Comments by "Remy Lebeau" (@remyllebeau77) on "LastWeekTonight"
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@Chunkboi 3. Political Profiling by the IRS
After seeing a rise in the number of applications for tax-exempt status, the IRS in 2010 compiled a “be on the lookout” (“BOLO”) list to identify organizations engaged in political activities. The list included words such as “Tea Party,” “Patriots,” and “Israel”; subjects such as government spending, debt, or taxes; and activities such as criticizing the government, educating about the Constitution, or challenging Obamacare. The targeting continued through May 2013, with no consequences other than Lois Lerner, the chief of the exempt-organizations unit, being held in contempt of Congress—and then being allowed to peacefully retire despite erased records and other cover-ups. Okay, this one qualifies as Nixonian.
4. Recess Appointments
In January 2012, President Obama appointed three members of the National Labor Relations Board, as well as the head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, during what he considered to be a Senate recess. But the Senate was still holding “pro forma” sessions every three days—a technique developed by Sen. Harry Reid to thwart Bush recess appointments. (Meanwhile, the Dodd-Frank Act, which created the CFPB, provides that authority remains with the Treasury Secretary until a director is “confirmed by the Senate.”) In 2014, Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the NLRB appointments were illegal, while last year the D.C. Circuit found the CFPB’s structure to be unconstitutional.
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@Chunkboi 5. DACA and DAPA
Congress has shamelessly failed to pass any sort of immigration reform, including for the most sympathetic victims of the current non-system, young people who were brought into the country illegally as children. Nonetheless, during his 2012 reelection campaign, President Obama directed the Department of Homeland Security to issue work and residence permits (Deferred Action to Childhood Arrivals) to the so-called Dreamers.
Then, after the 2014 midterms, the president decided that he had been wrong 22 times in saying he couldn’t give temporary legal status to illegal immigrants. The administration engineered this Deferred Action for Parents of Americans in the wake of Congress’s rejection of the same policies, in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act, immigration law, and the Constitution’s Take Care Clause. A district court enjoined DAPA in February 2015, which action the Fifth Circuit twice affirmed, as did the Supreme Court by a 4-4 vote.
6. Assault On Free Speech and Due Process On College Campuses
In 2013 the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights, in conjunction with the Justice Department, sent the University of Montana a letter that became a national “blueprint” for tackling sexual harassment. The letter urged a crackdown on “unwelcome” speech and requires complaints to be heard in quasi-judicial procedures that deny legal representation, encourage punishment before trial, and convict based on a mere “more likely than not” standard.
As noted civil libertarian Harvey Silverglate explained this week, the administration construed Title IX—the federal law barring sex discrimination by federally funded schools—as a mandate to punish students and faculty accused of sexual misconduct using procedures that make it extraordinarily difficult for innocent people to defend themselves.
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@Chunkboi 7. The Clean Power Plan
In June 2014, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed a new rule for regulating power-plant emissions. Despite significant criticism, it finalized the rule in August 2015, giving states until 2018 to develop plans to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, with mandatory compliance beginning in 2022.
The EPA cites Section 111 of the Clean Air Act as justification for this Clean Power Plan, but that section can’t give the agency such authority. Section 111 doesn’t permit the government to require states to regulate pollutants from existing sources when those pollutants are already being regulated under Section 112, like those deriving from coal-fired plants. The late Justice Scalia’s last public act was to join an order staying the rule pending further litigation (or, as is likely, a rescinding of the rule).
8. The WOTUS Rule
In May 2015, the EPA announced its new Clean Water Rule, which aims to protect streams and wetlands from pollution. The agency insists that the rule doesn’t affect bodies of water not previously regulated, but several groups have sued on the basis that the rule’s definitions of regulated waters greatly exceed the EPA’s authority under the Clean Water Act to regulate “waters of the United States” (WOTUS).
The Supreme Court has thrice addressed the meaning of that phrase, making clear that, for the EPA to have regulatory authority, a sufficient nexus must exist between the location regulated and “navigable waters.” The Clean Water Rule, however, purports to give EPA power far beyond waters that are “navigable” by any stretch of the word’s definition. Litigation is ongoing.
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@jamesfranks1790 "your missing hat point"
You are distorting my example to suit your cause.
"Those witnesses" And you are claiming this is a crime regardless of the refusal of the investigation to do the same?
"I have not voted for a Democrat"
Congratulations.
"Yes that is how the real world works."
No, it isn't. You may not care anything about innocent until proven guilty, but it is the standard regardless of how much you dislike it.
"some technicality allowed them to get away with their crime is proven innocent by a not guilty verdict?"
Sophistry. I never claimed that, and the standard is innocent until proven guilty, not proven innocent by a not guilty verdict.
"Your argument seems to be"
Nonsense. I clearly stated that the "justice" was over Russia collusion which never happened.
"obstruction didn't happen because you were unsuccessful"
Because I'm not willing to stretch the definition of obstruction to cover what I call attempted interference. I'll give you this one though, and we can assume that legal definitions are not specific enough for my taste.
"Do you not see anything fundamentally wrong with that?" Yes, I do.
In your first example there is no charge of obstruction because there is no evidence.
As for the second example, I have no idea if they would try to charge with obstruction when they should be more worried about the murder, which didn't happen if we were to correct your second example.
"Having the lead investigator removed from an investigation can be obstruction even if"
I disagree. Especially considering how long the investigation lasted. If it is such a problem, why does the president even have that power?
"any kind of respect for our justice system"
I see your point, but I have zero respect for our justice system. Have you not heard about civil forfeiture, or the insanely high rate of cases ending in a plea bargain? The war on drugs?
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