Kopel & Natelson discuss Virginia v. Sebelius

by Brian Schwartz | 5:30 am, December 16, 2010

A Virginia judge just ruled against ObamaCare’s individual mandate [HR 3590], saying that the Constitution’s Commerce Power does not justify Congress regulating economic inactivity. Professor Rob Natelson & Research Director Dave Kopel comment on the court’s ruling & what that means for AG Suther’s case.

The Intentional Fatalism of the Anti-Nuclear Movement

by T.L. James | 10:18 pm, December 15, 2010

If surviving a nuclear war is actually fairly straightforward, why cultivate such a deep sense of futility about even trying? Why cut funding for Civil Defense, why ridicule “duck and cover”, and why make demoralizing movies like “Testament” or “The Day After”?

Better Late Than Never: Judge orders Colorado Ethics Watch (CEW, pronounced “sue” – it’s what they do) to pay legal fees owed to Clear The Bench Colorado since July ruling

by CTBC Director | 2:23 pm, December 15, 2010

Better Late Than Never…
The latest chapter in the ongoing saga of the legal harassment of the grassroots judicial accountability organization Clear The Bench Colorado by ‘Colorado Ethics Watch’ (CEW, pronounced “sue” – it’s what they do) was wrapped up with this week’s ‘Order Awarding Attorney Fees and Costs‘ to CTBC resulting from CEW’s “frivolous, groundless, [...]

Traverse City (Mich.) Schools Open Door to Negotiations, Good Government

by Eddie | 11:05 am, December 15, 2010

The Mackinac Institute for Public Policy’s Michael Van Beek — who is essentially the Michigan equivalent of my friends in the Education Policy Center — brought some interesting news to my attention with a recent posting:
The Traverse City Area Public School district is raising transparency to a new level by posting on its website the [...]

Our ever-shrinking president

by Rossputin | 7:49 am, December 15, 2010

One of my favorite bits of practical advice is “when you find yourself in a deep hole, stop digging.”

The hole that Barack Obama finds himself in, while largely due to his policy positions, is also a function of his seeming out of his league, a man-child who was elected to an office he was unprepared to hold, perhaps the only candidate for president who made Sarah Palin look like an experienced and worldly statesman in comparison (and who continues to perform that remarkable feat today.)

Please read the rest of my article about our remarkably unpresidential president at the web page of the American Spectator:

http://spectator.org/archives/2010/12/15/can-you-dig-it

Prepare for the ObamaCare doctor shortage

by Brian Schwartz | 7:00 am, December 15, 2010

David Catron at Health Care BS cites three surveys of doctors that each conclude that many will retire or stop practicing in response to ObamaCare (HR 3590) or other similar authoritarian “reform” measures.

Appeals Court Rules 4th Amendment Protects Email on 3rd-Party Servers

by PerlStalker | 11:16 pm, December 14, 2010

One of the problems with the law is that is has a hard time keeping up technology, especially on the Internet. One example has been email.

Email is a tremendous tool for communication and has, in most cases, replaced physical mail. The law regarding …

From the mouth of Sylvio Berlusconi

by Rossputin | 5:45 pm, December 14, 2010

The Prime Minister of Italy, Sylvio Berlusconi may be many things.  But dull certainly isn’t one of them.

From a BBC News story about his barely getting through a vote of “no confidence” in parliament, and the riots that followed the vote:

Mr Berlusconi has become notorious for his gaffes. At a dinner with his MPs the night before the vote, the newspaper Corriere della Sera quoted him as saying: “I am unable to say ‘No’, I have never been able to, I’ve been lucky that no gay person has ever come to proposition me.”

VA Court Deals Legal Blow to ObamaCare

by Jon Caldara | 4:05 pm, December 14, 2010

Yesterday big news came out of Virginia when a judge struck down a critical part of ObamaCare – the individual insurance mandate. Virginia Judge Henry Hudson ruled that the Constitution’s Commerce Power was no justification for Congress regulating economic inactivity. Like our good Professor Rob Natelson puts it, punishing economic inactivity because of Congress’ power [...]

AP Education Poll: Firing Bad Teachers Not Only Issue On Which Public Weighs In

by Eddie | 3:15 pm, December 14, 2010

Quick hit for today from The Associated Press, highlighting results from a new education survey:

An overwhelming majority of Americans are frustrated that it’s too difficult to get rid of bad teachers, while most also believe that teachers aren’t paid enough, a new poll shows.
The Associated Press-Stanford University poll found that 78 percent think it should [...]

