Google is growing up. That was the message company representatives shared at Heritage this week on the Silicon Valley behemoth’s 13th birthday. (Click here to watch video of the event.) Google is making the case for the free market — and taking its message to conservatives. The Heritage Foundation hosted representatives from Google at Tuesday’s Bloggers Briefing. The meeting came just a few days after a Senate hearing in which Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt was grilled by lawmakers over the company’s search engine ranking practices. The search engine giant recently added …
The House of Representatives is poised to pass legislation today that prohibits the National Labor Relations Board from interfering in the business decisions of U.S. companies. The bill would effectively end the NLRB’s complaint against Boeing’s expansion plans in South Carolina. Boeing came under attack from the NLRB in April after constructing a plant in South Carolina to build its 787 Dreamliner. The case is currently before an administrative law judge in Seattle. South Carolina Rep. Tim Scott wants to put an end to the matter now. The freshman Republican …
Just imagine if a President announced that his administration would not be prosecuting anyone for violating the following federal crimes currently on the books: (1) willfully disturbing or killing any bird, fish, or wild animal not in compliance with wildlife regulations; (2) anyone who obstructs or interferes with peaceful picketers during a labor controversy, or; (3) anyone who serves on a vessel employed in the transportation of slaves from a foreign country. The howls from the New York Times, Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, NPR and the like would be …
This week, Judge Roger Vinson of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida became the second federal judge to strike down Obamacare’s individual mandate. In doing so, Vinson struck down the entire law concluding “the individual mandate and the remaining provisions are all inextricably bound together in purpose and must stand or fall as a single unit.” Judge Vinson’s decision has prompted a long overdue national debate over the limits of the federal Leviathan. Specifically, is there anything, any form of human activity or, more importantly, …
Heads of state and global leaders gathered at the U.N. this week to bemoan a lack of progress on meeting many of the targets for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) originally outlined in 2000. With the notable exception of President Obama, those speaking at the summit generally ignored the evidence about what consistently works to alleviate poverty and improve the lives of individuals and families across the world: greater economic freedom and rule of law. Instead, the discussions have focused on increasing foreign aid to countries and regions furthest from …
A seemingly uneventful transition of power will take place today in the small Central American country of Honduras as Interim president, Roberto Micheletti, hands over the keys to the presidential palace to president-elect Porfirio “Pepe” Lobo. The occasion will be marked with the usual pomp, celebration and traditions that mark any presidential inauguration. But for the people of Honduras, tomorrow’s inauguration will be nothing short of historic. Hondurans will welcome the closing of a turbulent chapter in their storied history. For months (if not years), democracy and the rule of …
On August 28, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. stood at the Lincoln Memorial and admonished America to return to its First Principles. In his I Have a Dream Speech, he announced his dream that “one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’” He longed to see a day when all “would be guaranteed the ‘unalienable Rights’ of ‘Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.’” Dr. King did not talk …
It’s said that Albert Einstein once defined insanity as repeating a given course of action and expecting different results. With the return of a large number of Mexican congressional seats to the former ruling party, the PRI, it would appear that Mexico’s citizens have (by Einstein’s standards) gone insane. Drug wars, swine flu, earthquakes, and a staggering economy have not made for an easy few months for the citizens of Mexico. While it’s hard to blame anyone for an earthquake or the outbreak of an illness, it’s certainly appropriate to blame …
Today President Obama stood on the world stage and demanded that suspected terrorists be treated under the “rule of law.” In fact, he used the phrase “rule of law” eight times. It is now time for him to use the phrase “rule of law” when it comes to Americans. In the next two weeks, the President will likely endorse a series of measures in his role as CEO of the car companies that may violate a number of U.S. contract laws, bankruptcy laws and financial rules and regulations. The United States …
Chalk up a big loss for constitutional rule of law, thanks to an Obama Administration sleight-of-hand reported on the front page of today’s Washington Post. When the Executive Branch needs legal advice, it goes to the Office of Legal Counsel in the Department of Justice. OLC is like an in-house Supreme Court: it evaluates the constitutionality of pending legislation and issues binding opinions on the legality of different policy options. And like a court, OLC has a strong institutional memory and tradition; its legal opinions generally don’t change much from …
