The United States Supreme Court Is At It Again

Tomorrow night is the president's State of the Union address. This is an event required by the Constitution of the United States. It's one of the few mandated duties of the president. A quick reading of the Constitution will quickly reveal that a president's duties are rather vague. As head of the executive branch of government, it is his duty to enforce legislation passed by the Congress. His other two duties are, in my view, more important. One is Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and the other is to appoint Supreme Court justices. If a president is to have any lasting impact at all, it is in the last duty. President George W. Bush, aka 43, appointed two. They are both very conservative. Their influence is already being felt-most recently in a ruling that has far-reaching consequences. The ruling overturns a previous ruling that put a lid on corporate campaign contributions. So much for the concept of Stari Decisis (precedent-the whole concept of precedent is a joke anyway. For more on that, see an earlier post). With this last ruling it is now OK for corporations to contribute as much as they want to a person's campaign. Basically, it was the majority argument that no one has the right to tell another person or entity what they can do with their money. Those opposing this concept argue that because corporations have so MUCH money they could influence the outcome of an election. Through TV and other media ads they could get a person elected who represents the best interests of the corporation as opposed to those of the general public. Therefore their influence should be limited. Where ever you may stand on this issue is presently irrelevant-at least until the balance of power on the court has shifted (again, so much for the importance of precedent). Obama may well have an opportunity to add at least two more justices to the one he's already appointed thus bringing about that shift. Still, it will be close. The four conservatives there now-Roberts, Scalia, Thomas and Alito-have a long, long way to go. If you're a conservative, you're in pretty good shape. If you're not, well, all you can do is hope Obama gets to appoint enough justices to make it a 5 person majority. It's in this area that Obama will have more influence than anything else he does.