The Obama administration transformed their campaign apparatus into a public opinion machine just after the 2012 presidential election, and now they are gearing up to use it to sway opinion of the deeply unpopular Obamacare health care bill, or the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
Amnesty – sorry, immigration reform – is looking as if it will pass the Senate with upwards of 70 votes, because Mitch McConnell does not have the political guts that Harry Reid has. Have you ever wondered why the GOP always has to cave on allowing or votes, or why conservatives have to get in line with establishment big government progressive Republicans, such as Mitch McConnell?
Earlier, in reaction to the Supreme Court decisions on DOMA and California’s Proposition 8, Congresswoman Michelle Bachman said that the Supreme Court “can’t undo the Holy word of God.” Whatever you may think of that statement, when asked for a response by ABC’s John Parkinson, the self-proclaimed devout Catholic House minority leader said, “who cares?”
President Barack Obama’s presidential approval rating is still tanking, and in the new Fox Poll it is continuing its upside-down decent, but there are three reasons for the precipitation in Obama’s approval rating. Overall, Obama’s approval rating is underwater by 8%, as 43% of voters approve and 51% disapprove of his performance. The implications from these recent numbers are far-reaching for the next generation of conservatives burdened with the task to rebuild a party with national appeal, capable of building a majority coalition.
In a 5 – 4 decision the Supreme Court ruled DOMA is unconstitutional as a deprivation of the equal liberty of persons that is protected by the Fifth Amendment. The majority opinion – Justice Kennedy joined the liberal justices – and its holding are confined to those lawful marriages. Roberts dissents, joined by Scalia who is joined by Thomas – Chief Justice joins in part.
U.S. first quarter GDP growth, not surprisingly, was more tepid than previously estimated in the first quarter. Economists are citing that the economy was held back by a moderate pace of consumer spending, weak business investment and declining exports.
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The Supreme Court issued opinions on several high-profile and contentious cases thus far this week, including Fisher vs. University of Texas. AEI Visiting Fellow and Director of the Project on Fair Representation, Edward Blum, hosted a media conference featuring Abigail Fisher to respond to the opinion.
Rev. Jesse Jackson began to bash the Supreme Court’s decision on the Voting Rights Act saying that civil rights activists have “bled too much” to be “stabbed in the heart” this way. The so-called civil rights leader told CNN’s Jake Tapper:
The right to vote is too precious. We’ve bled too much, we’ve died too young, the price has been too great to now watch it be stabbed in the heart by the Supreme Court today.
The Supreme court has issues a decision on the Alabama case involving the 1960’s era Voting Rights Act, and it is outdated and unconstitutional. In a 5 – 4 decision, along the usual lines, the formula for “covered jurisdictions” are a thing of the past, and there is no longer contemporary data to make the law justifiable. In the majority opinion, Chief Justice Roberts wrote:
The markets posted big gains on Tuesday as traders heralded strong U.S. economic data. Home prices in 20 major U.S. metropolitan areas climbed 2.5% in April from March, on a non-seasonally adjusted basis, topping expectations of a 1.1% gain. Prices were up 12.1% from the year prior, beating forecasts of a 10.6% jump.
