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Archive for October, 2016
October 31st, 2016 at 11:54 am
New Poll: Support for “Assault Weapons” Ban Drops to Record Low
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In our latest Liberty Update, we highlight an extremely encouraging new Gallup poll showing that public support for our nation’s police forces jumped by a record amount over the past year.

On a different but not entirely unrelated issue, there’s similarly welcome news in the form of another Gallup release entitled “In U.S., Support for Assault Weapons Ban At Record Low.”  Gallup began polling on the issue 20 years ago, and opposition has skyrocketed from 42% to today’s 61%, while support for a so-called “assault weapons” ban has plummeted from 57% to today’s 36%:

Assault rifles have been a contentious issue in American life for decades.  Two years after President Bill Clinton signed a federal assault weapons ban in 1994, Gallup found that a solid majority of Americans favored such a ban.  By the time the 10-year ban expired in 2004, Americans were evenly divided.  And by 2011, public opinion had tilted against the assault weapons ban, with 53% opposed and 43% in favor.  In Gallup’s 2016 crime poll, conducted Oct. 5-9, opposition now exceeds support by 25 percentage points, 61% to 36%.”

Equally encouraging in today’s hyperpartisan atmosphere is the fact that opposition to an “assault weapons” ban is bipartisan, as well as shared by both gun owners and non-owners.

It’s understandable in today’s political and pop culture atmosphere to believe that the country, or the world more broadly, are descending to hell in a handbasket.  While that may be true regarding some of our political leadership and celebrity influences, the good news is that the resilient American public continues to show a welcome degree of better judgment.

October 31st, 2016 at 11:35 am
ObamaCare’s October Surprise
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In an interview with CFIF, Sally Pipes, President and CEO of the Pacific Research Institute, discusses the latest bad news regarding ObamaCare premiums and options, what the presidential candidates propose we do about ObamaCare, and Representative Warren Davidson’s (R-OH) “Lead by Example Act,” which proposes lawmakers sign up for medical care exclusively through the VA.

Listen to the interview here.

October 31st, 2016 at 11:01 am
Ramirez Cartoon: These Scare the Heck Out of Me
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Below is one of the latest cartoons from two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner Michael Ramirez.

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

October 26th, 2016 at 11:59 am
Begrudgingly Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of the Tax Reform Act of 1996
Entrepreneurs and small businesses are being crushed by an outdated, confusing and counter-productive tax code. And businesses aren’t the only ones being squeezed.  The United States has the highest business tax rate in the world, which is costing American families $3,000 per year in spending power.

Yet despite these challenges, last week marked a staggering 30 years since Congress last passed major tax reform.

Working together, the next president and Congress can deliver for America’s taxpayers by simplifying the tax code and setting a fair business rate of no higher than 25 percent within the first 100 days.

It’s time for Congress to get to work!

October 25th, 2016 at 4:50 pm
CFIF Statement on Lawsuit Challenging Nashville’s ‘One Touch Make Ready’ Ordinance
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Today, Comcast filed a federal lawsuit against Nashville’s “One Touch Make Ready” ordinance.  In response, Center for Individual Freedom (“CFIF”) President Jeffrey Mazzella released the following statement:
We strongly support this litigation and Comcast’s right to protect its property, its reputation and the continuity of service its customers expect against destructive government intervention. There is no doubt that the One Touch Make Ready ordinance passed by Metro Council runs afoul of established law and violates the most basic principles of fairness.  A judicial decision that blocks this ordinance cannot come soon enough.
CFIF has been a vocal opponent of so-called One Touch Make Ready laws, including the one passed last month by Nashville’s Metro Council.  For more information on CFIF’s opposition to the Nashville ordinance, read,  “Metro Council must reject Google Fiber ordinance,” which was published in The Tennessean on September 4, 2016.

