Free Republic

December 9, 2011Summary:  Mitt Romney’s record as Governor does not indicate a commitment to a conservative judicial philosophy. His judge appointees revealed at best “no philosophical or partisan pattern� (Boston Globe), or at worst a liberal and even radical tilt. He sought out feminists and radical homosexual groups in his judicial selection process. He was inconsistent in his pronouncements on judicial activism, allowing it to occur under his watch (with “gay marriage�) while simultaneously urging others to fight it. How then could we expect him to keep his recent promises to appoint constitutional conservatives to the bench if he is...

President Barack Obama's appointments to two key agencies during the Senate's year-end break ensures that GOP senators will return to work Monday in an angry and fighting mood. Less clear is what those furious Republicans will do to retaliate against Obama's "bring it on" end run around the Senate's role in confirming nominees to major jobs. While Republicans contemplate their next step, recess appointee Richard Cordray is running a new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and the National Labor Relations Board, with three temporary members, is now at full strength with a Democratic majority. Obama left more than70 other nominees in...

Some legal experts, including those who have sided with President Obama on other constitutional issues, think there is a good chance the courts could overturn his recent recess appointments. Legal experts said courts could invalidate Obama’s appointments to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) because there is scant precedent on the issue.  “It’s untested ground. If I were a judge, I could write out an opinion either way. There’s no clear precedent,” said Charles Fried, a constitutional expert at Harvard Law School who served as solicitor general under former President Reagan. The Justice Department...

The Senate is famed for its long-winded debates, but on Friday it took Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown just seconds to stop Republicans in their tracks. With the Senate entering the first day of its Memorial Day recess, the Ohio senator was briefly in the chair, before a near-empty chamber, to gavel in and gavel out what is called a pro forma session. Without that procedural move, the Senate would technically be adjourned and President Bush could install administration officials or judges as "recess appointments" — without Senate confirmation. "That's the fastest I've ever done it," said Brown, who like other...

It isn’t just Richard Cordray. Obama is also set to use recess appointments to install his picks to the National Labor Relations Board, according to White House officials and others familiar with ongoing discussions. The move, which is arguably as impotant as the Cordray appointment, will ratchet up opposition from Republicans and make this an even bigger fight, since they have been attacking the NLRB regularly for its moves to streamline union elections and inform workers of their rights. Obama is set to appoint Sharon Block, Terence Flynn, and Richard Griffin to the board — something unions have made a...

WASHINGTON — The American Bar Association has secretly declared a significant number of President Obama’s potential judicial nominees “not qualified,” slowing White House efforts to fill vacant judgeships — and nearly all of the prospects given poor ratings were women or members of a minority group, according to interviews. The White House has chosen not to nominate any person the bar association deemed unqualified, so their identities and negative ratings have not been made public. But the association’s judicial vetting committee has opposed 14 of the roughly 185 potential nominees the administration asked it to evaluate, according to a person...

WASHINGTON – Republicans and Democrats must find a long-term solution to selecting federal judges, Chief Justice John Roberts says, while blaming both sides for the political gridlock of judicial nominations in the Senate. "Each political party has found it easy to turn on a dime from decrying to defending the blocking of judicial nominations, depending on their changing political fortunes," Roberts said Friday in his year-end report. "This has created acute difficulties for some judicial districts. Sitting judges in those districts have been burdened with extraordinary caseloads." ---SNIP--- "I am heartened that the Senate recently filled a number of district...

On Wednesday, Obama shed any pretense of bipartisanship in making six recess appointments. As were his previous recess appointments, this batch included two individuals whose records are so controversial that they could not obtain confirmation even with 59 Democratic senators. Also included was Stephen Ford, nominated as ambassador to Syria and stymied as a forceful rebuttal to Obama's failed Syrian engagement policy... The most egregious appointment is undoubtedly James Cole, installed as the deputy attorney general. There were good reasons why he could not secure Senate confirmation. The Web site Main Justice explained that Sen. Jeff Sessions (R.-Ala.), the ranking...

