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Archive for March, 2010
March 26th, 2010 at 1:00 pm
ObamaCare Timeline: Curious to Know When Your Taxes Will Spike?

Are you curious to know when your taxes will spike?  When one of approximately 17,000 new IRS agents will come knocking for failure to have government-approved insurance?  When senior citizens can expect to see those massive cuts to their Medicare Advantage plans?

Congressman Dave Camp, Ranking Member of the House Ways and Means Committee, has put together a handy timeline outlining when all the major provisions of ObamaCare are set to kick in.

Check it out here (.pdf).

March 26th, 2010 at 11:12 am
This Week’s Liberty Update

This week’s edition of the Liberty Update, CFIF’s weekly e-newsletter, is out.  For those readers who don’t receive it in their e-mail inboxes or if you haven’t had a chance to read it yet, below is a summary of its contents:

Ellis:  Hawaii’s Charles Djou: The Next Scott Brown?
Lee:  The Ominous “S-Word” – Secession
Rep. Paul Ryan:  Costs of This Debacle Will Be High
Senik:  Israel: An Ally Forsaken
CFIF Staff:  Come November, We Must Restore Representative Government If Nothing Else

Freedom Minute Video:  Liberty Lost
Podcast:  Card Check Legislation Threatens Job Creation and Economic Recovery
Jester’s Courtroom:  Woman Brews Up Another McDonald’s Hot Coffee Lawsuit

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, sign up here.

March 26th, 2010 at 9:16 am
Ramirez Cartoon: Amnesty
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Below is one of the latest cartoons from Pulitzer Prize-winner Michael Ramirez.

View more of Michael Ramirez’s cartoons on CFIF’s website here.

March 26th, 2010 at 8:41 am
Sad Symbolism: Amid Recession, D.C. Continues to Thrive
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Perhaps nothing symbolizes our nation’s sad state of political affairs than the fact that government-town Washington, D.C. thrives relative to other major American cities.

As noted by a recent Wall Street Journal report, home prices in the D.C. area rose 2% in 2009, compared to a 3% decline in 20 areas covered by the S&P/Case-Shiller Index.  The capital’s unemployment rate stands at 6.9% compared to 9.7% nationally, and restaurants have added workers in D.C. while other metropolitan areas bleed such jobs.  The reason?  Federal government employment in the area increased by over 20,000, whereas approximately 100,000 private-sector jobs were lost there.  Not only has our bloated federal government increased its employment rolls even as the rest of our society cuts back, but $78.5 billion in federal contract work and the flurry of bureaucratic activity brings domestic and foreign visitors to town.

Americans everywhere have had to trim their budgets and expectations during the downturn, but not the expanding federal government.  What sad, albeit fitting, symbolism.

March 25th, 2010 at 10:51 pm
Taking Freedom to Public Radio
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For those interested, I’ll be appearing on “The Takeaway” with John Hockenberry and Celeste Headlee on Public Radio International on Friday morning at around 6:30 am Eastern to discuss the relationship between the Tea Party Movement and the GOP in the aftermath of Obamacare.

You can find your local affiliate here or listen online after the fact here.

March 25th, 2010 at 4:07 pm
Report: Europe Continues to Stagnate. So Why Do Liberals Seek To Emulate It?
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American liberals love to praise supposedly superior European governance and culture, oblivious to the irony that they nevertheless continue to live in the United States.  This phenomenon became particularly visible during the ObamaCare ordeal, as liberals claimed that we must somehow join the rest of the “industrialized world” in providing unsustainable government-controlled healthcare.

Well, here’s a dose of sobering reality.  As noted on a front page story in today’s Wall Street Journal entitled “Europe’s Choice:  Growth or Safety Net,” Europe has stagnated economically for the past two decades compared to the United States.  Worse, this has occurred even as Europe continued its failure to carry their own weight with respectable defense expenditures.  From 1990 to 1999, Europe’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew 2.0%, compared to 3.3% for the U.S.  From 2000 to 2008, Europe only grew 1.7%, whereas the U.S. grew 2.2%.

Yet we’re supposed to emulate their example?  Can’t liberals just move there instead?

