Tuesday Open Thread [7.10.12]
The new ABC/WaPo polls show that support for ‘Obamacare’ went from 53%-39% against in April to 47% to 47% today. Looks like a constitutional Supreme Court bounce.
Meanwhile, in case you needed reminding of what is at stake in this election:
The court’s conservative majority so far has endured for 21 years, since Justice Clarence Thomas replaced Thurgood Marshall. Since then, there have been six appointments to the court. None, however, has affected the court’s balance, with two conservatives replacing conservatives and four liberals replacing liberals.
That may be about to change. Three justices—liberal Ruth Bader Ginsburg and conservatives Antonin Scalia and Justice Kennedy—will reach their 80s during the next presidential administration. So whoever wins in November likely will have the chance either to reinforce the conservative majority, or to alter the court’s balance for the first time in nearly a generation.
The stakes never have been higher…. [A]s human longevity increases, lifetime tenure has grown increasingly valuable. The average tenure of a Supreme Court justice today is 25 years—spanning more than six presidential terms. And presidents are catching on, naming ever-younger justices. If the newest justice, Elena Kagan, serves for all of her current life expectancy, she will remain on the court until 2045.
A Harris Interactive survey on behalf of technology marketing firm Velti found that 49 percent of iPhone and Android owners plan to support President Barack Obama in November’s election, compared with just 31 percent for Mitt Romney.
As a matter of clarification:
U of D is not so forthcoming with the expenditures of state(taxpayers) money.
U of D contracted with every other trade union consistently while my brothers and sisters sat on the bench.
It is up to every upstanding member of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners to prove our superiority over non-union contractors, through our words and deeds, and the finished product our training demands.
HOLD!