Regulation

Business - Capitalism - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Energy - Environment - Free Trade - Government - Jobs - Liberals - Oil - President - Regulation - Warner Todd Huston

Obama to Dumb Down Car Ratings Stickers

September 23, 2010 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Earlier this month the Obama administration floated a trial balloon about changing the way vehicle information stickers on new cars would be structured. The administration floated the idea of letter grades instead of the more full information that vehicle stickers now contain. The most fuel-efficient would get and “A” rating with less green cars having descending grades.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the letter grades would be used to rate compliance with reen policies. Electric vehicles would be the only ones to get the “A” rating with gas-powered cars getting lesser grades.

On the website of Edmunds.com, a consumer advocate outlet, the response to the letter grading idea was swift and negative. One point made on the site is particularly poignant. An Edmunds respondent said, “Having a giant letter grade will influence buyers too much. Auto companies will start making incredibly fuel efficient cars to get an A grade, which is good, but the over-all quality of the car itself could be lowered.” The rest of the comments were equally negative.
Continue reading “

Obama to Dumb Down Car Ratings Stickers”

Censorship - France - Islam - Islamofascism - Law - Liberals - Regulation - Religion - Terrorism - Warner Todd Huston

On Day French Gov’t Bans Burkas, Bomb Threat Empties Eiffel Tower

September 14, 2010 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

News is starting to make its way around the world that the Eiffel Tower received a bomb threat hours after the French Senate voted to ban the burka, the face coverings forced upon Muslim women.

CNN is reporting that the Tower and the park surrounding it were evacuated Tuesday evening after a bomb threat was received.

Some 2,000 people were in the area when the evacuation was ordered, police said, according to CNN affiliate BFM-TV . Also evacuated were a number a nearby apartment buildings and businesses, according to news reports.

It should be no surprise that this threat came on the same day that the government voted to ban Muslim burkas. Tuesday morning, the Senate overwhelmingly voted to ban burkas worn in public on a 246 to one vote. The bill had already passed the lower house and it is assumed that the law will stick through the 10-day rebuttal period.

The Media are not saying that the bomb threat is tied to the burka ban, but it is hard to dismiss it all as mere coincidence.
Continue reading “

On Day French Gov’t Bans Burkas, Bomb Threat Empties Eiffel Tower”

Barack Obama - Budget - Business - Capitalism - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Elections - Government - Jobs - John Kennedy - Labor Law - Liberals - Public Employees Unions - Regulation - SEIU - Taxes - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Majority of Union Members Now Work for Government

September 9, 2010 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

It is the most important hill that folks interested in good government have yet to conquer and that is the elimination of government employee unions. The Heritage Foundation reports the sad and disgusting news that the majority of union members now work for government, an intolerable situation to say the least.

The BLS’s annual report on union membership shows the labor movement’s decline in membership continued in 2009. While a full 23.0 percent of Americans belonged to labor unions in 1980, by 2008 only 12.4 percent did. In 2009, that figure dropped slightly to 12.3 percent.[2] There are now 15.3 million union members in the United States, 770,000 fewer than in 2008.

…What is newsworthy, however, is another figure reported by the BLS: 52 percent of all union members work for the federal or state and local governments, a sharp increase from the 49 percent in 2008. A majority of American union members are now employed by the government; three times more union members now work in the Post Office than in the auto industry.

This is a travesty. Unions are one of the main causes of budgets going into the red in states all across the country. The incestuous relationship between politicians greedy for union political contributions and unions donating to them in order to get ever grater pay and benefits (all conveniently cutting out the will of the voters and destroying good, fiscally responsible government) has about ruined this country.
Continue reading “

Majority of Union Members Now Work for Government”

Barack Obama - Budget - Democrats/Leftists - Ethics - Government - Labor Law - Law - Liberals - President - Regulation - SEIU - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

SEIU’s Illegal Fund-Raising Scheme

September 7, 2010 by 2 Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, has an interesting expose in the Washington Examiner revealing how the U.S. government has decided to allow an obviously illegal fund-raising scheme that the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) invented to fuel its spending on political causes and campaigns.