(kreuz.net) Pope Benedict XVI. has named Paul Stagg Coakley (55) as the new Archbishop of Oklahoma City in the US State Capital of Oklahoma. The newly named Bishop was the Bishop of Salinas in Kansas. He studied at the University of Kansas. there he was a student in the "Integrated Humanities Program" of the legendary convert and Literature Professor John Senior († 1999). Senior moved many students to conversion through his lectures at the State University to conversion and to entrance in the Cloister and the Seminary.

(kreuz.net, Basel) Msgr Felix Gmür is the new Bishop of Basel, according to the Vatican Press Service. Pope Benedict XVI, had assumed the choice of the Basel Cathedral on the Feast of the Nativity of Mary on the 8th of September. Prior to that, Msgr Gmür worked as necktie priest and General Secretary of the Swiss Bishops conference. A further speculation of the protestant journalist and church-hater Micheal Meier, that it would have been Dennis Theurillat (60), has proven itself to be false.

Joe Miller, Alaska’s Republican nominee for the United States Senate, recently expressed support for an idea that is rapidly gaining steam in Tea Party circles: the repeal of the Seventeenth Amendment. Miller subsequently backtracked from his statement, but he shouldn’t have: Repealing the Seventeenth Amendment would go a long way toward restoring federalism and frustrating special-interest influence over Washington. Ratified in 1913, the Seventeenth Amendment replaced the election of U.S. senators by state legislators with the current system of direct election by the people. By securing the Seventeenth Amendment’s ratification, progressives dealt a blow to the Framers’ vision of the...

(Berlin, kreuz.net)The Director of the Shrine Maria Vesperbild in the Diocese of Augsburg, Wilhelm Imkamp (59), is the most qualified candidate to succeed the former Archbishop of Berlin. This was according to 'Bild' today in its Berlin edition. The paper gave no source for its alleged information. Cardinal Georg Sterzinsky of Berlin will reach his 75th birthday this coming February and must submit his resignation. The boulevard magazine informs us that he is weary of his office. They have profiled the Catholic Prelate Imkamp as "well connected in the Vatican".

A Vaticanist has published a list of the new Cardinals who will be named next week. The Pope continues the tragic tradition: talk Catholic and appoint old Liberals. [kreuz.net, Vatican] Next Wednesday the Pope will hold a Consistory to reveal the names of new Cardinals. This is from Vaticanist of the Italian News 'Il Foglio', Paulo Rodari. The Consistory will be prepared for the feast of Christ the King on the 20th and 21st of November. There should be more Prelates above 80 among the future Cardinals. They are not able to vote in the next Conclave.

Gregorian: new Rector takes His Office Editor: The first commenter on the kath.net portal, "palmzweig" complains that none of the Jesuits wear their habits. It's understandable that this should provoke suspicion and distrust. It's amazing that such a superficial thing reveals so much. All in all this is not an encouraging appointment. That this man's specialty is Hannah Arendt is hardly consoling. It may take more time before the people in charge realize that men whose worldly studies may impress secular mentalities, do not serve the Church well. Yesterday on Wednesday the French philosopher and Jesuit Francoi-Xavier Durmortier (61) begins...

The Constitution requires the “advice and consent of the Senate” on certain presidential appointments. Not all, mind you, just some, such as ambassadors and public ministers whom the Congress has not actively exempted from the requirement. This is fortunate for the busy Senate, since our overgrown executive branch now employs about two million civilians across some 1300 federal agencies. The Constitution allows most of these aptly-named “inferior officers” to be appointed without Congressional vetting. Since Congress has the Constitutional right to decide which roles require Senate approval, a really active role in executive personnel management could utterly paralyze that body...

Pope Benedict XVI has chosen Bishop Koch for the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity, replacing another German speaking Archbishop. A lot has been said about this appointment that portrays the new office holder as a good choice, but it's hard to see how this could be the case since many of his public acts and statements put him so squarely against the incipient reform Benedict XVI is said to be accomplishing. Father Z says this is a good appointment (and perhaps it is), but he certainly isn't as he says, "Another man closely tied to Pope Benedict" which seems to...

