For Kagan, Progression Is Nine-Tenths of the Law

Washington Update

Family Research Council

Defending Faith, Family and Freedom

Just as there was little doubt about what the outcome of today's committee vote on Elena Kagan would be, so too is there little doubt about the role she'll play on the nation's highest court: that of an extreme activist. While most Americans can't name a single Supreme Court justice, they can certainly identify a liberal judge when they see one. In fact, Kagan's reputation is so disturbing to the average citizen that Gallup says that if she's confirmed, Kagan "would be the first successful nominee in recent years whose nomination was backed by less than a majority of Americans in the final poll before the Senate confirmation vote."

If President Obama can't have a lifetime term, then he knows the next best thing is nominating Elena Kagan to one. She shares the President's disgust for traditional morality, free speech, the military, individual liberty, unborn children, constitutional fidelity, and all things religious. As a political appointee to President Clinton, she was so fixated on protecting partial-birth abortion that she masterminded a plot to substitute her own opinion for that of two medical groups. Both the American Medical Association (AMA) and American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) said there was virtually no instance in which a partial-birth abortion was necessary to save a woman's life. When that statement crossed Kagan's desk, she personally changed it to say that partial-birth abortion "may be the best or most appropriate procedure in a particular circumstance to save the life or preserve the health of the mother."

Byron York talks about her scary disregard for government policy in today's Washington Examiner. "Kagan is not a doctor and has no medical expertise. She just made the statement up... The ACOG executive board... adopted Kagan's addition verbatim. (The experts who draft the original statement weren't consulted.) Later, when the issue of partial-birth abortion made its way though the courts, several judges cited the ACOG statement... The judges had no way of knowing the statement was written not by doctors but by an associate White House counsel." Her track record of violating professional ethics should make Kagan's nomination a non-starter for every American Senator.

It was her rabid pro-homosexual views that led her to restrict military recruitment on Harvard Law School's campus, and, as Solicitor General, to sabotage the defense of our federal marriage law. In both instances, she favored her personal ideology and political calculations over the law. And she may spend 30 more years doing it as a member of America's most powerful court. Elena Kagan was unfit to be Solicitor General, and she definitely doesn't deserve a lifetime promotion to the U.S. Supreme Court. Contact your Senators and tell them to vote "no" on Kagan. If you need help making a case, check out the laundry list of objections to Kagan on The Cloakroom Blog.

Senate Swings, Donald Ducks

Facing pressure about his new number one at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service (CMS), President Obama sent Donald Berwick back to the Senate for consideration after his controversial recess appointment. Senators from both sides were more than a little stunned that a man in his position--with control over a trillion dollar health care budget--would be hired without at least a public hearing about his views. Alarm bells started sounding early on, when Berwick's quotes surfaced about his preference for health care rationing over treatment. His comments were so outlandish that even Democrats didn't want to schedule a hearing on his confirmation. With an election looming, they don't want to have to defend this doctor in public--and, frankly, neither does President Obama. Berwick is the poster boy for rationed, universal care. And while liberals may have the votes to push him through the process, they never wanted to let America in on his dirty little secret: he's a cheerleader for socialized medicine. The Senate Republican Policy Committee put together a list of his top 10 outrageous views, and Berwick is so outside the medical mainstream that he even calls ultrasound technology "scientifically unnecessary." For an administration hoping to avoid a messy PR campaign over Berwick's appointment, this belated attempt at transparency is too little, too late.

Gambling Supporters Work on Full House

Desperate to pay for their budget-busting health care law, Democrats are back stumping for online gambling. Ring leader Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) is holding a hearing tomorrow on overturning UIGEA (Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act) in his House Finance Committee. Of course the timing is no coincidence. The poker alliance, Wall Street banking entities and other gambling interests are among the Democrats' major backers at campaign time. So hosting a debate on the legislation seems particularly beneficial one week away from the August recess, when liberals hope to see money pour in for tough races.

But the effort on Rep. Frank's part is also sincere. He would like nothing better than abolishing UIGEA through H.R. 2267 and passing the companion bill (H.R. 4976) to tax online gambling sites. If he's successful, it would be the largest and most aggressive expansion of gambling in American history. But beyond that, it would be the first domino to fall in the push to tax and regulate the entire Internet. Gambling is devastating for families and communities, and studies show that gaming addictions are the fastest growing among young people. Rep. Frank needs to look beyond the dollar signs of overturning UIGEA to the real costs in society. Tell your representative as much. Contact them this week and let them know that American families should come first--not special interests.