October 24th, 2016 at 3:37 pm
This Week’s “Your Turn” Radio Show Lineup
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Join CFIF Corporate Counsel and Senior Vice President Renee Giachino today from 4:00 p.m. CDT to 6:00 p.m. CDT (that’s 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. EDT) on Northwest Florida’s 1330 AM WEBY, as she hosts her radio show, “Your Turn: Meeting Nonsense with Commonsense.” Today’s guest lineup includes:

4:00 CDT/5:00 pm EDT: Brandon Wright, Editorial Director at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute: Florida’s School Accountability System;

4:15 CDT/5:15 pm EDT: Pete Sepp, President of National Taxpayers Union: “Rates Congress”;

4:30 CDT/5:30 pm EDT: Andrew Och, Award Winning TV Producer and Author of “Unusual for Their Time: On the Road with America’s First Ladies”: Weighing the Strengths and Weaknesses of the First Gentleman or First Lady: Bill vs. Melania;

5:00 CDT/6:00 pm EDT: Fred Campbell, Director of Tech Knowledge, Senior Policy Advisory with Wireless 20/20 and Adjunct Professor: FCC’s Sex Scandal; and

5:30 CDT/6:30 pm EDT: Sally C. Pipes, President and CEO of Pacific Research Institute: VA as a Model Single Payor System and Who Has the Best Healthcare Plan for America?

Listen live on the Internet here. Call in to share your comments or ask questions of today’s guests at (850) 623-1330.

October 21st, 2016 at 6:19 pm
Crony Capitalist N.Y. Utility Subsidy Boondoggle Now Facing Federal Lawsuit
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So there’s grave new trouble for New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s crony-capitalist, climate alarmist utility subsidy boondoggle:  a federal lawsuit.

Since its introduction in August, CFIF has been exposing Cuomo’s “Clean Energy Standard” (CES), a scheme approved by the state of New York’s Public Service Commission made up entirely of his own appointees.  In a nutshell, the CES creates an artificial mandate that 50% of all the state’s energy be generated by carbon-neutral plants just 13 years from now.   At a minimum, the CES will cost $1 billion in its first two years alone, and an estimated $8 billion over its 13-year existence.  And it illustrates the sort of crony capitalism that is all too common at the federal, state and local levels because the plan’s subsidies will be steered toward a single company named Exelon that owns financially struggling upstate nuclear plants.  We have nothing against Exelon in particular, but everything about this scheme smells fishy.  At the end of the day, moreover, the cost of all of this will fall upon New York residents and businesses.

Additionally, the CES program is so manifestly flawed that opposition is bipartisan.  New York environmental groups also attack what they describe as Governor Cuomo’s “$8 billion bailout of three upstate nuclear power plants.”

And now there’s even more grave trouble for CES.

In U.S. District Court, a lawsuit filed this week by the prominent law firm Boies Schiller seeks injunction against the scheme, alleging violation of the Interstate Commerce Clause and federal preemption under the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution, among other counts:

Several power plant owners sued New York state energy regulators Wednesday over the state’s approval of billions of dollars in subsidies for aging nuclear plants.  The suit filed in Manhattan federal court argues the bailout represents an illegal interference with the federal government’s role in regulating electric rates, and will unfairly burden the ratepayers who will pay for the subsidies, which could cost nearly $8 billion over 12 years.  ‘This is a bad deal for New Yorkers, who will see their electric bills go up across the state,’ said Jonathan Schiller, whose firm Boies, Schiller & Flexner is representing the plaintiffs…  ‘This subsidy will cost New Yorkers as much as $7.6 billion in payments to a single company.  This is illegal.'”

We’ll be monitoring and updating this lawsuit as events develop, but it presents another mortal threat to the CES plan.

And justifiably so.  Although we continue to support nuclear power as an energy source that should be exploited by the U.S. on the basis of both efficiency and national security, Governor Cuomo’s crony capitalist boondoggle is simply an unacceptable way to do it.  It’s not by accident that opposition is bipartisan, and now under judicial threat as well.

