Welcome To The New Gilded Age

[bobabode]

Originally Posted by merrylander

Sorry, what democracy would that be.

Sad to say but you're right Rob. The Patriot Act + Citizen's United + The VRA being gutted + McCutcheon v the FEC means we are well and truly f*#ked hard and put up wet.

[merrylander]

Originally Posted by Boreas

I did.

That part of BC, between the 49th parallel and 54' 40", is my favorite part of this entire continent. I'd love to live up there, maybe on VI or maybe up toward Squamish.

John

My older, well only, sister is out that way in Langley

[bhunter]

Originally Posted by Boreas

Collectively, I trust none of them but at least with the other two branches of government at least we have some chance of voting out the worst and electing someone better. With the Judicial Branch, we're stuck with the Scalias and the Robertses and Tbomases until they retire or croak.

John

And that is by deliberate design and a feature not a flaw.

[donquixote99]

Originally Posted by bhunter

And that is by deliberate design and a feature not a flaw.

Only in the sense that future political interference with the court might be a bad thing. At the moment I'd be willing to risk it.

[piece-itpete]

It might have been ok if they hadn't gained such sweeping powers over the years.

Pete

[Boreas]

Originally Posted by bhunter

And that is by deliberate design and a feature not a flaw.

Of course. The trouble is the Supreme Court has assumed powers not granted to it by the people who ''deliberately" made them lifetime appointees.

John

[finnbow]

Originally Posted by Boreas

Of course. The trouble is the Supreme Court has assumed powers not granted to it by the people who ''deliberately" made them lifetime appointees.

John

Perhaps, but Congress has brought about the imbalance of power vis–à–vis both the courts and the Presidency. It has long abrogated its own power/responsibility by writing such squirrelly laws and deferring to the Executive.

[Tom Joad]

Originally Posted by Boreas

Of course. The trouble is the Supreme Court has assumed powers not granted to it by the people who ''deliberately" made them lifetime appointees.

John

And you have to give the Devil his due. The Republicans have outplayed the Democrats in using those lifetime appointments to their advantage.

They pick nominees that are relatively young so that they can affect policy for
three or more decades.

[bhunter]

Originally Posted by Tom Joad

And you have to give the Devil his due. The Republicans have outplayed the Democrats in using those lifetime appointments to their advantage.

They pick nominees that are relatively young so that they can affect policy for
three or more decades.

Let's see now, I seem to recall a liberal court usurping state rights for a number of years. I'm sure that just as vehemently that the left decries the current court today they applauded the Warren Court then. BTW. last I looked the left had plenty of big number financial supporters.

[bhunter]

Originally Posted by finnbow

Perhaps, but Congress has brought about the imbalance of power vis–à–vis both the courts and the Presidency. It has long abrogated its own power/responsibility by writing such squirrelly laws and deferring to the Executive.

Yes, the idiots and assorted jackasses comprising Congress no longer do their job. Nancy Pelosi's witless statement wrt to Obamacare is a fine testament to that. OTOH, the citizens are so dumb that they keep reelecting the same people they purportedly dislike.