The SEIU has decided to fine any of its locals that does not meet a $25,000 Political Action Committee (PAC) contribution limit. The fine imposed is $37,500. This means that union headquarters is telling the locals that they MUST donate a “voluntary” $27,000 or face this exorbitant fine.
Continue reading “

SEIU’s Illegal Fund-Raising Scheme”

Barack Obama - Budget - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Elections - GOP - Government - House of Representatives - Illinois - Illinois State Government - Liberals - Nancy Pelosi - Peter Roskam - Regulation - Republicans - Taxes - Warner Todd Huston

Roskam Seeks Increased Transparency in the House‏

August 24, 2010 by

From the office of Congressman Peter Roskam (R, ILL)…

As you may know, House Republicans recently rolled out a series of innovative tools for Americans to interact with their government and provide feedback on the issues facing our country today. These efforts, AmericaSpeakingOut.com and YouCut, are examples of the type of transparent and responsive leadership House Republicans will provide if we take back the majority in November.

I’ve had the privilege of serving on the forefront of this effort as the Vice Chairman and Job Creation Policy Director for AmericaSpeakingOut.com. Recently, House Republican Leader John Boehner, Rep. Aaron Schock, and I met with several organizations representing a range of businesses nationwide, organizations like the National Association of Manufacturers and National Federation of Independent Businesses. The purpose of this meeting was to hear suggestions directly from businesses responsible for creating jobs, generating growth, and restoring our economy to prosperity.
Continue reading “

Roskam Seeks Increased Transparency in the House‏”

Barack Obama - Budget - Democrats/Leftists - Government - Liberals - Pensions - President - Public Employees Unions - Regulation - Taxes - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Now Democrats Want Another $34 Billion to Bailout Teamsters Pension

August 21, 2010 by 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

When will Obama’s gifts to unions (at the expense of the taxpayers) ever end? On the heels of a $26.1 billion teacher union bailout, now Democrats are attempting to get Congress to give $34 billion of the taxpayer’s money to the Teamsters because that union has mishandled its pension funds.

Senators Robert Casey (D., Pa.) and Rep. Earl Pomeroy (D., N.D.) are now pushing the bill that will bailout the Teamsters pension fund by altering the U.S. Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. which currently charges insurance rates to the funds it helps to solvency. Under new rules the help the PBGC offers troubled pension funds will now just end up coming out of federal funds.

As Kevin D. Williamson of National Review informs us, as the PBGC law stands now the obligations that PBGC takes on to help “orphan pensions” are not obligations of the U.S. government. “Casey-Pomeroy would reverse that,” Williamson tells us, “mandating that “‘obligations of the corporation that are financed by the [fifth fund] shall be obligations of the United States.'” Yep, another gigantic bailout.
Continue reading “

Now Democrats Want Another $34 Billion to Bailout Teamsters Pension”

Anti-Americanism - Budget - Democrats/Leftists - Government - Jobs - Law - Liberals - Regulation - States - Taxes - Warner Todd Huston - Welfare

Welfare Bureaucrats Swarm Like Locusts Upon The States

August 20, 2010 by 2 Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

Mark Tapscott has an odd idea of a fun time, but I’m glad he does. He was casually tooling through the info posted on the website of the U.S. Census Bureau and decided to see how many welfare bureaucrats there were working in the states. I know, I know, Tapscott needs to take up bowling or something. But, still, the numbers he found are instructive.

He found, for instance, that out of every 100,000 residents, the State of New York has 256 welfare bureaucrats and Wisconsin has 249. That’s quite a number, isn’t it?

That means that New York, having 19,541,453 residents, has at least 50,026 welfare bureaucrats feeding off the taxpayers. Wisconsin, why it employs 14,080 welfare workers.

These number are, well, idiotic. But they are true nonetheless.
Continue reading “

Welfare Bureaucrats Swarm Like Locusts Upon The States”

Alexi Giannoulias - Barack Obama - Budget - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Elections - Freedom - GOP - Government - Health - House of Representatives - Law - Liberals - Lobbyists - Mark Kirk - Nancy Pelosi - President - Regulation - Republicans - Stimulus - Taxes - Warner Todd Huston

Who is ‘Extreme’ Again, Mr. Obama?

