The Goat Pen

eCat wrote:

Owlman wrote:

aTm wrote:I'm sure the revenue collectors are still humming along.

BIL is a inspector of moderate to large businesses. He is furloughed. My sister, his wife is in Homeland security. She is also furloughed. They'll be okay for a couple of weeks, then it'll get really bad for them

Your sister works for homeland security?

yes

"its already a law, you have to fund it

Not the right statement. More accurate would be, it's already law and has already been funded as it's on the mandatory side of the budget. Therefore, it's not part of the Continuing resolution that is the current source of the shutdown. The immigration bill however, I don't think is law yet.

Owlman wrote:"its already a law, you have to fund it

Not the right statement. More accurate would be, it's already law and has already been funded as it's on the mandatory side of the budget. Therefore, it's not part of the Continuing resolution that is the current source of the shutdown. The immigration bill however, I don't think is law yet.

I'm talking about the existing immigration laws that the white house is selectively enforcing.

If one thing we've learned since the turn of the century, laws can be ignored by our government without consequence.

Since the turn of the century?? Andrew Jackson (the only President to have an age named after him) once famously said to the Supreme Court, paraphrasing from memory, "you ruled on it, let them try and enforce it"

my first impression is that it wasn't real, but it appears to be true

Father Disowns Homophobic Daughter in Epic Letter

http://shine.yahoo.com/parenting/father ... 36549.html

U.S. Is Overtaking Russia as Largest Oil-and-Gas Producer

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/u-overtak ... 00265.html

" If one thing we've learned since the turn of the century, laws can be ignored by our government without consequence."

Right, as the world goes, is only in question between equals in power, while the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must. - Thucydides

Owlman wrote:

If one thing we've learned since the turn of the century, laws can be ignored by our government without consequence.

Since the turn of the century?? Andrew Jackson (the only President to have an age named after him) once famously said to the Supreme Court, paraphrasing from memory, "you ruled on it, let them try and enforce it"

I was just showing bipartisan contempt in my example

Need health insurance? The Obama administration has you covered. Simply dial 1-800-FUCKYO to reach the next available health-care provider.

Far from being a mistype, that’s the official number that Health and Human Services wants Americans to dial when seeking health care. Obamacare’s national call center really did list its number as 1-800-318-2596,

After allowing for the lack of letters attached to 1 on a traditional American telephone keypad, the number spells out a clear message. For every duped voter, every young invincible weighing the cost of a penalty versus a newly tripled yearly deductible, every ailing old granny in a wheelchair (whom, remember, Paul Ryan wants to push off a cliff) who needs adequate and affordable health care, Obama’s message is:

1-800-3(F) 8(U) 2(C) 5(K) 9(Y) 6(O).

That’s 1-800-FUCKYO. Sadly, the Obama administration failed to swap the useless 1 for a more functional 8 to complete the heartfelt message

Wouldn't that make it U-U?

perhaps the 3 is a F but the 1 is one. 8 is U, 2 is B, 5 is L, 9 is Y, 6 is M

Fone u blym

or Fone U Clym

no shortage of these stories out there...

American media outlets were finally able to track down a mythical creature — a person who actually signed up for the Obamacare exchanges online.

But that person, Chad Henderson, admitted to the Washington Post that the premium for the plan he enrolled in was $175. Ouch! Wasn’t Obamacare supposed to lower premiums?

Henderson’s going to pay a $175 premium and he won’t even receive vision or dental insurance. He has contacts, so not having vision insurance is kind of a bum deal.

Henderson, as far as we know a healthy, 21-year-old college student at Chattanooga State Community College who lives in Flintstone, Ga., and works part-time at a day-care center, did not qualify for tax credits to purchase insurance, according to the Post.
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Without Obamacare, Henderson could have received health insurance for as little as $44.72 on eHealthInsurance.com, according to Michael F. Cannon of the Cato Institute.

“I can’t yet say whether Chad’s $175 premium is the lowest-cost plan available to him through the Obamacare Exchange,” Cannon said. “[I’m in the process of researching that, and it’ll probably take a few hours.] But it’s probably close.”

Thanks to Obamacare’s community-rating price controls that take effect in 2014, Henderson’s cheapest plan option on eHealthInsurance jumped up to $190.23.

“So it appears that Obamacare quadrupled Chad’s premiums, and Enroll America thinks this is a success story,” Cannon said.

One of the main reasons health insurance prices are going up under Obamacare is because of the one-size-fits-all insurance plans required by the health care law.

During a congressional hearing in August, Rep. Mike Pompeo, R-Kan., asked Marilyn Tavenner of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services whether President Obama's promise that “if you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan” was true.

“It is true,” Tavenner said, but added that it was true “under the assumption that your insurance is ‘true’ insurance that provides coverage.”

Tavenner claimed that insurance that was not “true” was insurance that didn’t include coverage for things like hospitalization or cancer treatment.

RALEIGH — Minutes after a labor organizer from Rocky Mount was convicted of all charges related to his arrest in “Moral Monday” protests at the state legislature, the lawyer who represented the demonstrator asked the judge to recuse herself from other cases.

Judge Joy Hamilton, a former Wake County District Court judge appointed by the state to preside over the Moral Monday trials, took the matter under advisement.

