next day (43,000 views and counting).

• What I've enjoyed most of all is hearing from all of you. It's been fun getting feedback from friends or meeting new people who read the blog or follow me on twitter. I really do appreciate all your support and encouragement, and thank you for your continued interest in my little corner of the internet.

A few semi-interesting statistics about this blog...

Most viewed posts:

• It was only a matter of time
• Just in case you aren't sick of post-election commentary yet
• What's the deal with the tan?
• My thoughts on this year's amendments 

Top traffic sources/referring sites:

• Google
• Facebook (both from my Facebook page and other's pages)
• Twitter
• Linkiest (Thank you John Hawkins for listing me on your sites!)
• Conurls (an excellent listing of conservative blogs, news, videos and more)
• Right Wing News (Again, thanks John Hawkins)
• Sayfie Review (from the Sayfie Review Twitter Ticker)
• Rick Scott for Florida (the original campaign site is down now, but I was listed on the Bloggers for Scott Blogroll)
• The Other McCain (Stacy has only linked me a few times, but each time, the Fedora has brought me a huge spike in traffic)

Visitors - Top Countries:

• United States (94% of traffic is from the U.S., all other countries are <1%)
• Canada
• United Kingdom
• India
• France
• Germany
• Australia
• Israel

Visitors - Top States

• Florida (60%)
• New York (6%)
• District of Columbia (4%)
• California
• Georgia
• Texas
• Virginia
• Illinois
• Pennsylvania
• South Carolina

Browsers used to access this site:

• Internet explorer - 46%
• Firefox - 28%
• Safari - 9%
• Chrome - 8%
• Mobile - 4%

Operating Systems:

• Windows - 77%
• Macintosh - 12%
• iPhone - 3%
• BlackBerry - 1%
• Other Unix - 1%
• Linux - 1%
• Android - 1%

To all of you who have been there for the entire year, those of you who found me along the way, or those of you who are new readers, THANK YOU. I'm looking forward to sharing the years to come with you.

FYI - you can join the Sunshine State Sarah Facebook page, follow me on Twitter @rumpfshaker, and sign up for "A Daily Dose of Sunshine," a free email subscription to this blog.

Marco Rubio's Thoughts on a Balanced Budget Amendment

Marco Rubio published the following op-ed on Townhall.com today (cross-posted on his Facebook page):

Townhall | Marco Rubio | "Washington Needs a Balanced Budget Amendment"

In my two short months in office, it has become clear to me that the spending problem in Washington is far worse than many of us feared. For years, politicians have blindly poured more and more borrowed money into ineffective government programs, leaving us with trillion dollar deficits and a crippling debt burden that threatens prosperity and economic growth.

In the Florida House of Representatives, where a balanced budget is a requirement, we had to make the tough choices to cut spending where necessary because it was required by state law. By no means was this an easy process, but it was our duty as elected officials to be accountable to our constituents and to future generations of Floridians. In Washington, a balanced budget amendment is not just a fiscally-responsible proposal, it’s a necessary step to curb politicians’ decades-long penchant for overspending.

Several senators have proposed balanced budget amendments that ensure Congress will not spend a penny more than we take in, while setting a high hurdle for future tax hikes. I am a co-sponsor of two balanced budget amendments, since it is clear that these measures would go a long way to reversing the spending gusher we’ve seen from Washington in recent years.

During my Senate campaign, while surrounded by the employees of Jacksonville’s Meridian Technologies, I proposed 12 simple ways to cut spending in Washington. That company, founded 13 years ago, has grown into a 200-employee, high-tech business, and the ideas I proposed would help ensure that similar companies have the opportunity to start or expand just like Meridian did.

To be clear, our unsustainable debt and deficits are threatening companies like Meridian and impeding job creation. In addition to proposing a balanced budget amendment, I recommended canceling unspent “stimulus” funds, banning all earmarks and returning discretionary spending to 2008 levels.

Fortunately, some of my ideas have found their way to the Senate chamber. The first bill I co-sponsored in the Senate was to repeal ObamaCare, the costly overhaul of our nation’s health care system that destroys jobs and impedes our economic recovery. Democratic leaders in the Senate have expressed their willingness to ban earmarks for two years after the Senate Republican conference adopted a moratorium. I have also co-sponsored the REINS Act, a common-sense measure that would increase accountability and transparency in our outdated and burdensome regulatory process. These bills, along with a balanced budget amendment, would help get our country back on a sustainable path and provide certainty to job creators.

