Is ObamaCare Legal?
The Supreme Court of our land has debated the legality of ObamaCare. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare ) has been a source of intense scrutiny and debate. This is the centerpiece legislation that President Obama has touted since his inauguration. It would be a major blow to his presidency if the Supreme Court found this legislation to be unconstitutional. While party lines frame both sides of this issue, it is perhaps the most controversial legislation to confront the American people in a generation.
Three days were devoted to hearings on this case. The court specified what issues it wanted to discuss each day in a very structured and pre-planned syllabus. The first day was devoted to debating the 145 year old law called the Anti-Injunction Act. This law simply states that you cannot sue to get an injunction to stop a tax from being imposed. It states that the proper procedure is to pay the tax, then to file a suit to determine its legality and then try to get your money back.
The second and third day of debate was devoted to discussion about the unconstitutionality of the individual insurance mandate. Finally, in the last day of debate, the major discussion will revolve around the severability of this legislation. In other words, if one part of the law is determined to be unconstitutional, does that means part or all of the legislation must be thrown out?
Also on Wednesday afternoon, a total of 26 states have maintained that the expansion of Medicaid as called for by ObamaCare is unconstitutional. This discussion will be resolved in private without the American people having an opportunity to monitor this process. The Supreme Court has always maintained that no camera’s should be allowed in its court to maintain the solemnity and unprejudicial aspects of the arguments.
This momentous decision should be made public by the end of June. It will surely impact businesses all across our land and should determine if President Obama’s landmark legislation is either accepted or rejected by our most prestigious judges.
Published by: Gina Ricci on May 2nd, 2012 | Filed under Law
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Law on Mobile Airwaves
With the onslaught of mobile applications available on your PC, your tablets and especially on your mobile phones, the law is becoming increasingly aware of certain legal dilemmas. A new law could result in fewer television stations on the air in exchange for faster wireless data services for smartphones and tablet computers. However, several developments must take place before we see any drastic changes.
This law, which is part of a payroll tax package which was signed by President Barack Obama last week, will give the Federal Communications Commission the authority to explore such an exchange. This means the FCC will have to write rules to this effect over the course of the next several months.
The idea is to divide up the airwaves in a more equitable manner taking into account fewer people watching TV and more and more people using the airwaves for data transmissions and communications. If this plan comes into effect, this would free up air space and open up the available airwaves to the highest bidder. Companies like AT & T and Verizon would be obviously interested parties in this bidding war.
Certain broadcasters would have to make the financial decision determining if they can increase their revenues by selling off space to these other bidders. There are more than 330 million devices that would benefit from increased airwave space so this bidding is likely to reach gigantic proportions. The FCC envisions freeing up 500 megahertz of spectrum over the next ten years. Almost 25% of this added space would be coming from space now allocated to television stations. The FCC also wants to safeguard against certain broadcasters being forced to close down due to this new economic stress.
Compensation must also be allocated to stations that have built frequency towers and other technology to facilitate their existing business. While these changes are possibly a few years in the future, the major bidders will need this time to build up their financial war-chests to participate in the upcoming bidding war.
The law must be flexible and fluid to keep up with the ever-changing world of mobile technology.
Published by: Gina Ricci on February 28th, 2012 | Filed under Law
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Welcome to the Online Legal Docs Blog
Welcome to the Online Legal Docs Blog! My name is Gina Ricci and it is my sincerest pleasure to welcome you to my new legal news blog. The goal of my legal blog is to write about all of the interesting legal and lawyer news and topics that is being discussed on the internet. Since there is always something being discussed online regarding the law such as Casey Anthony, I will never run out of topics! To make things even more interesting I will be writing about various law firms around the country and talk about their experience, history, and services they provide. I hope you enjoy my blog!
Published by: Gina Ricci on December 30th, 2011 | Filed under Law
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