Category Archives: Miscellaneous

WorldNetDaily Reports: Cold Case Posse lead investigator Mike Zullo said the new information confirms the document presented to the American public in April 2011 is undoubtedly fraudulent.

Daily Caller: A new book due out Tuesday makes the case that Frank Marshall Davis, a card-carrying member of the Communist Party, mentored Barack Obama when he lived in Hawaii.

Patrick Trueman at Townhall: The U. S. Supreme Court decision on broadcast indecency in FCC v. Fox Television, Inc. , (June 21, 2012) (“Fox II”), has reignited an important debate: whether TV networks have a right to distribute indecent material into our homes without our consent. The U. S. Congress prohibited such activity and the high Court upheld that prohibition decades ago.

Cong. Ron Paul: The true evil of inflation is that newly created money benefits politically favored financial interests, especially banks, on the front end. Over time, however, the net result of monetary inflation is always the devaluation of savings and purchasing power. This devaluation discourages saving, which is the key to capital accumulation and investment in a healthy economy. Inflation also tends to hurt seniors and those living on fixed incomes the most.

FRC: Family Research Council President Tony Perkins is pleased to announce today that Lt. Gen. (USA Ret.) William G. “Jerry” Boykin has joined Family Research Council as its Executive Vice President. In this role, he will oversee day-to-day operations including policy, finance, development, communications, human resources, facilities, information technology, constituent communications and services.

Arthur B. Laffer and Ford M. Scudder at the Wall Street Journal: The United States faces an economic collapse thanks to massive tax increases on Jan. 1, and continued deficit spending for years on end.

Reuters: A federal appeals court on Thursday threw out the conviction of a medical researcher because child pornography found in his home was improperly seized by authorities, who had a warrant for a different apartment in the same building. | United States of America v. Voustianiouk, No. 10-4420

Findlaw: Voters in Los Angeles County will have their say on porn condom usage in the upcoming November ballot. It’s hard to believe that the average person cares about this issue. Yet the AIDS Healthcare Foundation was able to secure enough votes to qualify the measure for the ballot.

The Hill: House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas (R-Okla.) led a successful effort on Wednesday to defeat a conservative attempt to double the food stamp cuts in the House farm bill, an effort that could have sunk the legislation.

Fox2Now.com (includes video): The measure asks voters to decide whether Governor Jay Nixon should be prohibited from setting up a health insurance exchange without an approving vote from the people or the legislature.

How Appealing links to reports and the ruling 94th Street Grocery Corp v. NYC Board of Health.

AP: It’s a common tactic for pornography producers trying to protect their product from online piracy: They sue unknown “John Does” who illegally download movies, then go to Internet providers to learn their true identities and collect.

NCPA Policy Digest: Voters continue to support across-the-board federal spending cuts to help solve the federal budget crisis.

AP: Democrats blocked a Senate vote Wednesday on President Barack Obama’s plan to extend expiring tax cuts . . .

Politico: “It is interesting that when it comes to outsourcing that this president has been outsourcing a good deal of American jobs himself by putting money into energy companies, solar and wind energy companies, that end up making their products outside the United States,” Romney said. “If there’s an outsourcer in chief, it’s the president of the United States, not the guy that’s running to replace him.”

LA TIMES: The city’s fiscal crisis has been years in the making, compounded by the nation’s crushing recession and exacerbated by escalating pension costs, lucrative labor agreements, Sacramento’s raid on redevelopment funds and a city reserve that is tapped out, officials said.

The Hill: An increasing number of Republicans are nervous that Mitt Romney’s decision to forgo policy details on a range of topics will hamper his chances to become the 45th president . . .

Robert Costa Interviews Sen. McConnell at National Review: Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell spoke with National Review Online this evening about repealing Obamacare. He discussed his legislative strategy, Mitt Romney, and related issues. What follows is a transcript, which has been lightly edited for clarity.

Washington Post: Gov. Bob McDonnell told state legislators Tuesday that Virginia policymakers need more answers from President Barack Obama’s administration about Medicaid before they respond to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling upholding the federal health care reform law.

AP: Wanggaard, a Republican, lost to John Lehman by 819 votes, or about 1 percent of the nearly 72,000 ballots cast in the June 5 recall.

Bloomberg: Independent voters are growing in numbers at the expense of Democrats in battleground states most likely to determine this year’s presidential election, a Bloomberg News analysis shows.

Wall Street Journal (via Google): Organized labor spends about four times as much on politics and lobbying as generally thought, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis, a finding that shines a light on an aspect of labor’s political activity that has often been overlooked.

The Hill: Mitt Romney’s $106 million fundraising haul not only stunned Democratic strategists but suggested the presumptive GOP nominee might be building an insurmountable financial advantage against President Obama.