October 21st, 2016 at 10:20 am
Podcast: Prosecutorial and Government Abuses
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Timothy Lee, CFIF’s Senior Vice President of Legal and Public Affairs, discusses recent attacks by liberal opponents of free speech and CFIF’s victory in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

Listen to the interview here.

October 21st, 2016 at 8:17 am
Ramirez Cartoon: Squid Pro Quo
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Below is one of the latest cartoons from two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner Michael Ramirez.

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

October 19th, 2016 at 12:39 pm
In Tonight’s Debate, Voters Deserve to Hear More About Economic, Tax Policies
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Tonight, millions of Americans will tune into the final Presidential debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.  Among the central topics should be the economy, which recent polling shows remains voters’ foremost concern.

Unfortunately, voters haven’t heard enough from either candidate on that topic during the first two debates.

Which is tragic, because this election itself has taken a toll on the economy.  According to a recent poll of economists, rhetoric from both campaigns has had a negative impact on economic growth over the past few months.  Accordingly, rather than continuing to argue about personal issues and mutual animosities, both candidates must do a better job of improving economic optimism and confidence by advocating pro-growth policies that will help us proper.

And in that vein, perhaps no issue merits focus more than comprehensive tax reform.

During the first debate, taxes and potential plans received brief discussion.  Both candidates agreed that a significant problem exists with companies moving to other countries and protecting their earnings abroad from excessive U.S. taxes. Trump correctly pointed out that the reason many companies leave is that our corporate rate remains the highest in the developed world.  Indeed, a recent Mercatus Center study highlighted how the increasing number of corporate inversions result from that inglorious distinction, and how lowering the rate will go a long way toward keeping American companies here so that they can create jobs and generate tax revenues domestically rather than abroad.

But more discussion and detail is critical.  Over thirty years ago, on September 26, 1986, the Senate began debate over comprehensive tax reform legislation that the House of Representatives had approved.  Incredibly, our tax code has not been reformed in a meaningful manner during the ensuing 30 years despite tectonic evolution of the U.S. economy during that time period.  It’s therefore past time to modernize the code and reformed so as to help American businesses of all sizes, rather than continuing to hinder growth and opportunity.

And on that point, we need concrete plans from Mr. Trump and Secretary Clinton.

Demonstrating his own commendable leadership on this critical matter, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan recently stated that tax reform is his top priority in 2017.   He rightly explained that the first thing that needs to be accomplished next year is “a budget that gets tax reform, that gets this debt and deficit under control.”   Clearly, Speaker Ryan realizes that the American people welcome discussion about how the federal government can actually enact policies beneficial to the economy and their own individual finances.  Whoever enters the White House this coming January must work with Congress to reform our tax code as soon as possible, which is precisely why we need to hear their ideas on how to best accomplish that.

To his credit, Trump has proposed a tax reduction for all businesses from 35 percent to 15 percent.  And to her credit, Clinton acknowledges that lowering the corporate rate would encourage companies to repatriate funds stranded overseas.  That’s obviously a step in the right direction, but the American people need to hear more specifics – a simplified code and lower rate, in particular – and a timeline for when they plan to enact that type of reform.  While their rhetoric on the issue is occasionally encouraging, voters must learn which candidate will work to fix the tax code in order to improve our economy the fastest.

This election has obviously been among the most contentious in our nation’s history, and policy has too often taken a back seat to personality.  While that may at times provide shallow entertainment, it’s time to put the personal attacks aside and hear more about both candidates’ visions for the economy.  Hopefully, that will mean devoting more time toward discussing tax reform and economic growth, not bickering over issues that ultimately has little impact on Americans’ everyday lives and needs.

October 14th, 2016 at 12:15 pm
Image of the Day: Liberals Need to Stop Trumpeting Their Economic Performance Record
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Remember back in 2008, when the unemployment rate stood essentially where it stands this year, the deficit over the preceding seven years was a tiny fraction what it has been over the past seven years, and liberals were acknowledging how great the economy was?

