In an interview with CFIF’s Renee Giachino, Florida State Representative Matt Gaetz (R-Ft. Walton Beach) discusses the federal government’s slow response to the BP oil spill, the need for a special session of the Florida legislature and the spill’s implications for the country’s energy policy.
Listen to the interview here.
Senators Jim DeMint (R-SC) and David Vitter (R-LA) today introduced an amendment that would prohibit the Obama Administration, including the Department of Justice and other federal agencies, from participating in lawsuits seeking to invalidate Arizona’s tough new immigration law.
In announcing the introduction of the amendment, Senator DeMint stated:
States like Arizona shouldn’t be prosecuted for protecting their citizens when the federal government fails to do so. The federal government is rewarding illegal behavior and encouraging many more to enter our nation illegally when they refuse to enforce our laws. States along the border are facing kidnappings, drug trafficking, human trafficking and gang violence and they have a duty to keep their residents safe. Instead of suing states for doing his job, the President should get serious and stop holding border security hostage to pass amnesty and score points with his liberal base.”
Senator Vitter, who is chairman of the U.S. Senate Border Security Caucus, commented:
The state of Arizona is simply taking responsibility for a problem that the federal government has neglected for years, but Washington’s only response is to oppose these new enforcement efforts and take them to court. The Obama administration should not use taxpayers’ money to pay for these lawsuits that the American people overwhelmingly oppose.”
According to a statement released by Senator DeMint’s office, the “amendment (#4464) could be voted on next week as part of the debate on the small business bill on the Senate floor.”
Noting that the health care reform measure passed earlier this year “doubles down on every problem the nation currently faces,” CFIF’s Renee Giachino in this week’s Freedom Minute discusses the effort to repeal ObamaCare in Congress and what you can do to help.
This week’s edition of the Liberty Update, CFIF’s weekly e-newsletter, is out. Below is a summary of its contents:
Senik: 20 Questions for the Obama Regime
Ellis: Eric Holder’s Department of Injustice
Lee: World to Obama: No, You Just Don’t Get It
Freedom Minute Video: Repeal ObamaCare Before It’s Too Late
Podcast: Interview with Megan Brown of Wiley Rein LLP on the Recent Supreme Court Term
Jester’s Courtroom: Student Debt Relief Plan: Sue Dad
Editorial Cartoons: Latest Cartoons of Michael Ramirez
Quiz: Question of the Week
Notable Quotes: Quotes of the Week
If you are not already signed up to receive CFIF’s Liberty Update by e-mail, sign up here.
The Associated Press reports:
Bypassing Republicans eager to grill an administration official over the new health care law, President Barack Obama is planning to appoint the head of Medicare and Medicaid without Senate hearings.
“Obama intends to use a so-called recess appointment to put Dr. Donald Berwick in charge of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, a White House official said Tuesday night.”
As Freedom Line readers are aware, Dr. Berwick is a self-proclaimed health care rationing enthusiast who openly supports wealth redistribution schemes and a completely government-run single payer health care system.
Indeed, in an interview just last year Berwick said, “The decision is not whether or not we will ration care — the decision is whether we will ration with our eyes open.” And in 2002, Dr. Berwick wrote, “most people who have serious pain do not need advanced methods – they just need the morphine and counseling that have been available for centuries.”
Seniors beware. This is the guy who is now in charge of your health care.
In an interview with CFIF, Ed Whelan, president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, discusses what makes for a truly great Supreme Court Justice and the nomination and confirmation process as it relates Elena Kagan.
Listen to the interview here.
Remember when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sought to put the American people at ease by stating “we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it?”
She was talking about ObamaCare, just prior to its final passage. At the time, few people – including Pelosi and her Congressional colleagues – actually understood the consequences of passing the unpopular 2,000-plus-page bill. But to Pelosi and her liberal majority, it was “very, very exciting.” Never mind that it will actually raise health care costs, force people who like their insurance to get a new plan approved by government bureaucrats and limit access to care. Despite all the warnings and opposition from the American people, hindsight is 20/20, you know.
