In 1773, American colonists dumped 342 chests of tea into the Boston Harbor. Their unwillingness to pay duties on imported tea made them our country’s original free traders. As Constitutionalists, Tea Party members are likely to recall that the U.S. Constitution gave Congress the power to regulate commerce with foreign nations and between the states. Prior to that point, tariff wars between the states disrupted commerce and threatened the country’s survival. By eliminating interstate trade barriers, the Constitution created a free-trade zone that allowed our country to prosper. Trade barriers …
Exit polls and candidate victory speeches confirm the truth that yesterday’s electoral outcomes were rooted in concerns about a sagging economy and soaring government spending. But the public records and political philosophies of yesterday’s victors at the ballot box also convey the quiet strength of social issues in the 2010 election. A confident coalition has emerged with a convergence of convictions. The freshman class of congressional Members elected yesterday is the most socially conservative since at least the 1980 class elected on Ronald Reagan’s coattails. The 1980 class included a …
The deepwater drilling moratorium ended three weeks ago, but it could be months before the federal government issues its first new permit. In a meeting last week with members of the National Ocean Industries Association, U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement Director Michael Bromwich was vague when asked when his agency would issue a new deepwater permit. According to Oil & Gas Journal, he simply said he hoped it could happen before the end of the year. Deepwater drilling permits came to a halt after the Deepwater …
Once again, the promise that Americans can keep the health coverage they like under Obamacare has been broken. National Health Insurance, Aetna, John Alden, and Principle have reported that they “need to make adjustments in their business to accommodate the nation’s new federal health care law.” The National Health Insurance Co. (NHIC), a Dallas-based insurer, recently announced that it would no longer offer insurance plans in the individual and small group markets in New Mexico. According to NHIC President Charles Harris, “After careful consideration…National Health Insurance Company has determined it …
My fellow conservatives, The people have spoken. Reckless spending, stifling regulations, ever-rising taxes, endless debt and the looming government takeover of health care have brought this nation to a tipping point. Not surprisingly, the American people have now taken matters into their own hands. How we got to that tipping point is clear. For too long, Washington’s preening elites have assumed that they knew best and that government was in itself the all-purpose solution to every perceived problem. But the American people have a collective wisdom, and they expressed it …
Turkey’s dramatic announcement that it revised the list of countries which it believes threatens its national security (a list alternatively known as the “Red Book”) confirms Ankara’s strategic drift away from the West and greater embrace of Iran and other states hostile to the U.S. Turkey’s top-secret national security policy document (known by its Turkish abbreviation MGSB), or the Red Book, lists Turkey’s perceived domestic and external threats. It is regularly updated by the National Security Council, formerly chaired by a general, but as of recently under the control of …
The Federal Communications Commission is joining the fight against bullying. Reportedly, the agency will soon issue rules requiring schools that receive federal funding for Internet equipment and service under its “E-rate” program to educate students on “how to act responsibly online.” Specific topics will include “cyber-bullying prevention” and “behavior on social networking sites like Facebook.” It’s an odd new mission for the agency. Certainly, no one should defend bullying, and everyone is in favor of proper behavior online. But do America’s schools really need direction on those issues from the …
Recently, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced the winners of $110 million worth of grant money for sex education programs for adolescents. The money will go to fund five-year cooperative agreements as part of the Obama Administration’s new Teen Pregnancy Prevention program. However, while HHS stated that they “were hoping for and hopefully got a healthy mix” of programs, according to The Washington Post, “Abstinence proponents … identified just five ‘authentic’ abstinence programs receiving less than $5 million.” In total, 115 programs in 38 states received grants. …
Former Office for Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag recently wrote an opinion piece in The New York Times on the need for medical malpractice reform. Well, kind of. Orszag’s approach has more to do with creating stricter mechanisms to enforce physicians’ compliance with evidence-based guidelines than with reforming the tort system to better protect doctors and patients. Orszag writes, “What’s needed is a much more aggressive national effort to protect doctors who follow evidence-based guidelines. That’s the only way that malpractice reform could broadly promote the adoption of best …
