2014 Begins With A Roar

Ball drops in NYC's Times Square, ushering in 2014

Photo (Courtesy) http://www.sfgate.com/news/us/article/Ball-drops-in-NYC-s-Times-Square-ushering-in-2014-5105982.php
[http://ww4.hdnux.com/photos/25/47/44/5667099/3/628x471.jpg]

In freezing New York City's Times Square, a sea of horn-tooting, hat-wearing revelers cheered and some smooched as the famed crystal ball dropped at midnight.
Bronx-born U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor led the 60-second countdown and pushed the button that unleashed the shimmering orb with 2,688 crystals, a role usually filled by the New York City mayor.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg, on his last day in office, sat out the celebration after 12 years on the job, while newly elected Mayor Bill de Blasio took the oath of office just after midnight at his Brooklyn home.


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---Somewhat related---

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[Wow, on the same day she makes the BIG HEADLINES once again!]



Justice Sotomayor grants temporary Obamacare exemption to nuns 

The Catholic nuns would have faced 'draconian fines' if they failed to provide contraceptive coverage, as the healthcare law requires.



By David G. Savage and Maeve Reston December 31, 2013, 10:33 p.m.

WASHINGTON — Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor granted a temporary exemption late Tuesday to a small group of Catholic nuns that shields it from having to comply with a part of President Obama's healthcare law that requires it to provide contraceptive coverage in its insurance plans. 

She acted on an emergency appeal from lawyers for the group who said the nuns faced "draconian fines" beginning on New Year's Day if they failed to comply with the law widely known as Obamacare.

Sotomayor gave the government until Friday to file a response in the case. Her order extends only to the group of nuns and does not apply more broadly to the Affordable Care Act and its requirements.

The Supreme Court is facing a series of appeals from religious organizations and private corporations whose owners object to paying for contraceptives. In March, the court will hear two cases involving corporations and the contraceptive mandate.

The Obama administration has exempted churches and other religious groups from providing contraceptive coverage. However, it has granted a more limited exemption for religiously affiliated charities. Although they need not pay for this coverage directly, their insurers are required to include the coverage in their policies.

Nonetheless, several religious charities have continued to press for exemptions to the law. And on Tuesday evening, hours before the mandate was to take effect, they sent several emergency appeals to the court seeking an emergency exemption.

It was unclear how the Obama administration would proceed after Sotomayor's order. Obama is vacationing with his family in Hawaii this week, and the White House is not expected to make any comment before the Justice Department files a response to Sotomayor's ruling on Friday.

A number of religious groups with similar objections have vigorously challenged the Affordable Care Act in court. The Colorado order of nuns, the Little Sisters of the Poor, asked for the last-minute ruling Tuesday because the healthcare law's provisions go into effect Jan. 1.

In late November, the Supreme Court agreed to hear several cases that could settle the dispute between the Obama administration and businesses run by Christian conservatives over whether those companies must pay for birth control if providing that coverage is in conflict with the religious beliefs of the business owner.

The November announcement that the Supreme Court would hear the constitutional challenge to the birth control mandate in Sebelius vs. Hobby Lobby Stores Inc., as well as another case, signaled a new phase of the political battle over the healthcare law.

David Green, founder of Oklahoma-based Hobby Lobby Stores, has argued that business owners "should not have to choose between violating their beliefs and violating the law."

david.savage@latimes.com

maeve.reston@latimes.com

Savage reported from Washington and Reston from Honolulu.

 

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---Related indeed---

Roberts calls for more money for courts





Roberts spoke out about sequestration's affect on the courts. | AP Photo
By TAL KOPAN | 1/1/14 8:28 AM EST



Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts used his year-end report for 2013 to call for more funding for federal courts and lambaste sequestration’s effect on the judiciary.

In the New Year’s Eve missive, Roberts referenced the seasonally appropriate “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens to guide a “look at what has made our federal court system work in the past, what we are doing in the present to preserve it in an era of fiscal constraint, and what the future holds if the judiciary does not receive the funding it needs.”

Roberts wrote that while the judiciary recognizes the need for frugality, its operating costs are only 0.2 percent of the federal budget and it has been making austerity moves for years, even before the sequester went into effect. Because courts cannot manage their caseload, however, Roberts said the effects of sequestration hit them harder.