Udall to Vote No, He Wants More Socialist Style Class Warfare

by Mr. Bob | 1:27 pm, December 14, 2010

#Udall #tcot #teaparty #redcoAs you might expect Udall isn’t voting no because of the rediculous spending in this bill. He is voting no because he thinks those that succeed in life need to be punished for it…like a good follower of Marxist ideology s…

The War on Fat

by Al Maurer | 11:47 am, December 14, 2010

A new national security crisis looms: childhood obesity. As always, government is the answer.

Thoughts from the MUD

by Rossputin | 7:56 am, December 14, 2010

Thanks to my friend Mike R. (the trader formerly known as MUD) for these thoughts:

I went to bed early last night with a heavy head and heavy heart thinking about the state of things in the world and here at home. I tend to have less optimism than my good friend and confidant/mentor Ross (no brown-nosing here) and I fear we are on the verge of going over a cliff both as a nation and in the world.

I retired early in order to get up early and go deer hunting during one of our many seasons here in Wisconsin and perhaps forget about anything more important than connecting with nature in a visceral way that puts me at ease and hopefully would put some of the wonderful bounty of this country on my table over the winter.

It was a perfect morning, not too cold, two inches of fresh snow overnight to mute my footfalls and the kind of solitude that makes me feel at once lucky and in touch with something greater than myself. I parked my car and hiked in about three quarters of a mile to a spot between two ridge lines with a broad expanse between. It was still half an hour before first light and by the time I got to the spot and nestled into the brush I realized I had not thought about anything but the quiet, the beauty and the deer that may be there.

I felt really good and empty of worry or angst about anything back in the ‘real world’.

I just sat and took it all in for a while listening and watching as the first birds began to sound, hawks, then crows, blue jays and finally songbirds with the light. I had a very deliberate moment of personal thanksgiving that I live in America and have the freedom and opportunity to enjoy such things, only miles from my modest and at once, by world standards, lavish home. I pushed out the creeping thoughts that it all seemed to be going so very wrong, so very fast that it is all but certain that it will be lost in my lifetime.
I am a spiritual person though leaning toward the agnostic side of things and a-religious in the extreme but I felt like praying that things would sort themselves out, the center would hold and this way of life would be open for generations to come.

As  first light came I watched as three deer began to make their way down the ridge opposite through thick woods and my wool-gathering ceased. The deer were still 850 yards or more away in thick forest, broken by the stair step limestone outcroppings so it became a time of waiting, watching and keeping to the stillness. I watched, I waited and I hoped for a clear shot if they emerged from the woods into the open, I had no other thoughts.

30 minutes into this process when the deer were now less than 100 yards from the clearing a dog from a nearby farmhouse split the silence with an alarm bark that echoed through the hills forever and the deer were gone up the bluff in a flash..

Oh well, back home for breakfast in time to watch the markets open.

As I read through the various news sites I saw that President Obama was meeting for a private luncheon with former president Clinton and that Gibbs had given one of his usual perfunctory and hopelessly idiotic responses when questioned about the secrecy and potential topics of discussion.

A few hours passed as I watched a dull market that can’t go down so it goes up scenario unfold and I perused the news and fluff on the web. Miley Cyrus turned 18, Prince Charles was attacked by would be French revolutionaries, Wikileaks gossip, Swine Flu is back from a holiday in the tropics, Bernie Sanders gave a socialist filibuster and nobody came etc. etc. The deer got away…

Then, BREAKING NEWS: The current president and the former president had emerged from their power lunch for a ‘presser’.. I waited, I watched, I kept the stillness….Wait who is that at the podium? Why it’s none other than that paragon of democratic virtue Bill ‘Bubba’ Clinton with the ‘not ready for prime time’ Ears Obama standing aside, grinning, rocking on his soles, hands folded in deference looking on.

Bill went on to tell the nation and the press that while he, a now very wealthy man (through no fault of his own) would not benefit from an end to tax cuts for the very rich (of which he is now a member, ahem, through no fault of his own) he has to endorse the Obama compromise in this time of peril and republican hostage taking. It was all rather dizzying really as one realizes that as far as I can tell no other president has ever called upon a former president in such a way, given up the pulpit, and relied upon the former president to make his case to the congress and more importantly the American people.

Over ANYTHING..EVER…

Just when I thought it could not be more incredible or ridiculous, the president  (the current president) excused himself from the proceeding because ‘Michelle was waiting’..

No, that didn’t really just happen.

The leader of the free world just relinquished his podium on a major issue of policy to a former president because his wife could not be kept waiting, exit stage right, smile, keep hands folded in deference..

Yes indeed it did happen but it doesn’t end there because that former president then went on to wax philosophical with the press for 20 minutes more.

Who is leading this country exactly and where the hell are we going?

When the phone rings at three AM, does Barack Obama answer and say ‘hold on a second I’ll get the president…Oh Bill, phone for you sir’…?