Daily Caller: ighty-three percent of American physicians have considered leaving their practices over President Barack Obama’s health care reform law, according to a survey released by the Doctor Patient Medical Association.

AP: A new law will let companies contribute billions of dollars less to their workers’ pension funds, raising concerns about weakening the plans that millions of Americans count on for retirement.

NCPA Policy Digest: Private corporations are asking Congress to change how they calculate their annual pension contributions, which could create a huge unfunded liability for taxpayers, say Jason J. Fichtner and Eileen Norcross, senior research fellows with the Mercatus Center.

AP: Ways and Means Committee Republicans have accused the IRS of obscuring its cost of putting in place the health care law by absorbing it into other parts of the agency’s budget.

AP: Gov. Rick Perry said Monday that Texas won’t establish an online marketplace for patients to shop for insurance or expand Medicaid . . .

Daily Caller: “Our common goal is to increase participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program,” the United States Department of Agriculture explains on its “Outreach Toolkits” page. “Our purpose is to ensure that those going through difficult times can feed their families healthy, nutritious food. By working as a team, we can accomplish these goals.”

Las Vegas Sun: A local libertarian think tank’s recent email blast to 12,000 teachers encouraging them to drop their union membership has further inflamed tense relations between the Clark County School District and the local teachers union.

AP: Stockton City Manager Bob Deis has said the Central Valley city’s financial problem stems from years of overly generous public employee contracts and too much borrowing for revitalization projects, such as a sports arena.

The Hill: Republican lawmakers are asking governors to support the repeal of President Obama’s healthcare reform law by refusing to implement its provisions.

The Hill: The House as early as next week will pass legislation prohibiting the IRS from receiving any money from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to implement the 2010 healthcare reform law.

CNSNews: A record of 8,733,461 workers took federal disability insurance payments in June 2012, according to the Social Security Administration. That was up from 8,707,185 in May.

WorldNetDaily: “The United States Supreme Court has concluded that ‘every person born in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, becomes at once a citizen of the United States,’” Lewis writes.

Education News: A federal judge has struck down central parts of hotly debated new federal regulations meant to rein in for-profit colleges that often leave students saddled with debts they cannot repay. In a ruling released on Saturday, U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras invalidated parts of the Obama administration’s so-called gainful employment regulations, ruling that the Department of Education “failed to provide a reasoned explanation” in arriving at guidelines to assess students’ ability to pay down loans after attending a career training program.

AP: Midwest ranchers have never been enamored with environmental regulators, but they really began to complain after learning that federal inspectors were flying over their land to look for problems.

Rasmussen: Just 43% of American Adults now view the United States as the last best hope of mankind, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. That’s down from 51% who felt that way in May 2010. Thirty percent (30%) say America is not the last best hope of mankind, as Ronald Reagan famously described it, but nearly as many (27%) are not sure.

The Hill: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Sunday said the Supreme Court ruling upholding the president’s healthcare reforms cleared a path for the Senate to undo the law and that he would push for a repeal vote before the November elections.

The HIll (video): House Speaker John Boehner vowed on Sunday to repeal the Affordable Care Act, saying the law, which the Supreme Court ruled as being constitutional this week, should be “ripped out by its roots.”

The Hill: “That’s the last train that’s leaving the station in regard to stopping this,” Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-Ga.) said. “This train is leaving the station, and there’s not going to be another opportunity. If Barack Obama is reelected to a second term, and we don’t replace him with the 45th president, then this law sinks in, it gets roots, and it ain’t going away.”

The Wall Street Journal has posted this video.

The AP reports . . .

AP: Lots of big changes in the 2010 health care law have yet to take effect. Here’s how they are to unfold . . .

LA Times: “It is shameful,” Deasy said of the panel’s decision. “It seems a no-brainer bill that would allow districts an expedited way, with full due process rights, to fire teachers who have committed the most heinous acts.”

NCPA Policy Digest: The Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) found that 20 percent of individuals ages 19-25 had plans in their own names before the ACA, but after the regulation’s implementation, this share dropped to 17.5 percent.

Toronto Sun report.

USA Today: Delaware became the first state to enter the realm of legal online casino gambling Thursday with the governor’s approval of legislation that allows for full-service betting websites offering slots play and games like roulette, poker and blackjack.

Wall Street Journal: The City Council passed an ordinance Wednesday that requires strip clubs to pay a $5-per-visitor fee to help pay for the analysis of biological evidence collected from rape victims in hopes of identifying their attackers. . . . The Texas Supreme Court last year rejected a claim that the state fee, sponsored by Ms. Cohen as a state lawmaker, violates free-speech rights by infringing on a mode of expression: sexually suggestive dancing.

Financial Times: Twitter is preparing to introduce new measures to reduce the visibility of “hate speech” or “trolling” on the site.

AP: Gov. Jerry Brown signed a new budget for California on Wednesday that relies heavily on voters approving his proposed tax hikes in November.

