Yesterday the U.S. Constitution and federalism won a key battle. The Virginia Senate, which has a Democrat Majority, passed a bill prohibiting a requirement for Virginians to purchase health-care insurance. Five Democrats from swing districts joined all of the Senate Republicans in voting in favor of the measure. And with a Republican State House and Governor, this bill is expected to make it into law. Some would argue that the legislative implications are negligible as the federal government, if it wants, can override state law and that an individual mandate …
Last week the Senate approved a 60-day extension of the Patriot Act as part of the 2010 defense appropriations bill. As Heritage scholar James Carafano writes in The Washington Examiner, it is far past time for Congress to grant counterterrorism law enforcement officials the proven tools they need to protect out country: Arrested in 2006, Ehsanul Islam Sadequee and Syed Haris Ahmed were recently sentenced on a slew of terrorism-related charges. Theirs is a textbook case of domestic radicalization. They spent hours online chatting and watching videos produced by terrorist …
Medal of Honor winner and World War II veteran Colonel Van Barfoot just wants to be able to give the American flag the respect it deserves. His homeowners association thinks otherwise and ordered the 90-year-old Virginia man to tear down his flag pole because it is not “aesthetically appropriate,” WTVR CBS 6 in Richmond, VA, reports.
Virginians will celebrate their annual “sales tax holiday” this weekend—August 7 through August 9. On these three days, the state’s 5 percent sales tax will be exempted from school supplies, clothing, and footwear. Each eligible school supply item must be priced at $20 or less, and each eligible article of clothing and footwear must be priced at $100 or less. Many other states in addition to Virginia will also have sales tax holidays this year during the “back to school” shopping period. The idea is to lower the cost for …
