Judge Vaughn Walker ordered California to resume granting gay people marriage licenses on August 18. The judge allowed the pro-Proposition 8 losing side a week to file an appeal with the 9th circuit court of appeals to prevent this from happening. There is much cheering on the gay side of the case, and it sure looks like gay marriage is back in business in California.
That said, there is a very important part of the judge's ruling that has not received proper attention. The judge has very clearly stated a legal reason why there may never be an appeal of his ruling: the pro-Proposition 8 side lacks standing to appeal. The state of California is not appealing this ruling; both the Governor and the Attorney General have sided with immediate resumption of gay marriage. So the state has no part of the appeal. That leaves only private citizens to mount an appeal that is trying to defend an amendment to the state's constitution. The judge points out that the case law clearly does not give private citizens the standing necessary to appeal a case regarding the state's constitution or the result of a referendum if the state itself has no interest in making such an appeal.
The private citizens qualified for a trial in district court because the plaintiffs sued the governor and the attorney general; the judge allowed the private citizens to argue the case when both the governor and the attorney general declined to do so. But the appeals process is different. The federal constitution requires states, not private citizens, to make these kinds of appeals. The bottom line: the private pro-Proposition 8 groups are not substitutes for the state at the appeal level. They don't have standing in an appeals court. They're at the end of the legal road.
I'm sure that the anti-Proposition 8 legal team is at this moment compiling all the relevant case law and court decisions regarding standing and will clobber the pro-side whenever they meet in the appeals court. If the court rules that the pro-Proposition 8 side has no standing, this would be tremendous news because the case would no longer have any basis, Judge Walker's decision would stand, and gay marriage would be unassailable in California. Of course, even if the ninth circuit court so rules, the Supreme Court would hear an appeal about this appeal. But the case law is very clear: states, not private citizens acting on their own, alone have standing to take these kinds of cases into the appellate courts. There's good reason to think that the pro-Proposition 8 dimwit legal team has really screwed up their case--first, by not offering even a rational defense in the trial court; second, by gambling on an appellate process from which they may be excluded altogether.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Hooray!
A federal judge appointed to the bench by Ronald Reagan has overturned mob rule in California and re-imposed the rule of law.
Proposition 8, the infamous mob-rule attempt to alienate gay people from the fundamental human right of marriage, is now overturned. The judge spared no words in his ruling: Proposition 8 has no rational basis ("the Bible says" is not a rational, legal argument in these United States, especially when the Bible says nothing of the sort); gay people fall under the strict scrutiny provisions of Constitutional protection, meaning that any restriction imposed only on gay people as opposed to everybody else must pass extra-strict Constitutional provisions requiring the state to account for this restriction with a compelling, rational reason that justifies it; and gay people cannot be deprived of their human rights without due process, something which mob rule masquerading as voting is most certainly not.
The Constitution has now been restored as the law of the land in California. This case, argued let it be noted by one of the most respected conservative lawyers in America, Ted Olsen, is now on a trajectory that will take it to the 9th court of appeals and thence to the Supreme Court. It looks as if, as in Lawrence vs Texas, that Justice Anthony Kennedy will be the one man on which will hang government by law or government by a mob in the street. If Kennedy is still the man who wrote that the purpose of the court is to protect liberty and not to rubber stamp somebody's arbitrary version of "morality," we may be on the verge of a sea change in the status of gay people in America. Cross your fingers and re-read Kennedy's majority opinion in Lawrence.
Read it here
Proposition 8, the infamous mob-rule attempt to alienate gay people from the fundamental human right of marriage, is now overturned. The judge spared no words in his ruling: Proposition 8 has no rational basis ("the Bible says" is not a rational, legal argument in these United States, especially when the Bible says nothing of the sort); gay people fall under the strict scrutiny provisions of Constitutional protection, meaning that any restriction imposed only on gay people as opposed to everybody else must pass extra-strict Constitutional provisions requiring the state to account for this restriction with a compelling, rational reason that justifies it; and gay people cannot be deprived of their human rights without due process, something which mob rule masquerading as voting is most certainly not.
The Constitution has now been restored as the law of the land in California. This case, argued let it be noted by one of the most respected conservative lawyers in America, Ted Olsen, is now on a trajectory that will take it to the 9th court of appeals and thence to the Supreme Court. It looks as if, as in Lawrence vs Texas, that Justice Anthony Kennedy will be the one man on which will hang government by law or government by a mob in the street. If Kennedy is still the man who wrote that the purpose of the court is to protect liberty and not to rubber stamp somebody's arbitrary version of "morality," we may be on the verge of a sea change in the status of gay people in America. Cross your fingers and re-read Kennedy's majority opinion in Lawrence.
Read it here
Friday, March 19, 2010
A heist in progress
Have I got a deal for you! My friend George has gone bankrupt, just plain dead broke. His business has been closed by the government; his stores are shuttered. It's all over for George. And now is a great time for you to invest your savings in George's business. What? You think I'm nuts?