All the peace of the morning drained from me I slumped in my chair for several minutes and just thought to myself what is already lost.

I remembered the ridge line and the deer approaching and the dog barking in alarm and the deer fleeing back into the bluffs and it all just sort of came together…

But not well.

Pro-liberty reactions to Virginia health care lawsuit (Cuccinelli-v-Sebelius)

by Brian Schwartz | 5:30 am, December 14, 2010

A federal judge has ruled mandatory insurance to be unconstitutional. Pro-liberty reactions including the Independence Institute’s Dave Kopel, scholars from the Cato Institute, Reason magazine journalists, bloggers from the Volokh Conspiracy, & National Review’s health care blog.

Who Are America’s Millionaires We Seek To Demonize?

by Mr. Bob | 6:16 pm, December 13, 2010

#deathtax #tcot #teapartyMust read of the day over at TownHall. by Star ParkerExcerpt;Most Americans – 80% – are not self-employed. But of those that are, two thirds are our millionaires.Seventy five percent of these self-employed millionaires are en…

Key points in Virginia v. Seblius

by David Kopel | 12:52 pm, December 13, 2010

(David Kopel) 1. The facial challenge is allowed. See Lopez, Morrison. Salerno distinguished. pp. 7–9.
2. Rejection of the theory that the decision not to purchase federally-mandated is an “economic activity” since the individual will almost certainly purchase health services at some time in the future. “Of course the same reasoning could apply to housing, transportation, and nutritional decisions. [...]

Best Wishes to Michelle Rhee & Indiana Leaders, Even If Selfish of Me to Say So

by Eddie | 12:11 pm, December 13, 2010

My mom and dad work with me a lot to help me be less selfish. The phrase “Me first” is kind of frowned upon in our household. Ok, I get that. But what about “We first”? If I’m thinking about all us kids out there who are students, that’s not being too self-centered… right?
It was [...]

Obama-GOP Tax Cut: Deal or No Deal?

by Al Maurer | 11:35 am, December 13, 2010

Is the current tax proposal worth accepting?

Time for a Free Market in the Alcohol Industry

by Ari Armstrong | 10:08 am, December 13, 2010

The following article by Linn and Ari Armstrong originally was published December 10 by Grand Junction Free Press.Has Colorado’s liquor enforcement finally become so absurd that legislators will reform the laws to allow free markets? The point of Proh…

Are her cojones that big?

by Rossputin | 7:58 am, December 13, 2010

I recently heard a joke about Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama:  If she gave him one of her balls, then they’d each have two.  Perhaps the same could be said of Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama.

Despite being on the way out as Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi remains utterly defiant in the face of Barack Obama’s “deal” with Republican senators on extending the Bush tax cuts in return for allowing certain useless but expensive Obama “stimulus” tax provisions.

It’s unclear whether House Democrats will be persuaded, even by Bill Clinton – who joined Obama in a pro-deal press conference on Friday – to go along with the deal.

If she doesn’t, and combined with Obama’s having to rely on a former president to get his wishes passed through Congress, the ever-diminishing figure of Barack Obama indeed seems further diminished.

As of Monday morning, The Hill is reporting that the “deal” will come up for a floor vote in the House but that Democrats will try to modify the estate (or “death”) tax part of the deal.  Also, Senate Republicans have also given Democrats some terrible “sweeteners” for the deal, including more money for ethanol, which even Algore now says is a bad idea.

In any case, apparently Bill Clinton has convinced the House that they have to vote on this thing (because Barack Obama didn’t carry enough weight with House Dems?), leading senior House Dem Chris Van Hollen (MD) to acknowledge that his side is “not going to hold this thing up at the end of the day.”

In the meantime, soon-t0-be-Chairman of the House Budget Committee, Paul Ryan (R-WI) noted that “Class warfare might make for good politics but it makes for rotten economics.”

At this point, I’m neutral on the deal.  If it gets any worse, I’ll be siding with Jim DeMint and Erick Erickson against agreeing to this deal and taking our best shot with a new Congress in a few weeks.

———

Depending on how Barack Obama chooses to engage Congress over the next year, we could be looking at a functionally lame-duck president until the next presidential election.  While I’m usually a huge fan of gridlock, there are things which this government must begin working on, in particular reining in entitlement programs and cutting government spending.  If gridlock prevents those things, the nation will suffer.  The only good news will be that it’s unlikely that anyone but Democrats will really take the brunt of the blame.

Barack Obama seems well on his way to being the next Jimmy Carter…as many of us predicted all along.

