One of the great triumphs of the federal welfare reform legislation passed in the mid-1990s was an insistence…
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To Get More Federal Money, States Claiming Volunteer Organizations are a Form of Welfare Spending

One of the great triumphs of the federal welfare reform legislation passed in the mid-1990s was an insistence that states lay down tough work requirements for welfare recipients as a condition of receiving federal assistance. Though the fact is little publicized, however, another provision of the law allows states to substitute increased welfare spending for the work requirements and still receive money from Washington. That, of course, is an invitation to mischief, as reported by CNSnews, quoting Congressman Geoff Davis

"Many States have scoured their budgets to find other current program spending--such as for Pre-K, child care, and after school programs--they could report as TANF [welfare] spending," Davis said at a hearing on Thursday. "Others began counting third-party spending--such…[more]

May 22, 2012 • 01:24 pm

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Jester's CourtroomLegal tales stranger than stranger than fiction: Ridiculous and sometimes funny lawsuits plaguing our courts.
 
 
THE ISSUES  
   
Taxes & Economy
Health Care
 
Direct-Pay Medicine: A Free Market Approach to Healthcare Reform
While ObamaCare creates armies of bureaucrats in the public and private sectors, a small but growing number of doctors and patients are using a simple solution to improve medical treatment while cutting out middle men.  When…
   
 
 
Energy & Environment
CFIF's Legal Activities
Constitution & Legal
   
ObamaCare’s Newest Casualty: Freedom of Conscience
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…”  --Amendment…
 
Employment & Labor
Campaign Finance
Homeland Security
   
Obama, Three Years Ago This Week: “If I Don’t Have This Turned Around in Three Years…”
On February 2, 2009, Barack Obama confidently announced the following performance standard for himself in an interview with NBC’s Matt…
Media Issues
Earlier this week, anticipating the potential for the Supreme Court to gut his signature health care law, President Obama preemptively lashed out at the nation’s highest legal institution, saying, “I’m confident that the Supreme Court…
Foreign Policy
Last week, a senior Russian general threatened a preemptive military attack against NATO missile defenses:  “Taking into account the missile defense system’s destabilizing nature and, in particular, creating an illusion that a disarming…
Legal Reform / Tort Reform
NEW ORLEANS:  The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), meeting here this week for its annual meeting and policy summit, is justly known as a clearinghouse through which state legislators across the nation exchange helpful information about…
State of Affairs
The Obama Administration may abhor free speech, but it certainly delights in government-imposed speech.  Remember those silly “stimulus” construction site roadsigns from 2009 and 2010?  At $10,000 apiece according to ABC News,…
Education
During performances last week at the flagship state universities of North Carolina, Colorado and Iowa, President Obama executed rhetorical sleights-of-hand that would make David Copperfield blush.  Exuding the confidence of someone standing in the…
Health Care
Recall this promise from President Barack Obama back in 2009: “If you like your doctor, you will be able to keep your doctor. Period. If you like your health care plan, you will be able to keep your health care plan. Period. No one will take it…
Immigration
Note: I host a weekly radio show on Thursday nights on WAVH-FM in Mobile, AL. Last week’s topic was Alabama’s controversial new law against illegal immigrants. Below is my opening monologue, slightly shortened and adapted into a news-column…
Technology & Telecom
As contemporary examples of malignant irony go, it’s difficult to top Google.  Recall Google’s ostensible corporate motto:  “Don’t be evil.”  According to Google itself, that extends beyond mere customer interaction: …
Question of the Week   
Which one of the following men did the Chicago Tribune describe as: “a bullheaded man whose high place … was won by his ability to waste more money in quicker time on more absurd undertakings?”
More Questions
Quote of the Day   
 
"This week Catholic bishops are heading to federal courts across the country to defend religious liberty. On Monday they filed 12 lawsuits on behalf of a diverse group of 43 Catholic entities that are challenging the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) sterilization, abortifacient and birth-control insurance mandate. ...  The main goal of the mandate is not, as HHS claimed, to protect…[more]
 
 
—Mary Ann Glendon, Harvard Law School Professor
— Mary Ann Glendon, Harvard Law School Professor
 
Liberty Poll   

Should the Obama administration authorize the use of aerial drones by local police agencies?