"I'm referring to statements by the president in the past few days to the effect, I'm sure you've heard about them, that it is somehow inappropriate for what he termed unelected judges to strike acts of Congress that have enjoyed, he was referring of course to Obamacare, to what he termed a broad consensus and majorities in both houses of Congress," Smith told Dana Kaersvang, an attorney with the Justice Department in Washington, D.C.
On Monday, Obama issued a direct challenge to the Supreme Court, saying he didn't believe the high court would take the "unprecedented" step of overturning a law passed by a strong majority of Congress.
"I want to be sure that you are telling us that the Attorney General and the Department of Justice do recognize the authority of the federal courts through unelected judges to strike acts of Congress or portions thereof in appropriate cases," Smith said.
A somewhat surprised Kaersvang told Smith the Justice Department does recognize this power by the courts and made reference to a landmark 1803 case that formed the basis for judicial review.
However, Smith ordered Kaersvang to submit a letter to the appeals court by Thursday stating the position of U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and the Justice Department on the concept of judicial review.
"The letter needs to be at least three pages, single spaced, no less and it needs to be specific. It needs to make specific reference to the president's statements," Smith said...
Wow. This Houston Chronicle article is one of but a few which reported on this remarkable event. Imagine, a judge publicly spanking the feds and then requiring them to pass in homework! Will the government comply? Probably not -- after all, they've ignored the law time and again in their tenure. Why break the pattern now?
But this whole mess (Obama's unhinged declaration that the Supreme Court has no right to decide against his wildly unconstitutional health care bill) shows just how dangerous is this guy's arrogance.
For more on the matter, check out these items:
* "Barack Obama, Constitutional Ignoramus" by Stephen Hayward at Power Line.
* "Obama Has It Backward; Striking Down Obamacare Would Protect Our Republic" by David Limbaugh.
* "Why the Supreme Court Will Strike Down All of Obamacare" by Peter Ferrara at Forbes.
* "A Know Nothing: What else besides the Constitution does Mr. Obama not know?" by Ben Stein.
* "Obama setting up Supreme Court as a campaign issue" by Anne Gearan at the AP.