Saladin Muhammad, 68, the Rocky Mount organizer, was among the early wave of protesters arrested during the Moral Monday demonstrations at the General Assembly and was the first to be tried and convicted in Wake County District Court on Friday.

Al McSurely, the lawyer representing Muhammad, gave immediate notice of plans to appeal the verdict to Wake County Superior Court.

The trial, which lasted most of Friday, offered a glimpse of the video evidence and arguments that prosecutors plan to employ as more than 900 Moral Monday cases make their way through the courts.

It also offered a glance at defense strategies and the strengths and weaknesses in the state’s cases.

Muhammad was among 49 demonstrators arrested inside the N.C. Legislative Building on May 13, wearing a yellow armband like many of the protesters to symbolize the “rising of labor like the sun.”

On that Monday evening, nearly 200 people crowded around the rotunda fountain on the second floor, outside the doors of the chamber where the state House was doing business.

The demonstrators were protesting tax plans, education policies, health care proposals, welfare cuts, environmental regulations and new voting policies.

Details of arrest

Muhammad, who took the stand in his defense, said he joined the rally that night to protest a specific state law that he thought would be harmful to labor. He was not happy with new policies adopted by the Republican-led General Assembly, and he wanted to voice his frustrations.

That day, Muhammad had gone to a meeting organized by the state chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People before heading to the legislative building with a crowd of people as upset as he was about the agenda of the lawmakers.

They gathered outside the building, then went through the front doors into what many of the demonstrators called “the people’s house,” and sang, chanted and raised their voices.

General Assembly police used bullhorns to tell the protesters to quiet down. “You have five minutes to leave,” General Assembly Police Chief Jeff Weaver called out to protesters. That night, 49 women and men were arrested.

Muhammad was charged with second-degree trespassing, failure to disperse on command and posting or displaying signs or placards in violation of building rules.

McSurely challenged the charges on multiple fronts Friday, but he was unsuccessful in persuading the judge that Muhammad was within his state and federal constitutional rights to speak out as he did against legislative policies he thought were damaging the state.

Prosecutor’s argument

Mary Elizabeth Wilson, the assistant Wake County district attorney assigned to the 940 cases stemming from the “Moral Monday” arrests, argued that Weaver, the police chief tasked with keeping peace inside the building, could order people to disperse and leave the state property if he had “reason to believe” there might be violent and risky behavior.

The judge agreed with the prosecutor’s argument, saying the officer must “reasonably believe disorderly conduct is occurring.”

That ruling and the rejections of arguments about constitutional violations opened the door for other convictions in those cases yet to be resolved.

At least 19 people have accepted plea deals offered by Wake District Attorney Colon Willoughby. The county’s chief prosecutor agreed to defer prosecution of people who did community service and paid $180 in court fees and fines.

Muhammad, who received his first criminal conviction Friday, was ordered to pay $100 fine.

After his hearing, he said he was troubled by the verdict.

“It’s not a good feeling when the Constitution is disregarded,” he said.

‘Judge shopping’ charge

McSurely said he was surprised to hear a judge in district court rule on constitutional issues. He disagreed with her interpretation of state law and the leeway it offered the police chief to decide who should and shouldn’t be in the building.

“They were saying, he has unfettered discretion,” McSurely said.

McSurely then went back inside the courtroom and asked Hamilton to recuse herself from his next cases stemming from the same demonstration. The evidence in those cases, he said, would be virtually the same as in the case she just ruled on, making it difficult for a different outcome.

“You have apparently already made a very important and factual decision,” McSurely said.

Wilson, the prosecutor who won the day, accused McSurely of judge-shopping and argued that the judge should not recuse herself.

“I’m not judge-shopping,” McSurely said. “I just don’t see how you can go against this judgment after you’ve already made it.”

Lawyers representing other demonstrators were at the daylong hearing.

Irv Joyner, one of those attorneys, said the decisions might prompt some changes in strategy.

“It’s something we’ll have to talk about,” he said.

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/10/04/ ... rylink=cpy

"I'm not judge shopping". McSurely, you jest...

Heh.

District Court Judges rule on constitutional issues all of the time in suppression issues. Civil cases raising constitutional issues must be filed in superior court, and any criminal case from district court (except some probation violation cases and infractions) can be appealed to superior court, where the judge makes a determination if the issue is raised. Then it is passed on to the appellate process.

I have appeared in front of Joyce Hamilton dozens of times. She did DWI court in Wayne County for two years. She's one of the most consistent, fair and knowledgeable judges you will find in district criminal court.

PTSD soldier asks that the guns be taken away (with the understandable "fat chance" attached).

http://thesterlingroad.com/2013/09/18/t ... ns-please/

McConnell being bitched...

http://m.washingtonpost.com/opinions/da ... story.html

Did you guys watch Bohner OWN George Snuffleupigus on his morning show this morning? George kept trying to reframe every argument and the Congressman would have none of it. The part about stealing all this money from our kids (which was right) left George with nothing to say in response. It was brilliant.

I am still surprised Congressman John even bothered to go on the show to get lambasted by George. He's a terrible speaker, and (surprisingly) he held his own, stayed right on point.

Sunday. Fall. Football. Pregame. Fantasy. etc.

This shutdown has much lighter-weight players than the one in 1995-96.

Clinton > Obama and Newt >>> Boehner.