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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Immigration
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1 Bama Boosts Borders: The Immigration Controversy

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 format. It’s time to ask the question: What part of the word "IL-legal" do some…

2 ICE Slips DREAM Act in Through the Backdoor

With budgets tight and duties being reprioritized, the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency gave a gift to the pro-amnesty crowd by implementing parts of the deeply unpopular DREAM Act without Congressional approval.  By doing so, ICE bypassed the democratic process in favor of delivering another blow to the rule of law. …

3 Invest in America, Get a Green Card?

What if there was a way to link economic growth, job creation and an easier pathway for foreign investors to relocate to the United States – all without having to pass a single federal law?  As usual, the legal answer to a political problem is already on the books.  It just needs to be followed.  As part of the Immigration Act…

4 Obama Uses Immigration Reform as a Cynical Ploy

Barack Obama, fresh off the biggest triumph of his presidency, was given a rare opportunity by the death of Osama Bin Laden: the chance to be effortlessly presidential, floating above the partisan fray and standing as a totem of unity in a country riven by ideological polarization. That promise expired on Tuesday, when Obama traveled to El Paso, Texas…

5 Gunrunner Scandal Beating a Path to AG Holder’s Door

How do you go from pushing Congress for a permanent assault weapons ban to letting military-style guns “walk” into the hands of Mexican drug cartels?  If you are U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, extreme swings in regulation aren’t just costing gun sellers peace of mind – they are costing lives on both sides of the border…

6 Failure to Defend the Border Abandons American Citizens

Lost amid the legal wrangling over whether states like Arizona have the constitutional right to enforce federal immigration laws is a far simpler question: Is the United States government’s refusal to secure the border an abandonment of American citizens?  For those living on the nation’s edge, reality is inescapable.  In testimony…

7 Where’s the Border Fence?

On the Friday before Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced plans to scrap the so-called “virtual fence” project along the 2,000 mile United States-Mexico border.  The official reasons cited included cost overruns and technology failures.  The truth, of course, is a different story.&…

8 Ten Things You Need To Know About S.3827, The DREAM Act

1. The DREAM Act Is NOT Limited to Children, And It Will Be Funded On the Backs Of Hard Working, Law-Abiding Americans Proponents of the DREAM Act frequently claim the bill offers relief only to illegal alien “kids.” Incredibly, previous versions of the DREAM Act had no age limit at all, so illegal aliens of any age who satisfied the Act…

9 Nancy Pelosi’s Plan to Kill Her Own Caucus

Passing controversial legislation with narrow majorities and parliamentary tricks is a recipe for electoral disaster.  Cramming a series of unpopular votes into a lame duck session after a national shellacking is political suicide.  Apparently, outgoing U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is to House Democrats what Jack Kevorkian was to…

10 Eric Holder’s Department of Injustice

The Obama Justice Department’s decision to sue Arizona for copying federal immigration law is more than just the latest example of political calculations trumping sound legal reasoning.  Combined with its refusal to press charges against members of the New Black Panthers for voter intimidation and fighting for a terrorist’s right to…

11 Casualties of the Mexican Border War

On Monday, June 7, U.S. Border Patrol agents on bicycles were attempting to arrest two men illegally crossing the border from Mexico to the U.S. on the banks of the Rio Grande near El Paso.  As they were detaining the two, one of whom had previously been deported for illegal entry, the agents were met with “large” rocks thrown by a…

12 Will Boston Boycott Massachusetts?

A hallmark of today’s liberals is their commitment to protest without sacrifice.  The most recent series of examples come from city councils reacting to Arizona’s new illegal immigration law.  From Los Angeles to Boston, local elected officials are declaring disapproval of the Grand Canyon State by promising to boycott it. …

13 Just Shut Up about Arizona, Mr. President

In the public ceremony welcoming the state visit of Mexican President Felipe Calderon, President Obama could have been diplomatic and graceful, without attacking Arizona for its new illegal immigration law.  Instead, he chose to provoke and exacerbate, for political purpose, an already out-of-control political attack on the state for a law not…

14 Who Is Kris Kobach and Why Should Proponents of Illegal Immigration Fear Him?

Once again, a bright conservative attorney is proving the virtue of careful attention to detail.  On its face, Arizona’s new immigration law sounds in perfect harmony with the express will of decades-old pronouncements of the national legislature.  Thanks to the efforts of Kris Kobach, an immigration law expert and one of the architects…

15 Praising Arizona

Wouldn’t you know it?  Arizona Governor Jan Brewer’s ink is hardly dry on Arizona’s new illegal immigrant law, and it has ignited a national outcry with all the usual suspects saying all the usual things.  We’ve seen this movie before, and it’s getting really old. What is getting even older is the abject failure…

16 When Illegal Aliens Take Over the House, Courtesy of the U.S. Senate

Sometimes, the public square can be mistaken for an insane asylum.  On November 5th, an amendment to a bill funding the Census Bureau was defeated in the United States Senate.  Unlike most proposed changes to routine spending bills, the amendment co-sponsored by Senators David Vitter (R-Louisiana) and Bob Bennett (R-Utah) would have required…

17 United Nations Meddling Threatens U.S. Sovereignty

The United Nations once again has its sights set directly at U.S. sovereignty, as it’s ramping up two broad-based efforts leveled directly at America’s internal governance. For starters, U.N. Secretary-General Ban-Ki-moon seeks to control U.S. carbon output and cripple the U.S. economy. And would you believe that the U.N. also seeks to…

 
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?