Goodwin Liu: Radical on the Bench

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The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals is largely regarded as the most liberal in the nation. It’s about to get a lot worse.

Goodwin Liu, a Berkeley law professor, doesn’t even meet the basic criteria for this position. He has no trial experience and hasn’t been out of law school for 12 years. While this hasn’t stopped nominations in the past, this, coupled with his extreme views should disqualify him. His radical views have made him one of the most contested candidates to the bench in recent history. Some of his left-wing views include:

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Protecting Free Speech

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Forty-three House conservatives are standing up for free speech.  They are urging President Obama to withdraw a proposed Executive Order, which would require all applicants for federal contracts to disclose their political contributions. Decisions related to federal contracting should have nothing to do with politics, which is why the proposal has garnered bipartisan opposition.Monday afternoon, Congressman Todd Rokita (R-IN) and 42 of his fellow RSC members sent a letter to the President, urging him to reverse course.  Kudos to these Members.  They deserve praise for continuing to draw attention to this important issue.

Full letter below:

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Peeling Back Congressional Overreach

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Americans are all too familiar with the federal government’s intrusion into our daily lives.  It sometimes seems that the feds have their hands in nearly every aspect of our daily life:  what we drive, how we educate our children, down to the very food we eat.  Unfortunately, Americans are less familiar with how the federal government is able to justify such intrusions.

They should look no further than the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution, which is embodied in Article I, Section 8, Clause 3:

To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes

The Founders included this provision in the enumerated powers of the federal government to prevent discriminatory commercial activities between the states and to secure regulation of international commerce for the federal government only.  That seems reasonable enough.

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Obamacare is Unconstitutional, but Congress Should Know This

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Weighing in on one of the most serious legal challenges to Obamacare, a federal judge ruled the law’s individual mandate was unconstitutional. The massive government takeover is woeful policy and the  odious provision that every American purchase health insurance is certainly unconstitutional.

Yesterday’s decision affirms our constitution is working — the independent judiciary is reining in an out-of-control legislature. While Heritage Action welcomes that check on congressional power, we are committed to ensuring Congress abides by the Constitution from the outset.

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Constitution Trampled: Food Safety Bill Rushed through Senate

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House Speaker Pelosi and Senate Leader Reid are trying to ram as much of their far-left agenda through the Congress as possible during the remaining weeks of the lame duck session. They thought they’d achieved a victory yesterday with a food safety bill (the “FDA Food Safety Management Act”). As The Heritage Foundation noted, this was a $1.4 billion boondoggle of over-regulation aimed at a problem the market is already correcting. The food safety bill passed the Senate yesterday, over the objections of the Senate’s conservatives.

Not so fast, says the Constitution. The Senate version of the food safety bill included new fees that raise revenue.

More: analysis of the Constitutional and political implications of the rushed bill.

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