Telecommunications Companies Who Assisted War on Terror Must Be Protected Against Frivolous Lawsuits
When it comes to the debate about protecting telecommunications carriers from frivolous lawsuits filed by opportunistic trial lawyers after the carriers provided good-faith cooperation in the war on terror, this adage could hardly be more accurate...[more]
Learning an Illegal Lesson in Our Public Schools
Nothing shocks us anymore, especially when it comes to illegal immigration...[more]
California — The Nanny State that Never Sleeps
A few years ago, we ordered a fine saltwater fishing reel from a fine specialty sporting goods purveyor in California..[more]
CFIF Files Motion in Federal Court Seeking to Solidify its First Amendment Rights in Pennsylvania
The Center for Individual Freedom (CFIF) last week filed a motion with the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania seeking, among other things, to further solidify its First Amendment rights to run issue ads in the state... [more]
U.S. Senators Filibuster Their Way to Freer Elections
For years now we've been lamenting the partisan obstruction of President George W. Bush's nominees...[more]
Isolated Arizona Town Resorts to Second Amendment to Save Itself
Backwater Farming Community Forced to “Keep and Bear Arms” to Battle Deadly Crime Wave...[more]
Waterboarding by the CIA…and the Congress that Knew
So, we are going to go through a rather protracted public discussion of waterboarding this and waterboarding that, probably to the point that teen-agers will learn how to do it and add it to their repertoire of recess activity...[more]
Government May Have Overreacted in Prosecution of Border Agents, Judge Says
A federal judge this week said U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton's office may have "overreacted" in its prosecution of Border Patrol Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean...[more]
Since the previous presidential election, candidate John Edwards has criss-crossed this country talking about "Two Americas," and how Americans will have to decide which America should be represented in and defended by the White House after the next election...[more]
Climate-Change Lunatics' Latest Target: Hanukkah Menorah Candles
Just when you thought that global warming lunatics couldn't descend any deeper into their morass of absurdity, they proceed to pioneer new realms of insanity...[more]
Iran: Just Another Misunderstood Teddy Bear?
We only occasionally comment on national security issues, because most are amply covered elsewhere, by experts with specific knowledge.[more]
Illegal Alien Drug Smuggler in Border Agents' Case Arrested for… Smuggling Drugs
Osvaldo Aldrete-Davila, the illegal alien drug smuggler whose testimony on behalf of the U.S. government led to the conviction and imprisonment of Border Patrol Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean, has been indicted and arrested on charges of smuggling more than 750 pounds of marijuana into the United States...[more]
Freedomcast: When Big Brother Becomes the Nanny
Recently, David Harsanyi, award-winning columnist at The Denver Post, joined CFIF's Renee Giachino to discuss his new book, Nanny State, and how and when we lost our right to be lazy, unhealthy and politically incorrect...[more]
For months now, it has been clear that "journalists" questioning the Republican candidates for President have been holding back, using seemingly innocuous code rather than asking the questions they really want to ask...[more]
Coming from the highest court in the land, every decision of the Supreme Court of the United States has consequences — huge foreseen and unforeseen consequences — in the courts throughout America...[more]
Unforgivable: The Perennial Persecution of Clarence Thomas
There must be something in the New York City water — something that makes Manhattan's media elite think that they can pass off character assassination and personal caricature as informed commentary and reasoned analysis...[more]
Death Penalty Deters Future Murders, According to Remarkable New Empirical Study
In the never-ending debate between capital punishment proponents and abolitionists, one ongoing point of contention centers upon whether the death penalty actually deters future murders in America...[more]
Help Wanted: FBI and CIA Hiring Illegal Aliens
Who knew that among the U.S. jobs that must be filled by illegal aliens are FBI agent and CIA spy? ...[more]
"HillaryCare" for Cars: Render Them Less Safe and Punish American Automakers
On Monday, Hillary Clinton ostentatiously demanded that automakers increase their fuel efficiency standards some 60% by 2020, and to a preposterous 55 miles per gallon by 2030, merely 23 years from now...[more]
Protecting Our National Sovereignty
By Senator John Cornyn: Our state, and our country, are struggling to keep up with the effects of globalization — the increasingly free flow of ideas, information, goods and capital across borders and around the world...[more]
Other Than That, Mrs. Clinton, How Did You Like the Debate?