August 19, 2010 by

The National Republican Senatorial Committee put out a good one…

It seems beyond question that President Obama and his Party are not in good stead with the American public these three months ahead of the election. A majority of Americans even feel that the Democrats are too extreme. Can the GOP make hay on this fact? This ad sure does a good job of trying anyway.

Anti-Americanism - Children - Constitution - Democrats/Leftists - Gay Marriage - Gays - Government - Judges - Law - Liberals - Marriage - Regulation - Selwyn Duke

Lack of Intellectualism is Losing the Marriage Debate

August 18, 2010 by

-By Selwyn Duke

Judge Vaughn Walker’s legal ruling striking down California’s Proposition 8 certainly was no triumph of intellectualism. But while it’s easy to thus dismiss it, what’s usually forgotten is that reasoning such as his flies only in a certain cultural milieu — a milieu that, in part, has been shaped by conservatives. Let’s examine the matter.

Walker’s lack of intellectualism is profound. Among other things, he said that opposition to faux marriage was ultimately based on “moral disapproval.” While this is a rhetorically compelling argument in an age where “morality” has become a dirty word, it is also nonsense. This is not because he is wrong in his understanding of marriage’s more cerebral defenders; it is because he is wrong in his understanding of law. For the fact is that all credible legal proscriptions and prescriptions are a matter of “moral disapproval.” Don’t believe me? I’ll explain.
Continue reading “

Lack of Intellectualism is Losing the Marriage Debate”

Alaska - Civil Rights - GOP - Government - Illinois - Illinois State Government - Immigration/Immigrants - Regulation - Republicans - Warner Todd Huston

Ill. State Rep. Randy Ramey (55th District) Will Introduce Arizona-Style Anti-Illegal Immigrant Law in Springfield

August 17, 2010 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

On August 8, Representative Randy Ramey of the 55th District told an audience at the Tri-County Tea Party that he’d introduce a law in Illinois that mirrors Arizona’s anti-illegal immigrant law.

Ramey told the crowd that in August he would be introducing the Arizona-like law here in Illinois “in the next few weeks.”

On what that law means, Ramey said, “We’re not pulling people off the streets, we’re not pulling them out of ice cream stores, we are not taking them out of their houses.”

“If you break the law, they’re going to ask you for your identification. If you don’t have your identification then they can start asking questions about your naturalization and are you a citizen of this country. It’s that simple ladies and gentlemen and that’s what we’re going to take care of here in Illinois.”

Anti-Americanism - California - Children - Constitution - Dan Scott - Democrats/Leftists - Gay Marriage - Gays - Judges - Liberals - Media - Regulation

The Red Herring

August 16, 2010 by

-By Dan Scott

The shocking actions of Judge Walker in raising specious rationalizations as to why gay marriage is a civil right has put the liberal agenda front and center to the body politic. In his zeal to create rights out of the whole cloth where they never before existed, Judge Walker may have actually set the country on the path to dictatorship. Not only it seems liberals have finally destroyed the concept of marriage as a union between one man and one woman as has been recognized by Law for over 200+ years in this Republic, he has also put the whole concept of self governance into question.

Some have made the remark that “marriage” is not mentioned in the US Constitution and thus gave an out to the destruction of marriage, as we knew it. It is implied under the 10th Amendment:

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
Continue reading “

The Red Herring”

ACORN - Budget - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Government - Judges - Law - Liberals - Regulation - Taxes - Warner Todd Huston

New Court Decision: Congress Can Withhold ACORN Funding

August 15, 2010 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Looks like ACORN lost another round in court last week. New York’s 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed a lower court’s decision to re-instate Congressional funding of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) ruling that halting funding did not violate the group’s rights.

Congress finally cut off federal funding to ACORN after the controversy stirred by conservative activist James O’Keefe who videotapped various ACORN offices advising a prostitute to hide her profession in order to get federal housing funding. The “prostitute” was in truth an investigative reporter working with O’Keefe.

ACORN tried to sue James O’Keefe but its lawsuit was thrown out.

Eventually ACORN became so politically toxic that Congress eventually and properly cut off funding for the organization. In response to the actions by Congress ACORN sued to re-instate the finding claiming their rights were being violated and that Congress had given the group what amounted to a “corporate death sentence” by having the funding removed.