This is hardly exhaustive, but it provides a rough illustration of why Obama, his apologists and the political left skate on thin ice when they attempt to trumpet their economic performance.

Economic Performance Record

Economic Performance Record

October 14th, 2016 at 6:49 am
Podcast: The Role of Debate Moderators
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In an interview with CFIF, Karlyn Bowman, Senior Fellow and Research Coordinator at the American Enterprise Institute, discusses the 2016 election in terms of public opinion, the role of debate moderators and the impact of politics on friendships.

Listen to the interview here.

October 10th, 2016 at 5:50 pm
This Week’s “Your Turn” Radio Show Lineup
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Join CFIF Corporate Counsel and Senior Vice President Renee Giachino today from 4:00 p.m. CDT to 6:00 p.m. CDT (that’s 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. EDT) on Northwest Florida’s 1330 AM WEBY, as she hosts her radio show, “Your Turn: Meeting Nonsense with Commonsense.” Today’s guest lineup includes:

4:00 CDT/5:00 pm EDT: Glenn Lammi, Chief Counsel, Legal Studies Division for Washington Legal Foundation: Eating Away Our Freedoms;

4:30 CDT/5:30 pm EDT: David Bozell, President of ForAmerica: Social Media and Public Policy Debates;

5:00 CDT/6:00 pm EDT: Carrie Severino, Chief Counsel and Policy Director of the Judicial Crisis Network: SCOTUS October 2016 Term;

5:30 CDT/6:30 pm EDT: Karlyn Bowman, Senior Fellow and Research Coordinator: 2016 Election, Friendships, Politics and Polls; and

5:45 CDT/6:45pm EDT: Timothy Lee, CFIF’s Senior Vice President of Legal and Public Affairs: Free Speech on Trial.

Listen live on the Internet here.   Call in to share your comments or ask questions of today’s guests at (850) 623-1330

October 7th, 2016 at 5:16 pm
Bipartisan Congressional Coalition: Don’t Politicize SpaceX Launch Mishap to the Benefit of Russia
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Should Russia be allowed to become America’s exclusive source of rocket engines for space launches?

The question answers itself in the negative, but some members of Congress unfortunately advocate policies that would create  that straightjacket.

In the wake of a SpaceX Falcon 9 pre-launch failure on a commercial mission at Cape Canaveral, which resulted in no loss of life, or even injuries or damage to third-party property, several members of Congress wrote to NASA, the FAA, and Air Force suggesting that those entities should sever ties with SpaceX.

The problem, as we at CFIF have previously highlighted, is that their preferred course would mean exclusive reliance upon Russian rockets for U.S. space launches.  As confirmed by American military leaders, Russia remains our foremost global antagonist, and the last thing the U.S. should be doing is subsidizing the Russian defense industry with our own taxpayers’ dollars.  That would also further undermine global security, reward Russian aggressive behavior, and even benefit nations like Iran that are primary beneficiaries of Russian rocket technology.  That’s precisely why Congress imposed a phaseout of future U.S. purchases of Russian rocket engines in two consecutive National Defense Authorization Acts (NDAAs).

Fortunately, a bipartisan Congressional coalition that included more than twice as many members pushed back against the prior letter and set the record straight:

We recognize that the space business is technologically challenging.  Given these challenges, Congress passed many years ago bipartisan legislation governing the issue of launch and reentry licenses for commercial spaceflight activities by the Secretary of Transportation.  Accordingly, the FAA has established regulations that govern licensing as well as mishap and accident investigations.  Consistent with regulations, the Falcon 9 anomaly has been properly classified as a ‘mishap’ under federal law and is being resolved under applicable regulatory procedures.