Televised presidential debates matter, even though most of them are initially watched by fewer people than watch miracle magic household cleanser infomercials...[more]
CFIF Prevails Against Pennsylvania's Attempt to Muzzle Our Speech
This morning the Commonwealth Secretary of the state of Pennsylvania and the State Attorney General (AG) filed a lawsuit seeking an injunction to stop the Center for Individual Freedom (CFIF) from airing its television ad in Pennsylvania...[more]
A Comedic Campaign Finance Conundrum
Who's afraid of a little comic relief in the 2008 presidential election? Well, the Federal Election Commission should be...[more]
Congress Should Not Chase Away Critical Overseas Investment Dollars
In a world that becomes more economically interconnected each passing day, American lawmakers simply cannot afford to suffocate American companies' access to overseas direct investment...[more]
The Night Hillary Clinton Blew It
It may well be that there are now so many so-called third rails of American politics that they constitute a third-rail field, a tightly laid grid to fry the hair of any national candidate who missteps...[more]
On Thursday, November 1, Pedro Cotes, the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, announced that he would seek an injunction in state court to stop the Center for Individual Freedom (CFIF) from running its television ad in Pennsylvania...[more]
Does Foreign Investment Pose a Threat to National Security?
As the world economy grows increasingly interdependent, an interesting public policy question is developing about whether foreign investment in U.S. companies is a threat to national security...[more]
CFIF Launches Public Education Effort in Pennsylvania
The Center for Individual Freedom (CFIF) today launched a public education effort in Pennsylvania designed to inform the public about important judicial issues in the state...[more]
The "Phony," Subversive Presidential Campaign of Stephen Colbert
We were out waterboarding the neighbor's children when Stephen Colbert announced his candidacy for President, so we are playing catch-up on one of the most important political stories of our time...[more]
On Thursday, October 24, by a vote of 59-38, the Senate confirmed Judge Leslie H. Southwick to a lifetime seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit...[more]
Bush Begins to Sacrifice American Sovereignty to International Authorities
President George W. Bush, who has so often defended American sovereignty on such critical issues as missile defense and our right to defend strategic interests while the United Nations (UN) navel-gazes, has begun to dangerously reverse course...[more]
CFIF Urges Senate to Pass a Clean and Permanent Extension of the Internet Tax Moratorium
In an open letter to the United States Senate, the Center for Individual Freedom this week joined other national organizations in urging swift consideration of S. 156, the Permanent Internet Tax Freedom Act...[more]
Nobel Peace Prize Continues Its Slow Self-Degradation
By awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to Al Gore, the Nobel Committee confirms its long, slow transformation into little more than a boilerplate political outburst...[more]
U.S. House Temporarily Extends Internet Tax Moratorium, Misses Opportunity to Make it Permanent
The U.S. House of Representatives this week overwhelmingly passed a four-year extension to the moratorium that prevents states and localities from taxing Internet access...[more]
The Manky Numpties of Congress
"Manky numpties" is wonderfully expressive Scottish slang used here to mean useless morons, substituting for profanity ever so vile...[more]
U.S. Senator and U.S. Congressman Accuse Democratic National Committee of Racial Discrimination
All hell broke loose last week when U.S. Senator Bill Nelson and U.S. Congressman Alcee Hastings, both Democrats of Florida, accused the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and party chairman Howard Dean of racial discrimination...[more]
Supreme Court Poised to Unleash Trial Lawyer Onslaught?
The United States Supreme Court stands at the precipice of a decision that could unleash a trial lawyers' orgy of frivolous new securities litigation, and nothing short of America's economic competitiveness teeters on that precipice...[more]
The last time we checked, Rush Limbaugh had the greatest reach and frequency of any commentator in the country...[more]
Why a Subprime Bailout Would Be Unfair and Unwise
Everywhere you turn, the news media anguishes about the uptick in subprime delinquencies and the possible consequences to the larger economy...[more]
The Global War against Islamist Terrorism
Americans are a uniquely impatient people. We find yesterday to be a long time ago. We buy Sunday newspapers on Saturday, next year's models of cars are out this year, and we rush to the future, receiving Christmas catalogues in September...[more]
Every War Is a "War of Choice"
In their attempt to subvert our Iraq war effort and malign those who support it, antiwar demagogues repeatedly disparage it as a "war of choice," as opposed to the illusory "war of necessity."...[more]
The days are getting shorter, the temperatures are falling, and the leaves are changing color, which can only mean one thing — the Supremes are back...[more]
Ad: Convicted Felon Controls Democratic Party
In the world of political discourse, such as it is rather than as we wish it to be, you are nobody without an ad...[more]
European Protectionism Targets American Companies, Worldwide Innovation
Unable to defeat American companies in the open marketplace, protectionist European bureaucrats are instead resorting to litigation and regulation to kneecap American companies and protect their own... [more]
Senate Condemns MoveOn.org for Its Attack on General Petraeus and American Troops
While you wouldn't know it from the ongoing media drumbeat, it has been more than a week since MoveOn.org ran its now-infamous ad in the New York Times implying that General David Petraeus, America's top military leader in Iraq, is a traitor...[more]
CFIF Joins Coalition in Urging Extension of Internet Tax Moratorium
With the current Internet tax moratorium set to expire on November 1, 2007, the Center for Individual (CFIF) this week joined more than 35 national and state organizations, representing millions of taxpayers, in urging Congress to make permanent the Internet Tax Freedom Act...[more]
The Tiresome Clinton Time Warp
Between increasingly-frequent campaign fundraising scandals, the resurrection this week of HillaryCare, personal demonization of political enemies and looming tax increases, it's all like a collective nightmare returning to haunt America...[more]
What Happened in Syria on September 6?
