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On the eve of a public hearing, President Joe Biden’s commission released a series of reports on various proposals to reform the Supreme Court. The report appeared to reject the idea of expanding the court, receptive to term limits for justices, and proposed confronting the so-called “shadow docket” with increased transparency.Setting out explicitly to avoid “partisan conflict” and “polarization,” the commission disappointed many on the Democratic Party’s left flank by criticizing the idea of adding justices to the Supreme Court — a theory described as “expansion” by its supporters and “court packing” by its critics. Former President Franklin Delano Roosevelt...

Biden commission’s draft materials on Supreme Court reform show split over adding justices A growing chorus of critics — especially those furious with the tactics used by Republicans to appoint the three most recent justices — have called to expand the size of the bench. Proponents include former presidential candidates and Cabinet members. Some of the commissioners agree with the pro-expansion arguments, “at least in part,” the draft materials said. But other commissioners concluded that adding seats “is likely to undermine, rather than enhance, the Supreme Court’s legitimacy and its role in the constitutional system,” the commission wrote. “There are...

Good afternoon. I have family member taking a cross-country road trip from IL to WA. Standard SUV which is going to be packed with gear to the max. I am trying to find any state laws regarding just how high one can pack the backend of SUV without getting stopped by these "States' Finest" officers for rear window obstruction. Not much luck on specifics. It may just be common sense, but these days, one can never be too careful... Anyone with further information that lives in or has traveled through these states is appreciated.

On Friday, President Joe Biden announced creation of a commission to explore expanding the Supreme Court (“Court Packing”), which would allow him to appoint additional justices and shift the balance of the Court – but, he didn’t always think this was a good idea. When Republican Ronald Reagan was president in 1983, then-Senator Joe Biden (D-Delaware) declared the concept of court-packing a “bonehead idea” and a “terrible, terrible mistake.”

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) introduced legislation on Jan. 22 to amend the U.S. Constitution to limit the Supreme Court to nine justices, the numerical cap that has been in place for well over a century, in order to prevent Democrats from enlarging the court’s membership. Amending the Constitution is no easy task. The amendment bill must pass by two-thirds supermajority in both houses of Congress and then be ratified by three-quarters of the states, or 38 of the 50 states, to become part of the Constitution. The move comes after then-President Donald Trump’s conservative constitutionalist nominee, Amy Coney Barrett,...

Appearing Monday on the Fox News Channel, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) argued that former Vice President Joe Biden shouldn’t answer mounting questions from the media whether or not he supports packing the U.S Supreme Court because it’s “not his business.”

packing the Supreme Court with up to six new members as soon as the Democrats gain control of both houses of Congress and the White House. ... Biden .. refused to answer a question of whether he supports this call by his running mate Kamala Harris and other Democratic leaders. Biden told reporters “It’s a legitimate question, but let me tell you why I’m not going answer… it will shift the focus.” That was an extraordinary statement since if the question was legitimate, the refusal to answer it was not. Many of us would not support a presidential candidate who...

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden told a local news reporter on Friday afternoon that voters do not deserve to know whether he will pack the Supreme Court if he wins the upcoming the election. “Sir, I’ve got to ask you about packing the courts and I know you said yesterday you aren’t going to answer the question until after the election, but this is the number one thing that I’ve been asking about from viewers in the past couple of days,” the reporter said to Biden.

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden says he refuses to speak on whether he plans to “pack” the Supreme Court because, he implied, that would deflect attention from President Trump. “You’ll know my opinion on court-packing when the election is over,” Biden told reporters alongside running mate Kamala Harris. “Now look, I know it’s a great question and I don’t blame you for asking, but you know the moment I answer that question, the headline in every one of your papers will be about that other than focusing on what’s happening now.” “The election has begun. There has never been a...