Note: The following text is a quote: www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/president-obama-announces-more-key-administration-posts-4-7-10 Home • Briefing Room • Statements & Releases The White House Office of the Press Secretary For Immediate Release April 07, 2010 President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts, 4/7/10 WASHINGTON – Today, President Barack Obama announced his intent to appoint the following individuals to the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues: Lonnie Ali, Member, Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues Anita L. Allen, Member, Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues Barbara Atkinson, Member, Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues Nita A. Farahany, Member,...

Watch as Glenn Beck reveals the "real world" experience of past presidents' cabinets and compares them to Dear Leader's appointees.

He's just getting started. And if this fellow is any indication of the kind of judges we can expect to populate our federal courts, I guarantee you we will spend the next decade or more scratching our heads at the idiotic leftist decisions that will become commonplace on the federal bench. From an editorial in the Washington Times: On Oct. 1, the president nominated Louis Butler, a former Wisconsin Supreme Court justice, to the U.S. District Court of his state's Western District. While Mr. Butler's resume is in order, his appreciation of a judge's proper role seems lacking. Mr. Butler...

Tensions are rising in the Senate over President Obama’s nominees, as Republicans delay picks ranging from a Cabinet post to a U.S. Circuit Court judgeship, and Democrats complain that the disputes are slowing important legislation. Majority Leader Harry Reid , D-Nev., has raised concerns about burning time filing procedural motions to limit debate on a handful of nominees. The most notable, recent example: Obama’s nomination of Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius to be Health and Human Services secretary. Although still expected to win confirmation in a vote scheduled for April 28, Sebelius, a Democrat, has been challenged by Republicans over her...

During the presidential campaign, one of the stickiest rumors surrounding Barack Obama was that if he was elected, America could look forward to having a Muslim in the White House. Now that Obama is president, that rumor may prove correct. President Obama says he’s a Christian, but that doesn’t mean he won’t appoint Muslims to key positions in his administration in return for Muslim support during the election. Muslim groups are fretting that none have been appointed yet, and they want that to change. Polls showed about nine in 10 American Muslims voted for Obama last fall, and they want...

The best way judge a person is by the company he keeps. But President Obama is having trouble keeping any company at all. Recently his Cabinet nominees have been dropping like flies - Sanjay Gupta's withdrawal from the surgeon general slot on Thursday brought the number of botched high-level candidates to seven. "He's having a lot of trouble getting nominations pushed through," says Paul Light, professor of Public Service at NYU's Wagner School. "He's falling behind Bush and Clinton in his number of confirmed candidates in the first 100 days. He can't afford another one." Here, a rogue's gallery at...

A motley crew of Republican and Democratic lawmakers announced Wednesday that they are backing a constitutional amendment requiring special elections be held to fill all Senate vacancies, putting an end to the gubernatorial appointments that have sparked such controversy in recent months. Unusually for a constitutional amendment, the proposal has attracted a bipartisan, bicameral group of supporters. Joining forces at Wednesday's press conference were two Democrats -- Sen. Russ Feingold (Wis.) and House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers (Mich.) -- as well as three Republicans -- Judiciary ranking member Lamar Smith (Texas), Rules ranking member David Dreier (Calif.) and Rep. James...

Before the election, I wrote two posts (here and here) on likely Democratic nominees to the Supreme Court. It seems an appropriate time for an update. For example, despite my earlier predictions, Elliot Spitzer’s odds now seem lower, and President Obama is unlikely to appoint himself. Equally important, we can learn something from the President’s initial appointments to other jobs in the government. In my opinion, they seem pragmatic and focused on objective qualifications (including academic appointments) and tend less than did those of Clinton and Bush 43 towards friends of the President. The appointments to date have also involved...

A Beverly Hills-based company is being examined by a federal grand jury looking into contributions the firm made to political committees formed by New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson. The grand jury apparently is investigating if the contributions that CDR Financial Products made had any impact on a New Mexico government contract that CDR landed from the state. According to reports, CDR received $1.48 million in 2004-05 for work done through the New Mexico Finance Authority. The authority is a government agency that issues bonds and finances building and public works projects throughout New Mexico. CDR was involved in helping put...