Well, now it appears that another member of the Congressional leadership has decided to follow Pelosi’s lead while announcing his own excitement about the prospect of passing yet another 2,000-page “reform” bill.
At 5:39 EST this morning – when most Americans were still asleep – key House and Senate lawmakers struck a deal on Financial Regulatory Reform, legislation that gives the federal government broad powers over the nation’s financial sector. As Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) aptly noted, “it deals with every single aspect of our lives.”
What does that mean for the average American family out there? Well, according to Mr. Dodd, “No one will know until this is actually in place how it works.”
Huh? When the Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee and a chief architect of this legislation admits that he doesn’t know – indeed, that “no one will know” – the consequences of a bill that he largely wrote and that “deals with every single aspect of our lives,” shouldn’t that be reason enough to oppose it?
More than two months after the BP oil spill began in the Gulf, and amid warranted public anger, President Obama still appears more interested in not letting the crisis go to waste than providing the leadership necessary to help “plug the damn hole.”
The latest evidence is outlined in a piece published earlier this week on Forbes.com, authored by Dr. Michael Economides, an energy analyst, petroleum engineer and Editor-in-Chief of Energy Tribune.
Dr. Economides notes that the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling, which is charged with providing recommendations on how to prevent and mitigate the impact of future spills, is “well-stocked with anti-drilling activists and high-ranking officers of environmental groups” and is “devoid of a single expert on oil production or offshore development.”
Take for example Richard Lazarus, the man President Obama appointed Executive Director of the Commission. As Dr. Economides points out, “Lazarus’ background is far from technical and, perhaps more ominously, far from unbiased. Lazarus is an environmental lawyer who has, in fact, argued 30 cases in front of the Supreme Court on behalf of environmental interests. Quite simply, Lazarus is an incredibly accomplished, incredibly talented opponent of offshore drilling.”
And, to say that the resumes of the rest of the members on the Commission are thin on any real technical experience would be an understatement.
The devastating accident in the Gulf was the result of a complex series of events. Providing real answers should include the work of experts with industry and technical knowledge, rather than just partisan activists.
In addition to appointing a politically motivated Commission, President Obama’s short-sighted moratorium on offshore drilling, now overturned by the courts, was nothing more than a political decision to score political points. Strangling commerce and the flow of energy in the U.S. would have severe consequences for those already suffering in the Gulf. Jobs, revenue and entire local communities are at stake.
The energy industry and the American economy are in a precarious position. Now is the time to consider smart policy options, not for more political maneuvering.
Read Dr. Economides’ entire article here.
In an interview with CFIF, Quin Hillyer, senior editorial writer at the Washington Times and senior editor of The American Spectator, discusses the Helen Thomas controversy and changes in the White House press room, as well as what he calls “Ninja bureaucrats on the loose.”
Listen to the interview here.
House Democrats are planning to force a vote TODAY on H.R. 5175, the so-called DISCLOSE Act. CFIF is asking its activists — and all Americans — to call their Representatives in Congress now to demand they vote “No” on this assault on the First Amendment.
Billed by proponents as a response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United, the DISCLOSE Act is nothing more than another attempt by career politicians to silence their critics during elections. Specifically, the legislation seeks to subject small non-profit organizations like CFIF and others to burdensome and expensive disclosure requirements that will make it virtually impossible to speak out on important public policy issues at times when it is most important to do so – in the months leading up to elections.
Alarmingly, the DISCLOSE Act exempts labor unions and other large powerful organizations. In other words, Congress wants to arbitrarily preserve the free speech and association rights of a handful of politically-favored interests, while at the same time muzzle the voices of smaller groups of Americans, including Tea Party groups.
Such a flagrant assault on the First Amendment must be stopped. Remember, a vote on the DISCLOSE Act in the House of Representatives is expected to take place today.
Call your Representative in Congress and urge him or her to vote “No” on H.R. 5175, the DISCLOSE Act. To find your representative’s contact information, click here.
That’s the conclusion of former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, who, in an op-ed published today in The Wall Street Journal, warned that “perceptions of a large U.S. borrowing capacity are misleading,” and “an urgency to rein in budget deficits” can’t come soon enough.
