This is not a new story from the Wall Street Journal, but certainly one worth noting: “We thought cash for clunkers was the ultimate waste of taxpayer money, but as usual we were too optimistic. Thanks to the federal tax credit to buy high-mileage cars that was part of President Obama’s stimulus plan, Uncle Sam is now paying Americans to buy that great necessity of modern life, the golf cart.
On November 9th, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments challenging the constitutionality of juvenile life without parole (JLWOP) sentences. In preparation for oral arguments, JLWOP: Faces & Cases will be an on-going series on The Foundry that will tell real stories about juvenile offenders who are currently serving LWOP sentences. Defendant: Samuel Puebla (17) Victim: Valerie Zavala Crimes: First degree murder, attempted rape and felony murder Crime date: January 1, 2003 in Fillmore, California Summary Samuel Puebla attempted to rape a college student whom he met at a …
In 2005, the Supreme Court held in Roper v. Simmons that the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution bar the application of the death penalty to offenders who were under the age of 18 when their crimes were committed. Since then, the decision’s reasoning has become the cornerstone of the efforts of those who oppose life without parole for juvenile offenders and has reinvigorated their legal crusade to put an end to the practice. The text and history of the Eighth Amendment, however, provide little support for the …
President Obama recently nominated one of the biggest missile defense critics, Philip Coyle, to a high-level advisory position- the Associate Director for the National Security and International Affairs, Office of Science and Technology Policy. In this role, Coyle will be advising the President on national security issues. Coyle told Reuters last year: Missile defense is the most difficult development the Pentagon has ever attempted and if it (the threat) were real, the proposed missile defense systems couldn’t deal with it anyway. This soon-to-be-adviser will be whispering misleading conclusions like this …
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi just unveiled a hulking 1,990 page House health care bill (H.R. 3962). The latest product, which dwarfs the 1,342 page Clinton Health Plan of 1993, is the latest evolution of the House process, which started with H.R. 3200. The House Speaker made a number of general comments, saying that the legislation would lower costs for American families, enhance the solvency of the Medicare program, and add 36 million Americans to the health insurance rolls. On the crucial question of financing, the Speaker made a point of …
Today, the House of Representatives passed the $32.2 billion Interior-Environment Appropriations conference report, including a continuing resolution to fund the remaining portions of the federal government at FY2009 levels until December 18th. This bill, a 17 percent increase over last years levels, represents Congress’s continued disregard for mounting federal debt and deficits. At a time when the President’s own budget projection sees federal deficits topping $1 trillion through 2011, and the White House budget is set to send publicly held debt to 99 percent of GDP by 2019, now should …
The White House and the State Department are finally doing what they should have done long ago: putting a high-level delegation on the ground on Honduras and talking to all parties including the interim government of Roberto Micheletti. The U.S. hopes to end the political crisis that began on June 28 when President Manuel Zelaya was removed from the presidency for gross violations of the Honduran constitution and for aspiring to extend the term of his presidency. For months the Obama Administration dodged leadership responsibility and handed the problem off …
Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus made headlines this week for something other than healthcare. On October 27 Senator Baucus said he has “serious reservations” about the cap and trade bill, especially the increased near-term target of 20 percent carbon dioxide reduction below 2005 levels by 2020 – up from 17 percent in the passed House bill. No changes can be made within the cap and trade approach can alleviate his concerns. Changing the targeted emissions reductions for 2020 from 20 percent to 17 percent might reduce the near-tem economic impact, …
Apparently, after ten months on the job, the commander-in-chief still can’t figure out how to be commander-in-chief. This would be like if almost year after Pearl Harbor President Roosevelt was still seeking input on what to do. According to the Washington Post this morning, Obama has now asked senior officials for a province-by-province analysis of Afghanistan “to help determine which regions are being managed effectively by local leaders and which require international help.” He supposedly “wants the clearest possible understanding of what the challenges are to our forces and what …
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) released a 1,990 page House version of Obamacare, yet Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has yet to release the Senate version of Obamacare. On Monday, Reid announced that the secret negotiations on Obamacare had come to an agreement and he was submitting that legislation to the Congressional Budget Office. This was followed by Senator Joe Lieberman’s (I-CT) announcement on Tuesday that he may join a filibuster of Obamacare putting Obamacare in critical condition. The National Journal’s Congress Daily (subscription required) reported that Reid “is angling …