Day by day, name by name, President-elect Barack Obama's Cabinet is taking shape, and other top jobs are being filled. Here's a look at who has made the list and who is being talked about for jobs that are still open: Nominations Announced Treasury Secretary: Timothy Geithner, president of Federal Reserve Bank of New York Secretary of State: Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y. Attorney General: Eric Holder, former deputy attorney general Defense Secretary: Robert Gates, a holdover from Bush administration Homeland Security Secretary: Gov. Janet Napolitano, D-Ariz. National Security Adviser: Retired Marine Gen. James Jones Commerce Secretary: Gov. Bill Richardson, D-N.M....

Nothing but trouble comes out of Serbia? Don't you believe it. The country that gave us Gavrilo Princip -- the assassin who started the ball rolling for World War I -- has now redeemed itself by giving us Rod Blagojevich, a governor whose conduct may offer a whole new paradigm in state government financing. Gov. Blagojevich's snuffling around in the muck for the juiciest truffle he could get in exchange for Obama's former Senate seat -- an appointment that he found himself happily holding in the palm of his trotter -- may seem distasteful to the brahmins and puritans among...

Among Liberals and Conservatives there is a certain amount of bafflement at Obama's cabinet appointments, which are being characterized as center-right. On the left there are clashing calls of "Give him a chance" and "What the hell is going on here", and some on the right are displaying idiotic glee at Gates remaining on the job and are even prepared to embrace Hillary Clinton, little understanding what any of it means. They don't get it because they are looking at Obama's appointments from an American political perspective. But Obama is not an American, and his political strategies are not what...

There’s a great invention they have these days in schools: Interim report cards. Intended to provide an opportunity for intervention, interims in our case serve mostly as a heads-up to start saving the money for the usual bribes for A’s, which is all kids seem to get anymore anyway. Seems like, as the bottom falls out of the economy, grades are the only place we need to worry about inflation these days. I mean, who ever heard of a 4.3 on a 4.0 scale? At least in Lake Woebegone, all the children were only above average. In our schools, large...

While Barack Obama introduced the first members of his economic team, a wailing noise could be heard somewhere in the background. That was the sound of complaining liberals, who worry that the president-elect is already surrendering the progressive moment to centrists -- the kind of post-election disappointment with which they are all too familiar. Looking over the names of the new Obama appointees to important positions in the Treasury and the White House, critics on the left have dismissed them as "Clintonite retreads" or worse. According to this gloomy analysis, the incoming administration is poised to repeat the mistakes of...

Ever walk into a Starbucks and see a bunch of people sitting there debating textbook theories and solving all the world’s problems over a mocha java? If so, then you’ve visited a University of Starbucks campus. These are precisely the kind of people who have gotten America into the current economic mess. That’s because, when there’s a serious problem to deal with, their instinct is to theorize and philosophize. If their corduroys were on fire, they would sit there pondering the nature and deeper meaning of the flames. Now, the sophisticated intelligentsia of Team Grande Venti – which means something...

So far, “CHANGE” seems to stand for “Clintonites Have All New Government Employments.” Or something like that. While the Democratic left wing fumes (e.g., “So Far Obama Appointments Suck“), the ironic headline of the week comes from an avid McCain supporter, Senator Joe Lieberman.

What's with Obama's choice of old-time Clinton cronies and recycled Washington insiders to run the transition to his new politics of change? Can't the anti-Washington-insiders and the president-elect find anyone who isn't a Beltway has-been? Judging by the appointments to his transition committee and leaks about possible top staff and Cabinet choices, Obama appears to be practicing the politics of status quo, not the politics of change.

WASHINGTON -- Democratic Sen. Barack Obama has said lobbyists won't run his White House. But senior campaign officials are crafting a policy that would clear the way for lobbyists to nonetheless hold important government roles. People familiar with Sen. Obama's still-evolving hiring policy say registered lobbyists would be banned from senior-level White House jobs. But the policy would allow some lobbyists to take important jobs elsewhere in the administration, should the Illinois senator win election Tuesday. "Our goal is to make sure that people don't leave an industry to come into our administration and then work on issues related to...

