thereisnospoon
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Looks like POTUS has again shown how desperate he is to maintain power for his own reasons.
Supreme Court vacancies should motivate GOP voters too
By Kimberly Atkins, Boston Herald (MA) August 14, 2014 6:52 am
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justices2WASHINGTON -- Facing Democratic fears about losing control of the U.S. Senate, President Obama is using looming Supreme Court battles and the possibility of new justice appointments to fire up his base for the upcoming midterm elections.
"I need a Democratic Senate," Obama said at a Monday night fundraiser in Tisbury on Martha's Vineyard, where he is vacationing. "We're going to have Supreme Court appointments, and there are going to be a whole host of issues that many people here care about that are going to be determined by whether or not Democrats retain the Senate."
Major legal battles over Obamacare, same-sex marriage, religious freedom and voting rights are set to land before the nation's top court. Democrats have voiced concerns about losing the Senate, which confirms judicial appointments. A Republican-held Senate could derail or stall the president's nominees.
Brad Dayspring, spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, called the president's comments "the latest example of Democrats trying to find an issue -- any issue -- to motivate unenthused Democratic voters."
A White House spokesman later said the statement was not make in reference to any specific potential vacancy. But Obama's comments echo those from both liberal and conservative interest groups including the National Rifle Association that have stressed the importance of both this year's midterm elections and the 2016 presidential election in determining the ideological tilt of the high court.
No justice has indicated any plans to retire. The court's eldest member, Clinton appointee Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, is 81 and has twice battled cancer in addition to other recent injuries and health scares. In 2012 she broke two ribs in a fall at her home, and she suffered fainting spells in her Supreme Court office and again on an airplane in 2009.
Ginsburg has repeated denied plans to retire, rebuffing calls from liberals for her to step down before Obama's second term ends lest a Republican reclaim the White House. Last month she told Yahoo News' Katie Couric: "All I can say is that I am still here and likely to remain for a while."
Three other justices are in their late 70s: Reagan appointees Justices Antonin Scalia and Anthony Kennedy, both 78, and Justice Stephen Breyer, a Clinton appointee and former Massachusetts federal appellate judge who turns 76 on Friday.Kennedy has often been the swing vote in the court's 5-4 rulings.
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(c)2014 the Boston Herald
Visit the Boston Herald at Boston Herald | Boston Herald
Supreme Court vacancies should motivate GOP voters too
By Kimberly Atkins, Boston Herald (MA) August 14, 2014 6:52 am
Print Tell a Friend Text Size: A A A
justices2WASHINGTON -- Facing Democratic fears about losing control of the U.S. Senate, President Obama is using looming Supreme Court battles and the possibility of new justice appointments to fire up his base for the upcoming midterm elections.
"I need a Democratic Senate," Obama said at a Monday night fundraiser in Tisbury on Martha's Vineyard, where he is vacationing. "We're going to have Supreme Court appointments, and there are going to be a whole host of issues that many people here care about that are going to be determined by whether or not Democrats retain the Senate."
Major legal battles over Obamacare, same-sex marriage, religious freedom and voting rights are set to land before the nation's top court. Democrats have voiced concerns about losing the Senate, which confirms judicial appointments. A Republican-held Senate could derail or stall the president's nominees.
Brad Dayspring, spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, called the president's comments "the latest example of Democrats trying to find an issue -- any issue -- to motivate unenthused Democratic voters."
A White House spokesman later said the statement was not make in reference to any specific potential vacancy. But Obama's comments echo those from both liberal and conservative interest groups including the National Rifle Association that have stressed the importance of both this year's midterm elections and the 2016 presidential election in determining the ideological tilt of the high court.
No justice has indicated any plans to retire. The court's eldest member, Clinton appointee Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, is 81 and has twice battled cancer in addition to other recent injuries and health scares. In 2012 she broke two ribs in a fall at her home, and she suffered fainting spells in her Supreme Court office and again on an airplane in 2009.
Ginsburg has repeated denied plans to retire, rebuffing calls from liberals for her to step down before Obama's second term ends lest a Republican reclaim the White House. Last month she told Yahoo News' Katie Couric: "All I can say is that I am still here and likely to remain for a while."
Three other justices are in their late 70s: Reagan appointees Justices Antonin Scalia and Anthony Kennedy, both 78, and Justice Stephen Breyer, a Clinton appointee and former Massachusetts federal appellate judge who turns 76 on Friday.Kennedy has often been the swing vote in the court's 5-4 rulings.
___
(c)2014 the Boston Herald
Visit the Boston Herald at Boston Herald | Boston Herald
the TPM lost 128 of 131 primary contests, and some goobers are saying, "but the GOP is further right now." Yeah, until January, when the 11 TPM congrsesscritters are moved to the back benches in assignments.