Well, the FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation), which is running desperately short of money because of the ever-growing number of bank failures, now wants public pension funds to invest their money in failed banks. Hello? Why would anyone, much less soon-to-be retirees, buy a failed bank? Isn't the adjective "failed" a pretty good indication of what you would be buying--namely, crap?
This is the first step in what is clearly going to be the eventual nationalization of pensions funds--public funds, private funds, 401Ks, IRAs, etc. The government is dead broke; apparently its recent Treasury bond sales have been mostly to the Fed as fewer and fewer chumps want to buy US government debt. So where will the government lay its hands on money to prop-up tottering banks? Your pension, that's where.
Read it here
Well, the FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation), which is running desperately short of money because of the ever-growing number of bank failures, now wants public pension funds to invest their money in failed banks. Hello? Why would anyone, much less soon-to-be retirees, buy a failed bank? Isn't the adjective "failed" a pretty good indication of what you would be buying--namely, crap?
This is the first step in what is clearly going to be the eventual nationalization of pensions funds--public funds, private funds, 401Ks, IRAs, etc. The government is dead broke; apparently its recent Treasury bond sales have been mostly to the Fed as fewer and fewer chumps want to buy US government debt. So where will the government lay its hands on money to prop-up tottering banks? Your pension, that's where.
Read it here
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
FYI: $4,750,593,824 a day
Mr. Obama has been president for 421 days (when the article below was written). During that time the Federal deficit has increased by $2 trillion dollars. That is: $2,000,000,000,000. Or about $4,750,593,824 per day. That's four billion, seven hundred fifty million, five hundred ninety-three thousand, eight hundred and twenty-four dollars per day of new debt.
Words fail me.
Read the incredible story here
Words fail me.
Read the incredible story here
Monday, March 15, 2010
Confirmation: Social Security is insolvent
If you viewed the post with Gary North explaining why Social Security is now officially insolvent, then the news account below is no surprise. If you haven't, then "SURPRISE! Social Security is insolvent."
This so-called "pay as you go" Ponzi scheme is now entering the going broke stage. There is not enough money coming in to pay out, so the government must borrow money--billions and billions--from anybody it can swindle to keep the checks a-comin'. Does this remind you of Bernie Madoff? It should because Bernie's empire was a "pay as you go" rip-off that worked exactly the way Social Security works. Bernie's in prison now; his investors-cum-victims are impoverished. When will the Social Security Administration be arrested?
Soon Grandma's and Grandpa's Social Security checks won't buy a MacDonald's cheeseburger because the Chinese and Japanese chumps who have been funding American government debt up to now have had enough. Recent sales of Treasury debt have been funded largely by the Federal Reserve, which simply prints a fresh batch of dollars to buy the freshly printed Treasury debt certificates. This monetary inflation will gut what little is left of the dollar's value. Get ready for Weimar Republic-style hyperinflation in which you toss out your wallets and replace them with wheelbarrows to carry around the bales of worthless dollars you'll need to buy a taco for lunch.
Read it here
Extra: Below is an article explaining why Social Security is doomed: the Chinese are finally beginning to divest themselves of American government debt. Little by little, the Chinese are dumping current debt and not buying new debt. They're proceeding slowly so as not to start a run on the dollar. They want to get as much value as they can before the market for dollars begins a free fall. Of course, everybody who knows the currency markets knows what's going on. Only the American government thinks that it can rack up colossal debts and debase its currency with impunity. How long before this trickle becomes a torrent? Who knows, but the people of world are clearly not going to finance Mr. Obama's $1.56 trillion deficit with their hard-earned savings anymore than they financed last year's $1.3 trillion deficit. The Fed did that by printing up gobs of play money pretending to be sound dollars. The Chinese know the jig is up. Why doesn't Mr. Obama?
Read it here
This so-called "pay as you go" Ponzi scheme is now entering the going broke stage. There is not enough money coming in to pay out, so the government must borrow money--billions and billions--from anybody it can swindle to keep the checks a-comin'. Does this remind you of Bernie Madoff? It should because Bernie's empire was a "pay as you go" rip-off that worked exactly the way Social Security works. Bernie's in prison now; his investors-cum-victims are impoverished. When will the Social Security Administration be arrested?
Soon Grandma's and Grandpa's Social Security checks won't buy a MacDonald's cheeseburger because the Chinese and Japanese chumps who have been funding American government debt up to now have had enough. Recent sales of Treasury debt have been funded largely by the Federal Reserve, which simply prints a fresh batch of dollars to buy the freshly printed Treasury debt certificates. This monetary inflation will gut what little is left of the dollar's value. Get ready for Weimar Republic-style hyperinflation in which you toss out your wallets and replace them with wheelbarrows to carry around the bales of worthless dollars you'll need to buy a taco for lunch.