“The impact of the sequester was more significant on the courts than elsewhere in the government, because virtually all of their core functions are constitutionally and statutorily required,” Roberts wrote. “Unlike most Executive Branch agencies, the courts do not have discretionary programs they can eliminate or postpone in response to budget cuts.”

The chief justice also went through the appropriations request submitted by the judiciary to Congress, saying it was conservative and the minimum needed for the courts to operate properly.

“In the coming weeks, and into the future, I encourage the president and Congress to be attentive to the needs of the Judicial Branch and avert the adverse consequences that would result from funding the judiciary below its minimal needs,” Roberts wrote. “It takes no imagination to see that failing to meet the judiciary’s essential requirements undermines the public’s confidence in all three branches of government. Both ‘A Christmas Carol’ and ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ have happy endings. We are encouraged that the story of funding for the federal judiciary — though perhaps not as gripping a tale — will too.”

The Supreme Court justices and federal judges have not been shy in advocating for court funding under sequestration. The chief judges of 87 district courts wrote to Congress last August pleading for more money and Justices Anthony Kennedy and Stephen Breyer made a rare appearance before a congressional hearing last March to make the case, as well.

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The best for last

The Current U.S. Supreme Court

Six are Roman Catholics and Three Jewish!

	Service			Birth
Name, state	Assoc. Justice	Chief Justice	Yrs	Place	Date	Died	Religion
Antonin Scalia, DC	1986–		—	N.J.	1936	—	Roman Catholic
Anthony M. Kennedy, Calif.	1988–		—	Calif.	1936	—	Roman Catholic
Clarence Thomas, DC	1991–		—	Ga.	1948	—	Roman Catholic
Ruth Bader Ginsburg, DC	1993–		—	N.Y.	1933	—	Jewish
Stephen G. Breyer, Mass.	1994–		—	Calif.	1938	—	Jewish
John G. Roberts, DC		2005–	—	N.Y.	1955	—	Roman Catholic
Samuel A. Alito, Jr., N.J.	2006–		—	N.J.	1950	—	Roman Catholic
Sonia Sotomayor N.Y.	2009–		—	N.Y.	1954	—	Roman Catholic
Elena Kagan N.Y.	2010–		—	N.Y.	1960	—	Jewish

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http://www.factmonster.com/us/supreme-court/supreme-court-members.html
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Gloria and Emilio Estefan Went to Private Mass with Pope Francis

Gloria Estefan asked the new pontiff to pray for human rights in Cuba

Tuesday, May 14, 2013 | Updated 11:09 AM EDT




Courtesy Photo
Gloria and Emilio Estefan with Pope Francis.




Gloria and Emilio Estefan met Pope Francis and attended a private Mass with him during a recent trip to the Vatican, they announced Monday.

The Estefans are very proud that the new pope hails from Latin America, and asked him to pray for human rights in their homeland of Cuba, they said in a statement released by Estefan Enterprises Inc.

Photos were also released of the meeting, which occurred on April 20, a spokeswoman said. Gloria Estefan spoke about the importance of religious freedom in the world today at a TEDx conference sponsored by the Vatican on April 19, and the private Mass was held the next day.

The Grammy Award-winning singer is the first international recording artist to meet the new pope, the statement says.

Gloria Estefan Campaigns to Save Miami Marine Stadium

The pontiff, who was the longtime archbishop of Buenos Aires, is the first Latin American pope.

Music and prayer are very important for the Estefans and have given them strength during difficult times, they said.

"Music is like part of my religion," Gloria Estefan said.

She previously asked Pope John Paul II to pray for human rights in Cuba in 1995.

Stories and Videos on the Election of Pope Francis

Below: Pope Francis with Emilio Estefan (courtesy photo).




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IRS official Lerner speedily approved exemption for Obama brother’s ‘charity’

Politics

5:06 PM 05/14/2013

Charles C. Johnson

Lois Lerner, the senior IRS official at the center of the decision to target tea party groups for burdensome tax scrutiny, signed paperwork granting tax-exempt status to the Barack H. Obama Foundation, a shady charity headed by the president’s half-brother that operated illegally for years.

According to the organization’s filings, Lerner approved the foundation’s tax status within a month of filing, an unprecedented timeline that stands in stark contrast to conservative organizations that have been waiting for more than three years, in some cases, for approval.

Lerner also appears to have broken with the norms of tax-exemption approval by granting retroactive tax-exempt status to Malik Obama’s organization.