March 25th, 2010 at 3:28 pm
Thomas Friedman Declares “Mission Accomplished” on Healthcare

Isn’t comprehensive legislation wonderful?  With the stroke of several pens this week, 30 million Americans now have health care!  Right now.  Check out liberals’ columnist of record, Thomas Friedman, who exhilaratingly proclaims that “covering so many uninsured Americans is a historic achievement.”  All that’s missing is a “Mission Accomplished” banner draped across the Mayo Clinic.

Except that none of the 30 million under-insured Americans has Obamacare health insurance today.  Those on the left love to distort the 2003 “Mission Accomplished” banner on the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln, which celebrated its crew’s successful deployment, as some sort of premature statement by President Bush that the Iraq campaign was concluded.  In this instance, however, Friedman may truly be celebrating a “mission accomplished” before his professed objective was, well, accomplished.  So-called “progressives” may be celebrating, but not for anything more than making a law.  That’s a result, not an achievement.

March 25th, 2010 at 2:14 pm
Obama Joins Those Urging Efforts to Repeal ObamaCare!
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In a speech in Iowa City, Iowa today, President Obama urged Republicans to “Be my guest,” and, “Go for it,” in efforts to repeal ObamaCare.

His tone was mocking, taunting, laying down a political challenge.

We don’t know the tone of the American people polled by CBS News yesterday.  Presumably it was serious.  They were asked, “Should Republicans continue to challenge the health care bill?”  Overall, sixty-two percent said yes, including 89 percent of Republicans, 66 percent of Independents and 41 percent of Democrats (who somehow seem to have taken a pass on the Inside the Beltway Democratic exuberance).

Go for it, indeed, because those are tripartisan landslide numbers, anyway you slice them, anyway you dice them.

March 25th, 2010 at 2:05 pm
Harry Reid Buys a New Car

Here at CFIF, we don’t make it a habit of promoting chain emails.  But one such email, which has landed in our inboxes on more than one occasion today, is worth an exception.   The author is unknown.  Here it is as it has been sent to us.

Senator Harry Reid goes to a local GM dealer in Washington, D.C. with the intention of buying a brand new vehicle. Harry looks around and finds one he likes.  

After going back and forth with the salesman, Harry settles on a price of $45,000. 

Harry and the salesman go back to the office to complete the paperwork. Harry works out a 4 year payment plan, and signs on the bottom line.

The salesman shakes Harry’s hand and says, “Thanks Senator Reid, the car will be ready for pickup in 4 years.”  Harry says, “What are you talking about?”  

“Where are the keys to my new car?”  The salesman replies, “No, you don’t understand Senator.  You make payments for 4 years…THEN we give you the car.  You know, just like your health plan.”

March 25th, 2010 at 1:35 pm
Obama’s Golden Rule: Coddle Thy Enemy, Loathe Thy Friend
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Barack Obama simply cannot seem to muster the same anger toward America’s sworn enemies that he heaps upon our most loyal allies.

According to The Wall Street Journal’s David Luhnow, Obama said yesterday that he was “deeply disturbed” by Cuba’s latest human rights atrocities, including the starvation death of political prisoner Orlando Zapata.  In contrast, Obama was reportedly “livid” toward Israel following its decision to merely construct apartments in its own capital city.

The good news is that Israeli Prime Minister stood up to Obama’s backwardness during his speech this week to the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), saying “Jerusalem is not a ‘settlement’ – it is our capital.” Nevertheless, how embarrassing and frankly pathetic that America’s President cannot exceed the “deeply disturbed” level on his anger meter for the death of a Cuban political prisoner, but erupts volcanically when our only true friend in the Middle East simply allows apartment construction in its own capital.

March 25th, 2010 at 1:26 pm
This Just In: Fidel Castro Endorses ObamaCare
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“We consider health reform to have been an important battle and a success of [Obama],” wrote Castro.

Full story here.

Where are you, Hugo Chavez?

March 25th, 2010 at 12:25 pm
Who Knew Nancy Pelosi Was a Peter Drucker Acolyte?

Probably not even the Speaker herself.  But that doesn’t change the fact that her managing of Obamacare mirrors the characteristics of effective leaders Drucker identifies in his classic, The Effective Executive.  There are eight points Drucker sees in every effective executive.

(1)    They asked, “What needs to be done?”