Read it here
Extra: Below is an article explaining why Social Security is doomed: the Chinese are finally beginning to divest themselves of American government debt. Little by little, the Chinese are dumping current debt and not buying new debt. They're proceeding slowly so as not to start a run on the dollar. They want to get as much value as they can before the market for dollars begins a free fall. Of course, everybody who knows the currency markets knows what's going on. Only the American government thinks that it can rack up colossal debts and debase its currency with impunity. How long before this trickle becomes a torrent? Who knows, but the people of world are clearly not going to finance Mr. Obama's $1.56 trillion deficit with their hard-earned savings anymore than they financed last year's $1.3 trillion deficit. The Fed did that by printing up gobs of play money pretending to be sound dollars. The Chinese know the jig is up. Why doesn't Mr. Obama?
Read it here
Friday, February 19, 2010
Dead broke again
Question: If you were a private businessman who had deliberately failed to fund your contractual obligations to your shareholders and creditors, where would you be?
Answer: In jail.
A new Pew study reveals that the pension funds of the states have been deliberately underfunded by fully one trillion dollars. Note: this mess has nothing to do with Social Security, which if you have read my previous post you now know is insolvent—that is, its 2010 revenues will not be sufficient to meet its 2010 expenditures. Rather, these underfunded (which is a euphemism for insolvent) state pension funds are the retirement funds of teachers, police, DMV goons, etc. Over the years state legislatures, trying to avoid politically unpopular tax increases, have simply siphoned off tax revenues that should have been applied to state pension funds and spent them on day-to-day expenses of government. If you had done something of the sort in your private business, you would now be enjoying fifteen years of state supervised hospitality at a prison near you. State legislators, however, have no legal or fiduciary responsibilities to their constituents or employees, so they’re off the hook. The worst that they can suffer is being booted out of office.
So here’s the situation in America today: The Social Security system is living on borrowed money, and the borrowing must increase enormously year after year as Baby Boomers by the millions reach 65. State pension funds are insolvent, and the states (many of which are themselves trapped in budget crises that cannot be resolved) cannot raise sufficient money to fully fund them. Private pensions and 401k fund have been gutted.
If you haven’t yet viewed Gary North’s presentation about the bleak future of retirement in America, now’s a good time as any because the future isn’t getting any better.
Read about the state pension fund mess here
Answer: In jail.
A new Pew study reveals that the pension funds of the states have been deliberately underfunded by fully one trillion dollars. Note: this mess has nothing to do with Social Security, which if you have read my previous post you now know is insolvent—that is, its 2010 revenues will not be sufficient to meet its 2010 expenditures. Rather, these underfunded (which is a euphemism for insolvent) state pension funds are the retirement funds of teachers, police, DMV goons, etc. Over the years state legislatures, trying to avoid politically unpopular tax increases, have simply siphoned off tax revenues that should have been applied to state pension funds and spent them on day-to-day expenses of government. If you had done something of the sort in your private business, you would now be enjoying fifteen years of state supervised hospitality at a prison near you. State legislators, however, have no legal or fiduciary responsibilities to their constituents or employees, so they’re off the hook. The worst that they can suffer is being booted out of office.
So here’s the situation in America today: The Social Security system is living on borrowed money, and the borrowing must increase enormously year after year as Baby Boomers by the millions reach 65. State pension funds are insolvent, and the states (many of which are themselves trapped in budget crises that cannot be resolved) cannot raise sufficient money to fully fund them. Private pensions and 401k fund have been gutted.
If you haven’t yet viewed Gary North’s presentation about the bleak future of retirement in America, now’s a good time as any because the future isn’t getting any better.
Read about the state pension fund mess here
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Dead broke
According to economist Gary North, 2010 is the year that Social Security (SS) becomes insolvent. The budgeting scam whereby excess SS tax revenues have been siphoned off to fund the perpetual budget deficit is over. The growing depression has reduced SS tax revenue below the amount required to pay Grandma and Grandpa their monthly checks, so the missing billions must be acquired from the general fund. Nowadays the government borrows 40 cents for every dollar it spends from the general fund; this means that Social Security is now living on borrowed money and will do so indefinitely into the future. The amount of money the government must borrow to keep the system from failing will keep growing without limit as millions of Baby Boomers reach 65 with each passing year. Chinese and Japanese chumps are now funding American retirements. Lucky them. How long can we soak these chumps for loot? Not long if the recent Chinese divestiture of $45 billion in US Treasury debt is any indication. More divestitures seem certain as the federal government floods the world with trillions of freshly printed dollars that keep losing what little value they started with. The budget deficit/public debt mess is beyond repair, and the Ponzi scheme called Social Security is rushing to its inexorable climax: total bankruptcy. What are we going to do?
Well, first, listen to the following talk by Gary North about your future prospects both as a worker and a retiree. Then start preparing yourself for a really bleak future because we’re in this mess for the rest of our lives.
Retirement Armageddon
Well, first, listen to the following talk by Gary North about your future prospects both as a worker and a retiree. Then start preparing yourself for a really bleak future because we’re in this mess for the rest of our lives.
Retirement Armageddon
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