We do not know what happened in Syria on September 6. Those few who do know — officials of Israel, Syria and possibly North Korea and/or Iran — aren't saying. The story is, as one headline put it, “shrouded in mystery.”[more]
FreedomCast: Hillary’s Unhealthy Plan
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton this week unveiled a health care plan, estimated to cost about $110 billion per year, to provide coverage for 47 million uninsured Americans through federal subsidies and tax hikes...[more]
Liberals Spit on a Soldier. Again.
Liberal anti-war zealots employ all manner of sleazy tactics in their effort to undermine the war in Iraq, but routinely assure us that they "support the troops, honest." ...[more]
Beltway Action Plays Louder Than Words
t shouldn't come as any surprise that political drama overwhelms public policy when the media paints the picture of how our nation's leaders are running the country...[more]
When the Hsu Fits Mrs. Clinton
Clinton scandals are never small and rarely boring, wafting across the land with the frequency of mist upon the South China Sea*...[more]
Disgraced and disbarred former District Attorney Mike Nifong must report to jail today...[more]
Princess Dannielynn’s Royal Nightmare Must End
Dannielynn, daughter of the late Anna Nicole Smith, celebrates her first birthday this weekend...[more]
While most Americans were busy trying to wring the last vestiges of fun from their summer, the Wall Street Journal was beginning enterprising reporting on what appears to be a campaign finance scandal that augers to be no fun at all for the presidential campaign of one Hillary Rodham Clinton...[more]
Is America Preparing to Surrender on Kyoto?
If at first you don't succeed, make matters even worse and try, try again. At least, that appears to be the logic of self-described “global-warming diplomats” who met last week in Austria to concoct their latest scheme to damage world economies in pursuit of a sham solution to a fabricated climate crisis...[more]
It's August. Whatcha want to talk about? Surely some of the week's blazing news stories...[more]
Leo DiCaprio, Expert Climatologist
No longer satisfied playing the role of vacuous teen dreamboat, actor Leo DiCaprio now presumes to play the role of meteorological expert on all things climate-related...[more]
An Open Letter to the President and Congress:
Taxpayers Oppose Hike in Federal Gas Tax
In an open letter to President Bush and Congress, the Center for Individual Freedom (CFIF) this week joined 55 other national and state organizations in opposing any increase in the federal excise tax on gasoline...[more]
Judge Leslie Southwick and the Lamentable Loop of Liberal Lies
The more the judicial nominees change, the more the liberal lies remain the same. Unfortunately, that is the lamentable lesson being learned by Mississippi Judge Leslie Southwick as the President's third nominee to fill a long-standing vacancy on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit...[more]
New York Times Reporter Not Ready for Her Closeup
Just when it has become easier than ever to get all but maybe one or two of the justices to appear for a public speech or sit for a personal interview, the Supreme Court's leading reporter and commentator shunned the cameras at a recent panel discussion about her Pulitzer Prize-winning beat...[more]
Of course you do. You're a creep, a wastrel, a planet polluter. You clearly have too much disposable income...[more]
Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy Confirms that Reducing Gun Ownership by Law-Abiding Citizens Does Nothing to Reduce Violence Worldwide...[more]
It is virtually impossible to determine what the editors of "The New Republic" (TNR) were thinking when they began publishing a series of sensational, gruesome "Baghdad Diarist" war dispatches from the pseudonymous "Scott Thomas,"...[more]
Summer is supposed to be the off-season for those of us who watch the Supreme Court of the United States like a spectator sport...[more]
Nuclear "Doomsday Clock" Hijacked by Climate Change Alarmists
Radical Environmentalists Continue Politicization of Doomsday Clock, Literally Equating Climate Change to Nuclear Weapons...[more]
The 'Making Energy Less Affordable Act'
As the U.S. House of Representatives considers numerous legislative proposals on a national energy policy, more than two dozen state and federal organizations, including the Center for Individual Freedom (CFIF), this week expressed "grave concerns" about specific proposals and the direction of the debate...[more]
Live by Subpoena; Die by Subpoena
Although Rush Limbaugh has, with characteristic humor, bemoaned the incredible nationwide demand and short supply for blank subpoena forms, there must be good gnomes somewhere laboring through the night to produce sufficient quantity for New York Governor Eliot Spitzer and some of his henchpeople...[more]
Second Amendment advocates and gun owners may have the District of Columbia to thank if the highest court in the land finally rules next term that the Constitution protects an individual's right "to keep and bear Arms."...[more]
HillaryCare Exposing Itself as a Catastrophe
