Fla. doctor could bring Obamacare executive orders to screeching halt in federal court

A South Florida orthodontist is taking on President Obama‘s penchant for unilaterally altering the Affordable Care Act without the approval of Congress.

And he’s got a shot a winning.

Larry Kawa took to Capitol Hill in Washington D.C., Wednesday morning to announce a lawsuit filed on his behalf with the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. It’s the only case of its kind against any of the 29 executive orders relating to Obamacare.

If successful, the court could force the Obama administration to adhere to the employer mandate that it has twice delayed, contradicting the plain text of the law.

DR. LARRY KAWA: Filed suit in the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to challenge the Obama administration’s employer mandate delays.

It could be the biggest case of 2014.

“I’m not a politico. I’m not a Washington D.C. guy. I’m an orthodontist from Boca Raton,” Kawa told Watchdog.org.

But he’s also on to something. A federal district judge previously dismissed his case against the government while simultaneously lying out a roadmap for how to proceed. Kawa lacked standing.

Standing is the legal principle in which a plaintiff must show an actual injury before a court will hear the dispute. It’s a hurdle that has kept at bay other would-be challengers seeking to avoid an injury.

“If the court grants us standing then they lose,” Kawa said.

Because he employs more than 50 workers, Kawa Orthodontics is subject to complicated regulations and penalties under Obamacare.

In March 2013, Kawa spent $5,000 on legal fees to make sure his business was in compliance with the health law. Kawa said he spent 100 additional hours learning about the law, including meetings with insurance agents and his accountant.

Four months later it was all for naught. The administration changed the law without congressional approval. It was delayed again on Feb 10.

Via: BizPac Review

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Mayor with Ties to Fla. Gov. Guilty of Corruption

A south Florida mayor with close ties to Governor Rick Scott haspleaded guilty to public corruption for participating in a scheme involving the theft of federal grants earmarked for his tiny working class city.

The plot involves a small-town mayor, Manuel Maroño, with big-time political ties to prominent Republicans. In fact, Maroño was a rising star in the party and played a key role in Scott’s transition team in 2011. The disgraced politician even launched a “business development” firm called 7 Strategies after the governor’s 7-step plan to create 700,000 jobs in 7 years.

But everything went downhill in early August when the feds indicted Maroño and a longtime mayor pal of a neighboring city for operating a brazen scheme to steal federal grants that were supposed to help their respective towns. The mayors teamed up with two prominent lobbyists, one of whom worked for U.S. Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart when the Republican lawmaker was a state legislator.

Large sums of cash were exchanged in envelopes and hidden in notebooks during covert meetings in cars and at local eateries, according to federal prosecutors, who claimed in separate complaints that the lobbyists went around recruiting corrupt politicians to participate in the scheme. In all, tens of thousands of dollars were exchanged with hefty cash bonuses for making introductions to other public officials willing to participate in the kickback and bribery operation.

Both mayors abused their power to enact measures to help fake companies get federal grants made available only upon the official request of local municipalities, authorities say. Maroño collaborated with both lobbyists and pocketed more than $40,000 in bribes, according to his federal complaint. The money was supposed to help the 13,000 constituents in his working-class town of Sweetwater, which barely spans a square mile.

Upon getting indicted Maroño paraded around town confidently guaranteeing that his innocence would quickly vindicate him. At his side was his mother, a Sweetwater councilwoman, who led a media campaign professing her son’s innocence. This week, however, the former mayor marched into a federal court in Miami and pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud. He is scheduled to be sentenced in January and faces five years in prison.

Via: Judicial Watch

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Who’s watching the watchdog?

The man who's supposed to be the chief watchdog for the Department of Homeland Security was himself billing the government for a string of "site visits" to sunny locales including Puerto Rico and south Florida -- where he allegedly was pursuing his Ph.D. 

The activity was detailed in a trove of documents obtained and published by conservative group Cause of Action. They appear to lend weight to at least some of the myriad allegations made last month against homeland security Acting Inspector General Charles Edwards.

Among other claims backed up by the documents are that Edwards employed his wife -- some say in violation of nepotism rules -- and that she won approval to telework. 

"At least the timeline and the narrative are being confirmed," Cause of Action spokeswoman Mary Beth Hutchins told FoxNews.com, adding there will have to be more digging. "There are some legitimate questions here." 

Edwards' office, though, continued to battle and deny the allegations. 

Via: Fox News

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