It's a hardy perennial in the more philosophically-oriented conservative circles, despite its manifest political infeasibility: the argument that the Seventeenth Amendment should be repealed or should never have been passed. While this argument does have its virtues, I disagree. Regardless of whether it was a good idea at the time, repealing the 17th Amendment today would only weaken the mechanisms that are essential to conservative policies and conservative philosophy. Specifically, restoring to state legislatures the power over the election of Senators would make the Senate less directly accountable to the people and insulate the federal courts even further from public...

Abstract: "The Irony of Populism: The Republican Shift and the Inevitability of American Aristocracy" analyzes the shift in the role of the Supreme Court following the movement towards a democratic Senate which culminated in the Seventeenth Amendment. The Supreme Court's shift is presented as the inevitable result of the system of mixed government that underlies the constitutional order, which orders American Government into democratic, aristocratic, and monarchical parts. While in the original conception of the constitution the Senate was the aristocratic part, the Senate would become part of the democratic part with the Seventeenth Amendment and prior procedural changes. Into...

With respect to states' rights, it should be readily apparent to all that state governments cannot exert any meaningful influence or control over the federal government, judiciary, or any other federal institution. Let us state the problem precisely. At the present time, there are no checks and balances available to the states over federal power or over Congress itself in any area. However, in the history of our country, it was not always this way. In the original design by the Framers of the U.S. Constitution, there was an effective check on Congress through the state legislatures' power to appoint...

ALBANY, Oct. 16 — Back in May, in the private dining room of his Park Avenue office building, Peter S. Kalikow marked the end of his six-year reign as chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority with a heartfelt news conference. It was time to open a new chapter in his life, Mr. Kalikow said, and he would step down as soon as Gov. Eliot Spitzer named a successor. Five months later, Mr. Kalikow, 64, is still on the job. Mr. Spitzer picked a replacement, H. Dale Hemmerdinger, in June. But the State Senate has yet to vote on the nomination....

AUSTIN — Gov. Rick Perry's campaign Web site touts public education as a long-standing "top priority" of his, but the school year began this week with teachers and administrators still wondering who will be the next commissioner of education. That question mark is one among many with nearly 400 expired gubernatorial appointments this year alone to state boards, commissions and universities. Senators — worried that Perry is dodging their constitutional role of confirming most gubernatorial appointments — are crying foul. By Friday, 388 of Perry's appointments will have already expired so far this year, but only one in eight have...

Politics: President Bush was forced to sidestep the nomination process last week and make a significant recess appointment. Reason: Raw politics played by a senator who doesn't like the nominee's policy position. Bush last Wednesday appointed Andrew Biggs as deputy commissioner of the Social Security Administration. If he wanted his man in that post, which is the chief executive's prerogative, he had no other choice but to bypass the confirmation process. Democrat Max Baucus, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, refused to give Biggs a hearing. Biggs' qualifications weren't at issue. With three college degrees, Capitol Hill experience, service on...

Yesterday Arnold Schwarzenegger announced a number of changes in key senior positions in his administrations. A number of them represent great moves, and a few of them are, frankly very disturbing. Let's start with the great news! First and foremost, the Governor's elevation of conservative Dan Dunmoyer to the position of Cabinet Secretary is outstanding news for all of us. Dan is capable, smart and effective. In this key position which acts as a liaison and coordinator between the Governor and all of the Agency heads will be in good hands. Undoubtedly this will be a big relief for former...

The 17th Amendment to the Constitution (1913) established direct election of senators, as well as a means of filling vacant Senate seats. If a vacancy occurs due to a senator's death, resignation, or expulsion, the 17th Amendment allows state legislatures to empower the governor to appoint a replacement to complete the term or to hold office until a special election can take place. There are a few exceptions to this rule. The states of Oregon, Wisconsin and Massachusetts do not allow the governor to appoint, but rather require special elections to fill a vacancy. Oklahoma allows the governor to appoint...