State Experiments with Socialized Medicine Already Failing . Socialized medicine doesn't work, and state experiments toward that end are proving it...[more]
Eliot Spitzer, the Governor of New York, has a problem. The Governor of New York is the former Attorney General of New York. As Attorney General, Spitzer exploited scandals, some real, others imagined, many never resolved, but all pursued with the righteous indignation of a populist avenger...[more]
FreedomCast: Summer Temperatures Heat Up Debate on Iraq
Recently, Colonel David Hunt, Fox News military correspondent and author of On the Hunt: How to Wake up Washington and Win the War on Terror, joined CFIF's Renee Giachino to discuss his book, the War on Terror, Iraq and homeland security. ...[more]
Obstructionist Senate Democrats Throw Iraq War Veteran Under the Bus
Anti-war liberals persistently - but implausibly - protest that they "support the troops" despite hysterically opposing the war effort itself. Well, now Senate Democrats, most of whom fall within the anti-war description, have a chance to put their money where their mouth is. Unfortunately, they are instead exposing the absurdity of their claim...[more]
Mr. President, It's Time to Free Border Agents Ramos and Compean
The Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology and Homeland Security this week held a long overdue hearing to "examine the prosecution of Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean," the two border patrol agents who were sentenced last October to a combined 23 years in prison for pursuing an illegal alien drug smuggler...[more]
McCain's "Straight Talk Express" Hits the Ditch
Poor John McCain. Several weeks ago, his presidential campaign was revealed to have raised only $24 million, far less than the other major contenders for the Republican nomination, and had only about $2 million on hand...[more]
Iraqi Leaders Discover the Value of the Second Amendment, Even if They've Never Heard of It
Amidst unrelenting and harrowing terrorist carnage, prominent Iraqi politicians are resorting to an idea prominent in the minds of America's own Founding Fathers, and explicitly enshrined in our Constitution - the right of individual citizens to keep and bear arms for their own defense...[more]
Breaking News: Illegal Aliens Still Work Among Us
Despite the defeat of the Amnesty for Illegal Aliens and Assorted Other Outrages bill in the U.S. Senate, the scope of the problem has diminished not one iota. The American people did not just want egregious legislation killed; they also want the federal government to mount credible, transparent efforts to begin reducing the systemic problem...[more]
Congress Presses Private Equity Tax Hikes: Why You Should Care
Congress, including some who are usually more reliable anti-tax members, now seeks to raise taxes on private equity partnerships, partnership performance fees and venture capital. But why should everyday Americans care? ... [more]
U.S. Senate Rejects Amnesty, 53-46
Learn how your Senators voted now. ...[more]
Liberals Aim to Resurrect So-Called "Fairness Doctrine" to Silence Conservative Voices
Although the forces of free speech secured a limited victory in this week's Wisconsin Right to Life decision, the tentacles of liberal censorship remain furiously busy...[more]
‘No Reasonable' Chance of Survival for McCain-Feingold
“Enough is enough,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in his principal opinion, making it perfectly clear that “when it comes to drawing difficult lines in the area of pure political speech … we give the benefit of the doubt to speech, not censorship.” ...[more]
Supreme Court Restores Some Much-Needed Antitrust Sanity
The U.S. Supreme Court this week scored a welcome victory in favor of sanity in antitrust policy, but too many absurdities still abound...[more]
Back to the Trenches Against Amnesty
A new amnesty bill is before the U.S. Senate. It's the same as the last amnesty bill. Brian Darling of the Heritage Foundation calls it "Nightmare on Amnesty Street."...[more]
CFIF Urges Congress to Oppose Extreme New Mileage Regulations
In a letter to all Members of the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives, the Center for Individual Freedom this week joined with the American Conservative Union, Frontiers of Freedom and America's Independent Trucker's Association in urging Congress to oppose increases in Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards...[more]
The Malignant "Open Source" Movement: Marxism Takes a 21st Century Name
There is a growing worldwide campaign referred to as the "Open Source" movement, of which many Americans haven't yet heard. If successful, however, the consequences of this movement would be catastrophic for consumers in America and across the globe...[more]
Congratulations. Your country thanks you, for successfully interrupting something far more offensive than the names you have, in most cases, incorrectly been called...[more]
High Drama: Estate Planning Anna Nicole Smith Style
Just as the trials and tribulations of Hollywood's celebrity blondes may make for good television drama, they make for even better legal lessons. Such is the case with the ongoing legal dispute between the late Anna Nicole Smith and the estate of her former husband, octogenarian billionaire J. Howard Marshall...[more]
