Rent a quiet room in NYC for studying or snoozing — just not sex

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Rent a quiet room in NYC for studying or snoozing — just not sex

Commentary: John Roberts’s quiet homage to William Rehnquist

As my title indicates, that is the way to understand the Court’s opinion Monday in the relatively low-visibility case Marvin M. Brandt Revocable Trust v. United States, about who owns rights-of-way the government granted railroad companies, to facilitate railroad construction in the nineteenth century, when a company abandons those rights.  Sounds obscure, right?  So why did Chief Justice John Roberts assign himself this nearly unanimous (eight-to-one) opinion for the Court, out of all the majority opinions he could choose to write from the January sitting?  That sitting offers at least three much more significant outstanding cases (National Labor Relations Board v. Noel Canning, McCullen v. Coakley, and Harris v. Quinn); although Chief Justice Roberts would have to be in the majority to assign the opinion, he has plenty of options, yet chose this one.

The clear answer, in my mind, is that the Brandt opinion is a subtle gesture of respect and affection for his former boss and predecessor, the late Chief Justice William Rehnquist.  In 1979, when Chief Justice Rehnquist was an Associate Justice, he wrote a classically Rehnquist opinion in a case called Leo Sheep Co v. United States.   Rehnquist was fascinated with American history, and that opinion begins with an elegiac, powerful, and unusually extended historical saga of the role of the railroad in the development of the West (along with the legal issues involving public grants of easements that were central in both cases).  The Rehnquist opinion is so compelling that it is a principal case in one of the leading casebooks on statutory interpretation, the Eskridge, Frickey, Garrett Legislation book.  Chief Justice Roberts became Justice Rehnquist’s law clerk in 1980 and would no doubt have intimate familiarity from nearly thirty-five years ago with the decision his boss had written shortly before Roberts arrived to clerk..  And Roberts gives Leo Sheep a starring role in yesterday’s opinion – it is both the first and the last case cited in yesterday’s opinion; it is cited four times overall; and it forms one of the two central precedents on which the Roberts opinion relies.  Beyond that, the opening several pages of the Roberts opinion is modeled on the opening pages of the Rehnquist opinion; like the latter, the Chief Justice’s opinion starts with the same aura of historical saga (“In the early to mid-19th century, America looked west.”).

In choosing to write this opinion, the Chief Justice reflected the arc of his own career and nodded to the man who helped launch that career and whom the current Chief Justice respects greatly.

In association with Bloomberg Law

SCOTUSblog

Commentary: John Roberts’s quiet homage to William Rehnquist

Mark Levin: "A Gradual, Quiet Coup" Is Taking Place Under Obama

MARK LEVIN: Here’s Obama today before a cabinet meeting. Some of you have heard this, some have not. Everybody needs to hear it. Go:

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: One of the things that I’ll be emphasizing in this meeting is the fact that we are not just going to be waiting for legislation in order to ensure Americans are provided with the help that they need. I’ve got a pen and I’ve got a phone. And I can use that pen to sign executive orders and take executive actions and administrative actions that move the ball forward.

LEVIN: He’s just announced that he is going to assume lawmaking powers, he’s just announced that he is going to assume lawmaking powers. He does not recognize the majority in the House of Representatives. I don’t know how much more clearly he can say. You know what this is folks? This is a gradual quiet coup, that’s what is taking place. Its gradual, it’s quiet in the sense that it’s nonviolent, but it’s a coup. Cut two, Mr. Producer, go.

OBAMA: One of the things I’m going to be talking to my cabinet about is how do we use all the tools available to us, not just legislation in order to advance a mission that I think unifies all Americans.

LEVIN: Stop. This is the common parlance of the dictator. Assuming that he represents all Americans, that he’s a unifying figure, that we just need to concentrate more power in his hands. He will decide what laws are good what laws are bad. He will use executive orders to pass laws that Congress won’t pass, and he will ignore laws he doesn’t like. And he’ll rewrite laws that he wants to rewrite like Obamacare and so forth. This is the mindset and the language that dictators have. He assumes to speak for everybody. He is above politics, he is God’s gift. He was put on Earth to do just this.

