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Move to Defend: The Case against the Constitutional Amendments Seeking to Overturn Citizens United
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Featuring Frederick W. Smith, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, FedEx Corporation; Andrew Morriss, D. Paul Jones Jr. & Charlene A. Jones Chairholder in Law and Professor of Business, University of Alabama; and James L. Smith, Cary M. Maguire Chair in Oil and Gas Management, Southern Methodist University; moderated by Jerry Taylor, Senior Fellow, Cato Institute.
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In the latest issue of Regulation magazine, M. Todd Henderson reviews last year’s brouhaha over health insurance and birth control. According to Henderson, lost in the firestorm about religion and feminism were larger lessons about health care policy and regulation. Also in this issue, Cato scholar Richard L. Gordon argues that new federal efforts to cut emissions are the result of longstanding legal and judicial mandates, not a sudden Obama administration push.
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May 2, 2013
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More Bang for Your Buck
The Cato Institute tops a new measure of think tank performance in the United States, according to a recent report. Cato bested all other U.S. think tanks in the main category of “Aggregate Profile per Dollar Spent.” “I’m grateful to the Center for Global Development for showing that Cato gives its sponsors something I wish government gave more of to taxpayers: bang for the buck,” said Cato CEO John Allison.
The more I learn about instant runoff voting, the more I like the idea.
You’ve heard of the Free State Project. Now meet the Free Lunch Project.
God, I love the internet.
(Thx go out to The ‘Dredge Report.)
WisPolitics.com reports that the Wisconsin Department of Transporation is proposing to hike a number taxes and fees to pay for various transportation related projects.
Among them, “a $10 ‘federal security verification fee’ for state driver’s license and ID cards to cover the $20.7 million cost of implementation of the federal REAL ID Act.” WisDOT also proposes doubling the fee for issuance or renewal of the state ID card from $9 to $18.
Wisconsin Representative James Sensenbrenner pushed the REAL ID Act through Congress.
The forces of educational stagnation have launched a comprehensive attack on school choice in Arizona. The ACLU-and-friends lawsuit in September against the state’s new education tax credit was followed yesterday by a challenge to two new voucher programs. This is the first time that the education establishment has dared to turn its fire on school choice programs that help disabled and foster-care children. This recent move signals panic among school choice opponents, who now begrudge a few thousand of the most disadvantaged children in Arizona a choice in education, along with everyone else. Hopefully the court will go with recent precedent in Kotterman vs. Killian (1999), where the Arizona Supreme Court upheld personal donation tax credits, and find that vouchers supporting parental school choice isn’t government support of religion (which AZ’s anti-Catholic Blaine amendment prohibits).
Some more interesting numbers from Election 2006:
The Democrats won 29 seats held by Republicans or formerly held by Republicans (open seats). In 2004 President Bush won 19 of those districts with an average of 56 percent of the vote. Senator Kerry won 10 of the districts, taking an average of 52 percent of the vote.
In 15 of these 29 districts, Bush won 54 percent of the vote or more in 2004. In other words, those 15 Democrats will represent strongly Republican districts. Those 15 House members would, if they return to the GOP, deprive the Democrats of a majority.
We may see both divided government and, on some issues, a divided House majority.
The health insurance industry has proposed $300 billion in taxpayer subsidies for … the health insurance industry.
We are shocked.
In the Senate, the Republicans have just elected pork barrel champion Trent Lott (R-MS) to be their second-ranking leader. I guess the GOP wants to get a headstart on losing the 2008 election.
Over in the House, the battle over the majority leader’s position is being fought between John Murtha (D-PA) and Steny Hoyer (D-MD). According to the Washington Post, Murtha is a corruption-tainted supporter of the recent orgy of congressional earmarks, while Hoyer is a more moderate and sensible choice for leader.
But let’s not get too excited about Steny Hoyer. In a 2004 story, the Washington Post portrays him as an unapologetic champion of bringing home federal spending goodies to his Maryland district. Indeed, he is one of the 10 most prodigious porkers in the House. When asked whether Congress ought to end pork barrel spending, Hoyer said “I hope not…pork barrel is in the eye of the beholder.”
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