CFIF Launches 'Free My Ride' Grassroots Campaign in Opposition to Extreme New Mileage Regulations
As Congress prepares to consider comprehensive energy legislation, including the imposition of extreme new mileage regulations, the Center for Individual Freedom (CFIF) this week launched a massive new grassroots campaign called Free My Ride...[more]
Senate Ignores Public Opposition to Amnesty Bill
The mother of all political miscalculations by the U.S. Senate — the latest amnesty—for—illegal—aliens bill — is a train still creaking dangerously along its broken and discredited tracks...[more]
CFIF Cautions FCC Against Burdensome Internet Regulations
In a letter to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Kevin Martin, the Center for Individual Freedom this week responded to a “notice of inquiry” soliciting comments about the FCC's Internet policy...[more]
White House Caves on Climate Change, While China Thumbs Its Nose
Last week, President Bush issued a stunning and disheartening capitulation toward global warming hysterics by pledging to reduce America's "greenhouse gas" emissions. "The United States takes this issue seriously," he said in announcing the disappointing reversal of White House policy...[more]
Debate Torture Is Necessary and Justifiable
Even if all of us cannot support torture of our enemies as justifiable in some circumstances, couldn't we agree that debate torture of candidates is justifiable and necessary in all circumstances? [more]
Don't Go Wobbly On Missile Defense, Mr. President
Steadfast in his advocacy of missile defense to date, President Bush is under increasing pressure to betray President Reagan's revolutionary peacekeeping brainchild...[more]
2010 Tax Hikes: A Ticking Time Bomb
Last week, both the Senate and House of Representatives approved the majority Democrats' budget proposal, which contains over $200 billion in tax hikes, the largest in American history. Under their budget, this decade's astoundingly successful tax cuts will be allowed to expire in 2010, at which time rates will surge to recession-era levels as Congress stands by and watches...[more]
The Political Beast that Will Not Die…Unless You Kill It
According to news reports, many members of Congress, mostly Senate supporters of so-called Comprehensive Immigration Reform (yes, amnesty), are “surprised” at the veritable gusher of citizen outrage against it...[more]
Thailand: Undermining America's Economic Strength?
When Thailand's Minister of Health Mongkol Na Songkhla arrives in Washington next week, President Bush and Congress must recognize the harmful consequences and dubious nature of his agenda...[more]
President Bush Ratchets Up Atrocious CAFE Regulations
President Bush this week ordered increased Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards, exacerbating an already-defective fuel economy program...[more]
Barack Obama and the Pickle Lady
We have many reasons to dislike Barack Obama. Ninety percent of those reasons are related to Obama's policy pronouncements...[more]
Stunning Political Victory against Illegal Immigration
Remember the liberal, pro-amnesty for illegal aliens mantra following the 2006 elections?...[more]
Want Energy Independence? Drill Offshore, Go Nuclear.
Politicians and commentators on the left incessantly seek cheap political points by advocating "energy independence." The only problem is that they clearly don't mean it...[more]
CFIF to Congress: Oppose Efforts to Silence Grassroots Communications
In a letter to all Members of the House of Representatives, the Center for Individual Freedom joined a coalition of 40 national grassroots organizations in urging Congress to oppose H.R. 2093, legislation that would severely regulate all communications aimed at motivating grassroots citizens to communicate with Members of Congress on issues and legislation pending before them...[more]
Little "Sunlight" on the Dianne Feinstein Conflict-of-Interest Controversy
When last week we wrote of Dianne Feinstein's potential conflict-of-interest regarding her previous positions on the U.S. Senate's Military Construction Appropriations Subcommittee (MILCON), the issue was bubbling up from its humble beginnings as a long article published last January by Peter Byrne, a free-lance investigative reporter...[more]
Bush Signs Questionable Harmonization Accord with E.U.
This week, President Bush, European Commission (E.C.) President Jose Manuel Barroso and German Chancellor Angela Merkel executed an accord that aims to harmonize trans-Atlantic policies...[more]
Dianne Feinstein and the Most Ethical Congress in History
We don't know about anyone else, but we wake up every morning saying to ourselves, "If we were as rich as Dianne Feinstein, we wouldn't get anywhere near even a whiff of conflict of interest."...[more]
The Center for Individual Freedom (CFIF) today pointed to video footage and photographs of a plaintiff in one of over 100 lawsuits pending against Putnam County General Hospital as a troubling sign that some of the cases may be more about "jackpot justice" than injured persons getting their day in court...[more]
Where in the World Is Don Imus, Now That We Really Need Him?