And yet when you go back to the Constitution, oh, written by slaveowners — men with wooden teeth. They say the officer they say the opposite, they say this is tyranny. I say you are witnessing a gradual yet quiet coup, you just heard what he said.

RealClearPolitics Video Log

Mark Levin: "A Gradual, Quiet Coup" Is Taking Place Under Obama

Quiet start to noisy health law

Insurers aren’t yet reporting major issues with people unable to access coverage. | AP Photo

For a law that’s inspired a lot of noise, the start of Obamacare coverage has been quiet.

The health care industry is still trying to diagnose the depth of any implementation issues with the president’s health care program since coverage took effect Jan. 1.

Continue Reading

Providers, insurers and patient advocates say it’s too early to know whether people are rushing to get care or running into problems when they try to use their new insurance for the first time.

(Also on POLITICO: Full health care policy coverage)

“It’s very early in the process, and so far we have not heard anything from the hospital field on issues related to the ACA rollout,” said Jeff Goldman, vice president of coverage policy for the American Hospital Association. “If there are any, we suspect it will take some time for issues to surface. Also, we continue to expect an uptick in volume, but we don’t think it’s anything beyond what most hospitals are prepared to handle.”

The Obama administration earlier this week said 2.1 million people have signed up for coverage through state and federal insurance marketplaces and nearly 4 million for Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Plan. Administration officials have tried to brace people for possible coverage snags at the onset of the major coverage expansion.

“We don’t want anybody to have problems, but we know some people will,” White House health policy adviser Phil Schiliro said earlier this week.

(PHOTOS: 25 unforgettable Obamacare quotes) 

Insurers, who are still working with the administration to fix problems with some enrollment files they’re receiving from the exchanges, aren’t yet reporting major issues with people unable to access coverage. Most consumers still have until Jan. 10 to make the first month’s payment for coverage starting Jan. 1.

Robert Laszewski, an insurance industry consultant, said clients have reported errors in around one of every 20 recent applications. Also, between 5 and 10 percent of erroneous files received before the mad rush to the December deadline for Jan. 1 coverage have yet to be cleared up, he said.

“[The] greatest concern is that [insurers] can’t possibly process the large number of enrollments received at the last minute for 2-3 weeks taking them into mid-Jan. just to get these people properly set up,” Laszewski said in an email.

(Also on POLITICO: Eric Cantor plans vote on Obamacare security bill)

The District’s exchange, D.C. Health Link, has received several questions from brokers about temporary insurance cards for customers who haven’t received their permanent ones yet, according to executive director Mila Kofman. The Health Link’s call center, which was closed on New Year’s Day, received a high number of calls on Dec. 31 mostly about enrollment, Kofman said.

“The big focus is on responding to emails and phone calls from consumers, small businesses and brokers to make sure that people have their medical cards,” she said.

The D.C. exchange is still processing some Jan. 1 enrollments for people who completed their application in time but hadn’t yet selected a health plan. The exchange has also seen a steady stream of new applications for coverage starting Feb. 1, Kofman said.

“It’s been very high every day, pretty much,” she said.

The American Cancer Society’s advocacy arm said the volume of patient questions to its call center has been typically low for this time of year. The group is encouraging people with coverage problems or questions to contact their insurer or health insurance exchange, said spokesman Steve Weiss.

Kyle Cheney and Paige Winfield Cunningham contributed to this report.

POLITICO – TOP Stories

Quiet start to noisy health law

ALL QUIET ON THE ANTI-IMMIGRATION FRONT -- DCCC and NRCC tie in fundraising, RNC outraises DNC -- CRUZ"S CANADA CONUNDRUM – Al Jazeera America launches – SUMMERS, YELLEN ANGLING

ALL QUIET ON THE ANTI-IMMIGRATION FRONT – POLITICO’s Anna Palmer reports: “Anti-immigration forces were so effective in 2007 that on the eve of a critical Senate vote they mobilized thousands of angry callers and shut down the Capitol switchboard — effectively killing the bill. But this time around members of Congress are under much less pressure from the opposition, even as the pro-reform movement has kicked into high gear in the final weeks of the August recess before lawmakers return to the immigration debate in Washington.

