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USA Today/ - News, Seg, 02 de Abril de 2012
CLIPPING INTERNACIONAL (Supreme Court)
Obama warns justices against 'judicial
activism'
President Obama said today he is confident the
Supreme Court will uphold his health care law -- and
basically warned the justices against striking down the
law by practicing what he called "judicial activism."
"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," Obama said during a joint news conference
with the leaders of Canada and Mexico.
Obama defined activism by saying "an unelected
group of people would somehow overturn a duly
constituted passed law -- well, here's a good example.
And I'm pretty confident that this -- this court will
recognize that and not take that step."
The Supreme Court -- which heard three days of
arguments on the law last week -- is expected to hand
down a ruling in June.
Obama said he's "confident" that the high 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."
A Democratic-run Congress passed the health care
law on a largely partisan vote in 2010.
During last week's Supreme Court hearings, some
conservative justices had harsh questions about the
law's key feature, the requirement that nearly all
Americans buy some form of health insurance or pay
fine.
Some critics say that requirement, as well as most of
the health care law itself, is an unconstitutional
overreach by the federal government.
Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, took exception to Obama's
comments, saying "it must be nice living in a fantasy
world where every law you like is constitutional and
every Supreme Court decision you don't is 'activist.'
Many of us have been arguing for nearly three years
that the federal government does not have the power
to dictate individuals' purchasing decisions."
Obama said the law has support from "legal experts
across the ideological spectrum, including two very
conservative appellate court justices that said this
wasn't even a close case."
The comments came during a joint news conference at
the White House with Canadian Prime Minister
Stephen Harper and Mexican President Felipe
Calderon.
Some highlights:
2:29 p.m. -- Harper tells a Canadian reporter -- in both
English and French -- he is confident that the nation's
partnership with the United States and Mexico helps in
the areas of both trade and security. And that includes
the new Trans-Pacific Partnership with other nations
as well.
Obama says all three countries must make
"modifications" in working together on trade. Also says
that violence in Mexico should be a concern for all of
North America.
Calderon said one North American nation cannot be
fully secure unless all of them are. Also notes that the
homicide rate in Washington, D.C., is higher than in
cities in Mexico.
2:21 p.m. -- Responding to a question from a Mexican
reporter, Calderon says the U.S. will help Mexico battle
illegal gun trafficking.
Obama tells the reporter that his administration has no
plans to get involved in Mexico's presidential election.
He said relations between the two nations "transcends
partisan politics."
2:13 p.m. -- Bloomberg News asks Obama about the
prospect of a health care reversal at the Supreme
Court; then asks the leaders of Mexico and Canada if
U.S. influence has declined, as claimed by Mitt
Romney.
On the second question, Obama notes that the
Republicans are still in primary mode. Notes that one
of his most famous speeches -- at the 2004
Democratic convention -- dealt almost solely with
American "exceptional-ism."
As for the Supreme Court, Obama predicts that the
justices will uphold the health care law. Says there is
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