The Supreme Court got this one wrong
The United States Supreme Court handed down two big decisions today. The one that they really blew was Sylvia Burwell, Secretary of Health and Human Services, Petitioner vs Hobby Lobby, Inc., et al. The court ruled, in a 5-4 decision, that closely held corporations and family businesses are exempt from being forced to pay for healthcare coverage for birth control for their employees.
Some of the pundits who are considered experts in the law are saying this is a "narrowly-drawn decision" but I think they are wrong. Hobby Lobby may be owned by one family, but it isn't a mom and pop business. They have more than 500 stores in the U. S. and employ over 13,000 people. Chick-Fil-A could follow the example of Hobby Lobby, deny their female employees access to birth control and they have more than three times as many locations and employees.
But that isn't the reason SCOTUS blew it today. The reason is that this is indeed the proverbial slippery slope. What will the owners of closely held corporations insist that their healthcare insurers stop covering? Will a business owned by Jehovah's Witnesses no longer pay for blood transfusions? Will businesses owned by Christian Scientists stop offering any medical coverage altogether, since their belief is that all illness can be cured by prayer alone?
The same Evangelical Christian doctrine that the Hobby Lobby ownership uses to justify denying birth control to their employees also proscribes procreation outside of wedlock. Will they now deny maternity benefits to female employees who become pregnant and are not married? This decision seems to indicate they would be within their rights to do so.
Everyone has a right to religious freedom. However, that right ends when the exercise of that right begins to infringe on any other freedom to which another is entitled.
* * *
Hillandale is a gated community in the Georgetown area of Washington, D.C. It is where current Federal Reserve Bank Chairperson Janet Yellen lives. Residents of the area are not happy with all the security that her home and person began to get once she took on her current duties.
This is NIMBY (Not in My Back Yard) at its worst. Any top official is a potential terrorist target and just because she happens to be "...an unarmed economist..." as one resident describes her, doesn't make the danger any less.
One of the objections voiced by more than one of the residents is the presence of "donut-bellies" among the uniformed detail providing security for Ms Yellen, along with the group taking trips outside the gates to bring fast food in. That alone should render their complaints irrelevant.
She's an important person and needs the security. If the residents of Hillandale don't like it, they should move.
* * *
Is water a human right? The City of Detroit, in the throes of bankruptcy, has been turning off the water in cases where the home or business's water account is seriously delinquent. If the electric company and the gas company can turn off service for non-payment, why shouldn't the water utility be able to do the same?
Water is more crucial to survival than electricity or gas. But if water should be free because it is a basic human right, then government should just pay for it and add the cost to our taxes. If we are going to pay for only that water which we use, the water utility must have some recourse to enforce payment.
Ideally, rather than shutting off service, the water utility should be working with customers to get them on payment plants. Then again, when we learn that Nicole Hill allegedly still owes $5,474 in water bills for her small home and she paid $2,800 last year trying to catch up. Considering she's only lived in the place for five years, the numbers seem to indicate that water is mighty expensive in Detroit. Research indicates that some Detroit residents are spending as much as 20% of their income on their water bill. Considering that one should spend no more than 30% of their total income for rent, that equation doesn't work.
We may have a less than stellar economy but in this nation there's no reason why anyone should be unable to drink water from their tap, flush their toilet and take at least one bath a week on Saturday night.
* * *
Random Ponderings:
Whoever got Lionel Richie's last name wrong on the BET Awards telecast needs to be fired or at least disciplined. Getting a lifetime achievement award with a misspelled name is insulting.
The nanny from Hell is saying she'll be out by July 4th if the media will go away. LOL. Like that's going to happen.
How serious is the IRS about compliance with the requirement to report monies that Americans have in foreign banks? If you have funds in certain named banks, and fail to comply with the requirements by a deadline coming up this August, you will owe the tax, interest, and a 50% penalty. Scary.
Why isn't soccer more popular in the U.S.? The elimination round match today between Germany and Algeria in the World Cup went 90 minutes without a goal. Sports that aren't baseball, where there isn't much scoring, don't do well in the U. S.
Should you buy the extra insurance when you rent a car? Probably not, but be sure. Your credit card probably provides coverage in addition to your own auto insurance policy; however, there are exceptions and exclusions. Check before you leave.
Waffle House is saying we should all boycott Belgian waffles until after the U. S. match with Belgium in the World Cup. I think that's silly since they don't eat Belgian waffles in Belgium.
ASU assistant professor Ersula Ore is probably not enjoying her 15 minutes of fame. She was captured assaulting a police officer by kicking him, and resisting arrest. Do police officers need to show respect? Absolutely. Demanding it from them isn't going to go well. Nor is refusing a request to provide identification. She provoked the officer and kicked him well after she'd been restrained and handcuffed, clearly not in defense of herself.