Greenspan notes that public debt has soared out-of-control in the last 18 months, from $5.5 trillion to $8.6 trillion. Yet, “the typical symptoms of fiscal excess,” notably inflation and a drastic rise in long-term interest rates, remain “remarkably subdued.” The former Fed Chairman writes that such a phenomenon is “regrettable, because it is fostering a sense of complacency that can have dire consequences. … Beneath the calm, there are market signals that do not bode well for the future.”
Greenspan isn’t the first person, nor will he be last, to warn that the nation’s “current federal debt explosion is being driven by an inability to stem new spending initiatives” and that merely “incremental change” in fiscal policy “will not be adequate.” Indeed, everyday Americans concerned about the U.S. debt crisis and who have never before engaged in the political process are literally taking to the streets demanding a policy of fiscal restraint.
If only the Obama Administration and Congress would listen. As Greenspan put it, the United States “is in need of a tectonic shift in fiscal policy. … Our economy cannot afford a major mistake in underestimating the corrosive momentum of this fiscal crisis.”
This week’s edition of the Liberty Update, CFIF’s weekly e-newsletter, is out. Below is a summary of its contents:
Senik: Obama’s Oval Office Infomercial
Lee: “Net Neutrality” – Regulating Like It’s 1934
Ellis: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: A Case Study on the Limits of Government
Freedom Minute Video: The Green Bailout
Podcast: Santa Rosa County (FL) Commissioner Gordon Goodin Discusses Oil Disaster in Gulf
Jester’s Courtroom: Bingo Lawsuit Doesn’t Pay
Editorial Cartoons: Latest Cartoons of Michael Ramirez
Quiz: Question of the Week
Notable Quotes: Quotes of the Week
If you are not already signed up to receive CFIF’s Liberty Update by e-mail, sign up here.
In an interview with CFIF, Santa Rosa County (FL) Commissioner Gordon Goodin discussed the government’s response to the Deepwater Horizon incident and the severe economic impact on the Gulf Coast.
Listen to the interview here.
Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) today introduced two new pieces of legislation to repeal the most troubling provisions of ObamaCare.
“The first, The American Liberty Restoration Act (S. 3502), would repeal the individual mandate that Hatch has repeatedly called unconstitutional and has prompted lawsuits by over 20 states. The second, the American Job Protection Act (S.3501), would repeal the job-killing employer mandate that Hatch says would force more layoffs and increase taxes on businesses at a time of near 10 percent unemployment,” reads a press statement released by the Senator’s office.
On the individual mandate, Senator Hatch said:
Congress overstepped its authority by telling Americans that they have to buy health insurance or else. The Constitution empowers Congress to regulate interstate commerce, but does not tell Americans what they must buy. It’s time to repeal this unconstitutional Washington mandate that encroaches on the principle of federalism and Utahns’ personal liberty.”
On the employer mandate, Hatch noted:
The employer mandate would force businesses to let people go or raise the cost of doing business to such an extent that they don’t start hiring. This doesn’t make any sense at any time, but especially when our nation’s unemployment rate remains stuck around ten percent. Let’s repeal this job-killing provision so businesses can back in the business of hiring.”
It’s time to light up the Capitol switchboard, folks. Both S. 3502 and S.3501 are more than worthy and in need of your support!
In an interview with CFIF, Americans for Prosperity Vice President Phil Kerpen discusses the Federal Communications Commission’s effort to circumvent a federal appeals court ruling and public opinion as it seeks to impose unnecessary and burdensome regulations on the Internet.
Listen to the interview here.
The U.S. Senate this afternoon voted 47-53 to reject a resolution (S.J. Res. 26), sponsored by Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), to prevent the EPA from unilaterally regulating all greenhouse gas emissions in the United States (in other words, regulating pretty much the entire U.S. economy).
Six Democrats joined with all 41 Republicans in voting “Yes.” They included Senators Evan Bayh (IN), Mary Landrieu (LA), Blanche Lincoln (AR), Ben Nelson (NE), Mark Pryor (AR) and Jay Rockefeller (WV).