“Anti-immigration groups aren’t drawing large, loud crowds to their rallies — only about 60 people showed up to hear headliner Rep. Steve King in Richmond, Va., last week. And the tea party groups famous for turning out supporters and firing up town halls ahead of the 2010 midterm elections are much more focused on Obamacare than immigration. The anti-reformers say opposition is still alive and well. It’s just that conservatives feel little need to show their force, since they believe the GOP-controlled House would never accept the immigration bill passed by the Senate this spring.” http://politi.co/1dqS2Xw

CRUZ’S CANADA CONUNDRUM – Turns out Sen. Ted Cruz just can’t get away from his Canadian roots. After making public his birth certificate, it’s prompted a whole series of stories on how he remains to this day a Canadian citizen. Cruz announced he will renounce his citizenship. POLITICO’s Tal Kopan reports: “The Texas Republican shared his birth certificate Sunday with The Dallas Morning News. It shows his place of birth as Calgary, Alberta, to an American mother, a fact which conferred upon him American citizenship. But Canadian lawyers told the Morning News that Cruz’s birth in Canada also instantly conferred upon him Canadian citizenship, though a spokeswoman for Cruz said he was not aware of having dual citizenship.

“Sen. Cruz became a U.S. citizen at birth, and he never had to go through a naturalization process after birth to become a U.S. citizen,” Catherine Frazier told the Morning News. “To our knowledge, he never had Canadian citizenship, so there is nothing to renounce.” http://politi.co/19wneli

– But it may take eight months before he can officially drop the nation’s northern neighbors: http://bit.ly/14AfOJG

– Best network pun goes to MSNBC: “Cruz’s Canada-cy”

– And it turns out the process is pretty complicated: http://wapo.st/1f0Y9Q2

– Plus he’s ditching some sweet Canadian perks: http://bit.ly/18INmIS

– Cruz calls the whole affair the “silly season of politics:” http://politi.co/13FkCCx

– And in other news, pro-Obamacare protesters interrupted his town hall meeting: http://wapo.st/173H1ID

THE MONEY RACE – House Democrats and Republicans are in a dead heat for fundraising totals, Roll Call’s Abby Livingston reports: “The National Republican Congressional Committee brought in just slightly more cash than House Democrats’ campaign arm during the month of July, according to new fundraising reports filed on Tuesday. House Republicans raised $ 4.44 million, while the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee brought in $ 4.36 million.

“But the DCCC had the cash-on-hand edge with $ 14.6 million in the bank. The NRCC had $ 12.1 million in cash on hand. The NRCC reduced its debt to $ 750,000. The DCCC wiped out its debt in June, according to a committee aide.” http://bit.ly/181Wcz4

– And Roll Call’s Kent Cooper reports that the RNC outraised the DNC by about $ 2 million: http://bit.ly/14iBnSv

AL JAZEERA AMERICA LAUNCHES – But who was able to watch it? The New York Times’ Brian Stelter reports: “There was ample attention in journalistic circles as Al Jazeera America had its premiere on Tuesday — particularly among those who could not watch. The news channel — which replaced Current TV at 3 p.m. Eastern time — was expected to be carried by five of the country’s 10 biggest television providers, but one of those, AT&T U-verse, dropped Current, and thus Al Jazeera, late Monday night.” http://nyti.ms/13PZrsa

HITTING THE IRS: FROM THE LEFT – Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) is challenging the IRS rules that allow non-profits engaged in some political activity to still receive the exemption: The Washington Post’s Josh Hicks reports: http://wapo.st/17361zR

LESS TOWNHALLS THIS SUMMER? – ABC News’ Abby Phillip reports: “Reports of the tea party’s demise are greatly exaggerated, or so its leadership would have us believe. Sure, the 4-year-old movement is maturing and all those attention-grabbing headlines from 2009 are much harder to come by in 2013.

