Which Gov’t Branch’s Problem is EBOLA? Here’s a Hint: The One Blaming Obama

Obama Can’t Deal with EBOLA without Congress, and Congress is MIA

Mandeville, LA – Exclusive Transcript – “This is the point, ladies and gentlemen.  It doesn’t matter whether or not the CDC likes it.  It doesn’t matter whether or not Obama likes it.  In the absence of Congress acting here and exercising an enumerated power, this is an exclusive power reserved to the states.  It’s not an issue.  It shouldn’t be debatable.  These governors that are acting on behalf of their citizens have every right to, and, as I said, I think every responsibility to.”  Check out today’s transcript for the rest….

Begin Mike Church Show Transcript

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“Imagine that you’re the person in charge of public health of the people of…the most densely populated state in the union—and these protocols continue to move and change,” Christie said. “It was my conclusion that we needed to do this to protect the public health of the people of New Jersey. Gov. Cuomo agreed, and now [Chicago’s] Mayor Emanuel agreed, and I believe the CDC will come around…”

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Mike:  Well, the CDC has to come around because they don’t have a say-so in it.  This is the point, ladies and gentlemen.  It doesn’t matter whether or not the CDC likes it.  It doesn’t matter whether or not Obama likes it.

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In the absence of Congress acting here and exercising an enumerated power, this is an exclusive power reserved to the states.  It’s not an issue.  It shouldn’t be debatable.  These governors that are acting on behalf of their citizens have every right to, and, as I said, I think every responsibility to.  Back to the case of Morgan’s v. State of Louisiana:

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If any of these were such that the safety of the City of New Orleans or its inhabitants required it as a protection against disease, they could be ordered into quarantine by the proper health officer until the danger was removed, and, if necessary, the vessel might be ordered to undergo fumigation. If on this examination there was no danger to be apprehended from vessel or passengers, a certificate of that fact was given by the examining officer, and she was thereby authorized to proceed and land at her destination. If ordered to quarantine, after such detention and cleansing process as the quarantine authorities required, she was given a similar certificate and proceeded on her way. If the condition of any of the passengers was such that they could not be permitted to enter the city, they might be ordered into quarantine while the vessel proceeded without them. Whether these precautions were judicious or not this Court cannot inquire. They are a part of and inherent in every system of quarantine.

If there is a city in the United States which has need of quarantine laws, it is New Orleans.

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Mike:  Then he gives some background on this.  The court sets up in its decision here a couple things.  Number one: Can the Port of New Orleans and the State of Louisiana, does it have authority to act?  Yes.  Under what conditions does it have authority to act?  We’ve established this, because there is a concern for public health.  Did the legislature act legally?  Yes, they’ve established that.  When the plaintiff complained and then sued the state and tried to get the fee reversed and to be released from quarantine, he was first ordered to pay and be quarantined and the Louisiana Supreme Court made an error and said: No, we think the state has erred here in not considering a certain portion of the federal constitution.  Then the Supreme Court says: No, the state legislature got it right.  Louisiana Supreme Court got it wrong.  Here’s what it ruled:

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Is the law under consideration void as a regulation of commerce?

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Mike:  This would be Article I, Section 8, boilerplate stuff.  Congress has the authority, under Article I, Section 8, “To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes.”  Is this a regulation of commerce?  Listen up:

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Is the law under consideration void as a regulation of commerce? Undoubtedly it is, in some sense, a regulation of commerce. It arrests a vessel on a voyage which may have been a long one. It may affect commerce among the states when the vessel is coming from some other state of the union than Louisiana, and it may affect commerce with foreign nations when the vessel arrested comes from a foreign port. This interruption of the voyage may be for days or for weeks. It extends to the vessel, the cargo, the officers and seamen, and the passengers. Insofar as it provides a rule by which this power is exercised, it cannot be denied that it regulates commerce. We do not think it necessary to enter into the inquiry whether, notwithstanding this, it is to be classed among those police powers which were retained by the states as exclusively their own, and therefore not ceded to Congress, for while it may be a police power in the sense that all provisions for the health, comfort, and security of the citizens are police regulations and an exercise of the police power, it has been said more than once in this Court that even where such powers are so exercised as to come within the domain of federal authority as defined by the Constitution, the latter must prevail.

But it may be conceded that whenever Congress shall undertake to provide for the commercial cities of the United States a general system of quarantine, or shall confide the execution of the details of such a system to a national Board of Health, or to local boards, as may be found expedient, all state laws on the subject will be abrogated at least so far as the two are inconsistent; but until this is done, the laws of the state on the subject are valid.

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Mike:  Let’s go over this again.  You people out there that call yourselves conservatives and constitutionalists, jumping up and down, screaming and hollering, going on Twitter and Facebook and every other hell forsaken method of social media, calling radio talk shows and what have you and mocking and maiming the president because [mocking] “Obama hasn’t given us a policy on Ebola,” it’s not his job.  Again, it’s not in his wheelhouse.  Those of you that are saying this, you’re not constitutionalists; you’re nationalists and you’re drunk with national power.  You wouldn’t know federalism if it came up and said: Hi, I’m Federalism.  Would you like to party?