After winning the first round with favorable decision by a district court judge in Brooklyn, the case was appealed to the 2nd District Court of Appeals. The Appeals Court ruled that the Brooklyn judge was wrong and said that since ACORN only got 10 percent of its funding from the federal government that the organization’s rights were not being violated and its existence was not endangered by removal of federal funding.

It would appear however, that ACORN is fighting a losing battle. Time will tell, certainly.
Continue reading “

New Court Decision: Congress Can Withhold ACORN Funding”

Anti-Americanism - Constitution - Democrats/Leftists - Gay Marriage - Gays - Law - Liberals - Marriage - Paul A. Ibbetson - Regulation

Gay Marriage: Court Decisions from Sodom and Gomorrah

August 15, 2010 by

Paul A. Ibbetson

In a recent court decision, California’s Proposition 8 initiative, which stated that marriage was to be between a man and a woman, has been struck down as unconstitutional. As reported by Fox News, the decision that overruled the voters of California was made by openly gay U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker. Walker, one of three openly gay federal judges in the country, said that the people’s choice in California for traditional marriage was unconstitutional because “Proposition 8 fails to advance any rational basis in singling out gay men and lesbians for denial of a marriage license. Indeed, the evidence shows Proposition 8 does nothing more than enshrine in the California Constitution the notion that opposite-sex couples are superior to same-sex couples.” Of course, homosexuals around the country dance in glee at the new court decision amidst the flutter of rainbow flags, while appeals and other court battles over the gay marriage question prepare to begin.

Today, to oppose the destruction of traditional values is to violate the less-than-silent-but-always-growing edict of political correctness. So in the spirit of being overly fair to gay marriage proponents, let us revisit Judge Walker’s rationale for overturning the country’s long-standing tradition of marriage. Judge Walker states on the issue of marriage that opposite-sex couples must not be seen as superior to same-sex couples. The word “superior” is commonly defined as having a higher importance, above the average in merit, or being of higher quality, to name a few. So using Judge Walker’s argument on couples, is traditional marriage of higher importance than gay marriage? From the standpoint of Californians, it most certainly is. In one of the most liberal states in the country the people rose up to defend traditional marriage in November 2008. The importance of this issue was so strong that the people took action to correct the decisions of their liberal courts within five months of the state Supreme Court’s legalization of gay marriage. They did this legally through the voting process, and traditional marriage won because of its importance to the voters of California.
Continue reading “

Gay Marriage: Court Decisions from Sodom and Gomorrah”

Constitution - Crime - Freedom - Government - Guns - History - Law - Police - Policy - Regulation - Warner Todd Huston

Should Federal Clerks and Archivists Have Guns and Badges?

August 13, 2010 by 2 Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

To attest to the ever more authoritarian nature of our federal government, I give you the stormtroopers of the National Archives who, for some unfathomable reason, have guns, badges and the power to “raid homes.”

The L.A. Times published a story recently detailing the poor state of security of our National Archives holdings. The piece penned by Faye Fiore is one that everyone should read because it details the utter incompetence of our federal government even at so small a level as safeguarding our nation’s historical records and archives. (And we want these nincompoops to take over our healthcare?)

Fiore reveals to her readers that thousands and thousands of our important national documents have disappeared over the decades, stolen by underlings and researchers who then sell them to collectors — not to mention the occasional Democrat operative that steals records to hide them from probing political eyes.
Continue reading “

Should Federal Clerks and Archivists Have Guns and Badges?”

Bill Brady - Budget - Business - Economy/Finances - Elections - Free Trade - GOP - Government - Illinois - Illinois State Government - Immigration/Immigrants - Labor Law - Law - Regulation - Republicans - Taxes - Warner Todd Huston

Bill Brady Advocates a Path to Citizenship for Illegals

August 8, 2010 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

GOP Gubernatorial candidate BIll Brady told the attendees of a Hispanic business leaders at Chicago’s Navy Pier that we need to offer some sort of path to citizenship to the illegal aliens now living in the US.

Brady said that we need more legal immigration because our birth rate isn’t robust enough to keep the country growing.