“But conservative activist Brent Bozell, who is attempting to build support for defunding President Obama’s health care law, said establishment Republicans are running away from their constituents, a sign that bucking the tea party’s grassroots agenda is fraught with peril. “Isn’t it interesting how times change; that just three years ago, Republicans were rushing to have town halls and now they’re running as fast as they can from town halls,” Bozell, the chairman of For America, told ABC News.” http://abcn.ws/18IQpk5

**A message from POWERJobs: New jobs on our radar this week: Senior Strategic Policy Advisor at AARP, Director of Development at Brady Campaign & Center to Prevent Gun Control and Senior Legislative Counsel at Human Rights Campaign. Interested? Apply to these jobs and more at POWERJobs.com; finally, a career site made for YOU!**

GOOD WEDNESDAY MORNING, August 21, 2013, and welcome to The Huddle, your play-by-play preview of the day’s congressional news. While Scott is in New York City at the Asian American Journalists Association convention, I’ll be holding down the fort. Send tips, complaints and good DC Restaurant Week recommendations to ggibson@politico.com or tweet me @GingerGibson.

TODAY IN CONGRESS – Both the House and Senate have adjourned for the summer recess.

HAPPENING TODAY: Pfc. Bradley Manning to be sentenced: http://nyti.ms/14AixTq

SUMMERS, YELLEN ANGLING – The Washington Post’s Zachary Goldfarb reports on the behind-the-scenes maneuvering: “Lawrence H. Summers, one of the top candidates to lead the Federal Reserve, was being beaten up, and his friends from his White House years wanted to help him. So earlier this month, recently departed Treasury secretary Timothy F. Geithner and other former Obama administration officials joined Summers for a private strategy call, according to people familiar with the discussion.

“The old colleagues compared notes on what reporters were asking about Summers, who was under a steady assault from liberals who consider him as soft on regulating banks, and mapped out how they might respond. President Obama’s long-term advisers have been working to help Summers in what has become the hottest political campaign of 2013: the race to succeed Ben S. Bernanke as Fed chairman.” http://wapo.st/169eFIo

– Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) doesn’t like Summers: In fact, he doesn’t want him to even mow his lawn: http://politi.co/1bReyXM

BENGHAZI – The four suspended State employees return to work, but in different roles. The New York Times’ Brian Knowlton reports: “Four midlevel State Department officials who were placed on administrative leave after the deadly attack last year on the United States mission in Benghazi, Libya, have been reinstated by Secretary of State John Kerry and were given new assignments on Tuesday, the department confirmed.

“Marie Harf, a State Department spokeswoman, said that an internal analysis by the department had reaffirmed the findings of an earlier independent review that “saw serious concerns or concerns with some of the steps and actions of these four individuals” but did not determine that there had been any “breach of duty.” She would not elaborate.” http://nyti.ms/17JARf3

EGYPT AID– The Associated Press’ Deb Riechmann and Bradley Klapper report: “The Obama administration, undertaking a major review of U.S. relations with Egypt, edged closer to a decision Tuesday about curtailing some of America’s $ 1.5 billion in annual aid after the Egyptian military’s crackdown on supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi.

“Top administration officials met at the White House to review the possibility of cutting military or economic aid to Egypt, a longtime U.S. ally and the most populous nation in the Arab world. Some cuts are forthcoming, according to U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to talk publicly about the sensitive discussions.

“Tensions in Egypt have soared since the army ousted Morsi, who was the nation’s first freely elected president. The July 3 coup followed days of protests by millions of Egyptians demanding that Morsi, who hails from the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood, step down. Some 1,000 people have been killed in ensuing violence.”  http://bit.ly/183082B

THE OBAMACARE FILES – Heritage Action takes the anti-Obamacare message on the road: POLITICO’s Jason Millman reports: “A last-ditch effort to derail Obamacare started in a barn here Monday night — because it’s not going to start in Washington, advocates told a packed crowd at the opening night of Heritage Action’s August defunding tour.

“Heritage Action, trying to fuel an effort to defund the president’s health care law on the cusp of its launch, offered a bleak assessment of a Republican Party that’s held 40 anti-Obamacare votes: They don’t have the guts to do everything necessary to stop the law, and that’s where the Heritage faithful step in.” http://politi.co/1cZCxYE

– And in Texas, Rick Perry asks for Obamacare cash: http://politi.co/1d3Sdt2

WHILE THE MICE ARE AWAY? President Obama heads out this week on a bus tour to tout his economic and jobs plan. While Obama has done these types of multi-state stumping tours before, this one comes with an added bonus: Congress is in recess meaning there are no network cameras around every corner of the Capitol to record lawmakers pushing back at him. The natural lull in August news means Obama will hold on to more of the spotlight.

