Chad’s Morning Brief: Judges Take on Obama, Arizona Internet Censorship, & More

Here is your Morning Brief for the morning of April 4, 2012. Give us your feedback below and tune in to Lubbock’s First News with Chad Hasty for these and many more topics from 6-9 am.

1. Judges Take on Obama (link)

On Monday, President Obama warned the Supreme Court and weighed in on the Obamacare case being decided by the court. On Monday, President Obama said this:

"I'm confident that the Supreme Court will not take what would be an unprecedented, extraordinary step of overturning a law that was passed by a strong majority of a democratically elected Congress," Obama said on Monday. "And I'd just remind conservative commentators that for years what we've heard is the biggest problem on the bench was judicial activism or a lack of judicial restraint, that an unelected group of people would somehow overturn a duly constituted and passed law. Well, this is a good example. And I'm pretty confident that this court will recognize that and not take that step."

It appears as though it wasn't just lawmakers that were shocked at the President's statement. On Tuesday a three judge panel of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the Justice Department to explain whether the Obama Administration believes that judges have the power to strike down a federal law. The Justice Department has until Thursday to respond.

I think what we are seeing is the beginning of what could be a huge constitutional crisis going forward. The President already dislikes the Supreme Court, or those unelected people as he referred to them, and if the court overturns Obamacare you could see the administration fight the decision. This is just the beginning of the challenge to the separation of powers I think.

2. Big Night for Romney (link)

Mitt Romney swept all three primaries last night on his way to padding his delegate lead over Rick Santorum. Going forward I believe you will hear more calls for Santorum to drop out. If Santorum loses his home state of Pennsylvania, I'm not sure why or how he could continue. Soon the money will start drying up for Santorum since it's very clear that Romney will be the GOP nominee. Time to focus on Obama.

It's been a good ride for Santorum and he has brought up some good issues, but it's time for him to go.

3. Arizona to Censor the Internet (link)

When politician's get together who don't understand the internet, this is the type of legislation you get.

Arizona House Bill 2549, which is now on Gov. Jan Brewer’s desk for signature, was created to counter bullying and stalking. The law would make it a crime to use any electronic or digital device to communicate using “obscene, lewd or profane language” or to suggest a lewd or lascivious act, if done with the intent to “terrify, intimidate, threaten, harass, annoy or offend.”

…H.B. 2549 “would apply to the Internet as a whole, thus criminalizing all manner of writing, cartoons, and other protected material the state finds offensive or annoying,” Media Coalition says on its website — at least for now, until what it says is found to be offensive or annoying by those in Arizona.

Censorship is never good. Whether it's done by Republican's or Democrats. This bill was intended to go after bullying and stalking, but it goes much further than that. It would ban anything anyone found offensive or annoying. Watch out Facebook and Twitter! This bill is too vague and dangerous. Sorry folks, you don't have the right not to be offended.

By the way, this is pretty funny. If offended, too bad.

4. Empower Texans Slapped with Ethics Complaint (link)

Straus allies who have been targeted by Michael Quinn Sullivan and Empower Texans have filed two ethics complaints against the organization.

Michael Quinn Sullivan and the influential conservative group he leads, Empower Texans, haven't filed required disclosure reports on their lobbying and campaign activities, two Republican state legislators said in formal complaints filed today with the Texas Ethics Commission.

In one complaint, Reps. Jim Keffer, R-Eastland, and Vicki Truitt, R-Southlake, said Sullivan lobbied in 2010 and 2011 without filing the required lobbyist disclosures that he had filed up until that time.

In their filing, they said Sullivan and his employees lobbied lawmakers during the last quarter of 2010 and into 2011, when lawmakers began their most recent legislative session. "That direct communication included written communications directed to elected members of the Texas House of Representatives and staff employed by them expressing the action on legislation preferred by Mr. Sullivan's employer," they wrote.

The Texas Tribune reached out to Sullivan who fired back.

"You can allege people kick their puppies all day long," he said. "Complaints to ethics commissions can be filed by anyone, any time, about any thing. I think this is just typical incumbents trying to throw around power and throw around big fancy words when, you know, at the end of the day, they just don't want to talk to people about their record.

"I have no idea what they're alleging. I'm sure at some point, I'll find out," he said. "I do know, they're just trying to distract people about their record."

He also said his group didn't make any calls into Vicki Truitt's district after the 2010 primary was under way — that those calls went out at the end of the 2009 legislative session and into the fall of that year. Candidates filed for the primaries late in 2009 and in the early days of 2010.

Keep an eye on this.

5. Dumb story of the morning (link)

Michelle Obama at it again.

Michelle Obama, who has quickly become the Obama campaign’s tip of the spear when it comes to fundraising and vote-getting, is now stumping for children to convince their “great-grandparents” to vote for her husband. At an event at San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park – for which tickets cost at least $500 – Michelle said:

I mean, I can’t tell you in the last election how many grandparents I ran into who said, I wasn’t going to vote for Barack Obama until my grandson talked to me, until my great-grandson talked to me, and talked about the future he wanted for this country.

You can get out there with your parents. You guys can knock on doors. I had one young lady who brought me a petition — she’s already working. You can convince wrong people. Sometimes we don’t listen to ourselves, but we will listen to our children.

6. Good Brews Good News of the Day (link)

Must be an awesome feeling for him.

The nation's first full face transplant recipient says he can feel his daughter's kisses now, a year after the procedure.

Dallas Wiens (WEENS) of Fort Worth, Texas, was at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston on Monday to follow up with his transplant team. He says he can use his face more than he expected.

His face was burned in 2008 when his head touched a high-voltage power line while he was standing in a cherry picker. He also was blinded.

Wiens says feeling his daughter's kisses has brought him to tears more than once. He also says he can go out with family and friends and not worry about what anyone thinks.

Everyday, Good Brews Coffee & Tea Lounge brings you the Good News of the Day!

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These and many more topics coming up on today’s edition of Lubbock’s First News with Chad Hasty. Tune in mornings 6-9am on News/Talk 790 KFYO, streaming online at kfyo.com, and now on your iPhone and Android device with the radioPup App. All guest interviews can be heard online in our podcast section after the show at kfyo.com.