If we wanna grow as a nation, and as a state we have to realize one of the principles that this nation was founded on and that’s immigration. Ladies and gentlemen the birth rate in this country will not allow us to grow at a rate we need to grow at, and we need to bring real reform to immigration policy and open the doors so we can see a growth rate in this country of four percent or greater. The lack of reform and the lack of immigration in this state and country is crippling our economy and our quality of life.

Brady did not offer any numbers to supplement his feeling that we needed more immigrants but he went on to say that he thinks the U.S. government should implement a policy penalizing illegals while offering them a way to become legal citizens.

In a press release Brady said:
Continue reading “

Bill Brady Advocates a Path to Citizenship for Illegals”

California - Democrats/Leftists - Government - Health - Law - Liberals - Regulation - Warner Todd Huston

Irregularities in Skilled Healthcare Trial

August 7, 2010 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Last month I wrote about the California healthcare case involving Skilled Healthcare LLC. The Nursing Home company was accused by trial lawyers of violating California’s regulations governing how many staff members per resident that is required to operate a healthcare facility and lost its case.

What struck me is that this case seemed to have been brought to court by trial lawyers and without actual victims or injury and, worse, the $671 million award could bankrupt the company putting thousands of elderly patients out on the street and eliminating hundreds of jobs.

Now there is an update on this case that takes it to a whole new level of craziness. Aside from the absurdity of the case in the first place, now it seems that there were all sorts of irregularities with the jury and the judge during the case.
Continue reading “

Irregularities in Skilled Healthcare Trial”

Budget - Business - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Education - Government - Jobs - Labor Law - Law - Liberals - Morals/Sex - Public Employees Unions - Regulation - Taxes - Teachers Unions - Unions - Warner Todd Huston - Wisconsin

As Fellows Lose Jobs Union Fights For Stiffer Drug Benefits: Free Viagra

August 7, 2010 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Unions have for years been figuring out new ways to screw employers and in Madison, Wisconsin a teacher’s union is looking for yet another way to slam it to the taxpayers by insisting that they get a free Viagra drug benefit.

In this bad economy, with states going bankrupt right and left, with teachers being laid off all across the country are Wisconsin’s teachers getting serious about negotiations and thankful they have a job at all? Apparently not, because in this dismal employment environment these teachers are trying to get free sex enhancement drugs.

The amorous union has demanded that a judge order the administration to reinstate the Viagra drug benefit that was sliced from the budget in 2005 to save money. And this demand comes at the same time that 482 teachers in Milwaukee have received layoff notices.
Continue reading “

As Fellows Lose Jobs Union Fights For Stiffer Drug Benefits: Free Viagra”

Children - Family - Gay Marriage - Gays - Law - Liberals - Marriage - Regulation - Religion - Warner Todd Huston - Western Civilization

Prop 8: Three Options for Social Conservatives

August 7, 2010 by

-By Timothy Dalrymple

While the conclusion Judge Vaughn Walker drew in Perry v. Schwarzenegger is completely unsurprising, the scope of the ruling and its many declarations on matters ethical, psychological, and theological is nothing short of astonishing. To call it a case of judicial overreach is to indulge in severe understatement. Judge Walker not only ruled that Prop 8 violated the equal protection and due process clauses, he held forth on everything from the motives of California voters to the essential nature of marriage to the appropriateness of voting according to moral and religious convictions. What was supposed to be a trial of the constitutionality of Proposition 8 became a trial of the rationality of those who oppose same-sex marriage — and Perez Hilton could hardly have supplied a more one-sided conclusion. Prop 8

Judge Walker was conscious, of course, that his ruling would be appealed all the way to the Supreme Court. Appellate courts do not generally rehearse the discovery of “facts.” They investigate whether the right laws and precedents were rightly applied to the facts of the case. Yet Judge Walker strategically located his most explosive claims — which are not “facts” at all but his own moral intuitions — in the lengthy “findings of fact” portion of his ruling. He determines, for instance, that “Gender no longer forms an essential part of marriage.” Yet this, it must be admitted even by those who agree with the statement, is not a simple finding of fact. How was the judge able to determine this? What does it mean to be an essential part of marriage, and if it is no longer essential, then when exactly did it cease to be so? The attempt to discover demonstrable “facts” when it comes to matters of value, psychology, and theology was a misbegotten enterprise from the beginning.
Continue reading “