Strange, isn't it, that in the time period immediately following the dismissal of Don Imus by CBS and NBC, the world is just chock full of Imus fodder, with no room whatsoever for the gratuitous throwaway rap that got him in trouble?...[more]
The Equal Rights Amendment is attempting a comeback
Like a bad 1970s leisure suit or Carter-era stagflation, the Equal Rights Amendment is attempting a comeback. This month, radical feminists and leading Democrats announced that they're reviving the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) after a twenty-five year dormancy. Despite its benign-sounding title, the ERA is a dangerous idea for two primary reasons...[more]
As Liberals Amplify Anti-War/ Anti-Troop Rhetoric, Your Voice is Making a Difference
Two weeks ago, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi undermined U.S. foreign policy with her unauthorized trip to Syria to meet with that country's president, Bashar al-Assad -- a known supporter of terrorism, including the insurgency in Iraq...[more]
Another Irony of Being John McCain
As the once-anointed Republican presidential nominee for 2008, candidate McCain has suffered as irony after irony have all but eliminated his hopes of occupying the Oval Office...[more]
"Gun-Free Zones" = Sanctuaries for Maniacal Killers
Like clockwork, this week's horrific murders at Virginia Tech prompted the instantaneous but typical, tired and misguided calls for increased infringements upon the Second Amendment's individual right to keep and bear arms...[more]
Nancy Pelosi: The Terrorists' New Sweetheart
When last week we left silky-headed Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, she was whoofing the treacherous air of foreign relations and deciding she likes it, she really likes it. So does Syrian ophthalmologist-turned-despot Bashar al-Assad, who sat knee-to-knee with Pelosi as she chatted him up about world peace...[more]
Did Nancy Pelosi Violate the Logan Act?
Did Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (and others) violate that act during a much-publicized, self-authorized trip to Syria? The answer, like the law itself, is simple and straightforward: Yes...[more]
Much More Than an Inconvenient Decision
In the first landmark decision of this term, a bare majority of the Supreme Court of the United States decided two weeks ago that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has the "authority to regulate the emission of [greenhouse] gases from new motor vehicles."...[more]
Why the Anna Nicole Smith Saga Actually Matters
As tawdry and ridiculous as the tale of Anna Nicole Smith is, her saga has already had important real-world consequences to Americans...[more]
New York to Wal-Mart: We Prefer Unions and High Prices and Snobbery
New York City citizens (Manhattanites), who have cried themselves to sleep at night hoping to have nearby Wal-Marts like most of the rest of us, can now, in the words of The New York Times, "fuhgeddaboudit."...[more]
"Emergency War Funding" Bill... For Spinach Growers and Guided Capitol Tours?
Judging by the pork-stuffed "emergency war funding" bills passed by the Senate and House of Representatives this week, such vote-buying promises are nothing but a distant memory...[more]
YouTube to the Rescue (for Now)
Millions of "views" have already been logged for the most talked about advertisement yet in the 2008 presidential race...[more]
New Study Reveals “Tort Tax” Costs Family of Four $9,827 Annually
According to the study's lead author, Dr. Lawrence J. McQuillan of the Pacific Research Institute (PRI), unlike previous studies, Jackpot Justice calculates both the direct and indirect costs of America's legal system...[more]
Trial Lawyers' New Grab-Bag: Public Nuisance Litigation
"Public Nuisance" Provides Latest Vehicle for Judges, Lawyers and Politicians to Usurp the Legislative Process and Regulate our Lives...[more]
"Anonymous" Whacks "Big Sister" Clinton, Then Gets Outed and Fired
The brilliant, powerful video portrays Hillary Clinton as Big Sis droning to zombie masses, via eerie television monitor, only to be shattered by a lone female hammer thrower, followed by a plug for Barack Obama...[more]
Are Democrats Becoming the New P***** Joke?
While we detest censorship, including that which is self-imposed, we have decided to endure a bit of self-loathing to avoid accusations of meanness distracting from a serious discussion. We thus apologize to readers who are unable to identify the (Eastern European) people to which P***** refers.
- UPDATE: D******* Jane Harman Turns Our Joke into Reality
Our inspiration was a proposal in California (there's always some wacko proposal in California) to ban incandescent light bulbs and replace them with those hideous fluorescents.
