SCOTUS Impeachments and The Right To Privacy

To remove federal judges, including Supreme Court Justices, requires impeachment by the House followed by a Senate trial, with a removal from office requiring a 2/3s vote.

We've seen how Republicans view impeachments, so this doesn't look like it will happen.

US Constitution, Article III, Section 1:

"The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour,…

It's not just the ethical violations and lies in their confirmation hearings of some of the Justices. It's also the dismantling of established laws.

The 9th Amendment ensures that there are more rights than those in the Bill of Rights. The 1st, 3rd, 4th, and 5th Amendments all concerned the right to privacy from the government. All of those Amendments were also made applicable to States through the 14th Amendment.

"The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people."

The 9th Amendment:

  Stops assumptions: Prevents the government from claiming that unlisted rights do not exist just because they are not on paper.

  Protects hidden rights: Safeguards fundamental human rights like privacy, travel, or personal choices that are not directly written down.

  Limits power: Keeps the federal government from assuming it has total power over areas not mentioned in the first eight amendments.

Roe v Wade was based on a right to privacy from the government. In his concurring ruling overturning Roe v Wade, Justice Thomas said what the majority ruling danced around, that the Justices were overturning the guarantee of the Right to Privacy.

There are a handful of other laws which are based on the right to privacy which are now in danger.

The right to privacy is at the heart of

 1. The right to marry whomever you choose, be it interracial or same-sex.

 2. (1963) Married couples had a right to privacy when attempting to obtain birth control (a later ruling extended that right to individuals).

 3. Allowing you to homeschool your children or send them to a private or religious school.

 4. HIPPA laws regarding your medical records.

The fix for the Supreme Court may come down to expanding the number of Justices via a Democrat majority in Congress.

Social Security is Self-Funded

Social Security is supposed to be separate by law. Social Security isn't the government's biggest expense. It's not an expense in the federal budget (do people who say it is ever point out Social Security's revenues?). Social Security is self-funded.

Social Security is financed through taxes on workers and interest on the Treasury Bonds held in the Trust Fund.

For employees, half of their taxes are paid through the employer. Those taxes are based on gross income. Paying half via employers makes that part tax-exempt for employees. If companies did not handle half of the contributions, workers would have to pay the full 12.4% in the same way that self-employed people do.

The "employer" contribution is not a company's money; it's a cost of employing someone. If the business doesn't pay, that money rightfully belongs to employees so they can pay Social Security taxes.

The Treasury Bonds in the Trust Fund are not instruments of theft. The Trust Fund was built up to handle fewer workers contributing less during the Baby Boomer retirements.

If Social Security redeems a Bond, the Treasury simply sells a Bond to someone else. The National Debt is financed through the sale of Bonds. Who buys them does not matter.

Social Security was supposed to be kept 100% funded for 75 years. Today, it's only fully funded for 6 years. Blame Congress for failing to adjust tax rates and salary caps to keep it funded. Congress has been fully aware of this situation for decades.

The GOP is ideologically opposed to government programs that are non-profit. Wall Street wants a cut, so a "crisis" was manufactured to force privatization.

Stop treating Social Security as a budget expense, and stop trying to say Congress already stole the Trust Fund.

The wealthy pay a minuscule amount to Social Security because of Salary Caps on income subject to those taxes. Raise the caps high enough to address the crisis. Congress created the problem by failing to adjust caps as needed. Make the rich pay their fair share, and blame Congress, not Social Security.

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8sn292b/

Autocracy Index - It's Worse Than You Think

Letters to my ND US Representative and Senators

If this is your idea of a functioning democracy with three separate but equal branches and more than one political party, I present to you this recent article. I’m hoping this has more of an impact on you than all the various, almost-continuous crises and horrors have. 

---

From the New York Times, May 14, 2026 (same information without graphics)

THE AUTOCRACY INDEX - 12 MARKERS OF DEMOCRATIC EROSION

0 is baseline Democracy for both parties before Trump (flaws included)

10 is a full Autocracy

5: Bypassing the legislature

4: Stifling speech and dissent

5: Persecuting political opponents

2: Defying the courts

5: Declaring false emergencies

2: Using the military at home

6: Vilifying marginalized groups

2:Controlling information

2:Trying to take over universities

6: Creating a cult of personality

7: Using power for personal profit

0: Manipulating the law to stay in power [only Trump?]

Background and methodology: The clearest sign that a democracy has died is that a leader and his party make it impossible for their opponents to win an election and hold power. Once that stage is reached, however, the change is extremely difficult to reverse.

The 12 benchmarks in this editorial offer a way to understand how much Mr. Trump is eroding American democracy. The categories are based on interviews with legal scholars, political scientists, historians, and other democracy experts. The ratings come from the New York Times editorial board. In our 0-to-10 scales, zero represents roughly where the United States, flawed though it was, had been under presidents of both parties prior to Mr. Trump. Ten represents the condition in a true authoritarian state.

Moving even one notch toward autocracy is a worrisome sign.

---

From:

Keith B Wilson, Age 69, on Social Security

Sent by Mail to:

Julie Fedorchak, R-ND, U.S. House

John Hoeven, R-ND, U.S. Senate

Kevin Cramer, R-ND, U.S. Senate