Prop 8: Three Options for Social Conservatives”

1st Amendment - Blogging - Computers - Constitution - Crime - Free Speech - Freedom - Government - Inernet - Law - New Media - Ohio - Regulation - Technology - The Law - Warner Todd Huston - Western Civilization

Bloggericide: Ohio Officials Charge Blogger With Campaign Violations

August 6, 2010 by 3 Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

Well, folks, this is bound to happen more and more as time rolls onward in this New Media world of ours. A blogger is in trouble with local Ohio officials who are trying to Shut him down using a badly applied campaign finance law all because he has been critical of county officials on his blog. That’s right, a county board is trying to silence the free political speech of a local Ohio blogger because he is critical of them.

The Geauga County Board of Elections has filed charges against the owner of the Geauga Constitutional Council blog, independent blogger Ed Corsi. The Board claims that Corsi’s pseudonymously published blog violates O.R.C. 3517.20(A)(2), a code meant to assure that political campaign publications, signs, and handouts have their source transparently identified.

The reason the Board is going after Corsi is because he publishes on his blog critical assessments and lists of local officials that he calls “R.I.N.O.S.” Board officials feel that because he does not affix his name to his blog posts he is violating the transparency rules.
Continue reading “

Bloggericide: Ohio Officials Charge Blogger With Campaign Violations”

Anti-Americanism - Barack Obama - Budget - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - GOP - Government - Illinois - Illinois State Government - Liberals - Pat Quinn - Regulation - Republicans - Taxes - Warner Todd Huston

More Taxes and Less Jobs, Enough is Enough — Let’s Stop the Overtaxation on September 18th!

August 6, 2010 by

The Democrats are showing their true colors once again. Illinois Governor Pat Quinn has plans to increase the Illinois income tax — continuing his policy of killing jobs and stagnating the economy.

In a recent Bloomberg article, the Illinois budget director shined the light on Quinns tax increase plan:

“Lawmakers will likely increase the personal tax to 5 percent from 3 percent, generating $6 billion of new revenue,” the budget director, David Vaught, said in an interview.
Continue reading “

More Taxes and Less Jobs, Enough is Enough — Let’s Stop the Overtaxation on September 18th!”

Anti-Americanism - Barack Obama - Budget - Business - Campaign Finance - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Elections - Government - House of Representatives - Liberals - Lobbyists - Regulation - Taxes - Warner Todd Huston

Lobbyists Give Millions to Dems As Obama Smears ‘Special Interests’

August 5, 2010 by 3 Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

Let’s go back to those hopey-changie days of the Obama campaign for president when he railed constantly against all those “special interests” and eeeevil lobbyists that he claimed were ruining the political process. Let us recall that once elected he claimed he’d have the “strictest ethics rules” of any president ever.

Obama has made sure that his message has been anti-special interests, anti-lobbyists, anti-business-as-usual… heck just plain anti-business, for that matter. It’s all been quite a show. Unfortunately for all the talk his actions speak to the opposite of his spin — more on that in a moment. But even if President Obama was serious about his anti-lobbyist rhetoric his party has utterly ignored him on the issue.

A recent Bloomberg report reveals that lobbyists have raised $1.5 million for Democrat campaign funds during the first six months of the Obama regime quite despite Obama’s constant anti-lobbyist refrain. That is far more than the GOP has been able to raise.
Continue reading “

Lobbyists Give Millions to Dems As Obama Smears ‘Special Interests’”

Anti-Americanism - Budget - Capitalism - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Elections - Ethics - Government - House of Representatives - Liberals - New York - Regulation - Taxes - Warner Todd Huston

Democrats: Say, Let’s Exempt Rich People in Blue States From Tax Hike!

August 5, 2010 by 2 Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

If this doesn’t exemplify the left’s propensity to act in the mode of for-thee-but-not-me, nothing does. The Wall Street Journal (by way of the Wash. Examiner’s Mark Hemingway) reports that at least one Democrat has suddenly realized that when the Bush tax cuts fade away his state will be hit by a massive tax hike on the same rich people that donate to his election campaign.