Second Amendment Scores Shocking Historic Victory
D.C. Court of Appeals Affirms Individual Right to Keep and Bear Arms...[more]
David Geffen and Ann Coulter: The Power and Peril of Public Speech
Mrs. Clinton's verbal hatchet man, Howard Wolfson, demanded that Barack Obama disavow or apologize for bullseye-busting remarks that media mogul and Obama supporter David Geffen made about the Clintons to Maureen Dowd, we could feel political climate change washing over us like oceans on the rise...[more]
Congress Becomes Big Labor's Obedient Subsidiary
Why Not Unionize the Military While We're at It?...[more]
Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald Should Have Stuck to His Day Job
After a jury convicted I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby on Tuesday of obstructing justice and lying to the FBI and a federal grand jury, Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald publicly lamented that "[t]he results" of his CIA leak investigation "are sad." They certainly are, but not for the reasons the Special Prosecutor believes...[more]
Last week, Washington's Culture of Corruption went from just plain disgusting to full-out scary...[more]
CFIF Opposes Congressional Efforts to Muzzle Grassroots Voices
In a letter sent to all Members of the House Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights & Civil Liberties, the Center for Individual Freedom this week joined 17 other organization from across the political spectrum in opposing strict regulations designed to muzzle grassroots communications...[more]
Western State Governors Succumb To Climate-Change Silliness
Pact to Reduce "Greenhouse Gases" Will Harm State Economies but do Nothing to Affect Climate...[more]
Congress's Warped Answer to Taxpayer-Funded Pensions for Crooked Politicians
Too often, our federal elected officials forget that the power they assume is given to them by the people they represent. Therefore, it is no surprise that "We the People" rightly have little patience or tolerance when our elected leaders abuse that power for personal or political gain...[more]
Governor's New "Municipal Partnership Package" Will Stifle Telecommunications and Harm Consumers...[more]
Obama Immediately Stumbles Out of the Gate
Senator Barack Obama this week managed to insult not only American troops, but one of America's most dependable international allies...[more]
An Unfortunate Sign the Federal Judiciary is Out of Touch
Too bad you're not a federal district judge. After all, if you were, you would receive and, in fact, be entitled to every one of those benefits and more -- for the rest of your life ... "during good Behaviour."...[more]
FreedomCast: Judge Breaks the Code of Silence to Expose the Liberal Judicial Assault
Recently, Robert H. Dierker, Jr., a circuit judge in the Twenty-Second Judicial Circuit of Missouri and author of The Tyranny of Tolerance, joined CFIF Corporate Counsel and Senior Vice President Renee Giachino to discuss his personal experiences on the bench and specific cases in which he claims the U.S. Constitution has been perverted by the Left’s radical war in the courts...[more]
Conservatives to McCain: Abandon Plans to Further Muzzle Political Speech!
While Sen. McCain Prepares Legislation Aimed at "527" Organizations, Nearly 20 Advocacy, Legal and Public Policy Organizations Express Opposition...[more]
Deficit Down 58% Over Past Three Years – Who Knew?
President Bush presented his proposed 2008 budget this week, and it offers both good news and bad news...[more]
Turning Up the Heat on Global Warming Skeptics
The most recent target of the Al Gore Brigade is one George Taylor. Taylor is the "State Climatologist" of Oregon, a title created by Oregon State University (OSU) and not the state, although the state legislature created the state climate office at the school...[more]
It may be that the trial lawyers are able to extort huge sums of money from deep-pocketed corporations, but that's only because liberal judges make it legal to do so. That was the point driven home once again in a bitterly divided decision issued on Tuesday by a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit...[more]
Harry "Mr. Real Estate" Reid and the Most Ethical Congress in the History of the World
If only Donald Trump were as good at real estate as Harry Reid, the boy could have made something of himself...[more]
John McCain: Hypocrite-in-Chief?
Will he accept public financing for his presidential campaign or will he just stuff his pockets with "special interest money" like everyone else, him being Mr. Reform and all?...[more]
"If You Can't Beat Microsoft, Sue 'Em" — In Europe
Competitors Again Exploit European Antitrust Rules to Undermine Microsoft's Windows Vista...[more]
CFIF Launches McCain '$traight Talk?' Blog
As Senator McCain Seeks to Further Muzzle Political Speech, New Blog Tracks the Presidential Hopeful's Ongoing Refusal to Commit to Speech Limitations He Works to Impose on the American People...[more]
President Bush Must Defy Russian Coercion and Domestic Opponent
Steadfast in his advocacy of missile defense to date, President Bush is under increasing pressure to betray President Reagan's revolutionary peacekeeping brainchild[more]
Senator McCain to Conservatives: SHUT UP!
McCain responds to Questions about Presidential Public Financing by Vowing to Further Muzzle Political Speech. Americans -- Especially Conservatives -- are Still Wondering Whether the Senate's Chief 'Campaign Finance Reformer' Plans to Live by the Same Political Speech Limitations He Seeks to Impose on Everyone Else...[more]
Nifong Down But Not Out and That's a Problem
As predicted here and elsewhere, the North Carolina State Bar this week amended its complaint against Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong...[more]
HAS SENATOR McCAIN'S 'STRAIGHT-TALK EXPRESS' TAKEN A U-TURN?
