Sorry this posting is not about an attack of mutant Rhode Island Reds but that sure would be fun. It is, however, about a major event occurring from a totally unexpected catalyst.
The National Industrial Recovery Act ( NIRA) of 1933 authorized the President to regulate and permit cartels and monopolies in an attempt to to stimulate economic recovery , and which established a national public works program. The bill was hastily put together and pushed through Congress. (Where have we seen this recently?)
The NIRA act was administered through the National Recovery Administration (NRA) and became notorious for generating large numbers of regulations. The agency approved 557 basic and 189 supplemental industry codes in two years. Between 4,000 and 5,000 business practices were prohibited, some 3,000 administrative orders running to over 10,000 pages promulgated, and thousands of opinions and guides from national, regional, and local code boards interpreted and enforced the Act. The backlash against the Act was so significant that it generated a large loss of political support for the New Deal and turned a number of Roosevelt's closest aides against him.
To build support for the NRA the idea of a patriotic emblem known as the Blue Eagle was developed. Any businessman who refused to display the Blue Eagle was, not surprisingly, considered to be a suspect American, one who had to be dealt with. To deal with such dissidents, pro-New Deal proponents organized well-publicized economic boycotts designed to pressure these unpatriotic dissidents into getting with the program.
In 1935, in A.L.A. Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States, the Supreme Court declared unconstitutional a central piece of the NIRA legislation. In reviewing the conviction of a poultry company for breaking the Live Poultry Code, the Court held that the code violated the Constitution's separation of powers because it was written by agents of the president with no genuine congressional direction. The Court also held that much of the code exceeded the powers of Congress because the activities it policed were beyond what Congress could constitutionally regulate.
In layman's terms a bunch of butcher's from Brooklyn took the US Government to Court and won. In a sense the chicken was found to be more mighty than the eagle. I am by no means an expert on constitutional law or law for that matter and I am not going to try to draw legal analogies between the NIRA and the recently passed Health Care Act.
There are some who are saying government mandates to purchase health insurance are unconstitutional. I would argue as the Devil's Advocate, however , that we are already mandated to purchase car insurance if we want to drive . There are others who say that it is unconstitutional for the US government to pick up the Medicaid tab for some states but not for others as defined in the law. I and anyone with a lick of common sense would agree with this but my opinion really does not matter.
The Obama Administration has taken a "Please Sue Me" approach to the Health Care Act and are basically daring those opposed to the law to take it to court.
I had a class in surveying when I was in college that was taught by a professor who also had a degree in surveying but also in land law. The man had at one time led a survey party across the Amazon so the true circumference of the Earth could be calculated to send a man to the moon. One of his favorite quotes was " You should always try to settle out of court and never go before a court of law unless you have to . The reason for this is Lady Justice is blind and you never know which way her scales will tip. You may not get what you deserve in a court of law but you will get justice"
Somewhere in America a court case is coming concerning the Health Care Act and from a direction that no one expects. At that time I expect the chickens will again come home from to roost and the Obama administration will cease to be so Cock Sure.
A Voice Crying In the Wilderness
PS: This post actually put chills down my spine. If our government was capable of this 75 years ago they are quite capable of doing it now. The videos have a story to tell all their own
Sources
Fascism and the Blue Eagle by Jacob G. Hornberger
Wikipedia.org
PBS
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