ALBANY, Aug. 18 — Gov. George E. Pataki nominated an upstate Republican on Friday to be his fifth appointee on the seven-member Court of Appeals, moving to assure that his imprint on the state’s highest court will last long into the next governor’s term. The governor appointed Eugene F. Pigott Jr., the presiding justice of the appellate division in Buffalo, to fill the seat that is being vacated by Judge George Bundy Smith, whose 14-year term ends next month. Judge Smith had applied to be reappointed to a second term, but several legal experts said that his prospects were harmed...

Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez appointed four people as alternates to the California Coastal Commission on Friday, a move the Sierra Club and at least one commissioner said he had no authority to do. The appointments came days before the coastal commission was scheduled to cast a final vote on a multimillion golf project in Pebble Beach, a high profile development backed by actor Clint Eastwood, former Major League Baseball Commissioner Peter Ueberroth and retired golfer Arnold Palmer. The Pebble Beach Co. - which hosts the annual fundraiser for the Democratic Party - is pushing a plan to build an 18-hole...

Everyone deserves a break, even the U.S. Senate. But enough already. It's been two months since Samuel Alito was confirmed to the Supreme Court and it's past time Senate Republicans got back to work confirming appeals-court judges. They won't have 55 seats forever... Judges are a key issue for the GOP's base, who could stay home on Election Day rather than turn out for Republicans who shilly-shally about confirming President Bush's nominees. There are 17 vacancies on the appeals bench, including nine pending nominations. They deserve to be filled as soon as possible... An excellent place to start would be...

President Bush is expected to nominate four judges to the federal district court on Wednesday, ending a stalemate that had kept four seats vacant for a year, sources close to the process said last week. By agreement of the White House and New Jersey's two senators, Assistant U.S. Attorney Renee Bumb will be nominated to fill the Camden, N.J., seat vacated by U.S. District Judge Stephen Orlofsky last year, an aide to Sen. Frank Lautenberg says. The other three vacancies, which opened when Chief Judge John Bissell retired and Judges William Bassler and William Walls went on senior status, will...

NOTE: Patrick Leahy referenced "court-packing" in the Judiciary Committee debate today. The scumbag is trying to equate the Constitutional power of the president to appoing judges with the unconstitutional attempt of FDR. The dumbed down Americans among us may fall for it. We won't. ========================================================================= FDR's court-packing fiasco By K. Daniel Glover web posted July 12, 1999 The Supreme Court. The title alone lends an air of distinction to that august legal body and its nine justices who sit in judgment on an entire nation. And indeed, the United States' highest tribunal, more than any other root of America's democratic...

Yah, yah...reports surfaced this week that Cardinal McCarrick will be staying on as archbishop of Washington for a little while longer. Our sources told us back in July it looked like McCarrick's resignation would not be accepted this year. Bottomline: Pope Benedict has bigger fish to fry. Roman Curia reform and naming of new bishops for vacant sees takes priority. We do expect some movement by next summer, contrary to the 2 year timeframe published in the official Washington Archdiocese press release. Our sources tell us that the Vatican letter to McCarrick NEVER mentioned any length of time...yes, that's right...nowhere...

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced Monday the hiring of five more key staff members in his administration, including aides for homeland security and the environment. Four of the posts are deputy mayors and the fifth fills the post of director of finance and performance management. Annual salaries for each of the five ranges from $104,000 to $130,000. "I looked for people who brought with them a passion for public service, the highest ethical standards and a commitment to improving the quality of life," Villaraigosa said in a statement. Maurice Suh, a former deputy chief of the public corruption division in the...

The Senate's most self-satisfied senator, Joseph Biden, has established a website asking citizens to join him in pressuring President Bush to pick a liberal Supreme Court nominee so that a contentious confirmation battle can be averted. Well, yes, I'll admit he didn't quite put it that way, but if the Left's currently favorite sycophant, Joe Wilson, is entitled to spurts of "literary flair," why shouldn't the rest of us be as well? Let's look at what Biden actually said because it is revealing of the liberal Democrat mindset toward the judiciary, the Constitution and the will of the people. Biden...