“Rogue Agency” NLRB Refuses To Comply With House Subpoena

Michael Ramirez cartoon

Then again – what about this entire administration isn’t “rogue”?

The Hill reports:

 Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) on Friday described the National Labor Relations Board as a “rogue agency” for its response to subpoenas he issued for documents related to the panel’s legal complaint against airplane manufacturer Boeing.

The NLRB has yet to provide any documents to Issa, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. The board’s general counsel said Friday in a letter to Issa that the NLRB was concerned about releasing any documents prematurely.

That provoked a harsh response from Issa, who said the NLRB’s hesitation put into question “the integrity of NLRB and its leadership.”

“The National Labor Relations Board and Acting General Counsel Lafe Solomon have thus far failed to comply with a lawful subpoena,” Issa said in a statement released Friday. “This refusal by NLRB to abide by the law further heightens concerns that this is a rogue agency acting improperly.”

More at Doug Ross@Journal:

Linked by Doug Ross in Larwyn’s Links, thanks!

Hat tip: Weasel Zippers

ObamaCare Beast One Step Closer To Being Slayed: Appeals Court Strikes Down Mandate

Huge new via Philip Klein of the Washington Examiner:

A federal appeals court has ruled that the national health care law’s individual mandate is unconstitutional, calling it “an unprecedented exercise of congressional power.”

The 11th Circuit, which was hearing the case brought by 26 states led by Florida and the National Federation of Independent Business concluded:

that the individual mandate contained in the Act exceeds Congress’s enumerated commerce power. This conclusion is limited in scope. The power that Congress has wielded via the Commerce Clause for the life of this country remains undiminished. Congress may regulate commercial actors. It may forbid certain commercial activity. It may enact hundreds of new laws and federally-funded programs, as it has elected to do in this massive 975- page Act. But what Congress cannot do under the Commerce Clause is mandate that individuals enter into contracts with private insurance companies for the purchase of an expensive product from the time they are born until the time they die.

The ruling also calls the mandate is a  ”wholly novel and potentially unbounded assertion of congressional authority.”

Here’s the opinion.

Next stop: The Supreme Court.

MORE:

Betsy McCaughey of DefendYourHealthcare.com, has been in the forefront of the fight against ObamaCare since the bill first went public. She called today’s ruling a victory for individual liberty, and limited government in this press release:

The Court of Appeals for the 11th circuit ruled today in Atlanta that mandatory health insurance, a key provision of the Affordable Care Act, is unconstitutional.   Although the court declined to rule the entire law null and void, the impact of the ruling will be wide ranging. It is a major decision, because the plaintiffs are 26 states – the most significant plaintiffs in any challenge thus far.   The Court of Appeals for 4th circuit based in Richmond has yet to rule on a separate challenge brought by the state of Virginia.  One federal Court of Appeals for the 6th circuit upheld the constitutionality of the mandatory insurance provision, but the ruling was of far less consequence, because the plaintiff was a minor litigant, the Thomas More Legal Center, rather than a state.

 

The impact of the  11th circuit ruling is likely to be substantial and immediate:

1. State governments will slow down or halt their preparations to implement state insurance exchanges as required under the law.
2.  Pressure will build on the administration to scale back or repeal its two costly new health entitlements, which have not gone into effect yet:  (1) a costly expansion of Medicaid eligibility and Medicaid benefits and (2) subsidies for middle income people to pay for private health plans on state exchanges.   The decision today blew a hole in a major source of revenue to pay for these new entitlements: the penalties  on individuals who fail to enroll  and employers who fail to provide it to their workers.  Without this revenue, the remaining provisions of the law create a large budget deficit.
3. This is good news for employers who have held off on hiring because of concerns about future mandatory health insurance requirements on employers.  If this decision is confirmed by the United States Supreme Court next term, it will remove a barrier to job growth.

This is a victory for individual liberty and limited government.   

 

Betsy McCaughey is former Lt. Governor of New York State and author of  

The Obama Health Law: What it Says and How to Overturn It.

www.DefendYourHealthcare.com

Attention Shifts To Fleebagger Recalls In Wisconsin

Kim Simac

Now that the recall elections for Republican senators are over with, focus is shifting to two Democrat recalls that are being held, next Tuesday.

Sen. Bob Wirch (D-Pleasant Prairie) faces Republican Jonathan Steitz, and the more vulnerable Senator,  Jim Holperin (D-Conover) faces Kim Simac, the founder of the Northwoods Patriots, potentially Wisconsin’s “first tea party Senator”:

Holperin acknowledged in an interview Wednesday that he is more vulnerable than Wirch.“It has been on our minds and in our plans for two years now to have someone from the tea party movement in the state Senate,” says Tim Dake, chair of Wisconsin GrandSons of Liberty, a Tea Party Patriots organization. “If she wins, it is going to be huge.

***

Holperin, whose district voted for Walker, says he will continue campaigning as well. This is the senator’s second time facing a recall effort. The first attempt came in 1990, when he was a member of the Assembly, over his support of Ojibwe spearfishing rights. He handily won that recall election. He was elected to the Senate in 2008.