(2)    They asked, “What is right for the enterprise?”

(3)    They developed action plans.

(4)    They took responsibility for decisions.

(5)    They took responsibility for communicating.

(6)    They were focused on opportunities rather than problems.

(7)    They ran productive meetings.

(8)    They thought and said “we” rather than “I.”

I think most observers would agree that Pelosi nailed numbers 3-8, and number 1; especially with her members in Congress.  Was anyone certain she wouldn’t pass the bill?  If I had to pick a flaw it would be failure to comply with number 2, the only normative criteria on the list.  It isn’t right for the American enterprise and its constitutional structure to ram a bill through Congress by using tricks and gimmicks because doing so destroys people’s confidence that we are a nation of rules, not (wo)men.  But as we see with Democrats like Pelosi, the only thing that matters is “winning” – even if it means corrupting government in the process.

For that, Dr. Drucker would no doubt be appalled.

March 25th, 2010 at 9:09 am
Ramirez Cartoon: We the Government…
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Below is one of the latest cartoons from Pulitzer Prize-winner Michael Ramirez.

View more of Michael Ramirez’s cartoons on CFIF’s website here.

March 24th, 2010 at 1:54 pm
What Does Anna Nicole Smith Have to Do with Property Rights? Plenty
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As CFIF has noted before, former Hollywood “star” Anna Nicole Smith has made quite a splash in the legal world – and not by diving nude off a roof into a pool at a trial lawyers’ convention in Cancun.

The litigious executors of Smith’s estate have attempted to manipulate our judicial system, filing multiple lawsuits in multiple jurisdictions to claim private property to which they have no right.  True to our federalist system, state courts were best situated to resolve this claim.  Unfortunately, her attorneys were able to successfully game the system by playing “jackpot justice” and filing duplicative suits in federal court elsewhere.  Their legal maneuvering has been so abusive that it’s dragged on for more than 15 years, and outlived every single one of the original litigants in the case.

Fortunately, it appears the end of the road may finally be in sight.

Late last week, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals vindicated federalism’s division of powers and ruled in favor of private property rights.  It did so by recognizing the autonomy of state courts and preventing federal bankruptcy courts from overstepping their bounds by improperly interfering in matters properly left to local law.  This is an important step in preventing any further erosions of the concept of federalism in our court system, and vital to preventing trial lawyers and perpetual lawsuit abusers from seeking out favorable rulings by circumventing the state courts best equipped to negotiate state specific estate laws.

It’s also important to note that this ruling impacts more than just Hollywood starlets like Anna Nicole.  If the courts had ruled in favor of Smith’s estate, any family inheritance or estate matter anywhere could have been subject to such frivolous forum shopping.  Legal expert Todd Zywicki, who has long followed the case and also filed an amicus brief in the suit, wrote more on the case on the popular legal blog, The Volokh Conspiracy.  His conclusion, in plain English:

“A clear line between state law and bankruptcy court is important to keep cases like this from arising in the future.”

We should be thankful that the Federal courts have drawn that line in favor of property rights, at least for now.  Unfortunately, Smith’s executor, coincidentally named Howard K. Stern, has indicated that he intends to appeal.  Accordingly, the United States Supreme Court could still overturn the Ninth Circuit’s ruling in a fit of misjudgment.  Let’s hope the second time around, the Supreme Court gets this right, and upholds the Ninth Circuit’s protection of property rights, the rule of law and federalism.

March 24th, 2010 at 12:37 pm
“Guess What We Found in the Health Care Bill!”
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That’s the name of the game that journalists and pundits will be playing as the country tries to get its arms around the more than 2,400 pages of health care reform legislation that President Obama signed yesterday.

Luckily, the folks over at Investor’s Business Daily have been cataloging every freedom that Obamacare strips away. Among the more terrifying:

6. You must buy a policy that covers ambulatory patient services, emergency services, hospitalization, maternity and newborn care, mental health and substance use disorder services, including behavioral health treatment; prescription drugs; rehabilitative and habilitative services and devices; laboratory services; preventive and wellness services; chronic disease management; and pediatric services, including oral and vision care.