Let’s go over this again.  The Supreme Court of the United States, 1886 decision.  I’m going to read this to you one more time for clarity, just so we understand what power is at stake here and who has the power.  Who is derelict in their duty, is it Obama or is it Congress?  Remember, we’re talking about a quarantine in 1882, a Louisiana law that sought to deal with quarantine and quarantining foreign ships for fear that they may have infectious diseases or people carrying infectious diseases on board, which they undoubtedly did.

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But it may be conceded that whenever Congress shall undertake to provide for the commercial cities of the United States a general system of quarantine, or shall confide the execution of the details of such a system to a national Board of Health, or to local boards, as may be found expedient, all state laws on the subject will be abrogated at least so far as the two are inconsistent; but until this is done, the laws of the state on the subject are valid.

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Mike:  End of discussion.  Katy bar the door.  This is another instance of a power that was retained by the states in ratifying the Constitution.  Obama does not have the authority.  It does say, the court is hinting that Congress could make a national uniform rule to deal with this quarantine system, and then could hire a national board to oversee it, or a local board.  It would be at Congress’s discretion because it falls under regulating commerce with foreign nations.  This is the key point I wanted you to understand.  Until Congress does such a thing, until Congress acts, then the states have to act.  Again, we have a governor’s race in Texas going on.  Where’s wannabe Governor Abbott?  Where’s wannabe Governor Davis?  Are they being asked these questions?  Are they being asked whether or not Governor Perry is acting appropriately?  Are they being asked whether or not the State of Texas had the prerogative and the right to refuse the care of Michael Duncan, which they most certainly did?  Are they being asked whether or not the State of Texas has the right to refuse entry into any other foreign alien friend if they suspect that he may be carrying Ebola?  You betcha.

So who is it that’s derelict here?  The 113^th Congress is derelict.  That’s who’s derelict.  That’s who has abrogated their responsibility.  If this really is a national emergency and really is such a big issue that’s got to be dealt with, okay, fine.  Obama ought to tell Congress: Hey, I’m going to call you clowns into a special session and I’m going to make you act on this if you don’t give me something to give the CDC or the local health boards that is consistent, constitutional, and addresses the problem.  This is your wheelhouse.  You have to do this, not me.

Of course, Congress, most of them, prefer to blame all these things on Obama.  The American sheeple swallow this garbage and then regurgitate it.  Then the angry right-wing American sheeple, who ought to know better, and who ought to always defer to federalism wherever it is available, and to the separation and division of powers wherever they’re available.  Instead, what do they do?  For political expediency and to win an election, what do they do?  They turn what is, by all rights, a local power that in extreme cases could be assumed by Congress — you’ll know, by the bye, that Congress could have acted in this regard to regulate yellow fever, for example, or malaria when it started entering the ports.  They did not, until the early part of the 20^th century.  It was only after the states asked Congress: Hey, man, we need to know what each other’s state is doing.

Ships would enter the Port of Philadelphia, for example, and they’d drop something off.  Then they’d head on down to Florida and Louisiana.  There was no policy for dealing with this.  So the states ultimately asked: Hey, we need some clarification here.  We’ve got to have a rule that we can all agree on.  There are some serious problems with these infectious diseases coming in from these foreign ports of call.  Just think of an airport as the exact same thing as a port.  It pretty much serves the same function.  It receives commerce.

I argued about this with some guy the other day who just refused to listen to the point of view.  Look, if planes are touching down with FedEx and UPS cargo on them at airports and they came from Sierra Leone, that’s commerce.  That’s Congress’s regulatory power.  If Delta Airlines, if US Air, if American Airlines, if United Airlines fly from Sierra Leone with passengers on board that paid, that’s commerce.  That’s regulating commerce.

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If Occidental, BOAC, British Occidental Airline Corporation, if the BAOC were still flying and they wanted to fly from Heathrow to Kennedy, Congress would regulate that commerce.  That’s Congress’s wheelhouse.  New York, once the stuff is on the ground, could also have, under its police powers, the jurisdiction to say: We think those planes are carrying infectious diseases.

How many of you can recall, back in the early ‘90s — Paul, you guys probably aren’t old enough to remember this.  There were outbreaks of what’s called mad cow disease.  Before the federales could act to deal with this, and because Congress hadn’t acted, there were several states that banned the importation of English beef for fear of mad cow.  My point is clear.

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The precedent is clear.  We are not acting as self-governing people if we sit around and bellyache and demand that the president deal with this.  We’re not acting as constitutionalists if we sit around and bellyache for political expedience and demand that the president deal with Ebola.  He doesn’t’ have the authority.  He could have the power conferred on him by an act of Congress to execute their wishes, but until they do so, he can’t claim it.

End Mike Church Show Transcript