The Journal notes that the “irony” of the tax increase coming on January 1 is that the bluest states will be hardest hit. New York, California, Connecticut, and New Jersey will be hit pretty hard and this poses a “problem” for those pro-tax Democrats that will suddenly find rich constituents who will be angry about the new hit on their income.

But, Representative Jerrold Nadler (D, NY) has come up with the perfect solution. Nadler wants to pass a law that exempts his rich constituents and those of other taxpayers in areas with a higher cost of living, i.e. other Democrats. The Journal reveals that Nadler’s new law would “require the IRS to adjust tax brackets proportionally in regions where the average cost of living is higher than the national average.”
Continue reading “

Democrats: Say, Let’s Exempt Rich People in Blue States From Tax Hike!”

California - Civil Rights - Constitution - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - Family - Freedom - Gay Marriage - Gays - Government - Judges - Law - Liberals - Marriage - Regulation - Supreme Court - Warner Todd Huston

BREAKING: Calif. Prop 8 Gay Marriage Ban Overturned

August 4, 2010 by 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

The long awaited ruling from Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker, an H.W Bush Appointee and one of only two openly gay federal judges, has ruled that California’s Proposition 8 violates due process and equal-protection rights under the U.S. Constitution.

“Moral disapproval alone is an improper basis on which to deny rights to gay men and lesbians. The evidence shows conclusively that Proposition 8 enacts, without reason, a private moral view that same-sex couples are inferior to opposite-sex couples,” Walker wrote.

Judge Walker said that Prop 8 failed to “advance any rational basis” to deny gay men and lesbians the legal ability to marry.

Pro-traditional marriage activists promise to appeal the decision to the 9th Circuit Court and then, likely, to the Supreme Court.
Continue reading “

BREAKING: Calif. Prop 8 Gay Marriage Ban Overturned”

Barack Obama - Blogging - Budget - Business - Capitalism - Computers - Economy/Finances - FCC - Inernet - Media - Net Neutrality - Regulation - Technology - Warner Todd Huston - Washington D.C.

Opposing ‘Net Neutrality’

August 4, 2010 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

While attending RightOnLine in Las Vegas last week we had the opportunity to attend several discussions of the ill advised plans that the Obama administration’s Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has for regulating and controlling the Internet.

I listened to a panel discussion and a stand alone speech on Net Neutrality and the plans the Obama administration has for the Internet will surely stifle the creativity and new business opportunities that are opening up all in the overused name of “fairness.”

Worse, these regulations are all being pushed through without act of Congress and under the guise of the FCC’s assumed powers to affect the Internet. These powers that the FCC imagines itself to have are not codified anywhere in law, but the FCC is moving ahead despite the gray areas. Like most of what Obama does, nothing as silly as “the law” will stop them from surging forward with yet another power grab.
Continue reading “

Opposing ‘Net Neutrality’”

Barack Obama - Budget - Chicago - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Government - Illinois - Illinois State Government - Pat Quinn - Regulation - Taxes - Warner Todd Huston - Welfare

Thanks Obama: More Illinoisans on Food Stamps Than Ever

August 4, 2010 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

According to the AP, there are more citizens in Illinois on food stamps than ever before.

More than 780,000 Illinois families got food stamps in June. The Illinois Department of Human Services said Monday that the figure is up 11.9 percent from a year earlier.

Is this any surprise when Illinois clocks in as having one of the worst business climates of any state in the Union?
Continue reading “

Thanks Obama: More Illinoisans on Food Stamps Than Ever”

Barack Obama - Budget - Constitution - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Elections - Government - Health - Missouri - President - Regulation - Taxes

Missouri Votes to Repeal Obamacare… Prop C Passes By Over 70%

August 4, 2010 by

-By Jim Hoft of GatewayPundit.com

MISSOURI VOTERS REJECT OBAMACARE!

Prop C passes in Missouri!
Over 70% of voters reject the democrat’s nationalized health care plan.