We are pleased that the FAA is maintaining a strong and prudent oversight role that appropriately draws upon private sector insight in ensuring a robust investigative process and safe return to flight for SpaceX.  We encourage the FAA to continue to leverage its considerable investigative expertise to help SpaceX come to resolution swiftly and safely, and we urge the FAA to continue implementing its role in accordance with applicable federal law…  We are confident that current NASA and Air Force procedures will ensure that future U.S. Government missions that utilize the Falcon 9, and any other launch vehicle system, will undergo appropriate flight worthiness evaluations prior to flight.

Accidents are unfortunate events, and accident investigations should not be politicized.  We encourage you to reject calls for your organizations to abandon established, well-considered, and long-standing procedures.” (emphasis added)

They are correct.

America can’t afford to undercut our own private sector space industry, particularly when the primary beneficiary will be Russia, and at the expense of U.S. taxpayers to boot.

October 7th, 2016 at 8:54 am
Ramirez Cartoon: The VP Debate
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Below is one of the latest cartoons from two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner Michael Ramirez.

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

October 6th, 2016 at 10:58 pm
Environmental Groups Join Bipartisan Opposition to N.Y. Utility Boondoggle
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Bill Clinton made headlines this week when he openly attacked ObamaCare as a “crazy system” that “doesn’t make any sense.”

Something similar is now occurring in New York state.  Specifically, environmental groups and others on the political left are openly maligning the crony capitalist utility boondoggle that CFIF has been exposing since its introduction in August.

The “Clean Energy Standard” (CES), approved by the New York Public Service Commission (PSC) composed entirely of Governor Andrew Cuomo appointees, mandates that 50% of state energy derive from carbon-neutral sources by the year 2030.  And guess what?  The CES’s subsidies, which will cost at least $1 billion in the first two years and an estimated $8 billion over the course of the plan, will benefit financially struggling upstate nuclear energy plants owned by a single company named Exelon.  Ultimately, of course, that excessive and needless cost will be paid by New York consumers and businesses.

But CFIF and fellow conservative and libertarian groups are hardly alone in opposition to the CES.  As highlighted by North Country Public Radio in Canton, New York, environmental groups are openly opposing what it describes as Governor Cuomo’s “$8 billion bailout of three upstate nuclear power plants”:

“Cuomo plans to transition 50 percent of the state’s power to renewable energy by 2030.  Part of the program includes a multi-billion dollar subsidy to Exelon, the company that now runs two upstate nuclear plants, Nine Mile Point in Oswego and Ginna near Rochester, and is hoping to run a third plant, FitzPatrick, also in Oswego.

But some environmental groups, including New York Public Interest Research Group, say ratepayers, who were not consulted about the deal, will be stuck with the bill in the form of increased utility rates.

NYPIRG’s Blair Horner said the deal will result in $2.3 billion in increased payments for residential utility customers and even more for businesses in a state that already has among the highest utility rates in the nation, according to a study by the Public Utility Law Project.  ‘These charges are essentially a tax to keep aging nuclear power plants online,’ Horner said.”

It’s good to see that bipartisan wisdom isn’t completely a thing of the past.

It bears re-emphasis that nuclear power is a safe, clean, reliable domestic energy source that CFIF favors, one that the U.S. should utilize to a far greater extent.  Governor Cuomo’s crony capitalist, global warming alarmist CES scheme, however, is the wrong way to go about that.

New York citizens and businesses shouldn’t have to subsidize this sort of boondoggle, and hopefully the growing bipartisan opposition will force a course correction from Cuomo and the PSC.

October 3rd, 2016 at 2:49 pm
Image of the Day: ObamaCare Less Popular Than System In Place Before
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From broken promises to fewer choices to higher costs to tens of millions still uninsured, ObamaCare has been a disaster.   Its defenders insist that it’s still better than we had before, but Americans disagree:

Americans Prefer Pre-ObamaCare Healthcare System

Americans Prefer Pre-ObamaCare Healthcare Syst