Barack Obama Wants SCOTUS To “Break-Free” From Constitution :: MAXINE

by Edmund Jenks | October 27, 2008 at 06:39 am
2306 views | 10 Recommendations | 14 comments

Videos

Obama Recording Uncovered! - "The Redistribution of Wealth"

see larger video

sourced by Edmund Jenks

Obama Recording Uncovered! - "The Redistribution of Wealth"

Photos

Barack Obama Wants SCOTUS To “Break-Free” From Constitution :: MAXINE

Barack Obama Wants SCOTUS To “Break-Free” From Constitution :: MAXINE

see larger image

uploaded by Edmund Jenks

Barack Obama articulates his socialist vision for the United States. He muses about a rational for bringing about economic change through the courts (Ctrl-Click Image to hear interview). Image Credit: NakedEmperorNews

Barack Obama Wants SCOTUS To “Break-Free” From Constitution

In a radio interview given in 2001, Barack Obama finally articulates his philosophy on how social engineering (socialism) should come and be established here in the United States.

What the junior Senator from Illinois would like to see is a Supreme Court that would legislate (from the bench) transfer of earned monies from citizens that work to the citizens who do not.

The more one reads these statements of philosophy, one is left to wonder … exactly what about this country and its constitution does Barack Obama like? Judging by the proposed projection of action he had wished the Warren court missed at taking on … not much. He called the Constitution a deeply flawed document – this IS the document that allowed this country to become the most productive and powerful on Earth – how flawed can this document be?

Personal freedom and the right to one’s earned wealth are two items that Barack Obama would like to have in the total control of the federal government – ALL BRANCHES.

This excerpted and edited from Morningstar –

Obama on redistribution (transcript of 2001 interview)

Beliavsky - Morningstar - 10-26-2008

Here is a transcript of a 2001 radio interview of Barack Obama where he advocates redistribution as reparations for slavery and other injustices towards "previously disposessed peoples".

MODERATOR:
Good morning and welcome to Odyssey on WBEZ Chicago 91.5 FM and we’re joined by Barack Obama who is Illinois State Senator from the 13th district and senior lecturer in the law school at the University of Chicago.

OBAMA:
If you look at the victories and failures of the civil rights movement and its litigation strategy in the court, I think where it succeeded was to vest formal rights in previously dispossessed peoples. So that I would now have the right to vote, I would now be able to sit at the lunch counter and order and as long as I could pay for it I’d be okay.

But the Supreme Court never ventured into the issues of redistribution of wealth and sort of more basic issues of political and economic justice in this society. And to that extent as radical as people tried to characterize the Warren court, it wasn’t that radical.

It didn’t break free from the essential constraints that were placed by the founding fathers in the Constitution, at least as it’s been interpreted, and the Warren court interpreted it in the same way that generally the Constitution is a charter of negative liberties. It says what the states can’t do to you, it says what the federal government can’t do to you, but it doesn’t say what the federal government or the state government must do on your behalf. And that hasn’t shifted.

One of the I think tragedies of the civil rights movement was because the civil rights movement became so court focused, I think that there was a tendency to lose track of the political and community organizing and activities on the ground that are able to put together the actual coalitions of power through which you bring about redistributed change and in some ways we still suffer from that.

MODERATOR:
Let’s talk with Karen. Good morning, Karen, you’re on Chicago Public Radio.

KAREN:
Hi. The gentleman made the point that the Warren court wasn’t terribly radical with economic changes. My question is, is it too late for that kind of reparative work economically and is that that the appropriate place for reparative economic work to take place – the court – or would it be legislation at this point?

OBAMA:
Maybe I’m showing my bias here as a legislator as well as a law professor, but I’m not optimistic about bringing about major redistributive change through the courts. The institution just isn’t structured that way.
----
So I think that although you can craft theoretical justifications for it legally. Any three of us sitting here could come up with a rational for bringing about economic change through the courts.
Reference Here>>

 

So, does anyone here think that Barack Obama would restructure the Supreme Court system so that they can legislate changes on how much money we earn can be confiscated for redistribution purposes without the opportunity for a vote by the people in this democracy?

recommend This comment thread is now closed
Fairbanks
Fairbanks
flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 08:57 on October 27th, 2008

The concept of state capitalism as presented by Adorno and Horkheimer might be a place to start reading this Obamic proposal. 

1
John Herrin

I don't think anyone voting for CHANGE realizes the change they're gonna get. If they did Mr Obama would'nt stand a chance. I'm afraid its too late to educate.

0
Mark Fradl

Lying, misleading headline.  Where in these interview snippets is Obama saying he wants the Supreme Court to break free of the constitution?  He simply said the Warren Court didn't break free of the basic constraints placed on it by the Founding Fathers - it sounds to me like he's defending the Warren court against charges that it went too far and was unconstitutional.  He even goes on to say that one of the problems of the civil rights movement was that they concentrated too much on the courts and not on legislation, thus acknowledging the limitations of the courts.


NO WHERE in these interview snippets does he advocate a court going beyond Constitutional constraints.

And ask yourself a simple question -  why doesn't this article, the article it quotes, or the youtube clip that was used as a source for all this, why don't any of them give the whole interview?  Why can't we get the full context of what Obama was talking about?  Maybe because, in context, this was even less "threatening" than these clips you're trying to gin up into a controversy.

What does he mean by "redistributive change"?  We can't tell, since most of this interview is edited out of both teh clip and the transcript.

