Ratchet Effect

Obama Sees ObamaCare as Legacy Too Worthy to Resist

"Obama summoned about 20 senior administration officials to the White House’s Roosevelt Room for an hour-long meeting on the implementation of his health-care law. Obama began by reminding his staff that the Affordable Care Act would be one of his major legacies and its execution among the highest priorities of his second term, according to a Democrat familiar with the gathering. The session, which has been followed by regular presidential briefings, led to a two-track campaign to defend the measure against united Republican opposition declaring it a failure and to motivate uninsured Americans to sign up for health-care coverage." Continue reading →

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Fred Reed: Terrorism in Boston

"The return on investment is phenomenal. For example, the attack on New York cost perhaps several hundred thousand dollars. Yet it drew the US into multiple drawn-out, losing wars costing hundreds of billions of dollars, and transformed America from a reasonably free country into a rapidly deepening Orwellian gloom. A tiny input, a stunningly large effect. If terrorism were a hedge fund, it would be the hottest buy on the planet. It is truly slick. The terrorists don’t do serious damage to the attacked country. They stimulate the victim society to damage itself." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFred Reed: Terrorism in Boston

Anthony Gregory: What Is the Threshold for Martial Law?

"What if a future suspect implicated in a gruesome and dramatic criminal act next year manages to escape justice for months? Can the police now just shut down cities, transportation, and—as they did on Monday*—cell service for as long as they deem necessary? Should normal denizens really have no say of their own on whether they will risk the violent threats that might await them outside? If they have no right to walk about freely today without expecting, at a minimum, serious harassment from authorities, can the same be true on any other day? People tolerate extreme police powers when they seem temporary. But what if the emergency persists?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAnthony Gregory: What Is the Threshold for Martial Law?

David Galland: The True Import of the Boston Bombings

"Unfortunately, what has been seriously injured – once again – is American freedom, as authorities begin unwrapping all the new homeland security powers constructed since 9/11. Just as it is impossible to predict the price of gold tomorrow, it is impossible to gauge how the government will respond, or how much collateral damage will be done. Who could have predicted, after 9/11 – an act committed by Saudis and Pakistanis – that the US would attack Iraq? What appears clear, at least to me, is that the very nature of terrorism and the invariable reaction of the nation-state being attacked set the stage for bad, bad days for liberty." Continue reading →

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Sen. Chambliss: ‘We can’t just leave event security to communities’

"Chambliss did say that security around the country would have to change for large public events, including greater involvement by the federal government. 'This was a soft target. It was not a target that was able to be totally protected,' he said. 'This particular incident is going to cause the administration and Congress to evaluate our overall security programs around the country, particularly for major events. We can't leave it just to the communities that host these events to provide the security.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSen. Chambliss: ‘We can’t just leave event security to communities’

Repeal the “War on Terror”

"When Congress approved the post-911 'Authorization for Use of Military Force' on September 14, 2001, Democratic Congresswoman Barbara Lee of California was the only member of the House to vote against it. The Authorization for Use of Military Force has been used to justify torture, warrantless surveillance, and now summary execution of terror suspects – including at least three US citizens, among them a 16-year-old boy – by drone strikes. That measure is the American equivalent of the 'Enabling Act' passed by the German Reichstag in 1933 – a blank check for both foreign military adventurism and domestic repression." Continue reading →

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FATCA, Place of Birth in Passports & Second Class Citizenship

"Place of birth was first added to the U.S. passport designed in 1917. An October 4, 1963 staff study by the Passport Office on 'Place of Birth' information in the United States Passport reflects 'the passport used during World War I was the first in which including the place of birth of the passport holder was mandatory as part of the identification of the bearer, probably was a wartime travel control measure. The item was included in all subsequent revisions of the passport format, down to and including the present issuances.'" Continue reading →

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A Shoe Tariff With a Big Footprint

"As cost-conscious Americans clip every coupon, they might well wonder about government policies that take needed money from consumers. Smoot-Hawley set high tariffs on hundreds of products. In the decades since 1930, many of these rates have been reduced to more reasonable levels, or eliminated altogether. However, footwear tariffs have remained largely untouched. The thriving U.S. shoe-manufacturing sector of the 1930s is long gone, but what remains are protective tariff rates of 37.5%, 48% and some as high as 67.5%." Continue reading →

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The Voters Who Stayed Home

"Truth be told, most of today’s GOP does not believe Washington makes things worse. Republicans think the federal government — by confiscating, borrowing, and printing money — is the answer to every problem, rather than the source of most. That is why those running the party today, when they ran Washington during the Bush years, orchestrated an expansion of government size, scope, and spending that would still boggle the mind had Obama not come along. No matter what they say in campaigns, today’s Republicans are champions of massive, centralized government." Continue reading →

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