While Republicans are proposing a variety of ideas to rein in Washington’s out-of-control spending, unfortunately, President Obama’s budget for the upcoming fiscal year proposes to spend $46 trillion, and even in its best year, the deficit would remain above $600 billion. Worst of all, the President’s budget completely avoids addressing the biggest drivers of our long-term debt – Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

Rather than tackle these tough, serious issues, President Obama is proposing a litany of tax hikes on small businesses and entrepreneurs, to the tune of more than $1.6 trillion. These tax increases destroy jobs, make us less competitive internationally and hurt our efforts to grow the economy and get our fiscal house in order.

A balanced budget amendment would be a necessary step in reversing Washington’s tax-borrow-spend mantra. It would force Congress to balance its budget each year – not allow it to pass our problems on to the next generation any longer.

Rubio is correct when he points out that Florida's balanced budget rules have served as a valuable restraint on our Legislature. A significant source of the problem in Washington is the federal government's ability to print more money and essentially write itself a blank check. Let's be direct: elected officials - regardless of party - often spend taxpayers' money irresponsibly. Any sort of defined limitation on their spending power forces legislatures to set priorities and make decisions because they cannot buy everything they want. Mandating balanced budgets is one of the most simple and direct restraints on wasteful spending.

What Congress does with your money

Florida has avoided the budgetary catastrophes currently facing California and other states thanks in large part to our balanced budget requirement. The Legislature can only spend whatever money the state takes in as revenue, and that's it. This is part of the reason that I was so opposed to the stimulus funds that were given to the states: it allowed - and in many cases actively encouraged - irresponsible spending practices to continue. Oh, and don't forget the increased damage that such nationwide spending added to our national debt (currently over $14 @#$%! trillion and counting...sigh...).

We're broke. Broke, broke, B-R-O-K-E, broke.

Our country has been flirting with economic suicide for far too long. Elementary schoolchildren can tell that the math doesn't make sense. There is no economic system on earth, during the entire course of human history, that has been able to sustain spending more than it produces. Congress' spending spree must end, and soon, if the American dream is to endure.

With the Democrats still in the majority in the Senate and Obama (and his veto pen) in the White House, I highly doubt that balanced budget rules can be passed at this point, but it's a worthwhile issue to discuss and I applaud Senator Rubio for his commitment to fiscal responsibility.

One reason I was such an enthusiastic supporter of Rubio's Senate campaign was his record as Speaker of the Florida House. Marco Rubio has literally walked the fiscal conservative walk. His 100 Innovative Ideas for Florida's Future program (based on a book of ideas collected from citizens around the state) was a great success, with over half of the list becoming law.  Rubio has years of experience making tough budgetary decisions, under the constraint of that wonderful balanced-budget rule. I'm thrilled to see him continue this work in the U.S. Senate.

One final note: just to assault a deceased equine one more time, can I just say again how very, very, very glad I am that we sent Rubio to the Senate instead of the Oompa-Loompa?

My Senator is cooler than your Senator.

(Cross posted at The Minority Report)

Dear America, You're Welcome. Sincerely, Florida

In case you were locked in the trunk of a car yesterday, Judge Roger Vinson of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida ruled that Obamacare is a big ol' pile of unconstitutional mess.

The Court ruled that the part of the bill that mandates that individuals purchase health insurance is unconstitutional, because it is beyond the scope of Congress' regulatory authority under the Commerce Clause.  Basically, because the individual mandate applied even if you did not do anything other than continue to breathe, you were not "engaging in commerce," and Congress overstepped their bounds.  Contrary to what many Democrats seem to argue, the power of the federal government is not without limit...and the Constitution is that limit.

The Democrats responsible for this monstrosity of a bill got smacked in the face by two of their own decisions.  First, the bill did not have what's called a "severability clause," or language that provides that if any part of the legislation is found unconstitutional or otherwise unenforceable, that the rest of the bill would still have legal effect.  Ironically, the original version of the bill did include a severability clause.  If you remember back to when the Democrats passed this bill (again, without a single Republican vote), they had to engage in serious negotiations to buy, I mean obtain, the votes they needed (see, e.g., Cornhusker Kickback, etc.).  The negotiations were so tight that no one was willing to risk any of the provisions for which they had so carefully bargained, so the severability clause was deleted.

Without a severability clause, if one part of a bill is killed, especially a part as major as the individual mandate is for the health care bill, the whole entire bill must die with it.

(Keep reading after the jump, including link to view the Court's entire opinion and video interviews of Pam Bondi and Bill McCollum.)