The Daily Caller has a state by state survey.

PR Newswire: In 2010, U.S. businesses with paid employees numbered 7.4 million, a decline of 36,800 establishments from 2009, marking the third consecutive year of decline, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. In comparison, between 2008 and 2009 there was a decline of 168,000 establishments. These findings are from County Business Patterns: 2010 . . .

MSNBC: If the law is overturned, there’s nothing to stop the federal government from trying to recoup the money it has already distributed for the exchanges — a total of $1.015 billion to 49 states and a multistate planning project, according to an msnbc.com analysis of state disbursement figures provided by the Department of Health and Human Services

KGW.com: In opting to become the nation’s largest city to seek federal bankruptcy protection, this river port of 290,000 took a rare financial step of last resort after struggling with the economic downturn, soaring pension costs and contractual obligations.

Rasmussen: A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 58% of Likely U.S. Voters think the policies and practices of the federal government encourage illegal immigration.

Detroit News: The Treasury Department estimates the taxpayers will lose enormous sums in the auto bailout — more than $20 billion. That is more than Michigan spends on public education, more than the federal government spends on NASA, and more than America gives in foreign aid. None of these losses were necessary to keep General Motors and Chrysler in business. The entire net cost of the bailout came from subsidizing the United Auto Workers’ pay and benefits.

The Hill: Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.), who was marred by an ethics scandal and slowed down by a bad back, survived a stiff primary challenge on Tuesday to win the Democratic nomination in his bid for a 22nd House term.

Fox News: But Rep. John Sullivan, R-Okla., became the ninth Congressional incumbent to lose a primary Tuesday night.
Sullivan faced tea party favorite Jim Bridenstine in the congressional district that includes Tulsa.

Related AP report: GOP lawmaker loses in Okla., Hatch wins in Utah

The Hill: Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) called on companies to issue hundreds of thousands of layoff notices to workers threatened by an impending $500 billion in automatic defense cuts to highlight the danger of sequestration.

Salt Lake Tribune: The tea party, big-spending PACs and challenger Dan Liljenquist failed Tuesday to force 78-year-old Orrin Hatch into retirement. The self-proclaimed “tough old bird” flew easily through the GOP primary, so now only Democrat Scott Howell stands between him and a record-shattering seventh term.

Fox News: The piece of advice from Rep. Steve Israel, D-N.Y., chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, came during the Reuters Washington Summit Tuesday.

LA Times: Under the healthcare law, insurance companies would be required to cover the panel’s recommended weight-loss treatments. The Supreme Court is expected to rule on the law this week.

WTSP.com: Exotic dancer Crystal Ludwig’s attempt to have full nudity protected as “free speech” was shot down this week by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Weeky Standard: Yet another possible setback for the Democratic party. According to the Saint Louis Beacon, Missouri senator Claire McCaskill, who is in the middle of a tough reelection fight, might skip the Democratic convention in September.

OnIslam.net: Islamic finance companies are making the American dream of home ownership come true for many practicing Muslims, offering them Shari`ah-compliant payment systems to buy their own homes.

NCPA Policy Digest: Most voters think for the first time that Republicans have a plan for the future, but they remain more divided over whether the same is true of Democrats. However, more voters than ever believe neither party represents the American people.

NCPA Policy Digest: First adopted in the 1930s during the Great Depression as property tax collections plummeted, the base of sales taxes have eroded over time. Except in a few states, sales taxes generally apply to goods and not services, and often exclude even a significant number of goods (groceries, clothing, medicine, gasoline, sales tax holidays, etc.), says Joseph Henchman, an attorney and policy analyst at the Tax Foundation.

Bloomberg: The move comes as party planners are grappling with a fundraising deficit of roughly $27 million, according to two people familiar with the matter who requested anonymity to discuss internal party politics.

Gary Bauer at Human Events: The trend in recent decades toward more power being concentrated in the executive branch has reached its high point in the Obama White House. Obama’s first three and a half years have resurrected the title “the imperial presidency,” a term that captures how much Obama’s presidency has exceeded its constitutional limits.

One News Now: The Family Research Council is dismayed that a growing number of colleges and universities are offering classes on pornography.

Education News: The number of international students enrolled in graduate programs at UC San Diego’s Jacobs School of Engineering has risen for the past five years and is nearing the 50 percent mark, according to the campus. Last fall, 665 of the program’s 1,493 grad students — or 44.5 percent — were from countries other than the United States.

AP: Outside forces played a big role in defeating Republican Bennett in 2010, but have been less united in taking on Hatch.

Reuters: Labor unions sued the state of Rhode Island on Friday over sweeping public pension reforms passed last year, putting the July 1 implementation date at risk of delay.

Religion Clause Blog: Gallup released a new poll yesterday indicating that 18% of Americans say they would not vote for a Mormon for President.