During a floor speech prior to his vote in support of the resolution, Senator Rockefeller said he was voting “Yes” because “I don’t want EPA turning out the lights on America.” Kudos to him. Unfortunately, however, 53 of his Senate colleagues decided it best to relinquish Congress’ authority to a merry band of now unchecked, free-wheeling EPA bureaucrats for no other reason than the realization that their beloved Cap-and-Trade “climate change” bill is destined for failure in the normal legislative process.
Those 53 Senators, together with President Obama who lobbied hard to defeat the resolution, now must take full responsibility for the negative economic consequences sure to come.
In an interview with CFIF, Florida State Senator Don Gaetz discusses the BP oil spill, the government’s response and the potential impact on the environment and economy of Florida’s Gulf Coast.
Listen to the interview here.
This week’s edition of the Liberty Update, CFIF’s weekly e-newsletter, is out. Below is a summary of its contents:
Lee: “Guns Is Not the Answer” – Shoot an Armed Home Invader, Invite the Wrath of Chicago’s Mayor?
Ellis: Will Boston Boycott Massachusetts?
Senik: “The Boss” Takes Charge in New Jersey
CFIF Staff: Obama’s Waterloo? Katrina? Iranian Hostage Crisis? Bay of Pigs? Watergate? Killer Rabbit?
Freedom Minute Video: Unanswered Questions About the Sestak Deal
Podcast: Florida State Senator Discusses BP Oil Spill
Jester’s Courtroom: Pedestrian Sues Google for Bad Directions
Editorial Cartoons: Latest Cartoons of Michael Ramirez
Quiz: Question of the Week
Notable Quotes: Quotes of the Week
If you are not already signed up to receive CFIF’s Liberty Update by e-mail, sign up here.
In an effort to circumvent a unanimous federal appeals court ruling, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) announced earlier this month that it will pursue a “third way” to obtain regulatory control over the Internet. Specifically, lacking the straightforward authority to impose burdensome and unnecessary regulations on the World Wide Web, the FCC is now seeking “to shoehorn Internet service into regulations drafted in the 1930s for old-fashioned landline telephones” in an effort to dramatically expand its regulatory reach.
CFIF and others have written extensively about how such an unprecedented power grab threatens to suffocate private broadband investment, jobs and Internet innovation. And, in a rare display of bipartisanship, Congress is now adding its voice of opposition, too.
In a letter sent yesterday to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, 74 Congressional Democrats expressed “serious concerns” about the FCC’s actions. “The significant regulatory impact of reclassifying broadband service is not something that should be taken lightly and should not be done without additional direction from Congress,” the letter reads. “We urge you not to move forward with a proposal that undermines critically important investment in broadband and the jobs that come with it.”
Also released yesterday was a similar letter to the FCC Chairman signed by 37 Senate Republicans. The Senators wrote:
We are deeply disappointed by your recent announcement that you intend to reclassify broadband Internet access services as telecommunications services subject to Title II of the Communications Act of 1934. This move will deter further private sector investment in broadband networks, will negatively impact innovation, and ultimately harm consumers. We strongly encourage you to abandon this drastic action, and to continue the successful policy of leaving the Internet free from common carrier regulations.”
The people have spoken. The courts have spoken. And now, a bipartisan and sizable group of elected officials in Congress have spoken. Will Obama’s FCC finally listen?
This week’s edition of the Liberty Update, CFIF’s weekly e-newsletter, is out. Below is a summary of its contents:
Senik: The Unbearable Lightness of Being Eric Holder
Ellis: Feds Unveil a “Friends & Funding” Program for American Islamist Mosque
CFIF Staff: Just Shut Up about Arizona, Mr. President
Freedom Minute Video: California Dreaming on Arizona’s Immigration Law
Podcast: Interview with Ellen Fitzpatrick on her new book, Letters to Jackie: Condolences from a Grieving Nation
Jester’s Courtroom: No More Free Doughnuts and Coffee
Editorial Cartoons: Latest Cartoons of Michael Ramirez
Quiz: Question of the Week
Notable Quotes: Quotes of the Week
If you are not already signed up to receive CFIF’s Liberty Update by e-mail, sign up here.
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