Yearly Archives: 2013

Republican battles for Medicaid funding turn to God and morality

"Most Republicans oppose Obama's Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act as a costly, ineffective and unnecessary expansion of government. But some Republican governors, like Arizona's Jan Brewer and Michigan's Rick Snyder, have broken ranks to embrace the law's Medicaid expansion as a practical way to help the poor while infusing their state budgets with billions of dollars in federal funding to pay for it. Ohio's John Kasich has gone further. His message of morality goes straight to the Republican Party's allegiance to traditional American values including charity, and should resonate with religious conservatives within its influential Tea Party faction." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRepublican battles for Medicaid funding turn to God and morality

Small government promoter Rick Perry sends Texas $2.6 million bill for promotional travel

"Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) likes to talk tough about his small government credentials, but the numbers he’s been racking up lately tell a different tale: according to The Houston Chronicle, the arch conservative’s out-of-state security detail has cost Texas taxpayers a whopping $2.6 million since he was reelected in 2010. All that money has gone to pay for Perry’s security details as he tours the country trying to poach jobs from other states, and from his ill-fated bid for the Republican nomination to the presidency, according to data released by the Texas Department of Public Safety (TXDPS)." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSmall government promoter Rick Perry sends Texas $2.6 million bill for promotional travel

Democrat seeks to defund Obama’s expansive war powers

"Rep. Adam Schiff’s (D-CA) amendment would prohibit the use of funds pursuant to the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) effective on December 31, 2014. The Bush and Obama administrations have used the AUMF as a legal justification for vast electronic surveillance and targeted drone strikes against suspected terrorists. The AUMF has also been used to deploy troops to various countries — including Ethiopia, Djibouti, Georgia, Kenya, Somalia, and Yemen — and justify indefinite detentions at Guantanamo Bay." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDemocrat seeks to defund Obama’s expansive war powers

Man facing criminal charges for swimming across river from Canada to U.S.

"Around 11:30 p.m. Monday night, a neighbor called police saying that she had lost sight of Morillo in the river. Morillo came ashore in the U.S. at Detroit’s Renaissance Park, turned around and started home. It was then that he saw the rescue boats and helicopter. 'As soon I saw the helicopters going by and the boats looking for me, I was like ‘Oh, this is really stupid,’' Morillo told the Star. The Canadian Coast Guard picked up Morillo on the Ontario side of the river. He was arrested and charged with public intoxication and swimming in a shipping channel, which carries fines from $5,000 to $25,000. The Canadian Harbor Authority is inspecting the incident." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMan facing criminal charges for swimming across river from Canada to U.S.

Federal appeals court overturns Texas ordinance blocking undocumented tenants from renting

"The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans ruled that an ordinance adopted in Farmers Branch in 2008 requiring renters to show legal residence in the country before becoming tenants conflicted with federal immigration law. The Dallas Morning News reported that Farmers Branch officials are unsure whether to continue their fight to uphold the measure. The Dallas County suburb has spent $6 million over the past seven years on legal fees connected to the ordinance." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFederal appeals court overturns Texas ordinance blocking undocumented tenants from renting

Federal report: E-Verify errors could wrongly exclude Americans from jobs

"Reports published by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) reveal that the so-called E-Verify programme, which allows employers to check whether new workers are properly documented, is so inaccurate that if replicated across the country it could wrongfully exclude more than 200,000 people from the workforce. With more than one in 10 employers using E-Verify to weed out applicants before making a job offer, the potential for abuse is greatly increased. It is possible for applicants to be turned away from a post without ever finding out that they have been wrongly flagged as unauthorised on the database." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFederal report: E-Verify errors could wrongly exclude Americans from jobs

Cop Fired for Speaking Out Against Ticket and Arrest Quotas

"Hanners blew the whistle on the department's tactics and was eventually fired for refusing to comply and keep quiet. He says that each officer was required to make 100 contacts each month, which included tickets, arrests, field interviews, and warnings. This equates to 72,000 contacts a year in a 50,000 person town. His claims are backed up by audio recordings of his superiors he made. The Auburn police department declined requests to be interviewed for this story. The police chief singled out by Hanners retired this July, citing medical reasons." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCop Fired for Speaking Out Against Ticket and Arrest Quotas

“Why did you call the police? They don’t help you.”

"In May of last year, Los Angeles resident Veronica Cornejo called 911 to report that her mentally disturbed brother was agitated. Three Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched and, as is always the case when police intervene, things became immediately and immeasurably worse. The invaders barged into the home without invitation, dragged all five family members from the house, and threw them to the ground. Veronica — who suffers from a heart condition — tried to explain that she was the one who had called for help. Her father, Jorge, told the deputies that they should expect a lawsuit. That prompted one of them to punch the 53-year-old man repeatedly." Continue reading →

Continue Reading“Why did you call the police? They don’t help you.”

Jeffrey Tucker: The Joys of Living

"How can we really know what we want if we’ve never had it before? The less free we are, the less we know what freedom feels like and how it shapes who we are. The more dependent on government we become, the less we crave independence. This is why it is important to find literature that takes us out of our present moment and introduces us to different ways of thinking. We have to imagine a different ideal. This is why I’m nuts for a book that came out right at the end of the Gilded Age, and just before we got the permanent income tax and the Fed, as well as World War I. It is the last look at the mindset of what I could call the real 'greatest generation.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJeffrey Tucker: The Joys of Living

Reflecting On Traveling Around The World: The Reunion

"I have a career and businesses I can run from an Internet connection anywhere around the world. There was nothing holding me back from anything I wanted to experience. I do remember the feeling of actually quitting my job. The actual motion and fear of the unknown. The uncertainty of arriving at a destination that no longer knowing where things were or how to find them. It is that very thing that kept me tied to my job for so long. If it wasn’t for the fear of the unknown I would have left my job years earlier. I write this just to reflect on how my life has changed ever since I decided to live this new lifestyle." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingReflecting On Traveling Around The World: The Reunion