Republicans will turn up the heat on Democrats over court-packing as the Amy Coney Barrett hearings begin next week. Republicans continue to press Democratic nominee Joe Biden and running mate Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) in recent days over whether the pair would “pack” the court if conservative-leaning Amy Coney Barrett gets a seat on the bench, a question that the two have avoided to answer. If the Democrats were to proceed with court-packing, it would represent a momentous step that would erode another guardrail of American democracy and turn the court into a rubber stamp for the president rather than...

Senate Democrats are tamping down talk of expanding the Supreme Court if Republicans fill the seat held by the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Progressive activists and some lawmakers have raised the idea since Ginsburg's death was announced on Friday night, arguing the party needs to be ready to take bold steps if they have the Senate majority and the White House next year while facing a 6-3 conservative court. The effort would tie together two controversial ideas: nixing the 60-vote legislative filibuster and then passing legislation to add seats to the Supreme Court, which has been set at nine...

In a nutshell: Packing the court was FDR’s plan to expand the court to 15 justices, from 9; and to “pack” the 6 new seats with liberals that would support FDR’s “New Deal” programs. FDR (Franklin D. Roosevelt) initiated this plan when the Supreme Court curtailed some of his programs. “Packing the court” was not popular with the country at the time as it was viewed as a power grab — overriding the checks and balances set by the founding fathers. Watch Video...

https://www.liveleak.com/view?t=sMANX_1552882292&fbclid=IwAR1NWmKQ-tggQNTX94Q754W0uDlY58Ue8N5zoYeK3yr3XByXlmCqw6iWxyw  

Sellotape selfies, aka sellofies, have spread in popularity on Facebook as the latest baffling craze for people with too much time on their hands. Since Bradley Cooper and Ellen Degeneres sent Twitter into meltdown with their Oscars selfie, the world has been subjected to a relentless stream of copycat acts. From Dylan Hartley and the England rugby team to the old dude with two dogs, some efforts have been mildly amusing, while others have just left us thinking WHERE WILL IT ALL END? This latest hybrid is apparently inspired by Jim Carrey film Yes Man, but there is also evidence...

h/t Speedunque

Packing foam now entering the marketplace is engineered from mushrooms and agricultural wasteA new packing material that grows itself is now appearing in shipped products across the country. The composite of inedible agricultural waste and mushroom roots is called Mycobond™, and its manufacture requires just one eighth the energy and one tenth the carbon dioxide of traditional foam packing material. And unlike most foam substitutes, when no longer useful, it makes great compost in the garden. The technology was the brainchild of two former Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute undergraduates, Gavin McIntyre and Eben Bayer, who founded Ecovative Design of Green Island,...

Snips from excerpt only website: NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Industry experts say more insurers will drop health care coverage or go out of business if they are forced to meet a Jan. 1 deadline that requires them to boost the money devoted to providing care. Under health reform, beginning 2011, insurance companies will have to spend 80% to 85% of the premiums they collect on care instead of toward their own profits and overhead costs. Beginning in 2012 If insurers don't increase that loss ratio to 80 cents per dollar paid, they will have to give customers a rebate for...

This may come as a surprise to some people, but the U.S. Constitution does not specify the size of the Supreme Court. The original Judiciary Act of 1789 set the number of justices at six. It shrank to five in 1801. It expanded to seven in 1807. It grew to nine in 1837 and 10 in 1863. It fell back to seven in 1866. It returned to nine in 1869 and has remained at that number since. Political issues accounted for the changes. The Federalists reduced the number to five, hoping to deprive Thomas Jefferson of an appointment. The incoming...

Former Supreme Court Justice nominee Robert Bork predicts that President-elect Barack Obama’s judicial nominees will orchestrate a profound sea change in U.S. jurisprudence, legalizing same-sex marriage, restricting or eliminating the death penalty,...

Folks, I'm taking on a contract position in Pennsylvania as of this coming week and need a quick overview of firearms laws. I've got a North Carolina Concealed Handgun permit, so I can legally carry in Pennsylvania (or so it seems from a cursory websearch). What about AR-15 style weapons? Any problem there? The thought of carrying firearms, even unloaded and in locked containers through Maryland and especially DC, scares the you-know out of me.