Conservative Group Asks the Senate's Chief 'Campaign Finance Reformer' to Clearly Announce Whether He Plans to Abide by the Limitations of the Presidential Public Financing System...[more]
Don't Tell Al Gore – It Just Snowed In Phoenix
Don't tell Al Gore, but it snowed in Phoenix, Arizona this past week. In fact, this month has been the coldest January in Phoenix since 1979...[more]
Last week the two brave border agents began serving a combined 23 years in prison for what Congressman Tom Tancredo described as "doing their job" – pursuing an illegal alien trying to smuggle nearly 800 pounds of marijuana into the United States...[more]
Duke Penitentiary: A View from the Future
While most of the lawsuits were settled to avoid public litigation, estimates of the total costs to Duke (and some members of its faculty) have been estimated to be as high as $75 million...[more]
Greater Freedom, Greater Prosperity
Here at the Center for Individual Freedom, we obviously value liberty for its own sake. After all, individual freedom respects the natural dignity of independent human beings, and allows them to pursue happiness as they best see fit...[more]
'Something There Is that Doesn't Love a Wall'
The big news this week in the other war that is not going so well – against illegal immigration – was neither new nor reported very widely. It was big only by the numbers...[more]
Damned If You Do, Damned If You Don't: Troop Proposal Reveals Liberals' Latest Hypocrisy
For years, liberals have hectored President Bush for not committing enough troops to Iraq. Now, peanut-gallery liberals pivot 180 degrees and browbeat him for proposing precisely that...[more]
A Congressional Fix for Unintended Patent Law Consequences
Suppose for a moment what would happen if banks started seizing the homes of all individuals who unintentionally pay their mortgages one day late. Or worse, what if the government automatically seized the homes of everyone who is 24 hours late in paying their property taxes – whether the missteps were the homeowners' fault or not...[more]
"Net Neutrality" – Corporate Welfare and Price Controls Have a New Name
Do you trust government to regulate the Internet, which has flourished precisely because government has left it alone?...[more]
Big Labor's Latest Target: The Secret Ballot
With Democrats assuming control of Congress this week, Big Labor is targeting one of America's most basic institutions – the secret ballot...[more]
"Defendant, Michael B. Nifong, (hereinafter ‘Nifong' or ‘defendant')..."
On December 28, 2006, the North Carolina State Bar filed ethics charges against Durham, North Carolina District Attorney Michael B. Nifong for public statements made related to the so-called Duke University rape case...[more]
FreedomCast: A Call for President Bush to Pardon Former Border Patrol Agents
On September 19, 2006, Border Patrol Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean were sentenced to a combined 23 years in jail for what Congressman Tom Tancredo described as “doing their job,” pursuing an illegal alien drug smuggler. Recently, Andy Ramirez, Chairman of Friends of the Border Patrol, joined CFIF Corporate Counsel and Senior Vice President Renee Giachino to discuss the importance of supporting the border patrol and its agents, the legal case against Agents Ramos and Compean and what must be done to restore fairness to these agents and their families...[more]
Current Events: Guest Commentary
Let's declare 'energy freedom' on Oct. 1
By Sen. Jim DeMint: Did you know that in just a few short weeks on Oct. 1, Americans could be celebrating American Energy Freedom Day? That's the day the bans on oil shale and offshore drilling for oil and natural gas will expire...[more]
Democrats Impede U.S. on Energy
By Rick Santorum: Every politician knows Americans want relief at the pump for their own sake and the sake of the broader economy. The Senate's continued inaction on this issue provides an insight into how the two parties hope to appeal to anxious voters and, more important, how they view high energy prices...[more]
What I Heard at the Petraeus-Crocker Hearings
Seeing the mission through
By John Cornyn: America’s top military commander and chief diplomat in Iraq reported Tuesday that we are making significant progress there. They added that we cannot afford to squander our gains by losing our resolve. But was anybody really listening?...[more]
House Should Pass Bipartisan Senate Bill to Protect America
By Senator John Cornyn: Last May, three U.S. troops were kidnapped in Iraq, south of Baghdad, by al Qaeda terrorists...[more]
By Henry I. Miller: Feinstein's bill to ban some chemicals in toys might help rats, but it's bad for people...[more]
Protecting Our National Sovereignty
By Senator John Cornyn: Our state, and our country, are struggling to keep up with the effects of globalization — the increasingly free flow of ideas, information, goods and capital across borders and around the world...[more]
The McCain Record
Arizona's senior senator is not a consistent defender of individual freedom.
By Pat Toomey: Political candidates often attempt to burnish their economic policy credentials on the campaign trail. As part of an effort to provide a fair and thorough analysis of the real economic records of the major presidential candidates, the Club for Growth is issuing a series of white papers on these candidates...[more]
By Bruce Herschensohn: At this writing, President Bush has yet to deliver his speech regarding future U.S. policy in Iraq, including his analysis of the Iraq Study Group's recommendations. Our enemies have already given their analysis...[more]
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By Cary Cardwell: “Jury tampering, collusion and witness intimidation…” A tale of civil injustice in South Texas...[more]