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By Van Irion, Founder Liberty Legal Foundation

Frustration! That’s my reaction to the first two days of oral argument before the Supreme Court in the anti-Obamacare case.

All parties arguing before the Court were in agreement on one thing: that Wickard v. Filburn is good law. That’s right, both sides begin their analysis with the assumption that Wickard is a valid interpretation of the commerce clause.

Liberty Legal Foundation has been warning you about this since the beginning. I was still hoping for a pleasant surprise. I was hoping that one of the lawyers arguing against Obamacare would make some statement that Wickard leaves no limits on Congressional authority. But it didn’t happen. read on

By U.S. Rep. Larry Bucshon, M.D. (R-Ind.)

As Friday marked the two year anniversary of the Affordable Care Act becoming law, I wanted to provide an update to the efforts being taken on your behalf.  This past week, I joined my colleagues in voting to repeal a provision of the Affordable Care Act that would impact access to healthcare for millions of seniors – the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB).  This board of 15 unelected bureaucrats would get between you and your doctor and cut Medicare in an effort to control costs by rationing the care that seniors currently receive.  This board is appointed by the President and their decisions are difficult to overturn, requiring a supermajority of Congress, leaving seniors and doctors with no practical options. read on

Boogai could not copy the PDF file of the letter Landmark Legal has filed requesting an investigation into IRS Agency Misconduct.  It can be located at the link below.

http://www.landmarklegal.org/DesktopDefault.aspx

Today, March 13, U.S. Senators Mark Begich (D-Alaska) and Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia) introduced S. 2188, the “National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act of 2012.” The bill is the Senate companion to H. R. 822, which was approved by the U. S. House last November by a vote of 272-154.

S. 2188, like H.R. 822, would allow any person with a valid state-issued concealed firearm permit to carry a concealed handgun in any other state that issues concealed firearm permits, or that does not prohibit the carrying of concealed firearms for lawful purposes. A state’s laws governing where concealed handguns may be carried would apply within its borders. read on

U.S. Congressman Paul Broun, M.D. (GA-10) today introduced the Freedom from Over-Criminalization and Unjust Seizures Act (FOCUS) Act of 2012, H.R. 4171, and Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) introduced S. 2062,  the companion Senate bill.  The FOCUS Act, which has bipartisan support, would amend legislation called the Lacey Act that holds Americans liable for a wide range of foreign laws pertaining to wildlife, fish, and plants.  The Lacey Act as it stands also allows U.S. officials to use foreign law to prosecute someone whose activities they find otherwise objectionable. read on

Congressman John Fleming, M.D. (LA-4) released the following statement after the Democrat-led U.S. Senate rejected conscience protection legislation that would have spared employers from being forced to pay for contraception as part of an Obamacare mandate placed on their employer-provider health insurance:

“Protecting the First Amendment religious freedoms of the American people should be a given for Congress. When the fundamental religious beliefs of our constituents are threatened, House and Senate members should act to end that threat. Period. read on

WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Ander Crenshaw today (3/8) voted to help jump start the nation’s economy with his support of the JOBS Act (H.R. 3606), bipartisan legislation that will help small businesses and entrepreneurs grow the economy and create jobs.

“Strengthening the economy and putting Americans back to work is tops on my list, and the JOBS Act will help us get us there,” said Crenshaw. “Red tape blocks job creation – it’s as simple as that. By ripping it away and giving small business owners, startups, and entrepreneurs the tools they need to expand and create jobs, we create a climate for economic growth. That’s a win-win for Florida and the nation.” read on

During a Judiciary Committee hearing last night, Representative Sandy Adams (FL-24) questioned Dr. Linda Rosenstock, chair of the Preventive Services for Women Committee of the Institute of Medicine (IOM), about the Obama administration’s Health and Human Services’ (HHS) controversial mandate.  At the request of the HHS Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, the IOM assembled a committee to provide information and to recommend preventative services for women to be included in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 – a committee on which Dr. Rosenstock served.

During the hearing, Dr. Rosenstock admitted to Adams that meetings which were instrumental in shaping the Obama administration’s unconstitutional HHS mandate were held behind closed doors and that transcripts from the meeting have not been made public.  Additionally, Dr. Rosenstock confessed that the committee did not consider any conscience clause or religious exemptions during its meetings.  This lack of transparency and objectivity led another member of the IOM committee, Anthony Lo Sasso, to dissent from the final report.  He stated in his dissent, “…the committee process for evaluation of the evidence lacked transparency and was largely subject to the preferences of the committee’s composition. Troublingly, the process tended to result in a mix of objective and subjective determinations filtered through a lens of advocacy.” read on

By Alan Caruba

In early November 2009 Americans were shocked to learn that an Army psychiatrist, Major Nidal Malik Hasan, had shot and killed twelve soldiers at Fort Hood, Texas, and wounded thirty-one others. Because of the unrelenting political correctness prevailing in the Army and other services, all the signs that Hasan was a ticking time bomb were ignored. read on

As many states move forward with pro-growth spending and tax reforms, a couple of state legislatures are taking steps in the opposite direction. Legislators in Virginia and Kansas are advancing bills that seek to dissolve the physical nexus standard in their respective states and implement an Internet sales tax on out-of-state companies. This type of tax will not only kill jobs and close down businesses, as it has done in other states, but it is also entirely unconstitutional. read on