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2013/05/14/irs-official-lerner-approved-exemption-for-obama-brothers-charity/#ixzz2TKiNoPl6

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FRESHMAN REPS CALL FOR BREAK IN GRIDLOCK

Peters wants to set a tone of progress; Vargas optimistic about passing reform
By Mark Walker 12:01 A.M. APRIL 20, 2013 Updated 9:05 P.M. APRIL 19, 2013


After a little more than 100 days in office, San Diego County’s two new members of Congress said they’re a bit frustrated but committed to breaking Washington’s partisan gridlock.

“We still have some work to do in changing the culture,” Rep. Scott Peters, D-San Diego, said Friday.

Peters said he’s working with more than 80 other freshmen to set a tone of compromise and achieve progress on legislation that benefits the nation.

“San Diego seems much more able to do that than Washington, D.C., and we need that there,” he said.

The county delegation’s other freshman member, Democrat Juan Vargas of San Diego, said he believes there is enough bipartisan agreement on comprehensive immigration reform to get legislation passed this year.

“I hope this becomes a model for other things we have to do. We’ve got to compromise,” he said. “I think the Democrats and Republicans can get together and compromise on most things.”

But Vargas also said he’s been taken aback at the apparent lack of behind-the-scenes bargaining by what he refers to as the “adults in the room.”

“There doesn’t seem to be anyone behind the curtain,” he said. “I haven’t been there long enough to know for certain if there isn’t, but so far I haven’t seen it.”

The lawmakers’ remarks came during the 20th annual congressional luncheon sponsored by the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce.

More than 600 people gathered inside a Marriott Marquis ballroom, where they dined on Cobb salad and iced tea and heard from four of the county’s five House members. Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Alpine, was unable to attend.

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, said entitlement reform is his top fiscal priority.

“If we are going to have Social Security and Medicare not dealt with and continue to balloon past their revenue base, then either we are going to tax ourselves out of doing the things that all of my colleagues say are important, or in fact we are going to run out of money,” he said.

Issa, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said budget proposals from the Democratically controlled Senate and President Barack Obama don’t adequately address entitlements.

“It’s the No. 1 priority if we are going to keep from cutting defense or cutting our core priorities,” he said.

Issa also said federal and state regulations are combining to drive businesses out of California.

“This state has told people to leave,” he said, adding that unless onerous regulations and taxes are relaxed, an increasing numbers of large businesses will leave for states such as Texas.

“I predict we will keep small, innovative businesses,” he said. “But when they get to the point of breaking even, they’ll leave.”

San Diego Democrat Susan Davis said she supports Obama’s call for universal preschool access.

She also said she continues to strongly support the Affordable Care Act and encouraged business executives to work with Congress to make its implementation a smooth process.

All the lawmakers spoke in support of $226 million in federal funding to complete an expansion of the San Ysidro Port of Entry. But Issa predicted that it wouldn’t be long after all that work is done that calls for even more inspection lanes will begin.

The luncheon was one of the first appearances by former San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders before a large group since leaving office and becoming the chamber’s new president and chief executive.

He and his successor, Mayor Bob Filner, whom Sanders jokingly referred to as his twin brother, just completed a chamber-sponsored trip to Mexico City together.

“It’s wonderful that we get to work together,” Filner told the crowd during brief remarks that included praise for Sanders’ work in straightening out city finances.

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Related:

Issa Offers Dems a Trade: Back XL Pipeline to Speed Border Crossings
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Issa, a North County Republican whose district includes southern Orange County, told 600 members of the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce that if Democrats want the border crossing funds, they’ll have to bend on another border issue—the Keystone XL pipeline to the Gulf of Mexico.

“You can’t be territorial on import and export,” Issa told the luncheon at the bayfront Marriott Hotel near the San Diego Convention Center. “If you want to get bipartisan buy-in on these trade issues, you have to take the big picture.”

Calling the XL pipeline “just as important to the national dialog” as San Diego’s border with Mexico, he said: “Right now, we’re telling Canada that we will stop the exports of their oil for no particular reason except that we can.”

But Issa incited bipartisan laughter when he responded to a comment by Vargas that the county’s congressional delegation had three border members—the Democrats who visited the border earlier Friday.

“We have a border crossing in my district,” Issa said. “Come up to San Onofre.”

To which Vargas, the successor to Bob Filner in the 51st District fronting the border, responded: “As a Democrat, there’s that border crossing—between San Diego and Orange County.”

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