Our most read articles from week of June 24th-July 1st.
1. Ron Paul Delegate Count Rises from Romney Missteps and Frivolous Lawsuit
"The Globe reported that, "a spokesman for the Massachusetts Republican Party would not say why the affidavits were required of delegates this year, and the chairman of the Allocations Committee would not agree to an interview. Instead, the chairman offered an e-mailed statement saying that the Romney campaign, through its representative on his committee, had the right to reject delegates for “just cause”. Specifically, the Globe story noted:
Governor Romney’s campaign, through its representative on the Allocation Committee, made the decision not to certify certain delegates and alternate delegates who were unwilling to sign and return on time the affidavit. The Allocation Committee agreed, by a unanimous vote, that these individuals’ failure to sign and return the correct affidavit on time constituted ‘just cause’ for not being certified as national delegates.”
The Boston Globe which despises Romney has been making hay over this with editorials denouncuing the Romney campaign. Given that the Globe is a national media opinion maker, this is getting picked up elsewhere."
2. The Coming Defense Crack Up
“National defense has yet to become a major campaign issue in 2012 despite the fact that the next president will face a perfect storm of scandal, budgetary crisis and strategic dilemmas that America has not seen in military affairs since the end of the Vietnam War.”
This lack of debate is problematic because the next president will require a mandate for his solutions to the Pentagon’s laundry list of problems if they are to have a hope of passing the Congress in tight budgetary times.
Whomever is sworn into office as President of the United States in January of 2013 will face tough decisions about our military, our veterans and our national security of a magnitude that have only been surpassed by President Truman in the demobilization after WWII and equaled by President Ford after the debacle of Vietnam and the transition from the draft to a professional, all-volunteer (AVF) military in the 1970′s. Such a situation requires a national debate in the frankest of terms by both candidates who must level with voters about what choices we face as a country and where they intend to lead us. "
3. SCOTUSblog: The Dissent from IVN's Editors' Blog
"Justice Kennedy delivered the dissent: “In our view, the entire Act before us is invalid in its entirety.”
On the power of Congress to tax, the dissent argues that the way the individual mandate was written does not make it a tax, rather a penalty.
Thus, what the Government’s caption should have read was “ALTERNATIVELY, THE MINIMUM COVERAGE PROVISION IS NOT A MANDATE-WITH PENALTY BUT A TAX.”
4. Jimmy Carter Accuses Obama of Widespread Abuse of Human Rights
"At a time when popular revolutions are sweeping the globe, the United States should be strengthening, not weakening, basic rules of law and principles of justice enumerated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. But instead of making the world safer, America’s violation of international human rights abets our enemies and alienates our friends."
5. Ron Paul "Supporters'" Flawed Lawsuit Against RNC
"[A] lawsuit was filed in United States District Court for the Central District of California – entitled Delegates To The Republican National Convention vs. Republican National Committee [SACV 12- 00927 DOC (JPRx)]. The Paul campaign is keeping its distance for good reason – it is a very flawed suit.
The substance of the lawsuit strings together references to not necessarily interrelated federal statutes and regulatory definitions to argue that certain federal provisions invalidate state statutes and that state party regulations bind delegates.
As a matter of law, the right to vote for national officers is a privilege and immunity of national citizenship under Section 1 of the 14th Amendment and thus is subject to congressional enforcement under Section 5 of the 14th Amendment. Moreover, other provisions of the Constitution refer to national voting procedures, not the right to vote itself."
6. Is it Time to Reform the Electoral College?
“In a Gallup survey from late last year, 62% of those polled said they would prefer that the president be elected by a direct popular vote rather than via the indirect system characteristic of the Electoral College. The poll found broad agreement across the political spectrum in favor of such a change. Those who said they support the direct election of the president included 71% of Democrats, 61% of Independents and 53% of Republicans.”
7. Presidential Candidate Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson on Immigration Policy
“On our report about Mitt Romney and Barack Obama’s “dueling addresses” on immigration policy to Latino leaders at a conference in Florida, one commenter pointed out the exclusion of Libertarian Party presidential candidate, Gov. Gary Johnson of New Mexico from the discussion:
“That’s right, exclude the guy with the best record and a 2 term governor of the of the most Latino state: http://www.garyjohnson2012.com/record”
8. DEA Administrator Testifies Before Congress Following String of DEA Scandals
Jared Polis asked the DEA administrator at the hearing, “Is crack worse for a person than marijuana? … Is methamphetamine worse? … Is heroin worse?” Leonhart’s evasive answers weren’t good enough for Polis, who responded with a hurried: “Yes, no, or I don’t know… You should know this as the chief administrator of the Drug Enforcement Agency… It’s a very straight forward question.”
9. Voter's Guide to California's November Ballot Initiatives
“Voters will have eleven issues to examine as they cast their vote on the various 2012 ballot initiatives.”
[One of the most contentious ballot initiatives is the] “Safe, Clean, and Reliable Drinking Water Supply Act of 2012.”
10. Understand the Supreme Court Health Care Ruling
"While an opinion that speaks for a majority — that is, at least five Justices – will be the one that controls what is actually decided, any added opinions may better illuminate or even limit the scope of the outcome or help to create multiple outcomes. Indeed, a case can be decided with less than five Justices agreeing on the reasoning, but at least that many have come together on the bottom line. That makes it even more important to find out what is in the separate opinions."