Like Holperin’s district, a majority of voters in Wirch’s district also voted for Walker in the November election. But Wirch says his district voted for JoAnne Kloppenburg in the state Supreme Court race rather than incumbent Justice David Prosser, a former Republican state Assembly member. Wirch describes his district as “Democratic-leaning, but not by much.”

Sleazy union tactics are being used against Kim Simac a Wisconsin blogger reports:

 Months after the unions’ campaign of vandalizing our state and threatening our leaders, the unions have returned with a sleazy ad campaign about Kim Simac. They are alleging that Kim chose not to pay her taxes, and they have spent heavily on dishonest ads. The truth is that Kim’s business had some down years, and she did not owe any taxes for those years.

“My business has struggled in years, especially with a down economy and a hurting tourism industry. There have been years when my net income has fallen into a tax bracket that has no yearend tax liability.”

Who Pays Jim Holperin’s Taxes? »« Kim Simac Tells Jim Holperin to Stop Spreading Lies

Please help Kim Simac fight for Wisconsin:
http://www.kimsimacforstatesenate.com/

These races are still  important because one of the  ‘moderate’ Republican Senators, Dale Schultz, may bolt the GOP and join with the Democrats. According to Campaign To Defeat Barack Obama:

He is under intense pressure from Senate Democrats to switch sides – in fact Schultz once was a Democrat.  Schultz also was the ONLY Republican who voted against Gov. Walker’s budget reform bill and then publicly criticized Governor Walker for his efforts to bring fiscal sanity to Wisconsin.

We learned today that Schultz even went to the Democrat Leader in the Senate and offered himself as a vote for them in the Senate.

This would be disastrous and would mean Democrats would be able to block Gov. Walker’s agenda in Wisconsin.  We can’t let the Left win this way.

That’s why we are going all out to win in the 2 RECALL campaigns against Democrats that take place next Tuesday.  In fact, if we prevail in these two races the net gain for Democrats through this entire RECALL process will have been ZERO (0) seats.  They will have spent more than $30 MILLION for nothing!

So let’s go out and finish the win.  Let’s see those 2 Democrat Senators who abdicated their job duties and fled to Illinois lose their seats.  Let’s make the Left eat crow for ever starting these shameful RECALL campaigns to punish Republicans who actually DID do their jobs.  And let’s make sure the Democrats’ effort to “buy off” a Senator fails.

You can contribute any amount from as little as $5 to the maximum allowed contribution of $5,000.   TV ads for the 2 RECALL districts are rather expensive.  One of the two RECALL campaigns takes place in the most expensive media market in the state of Wisconsin:  Milwaukee.

Thus, we’re going to need quite a few people who can contribute $100 or more to pitch in.  Our goal is to collect more than 500 contributions of $100 or more within the next 24 hours.  You can contribute online – HERE.

See Also:

JS Online: Campaigning still aggressive in North Woods recall race

Both sides in the recall effort against a Democratic North Woods senator are pushing ahead and pouring money into the race.

When Democrats failed to take back the Senate Tuesday, some had speculated that there would be less focus or spending in the fight to recall Sen. Jim Holperin (D-Conover).

But so far, that’s not the case, said officials supporting Holperin and his challenger, Republican Kim Simac.

“It looks to me like everything’s full speed ahead. Nobody’s pulling anything out,” said John Hogan, executive director of the Committee to Elect a Republican Senate.

Wausau Daily Herald: Mentzer column: GOP bullish on Holperin recall:

Of the two Democratic senators up for recall on Tuesday, Sen. Jim Holperin of Conover is universally believed to be the Republicans’ best shot at picking up a seat. After a better-than-expected night on Tuesday, Republicans are bullish about the possibility of knocking off Holperin.

The 12th Senate District is basically a Republican district. It went to Obama in 2008, but narrowly. It went to Scott Walker by 57.4 percent — considerably more than his 52.3 percent statewide total. By my rough estimate, conservative Justice David Prosser’s share of the vote there this spring was about 55 percent, compared with a 50-50 statistical split statewide.

Combine that with the fact that elections this week proved once again that the conservative base is just as able to turn out voters in Wisconsin as the liberal base, and the district looks ripe for Republicans.

620 WTMJ: Paul Ryan stumps for recall challenger in Kenosha

KENOSHA – Senator Bob Wirch says Democrats were asleep last November, but he says they are definitely awake now. Meanwhile, Republican challenger, Jonathan Steitz is bringing out the big names to help his cause.

On his summer break from Congress, Representative Paul Ryan spent the afternoon in Kenosha stumping for Jonathan Steitz in a seat Ryan hopes Republicans can take over.

“I think these recall elections are a vindication that the new leadership in Madison is taking us in the right direction.  They are cutting spending, getting taxes down so we can create jobs,” said Rep. Paul Ryan.

“It’s great.  It’s an honor to have him here, I appreciate his time.  I think the turnout today shows that we have a real good grassroots effort behind us,” Steitz said.

Who is Jonathon Steitz, and what does he stand for?

Who is Kim Simac, and what does she stand for?

UPDATE:

Oh My!: Wis. Fleebagger’s Campaign Mail Piece Deemed “False, Ridiculous”, “Pants on Fire” Lie By Politifact

Hat tip: Charles B.

Linked by Legal Insurrection, thanks!