WOW! The Show Me State showed Obamacare the door tonight.
Over 70% of Missouri voters rejected Obamacare by passing Prop c.
It’s too bad local KMOV St. Louis Channel 4 could not find any one who voted for the proposition.
Continue reading “

Missouri Votes to Repeal Obamacare… Prop C Passes By Over 70%”

Associated Press - Business - Capitalism - CNN - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Free Trade - Government - History - Journalism - Labor Law - Liberals - Media - Media Bias - New Hampshire - NPR - Regulation - Taxes - Unemployment - Warner Todd Huston

Down Economy: America’s ‘Oldest Family Farm’ Up For Sale

August 3, 2010 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

In a sign of these dismal times, the oldest family farm in America is up for sale because its owners just cannot survive this down economy. After 378 years of contiguous family ownership and operation, the Tuttle family of Dover, New Hampshire is selling its 134-acre farm.

Founded in 1632 by John Tuttle fresh off the boat from the Old World, the Tuttle family farm has moved on with the times, improved and changed to continue operating. But, at long last, this economy is too much for them to bear.

Curiously, the Associated Press worked very hard to downplay the economic side of this argument in its coverage and instead played up the fact that the Tuttles are aging and have decided to discourage their own sons from taking up the family business. The APs story also turned the focus away from the bad economy and toward blaming WalMart and the “growth of supermarket chains.”
Continue reading “

Down Economy: America’s ‘Oldest Family Farm’ Up For Sale”

Budget - Business - Economy/Finances - Government - Judges - Law - Regulation - The Law - Warner Todd Huston

Small Businessman Raped By Legal System

August 3, 2010 by

A small businessman that owns rental property was sued by a woman claiming “mental distress” because he left on her door notices that informed her of repairs, notices that he was required by law to leave for her knowledge.

This is the sort of abuse of the system that drives up costs for all of us. In Chicago it now costs renters a starting monthly rental fee of $1,000 a month for a small one bedroom apartment (sometimes two depending on what part of town). One thousand a month is absurd and in outlaying areas of the city is the amount you can get for a mortgage!

It is easy to see that constant regulations and the revolving door of the legal system because owners are being sued by every other renter causes rental prices to soar. This is why we need tort reform as this stuff acts as a corruption tax that makes the cost of living higher for all of us.

Continue reading “

Small Businessman Raped By Legal System”

Barack Obama - Capitalism - Commerce Clause - Constitution - Democrats/Leftists - Government - Health - Law - Liberals - President - Regulation - Taxes - Virginia - Warner Todd Huston

Virginia Challenge of Obamacare Wins One in Court

August 2, 2010 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson refused to dismiss Virginia’s lawsuit against Obamacare, today, allowing the suit against the federal government to continue on to the next stage.

The federal government sought a dismissal of the suit that challenges the Constitutionality of the part of Obamacare that requires every citizen to buy healthcare insurance.

In his report, Judge Hudson said:

The guiding precedent [on the Commerce Clause] is informative but inconclusive. Never before has the Commerce Clause and Necessary and Proper Clause been extended this far. At this juncture, the court is not persuaded that the Secretary has demonstrated a failure to state a cause of action with respect to the Commerce Clause element.

The chief claim of Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli is that the mandate to buy insurance violates the Commerce Clause of the Constitution. The federal government was attempting to have Virginia’s lawsuit thrown out with the claim that it doesn’t and should be thrown out because it is obvious that Obamacare does not violate the Constitution.

The judge, however, disagreed that it was so obvious and has allowed the suit to go forward.

It is Attorney General Cuccinelli’s contention that the insurance mandates expand federal power to never before seen heights of power in violation of the Constitution. It is an obvious conclusion, too.
Continue reading “

Virginia Challenge of Obamacare Wins One in Court”

Barack Obama - Budget - Business - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Government - Jobs - Labor Law - Liberals - President - Regulation - Taxes - Warner Todd Huston

Is The American Middle Class Disappearing?

August 1, 2010 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Michael T. Snyder has a disheartening piece in the New York Post today that lays out 25 statistics that shows that the American middle class is dying. Snyder tells us his statistics “prove that the middle class is being systematically wiped out of existence in America.” Further he says, “the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer at a staggering rate.”

Snyder’s main point is that increasing government regulations on business is making it more and more expensive to employ people and that, in turn, is causing middle income jobs to disappear.

This echos the recent post I made where economics professor Richard Timberlake said that this current recession was made by overweening government regulations not by a failure of the market.
Continue reading “

Is The American Middle Class Disappearing?”