How the Colorado Child Health Plan could save taxpayers $16 million

by Brian Schwartz | 7:00 am, December 13, 2010

Colorado’s implementation of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program is the Children’s Health Benefit Plan (a.k.a. Children’s Health Plan Plus). It can save Colorado taxpayers millions of dollars by increasing enrollment fees to be comparable to those in other states.

12/9 Pt 1 – College radio host sparks campus controversy, conducts rare and challenging dialogue on ‘diversity’ itself

by Jimmy Sengenberger | 6:00 pm, December 12, 2010

In a recent article in the Regis University student newspaper, The Highlander, Seng Center host Jimmy Sengenberger challenged the concept of diversity and existence of a diversity week as espoused at Regis University, where the ideas have been fully in…

12/9 Pt 2 – Chat with state Rep. Kathleen Conti (HD-38) on 2010 session

by Jimmy Sengenberger | 3:00 pm, December 12, 2010

In Part Two of the 12/9 edition of Seng Center, host Jimmy Sengenberger sits down with newly-elected State Rep. Kathleen Conti (HD-38) for a discussion on what we can expect for the next legislative session in Colorado.  Rep. Conti shares her take…

Backbone Radio, Dec 12, 2010: The First Amendment, in depth

by Rossputin | 7:27 am, December 12, 2010

Please join Christopher Sanders as he sits in for Ross Kaminsky for this week’s edition of Backbone Radio as he goes in-depth (as we’re wont to do here at Backbone Radio) into our constitution’s First Amendment, as well as discussing the current state of the so-called “War on Terror”.

Christopher will be joined on air during the show’s first hour by Patrick Poole, anti-terrorism consultant to law enforcement and the military and Pajamas Media contributor.  Among other things, they’ll discuss Poole’s analysis of “10 Failures of the US Government on the Domestic Islamist Threat.“

A few comments from Mr. Poole himself:

Here’s a short article on the release of our Team B 2 report entitled “Shariah: The Threat to America”:

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/09/15/america-threatened-stealth-jihad-security-report-warns/

Earlier this year Bill Gertz of the Washington Times reported on my warnings to the military about the domestic Jihadist threat (which went unheeded):

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/feb/09/army-warned-about-jihadist-threat-in-08/

I would also direct you to the half-hour roundtable interview I participated in for CBN News in September on the Muslim Brotherhood:

http://www.cbn.com/media/player/index.aspx?s=/Archive/News/Stakelbeck_Terror_092010_WS

These topics and much more are on tap for this Sunday’s edition of Backbone Radio. We may not have all the answers but with your calls and my arguments it will make for entertaining and informative radio. So plan on joining the conversation from 5 to 8 Sunday night on 710 KNUS.

Please join in by listening to (and calling in to) this week’s Backbone Radio program from 5 PM to 8 PM on 710 AM KNUS in Denver and 1460 AM KZNT in Colorado Springs.

If you’re not in range of the radio waves, you should be able to listen to the show online by clicking HERE.

We hope you’ll actively participate in the conversation by calling the studio at 303 696 1971.

12/2 Pt 1 – Chat with The Denver Post’s David Harsanyi

by Jimmy Sengenberger | 8:00 pm, December 11, 2010

In Part One of the 12/2 edition of Seng Center, host Jimmy Sengenberger is joined over the phone by David Harsanyi, right-leaning columnist at the The Denver Post, for a discussion about all things politics.Topics range from media bias, the collapse of…

Austrian economics, Friedrich Nietzsche, Obama-GOP compromise and Gale N…

by David K. Williams, Jr. | 6:42 pm, December 11, 2010

BlueCarp

12/2 Pt 2 – Monologues on "food nutrition" bill, need to extend tax cuts but not unemployment benefits, & Wikileaks

by Jimmy Sengenberger | 6:00 pm, December 11, 2010

In Part Two of the 12/2 edition of Seng Center, host Jimmy Sengenberger gives his take on several pressing issues of the end of 2010.First, Jimmy discusses the Democrats’ push for a massive, big-government, phony-baloney “food nutrition” bill making it…

Leaked Documents are A Symptom, Not the Problem

by PerlStalker | 12:12 am, December 11, 2010

Six months ago, I wrote a defense of WikiLeaks. I stand by that post. That’s not to say that I agree with everything Assange has done. On the contrary, his release of the names of informants in Afghanistan would make him an accessory if any of them are…

Donations vs. Taxes

by Brian T. Schwartz | 12:05 am, December 11, 2010

If you don’t feel comfortable forcing your friend to help someone or donate to a charity, should vote for a politician, your representative, the empowers government agents to do so?

The 2010 Political Ride

by Jon Caldara | 6:07 pm, December 10, 2010

What an election cycle! What a year for Colorado politics!

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