If your wedding ring had been lost for six years and suddenly at a random moment, your dog vomited it up, would you be relieved, or angry? Or both?
* * *
Due to time constraints there will be no This Date in History in this blog. Will make up for it in the next entry.
Some of the pundits who are considered experts in the law are saying this is a "narrowly-drawn decision" but I think they are wrong. Hobby Lobby may be owned by one family, but it isn't a mom and pop business. They have more than 500 stores in the U. S. and employ over 13,000 people. Chick-Fil-A could follow the example of Hobby Lobby, deny their female employees access to birth control and they have more than three times as many locations and employees.
But that isn't the reason SCOTUS blew it today. The reason is that this is indeed the proverbial slippery slope. What will the owners of closely held corporations insist that their healthcare insurers stop covering? Will a business owned by Jehovah's Witnesses no longer pay for blood transfusions? Will businesses owned by Christian Scientists stop offering any medical coverage altogether, since their belief is that all illness can be cured by prayer alone?
The same Evangelical Christian doctrine that the Hobby Lobby ownership uses to justify denying birth control to their employees also proscribes procreation outside of wedlock. Will they now deny maternity benefits to female employees who become pregnant and are not married? This decision seems to indicate they would be within their rights to do so.
Everyone has a right to religious freedom. However, that right ends when the exercise of that right begins to infringe on any other freedom to which another is entitled.
* * *
Hillandale is a gated community in the Georgetown area of Washington, D.C. It is where current Federal Reserve Bank Chairperson Janet Yellen lives. Residents of the area are not happy with all the security that her home and person began to get once she took on her current duties.
This is NIMBY (Not in My Back Yard) at its worst. Any top official is a potential terrorist target and just because she happens to be "...an unarmed economist..." as one resident describes her, doesn't make the danger any less.
One of the objections voiced by more than one of the residents is the presence of "donut-bellies" among the uniformed detail providing security for Ms Yellen, along with the group taking trips outside the gates to bring fast food in. That alone should render their complaints irrelevant.
She's an important person and needs the security. If the residents of Hillandale don't like it, they should move.
* * *
Is water a human right? The City of Detroit, in the throes of bankruptcy, has been turning off the water in cases where the home or business's water account is seriously delinquent. If the electric company and the gas company can turn off service for non-payment, why shouldn't the water utility be able to do the same?
Water is more crucial to survival than electricity or gas. But if water should be free because it is a basic human right, then government should just pay for it and add the cost to our taxes. If we are going to pay for only that water which we use, the water utility must have some recourse to enforce payment.
Ideally, rather than shutting off service, the water utility should be working with customers to get them on payment plants. Then again, when we learn that Nicole Hill allegedly still owes $5,474 in water bills for her small home and she paid $2,800 last year trying to catch up. Considering she's only lived in the place for five years, the numbers seem to indicate that water is mighty expensive in Detroit. Research indicates that some Detroit residents are spending as much as 20% of their income on their water bill. Considering that one should spend no more than 30% of their total income for rent, that equation doesn't work.
We may have a less than stellar economy but in this nation there's no reason why anyone should be unable to drink water from their tap, flush their toilet and take at least one bath a week on Saturday night.
* * *
Random Ponderings:
Whoever got Lionel Richie's last name wrong on the BET Awards telecast needs to be fired or at least disciplined. Getting a lifetime achievement award with a misspelled name is insulting.
The nanny from Hell is saying she'll be out by July 4th if the media will go away. LOL. Like that's going to happen.
How serious is the IRS about compliance with the requirement to report monies that Americans have in foreign banks? If you have funds in certain named banks, and fail to comply with the requirements by a deadline coming up this August, you will owe the tax, interest, and a 50% penalty. Scary.
Why isn't soccer more popular in the U.S.? The elimination round match today between Germany and Algeria in the World Cup went 90 minutes without a goal. Sports that aren't baseball, where there isn't much scoring, don't do well in the U. S.
Should you buy the extra insurance when you rent a car? Probably not, but be sure. Your credit card probably provides coverage in addition to your own auto insurance policy; however, there are exceptions and exclusions. Check before you leave.
Waffle House is saying we should all boycott Belgian waffles until after the U. S. match with Belgium in the World Cup. I think that's silly since they don't eat Belgian waffles in Belgium.
ASU assistant professor Ersula Ore is probably not enjoying her 15 minutes of fame. She was captured assaulting a police officer by kicking him, and resisting arrest. Do police officers need to show respect? Absolutely. Demanding it from them isn't going to go well. Nor is refusing a request to provide identification. She provoked the officer and kicked him well after she'd been restrained and handcuffed, clearly not in defense of herself.
If your wedding ring had been lost for six years and suddenly at a random moment, your dog vomited it up, would you be relieved, or angry? Or both?
* * *
Due to time constraints there will be no This Date in History in this blog. Will make up for it in the next entry.
posted by me at 6:43 AM
<< Home