By the way, do you think every man, woman, and child should have to pay the same dollar amount in taxes, let's say $10,000 a year?  And that anyone who can't pay that should be put in jail for tax evasion?  NO?  If not then you agree that the wealthy should pay more, so you're not against income redistribution, we're just debating how much.  McCain says 36% top bracket, obama says 39%... is that 3% the difference that makes him a "socialist"?

0
Edmund Jenks

Click on the photo to hear the actual audio file (also, video supplied as assets)!

Your vision is tainted - here is an exact quote that drips of the lament of having a court that does not go far enough:

but I’m not optimistic about bringing about major redistributive change through the courts. The institution just isn’t structured that way.

The Constitution was established so the the federal government would not erode of eliminate our freedoms. Barack Obama wants to CHANGE all of that through his radical agenda of using Social Security and the tax system to control all middle-class human activity with income redistribution.

 

0
Mark Fradl

Again, if this is so damning, why aren't they pushing the FULL text of the conversation, why are they cherry-picking quotes??

As i mentioned earlier, "redistributive" has a very specific meaning in this discussion, a meaning which is lost when the Right Wingers rob these quotes of their context:


Sunstein argued that Obama is discussing redistribution in a relatively narrow legal context: The discussion in the 1970s of whether the Supreme Court would create the right to a social safety net -- to things like education and welfare. He also noted that in the interview, Obama appears to express support for the court's rejection of that line of argument, saying instead that the civil rights movement should aim for the same goals through legislative action.

"What the critics are missing is that the term 'redistribution' didn’t man in the Constitutional context equalized wealth or anything like that. It meant some positive rights, most prominently the right to education, and also the right to a lawyer," Sunstein said. "What he’s saying – this is the irony of it – he’s basically taking the side of the conservatives then and now against the liberals."

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/10/27/145024/36/995/643777


0
master_jim2008

This is just another Obama smear tactic, don't pay it no mind.

0
Edmund Jenks

HIS words, not mine.

ojt
ojt
flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 19:51 on October 27th, 2008

Edmund Jenks, I like this story. It's good stuff.  Don't pay any mind to comments from the haters Edmund Janks.  Good job.

duo
duo
flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 23:17 on October 27th, 2008

Edmund Jenks, I like this story. It's good stuff.

Lots of middle class folks are worrying about somebody "redistributing" their wealth.  I am encouraged to know so many people still have enough wealth to be concerned.  Maybe the economic picture is not as bad as the news projects.  I am so glad!  The headlines lately had me thinking everyone was getting laid off, losing their pensions, their homes, and going flat broke.  But maybe that is only happening to the folks who never had wealth . . .  

I like capitalism myself, and think that folks are just natural born capitalists.  Even in countries that supposedly have socialist governments, you see great disparity in wealth and privilege among the rulers who espouse socialism and their average citizens.  In the Bible, Job had plenty, and other men worked for him. 

But within the framework of capitalism, make room for average citizens to get their house notes paid without working 20 hours a day, buy a new car now and then, have the ability to afford health care and save money for their kids to go to college.  Is that asking too much?  If so, there will be an eventual collaspe of capitalism.  The CEO works all year and earns three million dollars plus bonuses and corporate stock; meanwhile, his hardworking employees, who also contribute to the success of the firm, are having to give up their homes and qualify for foodstamps.  There is simply too much disparity being created by greed.  If capitalism ever fails, it will not be because of any one man.  The cause will be unbridled greed.

Ever read about Henry Ford?  He gave his workers good salaries and the opportunity to share in the success of his corporation so there would be more people who could afford his products, which enabled him to sell quality products cheaper.  Now that is good business sense.

Redistribution of wealth?  No.  Fair wages for workers and expanded opportunities for financial advancement?  Yes.  I cannot speak for Senator Obama, but maybe this is what he meant.

Mary

0
Edmund Jenks

Obama is not for insuring fair wages ... but for a Government that dictates outcomes. The America I grew up in was an America that fostered and enhanced the freedoms of the individual over the masses.

Dictateing outcomes as opposed to enhanceing the environment is a Government that wreaks of Communist/Socialist template and that trend will destroy individual freedoms.

An Obama vote is a vote to a one-sided Government (all branches - one philosophy) and that will not be good for our economy or our freedoms.

0
duo

Edmund, you are so right.  No one knows better than I do what a downturn we have experienced in civil liberties.  Folks cannot believe the things my family endures.  I am greatly saddened by it.  We need a CHANGE!

Mary Neal
http://wrongfuldeathoflarryneal.com

cclporter
cclporter
flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 06:54 on October 29th, 2008

Edmund Jenks, I like this story. It's good stuff.

Stick with the facts Fradl! Colorado GOP supporters are with you there Sir Jenks!

Keep up the good work!!!

 

René
René
flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 04:58 on October 31st, 2008

Edmund Jenks, I like this story. It's good stuff.

0
Evelyn_S

I figured this might be interesting; something brand new or dug up from the past, and got this far: " He called the Constitution a deeply flawed document " before going to verification mode.  The Utube clip was snipped out of context, so I clicked on a longer version IN CONTEXT so I could get some idea of what was actually being discussed.

He did not  call the Constitution a deeply flawed document in either clip.  Did not use those words.  He was referring to the racism in colonial times, when humans were held in slavery.  This, he was saying, is a flaw in the thinking of the framers of the constitution.

I guess the author of this post is saying that balck folks should have remained in slavery.  That's a less unreasonable conclusion, from what I see written here, than the twisted misrepresentation of Obama's message.

Why do I try reading right wing stuff?  Why?




This story was created over 3 months ago, the comment thread is now closed.

closeSign in to NowPublic

is reporting from