You’re a single guy without children? Tough, your policy must cover pediatric services. You’re a woman who can’t have children? Tough, your policy must cover maternity services. You’re a teetotaler? Tough, your policy must cover substance abuse treatment. (Add your own violation of personal freedom here.) (Section 1302).

Read all 20 here.

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March 24th, 2010 at 10:01 am
Fox News Poll: Nearly 80% of Americans Believe U.S. Economy Could Collapse

According to a recently released Fox News poll, nearly four out of every five voters (79%) feel the U.S. economy could collapse and that Washington has no credible plan to fix it.

That pessimism is not held by voters identifying with just one political party either.  72% of Democrats, 84% of Republicans and 80% of Independents share the pessimism about the economy, while just 18% of all voters surveyed think it’s “so big and strong it could never collapse.”

Before you go blaming those greedy Wall Street suits for the nation’s gloom, read this little nugget from FoxNews.com’s report on the poll:

78 percent of voters believe the federal government is ‘larger and more costly’ than it has ever been before, and by nearly three-to-one more voters think the national debt (65 percent) is a greater potential threat to the country’s future than terrorism (23 percent). …

“Three in 10 American voters (30 percent) say they are comfortable with the size and role of the federal government right now, while 65 percent say the government has become too big and ‘is restricting American freedoms.’”

March 23rd, 2010 at 4:36 pm
Ramirez Cartoon: A Day of Infamy
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Below is one of the latest cartoons from Pulitzer Prize-winner Michael Ramirez.

View more of Michael Ramirez’s cartoons on CFIF’s website here.

March 23rd, 2010 at 2:23 pm
The Last Statesman?
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At a moment when the free world is shrinking from its heritage of limited government at home and quiet strength abroad, thank God for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

In an address to AIPAC in Washington, Netanyahu gave one of the most honest reflections on the promise and peril of the Middle East ever to come from a sitting Prime Minister. The best passage:

Our soldiers and your soldiers fight against fanatic enemies that loathe our common values. In the eyes of these fanatics, we are you and you are us.

To them, the only difference is that you are big and we are small. You are the Great Satan and we are the Little Satan.

This fanaticism’s hatred of Western civilization predates Israel’s establishment by over one thousand years. Militant Islam does not hate the West because of Israel. It hates Israel because of the West – because it sees Israel as an outpost of freedom and democracy that prevents them from overrunning the Middle East. That is why when Israel stands against its enemies, it stands against America’s enemies.

This speech is one of the most important of 2010. Read it here.

March 23rd, 2010 at 11:36 am
Obama Reneges On Yet Another Campaign Promise

Less than 48 hours after Democrats in the House of Representatives passed their government-run health care bill, President Obama this morning signed it into law.

In doing so, the president violated yet another promise he made to the American people.  In fact, the “ethics” page of Obama’s “Organizing for America” website still reads:

Sunlight Before Signing:   Too often bills are rushed through Congress and to the president before the public has the opportunity to review them.  As president, Obama will not sign any non-emergency bill without giving the American public an opportunity to review and comment on the White House website for five days.” [emphasis added]

Then again, the president has reneged on that specific promise on at least 32 occasions prior to today.  At this point, why even bother counting? 

H/T:  ATR’s Center for Fiscal Accountability and Real Clear Politics

March 23rd, 2010 at 10:32 am
Bookshelf: Matt Gallagher’s “Kaboom”
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In today’s Bookshelf section of The Wall Street Journal, former Marine combat infantryman and Assistant Secretary of Defense Bing West reviews Matt Gallagher’s new book “Kaboom.” The title “Kaboom” may sound familiar to many, because it’s the same name of Gallagher’s compelling blog about his combat tour in Iraq.  West offers a glowing review of Gallagher’s book, but one passage in particular stands out as a testament to the effectiveness and contribution of our troops in Iraq, for which all Americans should be grateful:

Mr. Gallagher is too modest, and too ironic, to tout his own accomplishments, so I’ll do it for him:  He is a classic representative of the U.S. military, a force that imposed its will, both physical and moral, to shatter al Qaeda in Iraq and quash the Shiite-Sunni civil war and that is now withdrawing with honor, leaving Iraq a much better place than under Saddam Hussein.”

What a fantastic tribute to Gallagher and our military more generally, and a welcome contribution to the literature on their service there.