– The Hill’s Justin Sink reports that Obama will also be talking student loans: “President Obama said Tuesday that he will use his upcoming bus trip to offer a new plan “to make college more affordable, tackle rising costs, and improve value for students and their families” in an email sent to supporters. The president warned that his proposals “won’t all be popular with everyone,” singling out those “who’ve made higher education their business.” http://bit.ly/1f0YAKl

GIFFORDS, ATTKISSON TO BE HONORED AT BRIAN A. TERRY DINNER – Former Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-Ariz.) will be the first recipient of the Brian Terry Foundation’s Courage and Heroism in the Community Award, while veteran journalist Sharyl Attkisson will accept the Courage in Journalism and Reporting Award. They will accept their awards Sept. 28 at the 2nd annual Brian Terry Foundation Benefit Dinner at the J.W. Marriott Star Pass Resort and Spa in Tucson. Rancher Susan Krentz of Douglas, Ariz., will receive the Profiles in Courage Award. Other attendees include a who’s who of Arizona politics: Reps. Ron Barber and Matt Salmon, State Treasurer Doug Ducey, Attorney General Tom Horne, Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu and retired Air Force Col. Martha McSally.  Terry, a U.S. Border Patrol agent, was on duty in December 2010 when he was murdered by members of a heavily armed drug cartel. Weapons found at the murder scene were later traced to the gun-trafficking investigation known as Operation Fast and Furious, conducted by the Justice Department and the ATF. More info about the dinner: www.HonorBrianTerry.com/events

CONGRESS ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL – Republican Rep. Thomas Massie staying out of Kentucky Senate primary: Local Kentucky network cn|2’s Jacqueline Pitts reports:  “Kentucky U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Vanceburg, says he is not taking sides in the primary battle of the 2014 U.S. Senate race. Unlike Kentucky U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, Massie said Monday that he is staying out of the primary race between Kentucky’s Senior Senator Mitch McConnell and tea party challenger Matt Bevin.” http://bit.ly/19HWq5o

– Big numbers in the Big Easy: Differing from other recent numbers, Public Policy Polling finds Sen. Mary Landrieu leading Rep. Bill Cassidy by 10 points in the Senate race: http://bit.ly/169h1XZ

– Sen. Lamar Alexander picks up a primary opponent in Tennessee: http://reut.rs/16b7kIs

TUESDAY’S TRIVIA WINNER – Trevor Tezel, a Georgetown University junior reading us from Merritt Island, Fla., was first to correctly answer that the late Bill McBride and Alex Sink were a husband-and-wife duo who both ran unsuccessfully for the same gubernatorial office. McBride was the Democratic nominee for Florida governor in 2002, while Sink was the Democratic nominee in 2010.

But there was at least one other correct answer: David Mogenstern answered that former Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison unsuccessfully ran for governor in 2010, the same office her husband, Ray Hutchison, had failed to win in 1978.

TODAY’S TRIVIA – On this day in 1959, Hawaii became the 50^th state.  The longest word in Hawaiian, “Humuhumunukunuku?puaa,” is what honoree in English? The first person to correctly answer gets a mention in the next day’s Huddle. Email me at ggibson@politico.com.

GET HUDDLE emailed to your Blackberry, iPhone or other mobile device each morning. Just enter your email address where it says “Sign Up.” http://www.politico.com/huddle/

**A message from POWERJobs: New jobs on our radar this week: Senior Strategic Policy Advisor at AARP, Director of Development at Brady Campaign & Center to Prevent Gun Control and Senior Legislative Counsel at Human Rights Campaign. Interested? Apply to these jobs and more at POWERJobs.com; finally, a career site made for YOU!**

POLITICO – Top 10 – Huddle

ALL QUIET ON THE ANTI-IMMIGRATION FRONT -- DCCC and NRCC tie in fundraising, RNC outraises DNC -- CRUZ"S CANADA CONUNDRUM – Al Jazeera America launches – SUMMERS, YELLEN ANGLING