Latest News:
Sotomayor’s Got Some ’Splainin’ To Do
On its own, the New Haven firefighters case would be a blockbuster. It raises the most difficult and divisive of constitutional and statutory issues: Whether a city can refuse to promote and throw out the results of a promotion exam simply because white and Hispanic firefighters scored higher than their black colleagues...[more]
Redefining “Conservative” Governance
First, fight the new energy bill in Congress that will impose trillions of dollars in new energy costs and give Washington virtual control over all carbon emitted in the United States. Democrats brokered a deal this week to bring the energy bill to the floor in an attempt to seek yet another political victory for the administration...[more]
Beware New York Times Polls, “46 Million Uninsured” and Other ObamaCare Hoaxes
If Barack Obama’s health care overhaul is such a good idea, why must its proponents resort to deception when advocating it?...[more]
Any observer of the Washington political scene surely recognizes the power-brokering, backroom deals, and partisan talking points off of which our nation’s capital feeds. Are the days of the citizen-legislator over?...[more]
CFIF Joins 186 National and State Leaders on Letter Opposing Waxman-Markey Cap-and-Trade Bill
In a letter sent this week to all Members of Congress, the Center for Individual Freedom (“CFIF”) joined with a coalition of 186 state and national leaders to urge opposition to H.R. 2454, “The American Clean Energy and Security Act,” also known as the Waxman-Markey Cap-and-Trade bill...[more]
Government-Run Health Care: The Wrong Prescription for America
Recently, Rick Scott, Chairman of Conservatives for Patients’ Rights (CPR) and former Columbia/HCA CEO, joined CFIF’s Renee Giachino to discuss national health care reform and the four pillars that CPR claims any reform must include, namely, choice, competition, accountability and personal responsibility...[Read more and listen to the interview here.]
“The Emperor Has No Clothes!” – Ominous Poll Numbers for Obama
Cataloguing Barack Obama’s mendacity is like attempting to isolate individual pellets during a driving hailstorm. Each of his fabrications is astonishing in its sheer audacity, but quickly fades into anonymity amid the endless barrage...[more]
Despite claims that President Obama’s $787 billion economic stimulus plan needs time to work, the White House was taken aback when the unemployment rate reached 9.4 percent. In fact, current unemployment numbers are far above what Obama had predicted, even if the stimulus had not been passed...[more]
CFIF filed its comment in response to the FCC’s April 8, 2009 Notice of Inquiry, which itself stems from the American Investment and Recovery Act of 2009. As part of that legislation, Congress directed the FCC to devise a national plan to achieve nationwide broadband access...[more]
The members of the Obama Administration are the most politically cunning group to inhabit 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue since the Reagan years. Unlike the feckless Jimmy Carter or the erratic Bill Clinton, the current president and his team know how to make liberalism go down smooth...[more]
Big Labor and Government Motors
CFIF’s Timothy Lee, a former private practice employment lawyer, discusses the political force of labor unions, the misnamed Employee Free Choice Act and why Big Labor cannot save the middle class or the auto industry…[Read more and listen to the interview here.]
In a column on the confirmation battle over Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor this week, Washington Post columnist David Broder cites back to the 1987 battle over Robert Bork: “The Bork battle was historic; a sharp ideological fight that saw interest groups on both sides mobilize as if it were a Presidential campaign...[more]
What do House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and former Illinois Governor Rob Blagojevich have in common? Both have been implicated in pay-to-play political pandering, but only one is facing jail time...[more]
Big Government, Big Corruption
Here’s one more respect in which the 2008 presidential election failed to offer you a real choice: John McCain and Barack Obama both campaigned on the notion that the root cause of public corruption is political liberty. McCain’s target was the freedom to give money in support of a candidate or cause – a right that he attempted to decapitate with his eponymous campaign finance reform act...[more]
Justice Isn’t Blind for the President or His Supreme Court Nominee
The Memorial Day weekend was barely over when President Barack Obama announced his choice of who would get his Supreme Court nomination. While most Americans were just beginning their holiday-shortened work week, we learned that the “empathetic” nominee the President had been looking for was Judge Sonia Sotomayor, on the bench of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit...[more]
RELEASE: CFIF Comments on Sotomayor Nomination to U.S. Supreme Court
After weeks of anticipation, President Barack Obama today nominated Second Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Sonia Sotomayor to replace retiring Justice David Souter on the United States Supreme Court. In response, Timothy Lee, CFIF’s Director of Legal and Public Affairs, issued the following statement calling for a careful review of Judge Sotomayor’s record and judicial temperament...[more]
Attention Union Workers: Employers Want to Give You Raises, but Union Bosses Say “No”
Shouldn’t hardworking and dedicated unionized employees be allowed to earn bonuses, raises or other merit-based rewards from thankful employers? Especially during these tight economic times, when productivity and efficiency are at an even higher premium?...[more]
Nancy Pelosi and the Politics of Fog
The Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives – Nancy Pelosi – is lying. She is lying about the consequential issue of what she knew and when she knew about the interrogation techniques used on high-value terrorist detainees approved at multiple levels and by multiple divisions of government...[more]
For the past 40 years – roughly the period of time that Democrats have been an unserious confederacy – Republicans have grown used to a certain smallness in chief executives from the opposition party...[more]
Supreme Job Opening: Only Women and Minorities Wanted?
Indeed, virtually every news story and analysis about the President’s nominee emphasizes what seems to be an inevitable fact about whomever may get the nomination -- the person won’t be white and, almost as certainly, won’t be male...[more]
If You Like How Big Government Runs the Post Office, You’ll Love How It Runs the Tech Industry
As The Wall Street Journal noted this week, the tech sector has helped lift the markets from their recent troughs. Contrary to historical norms, no stock market sector has outperformed technology this year, including traditional consumer staples and health care, which typically withstand economic recessions better than other sectors...[more]
As the size and scope of the federal government have exploded over the past 75 years, we have learned a great deal about the confidence games that accompany the growth of the state...[more]
FreedomCast: Renowned Neurosurgeon Discusses Health Care Reform and President’s Campaign Promises
Recently, Troy Tippett, M.D., president-elect of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, joined CFIF’s Renee Giachino to discuss President Obama’s plan for a government-run healthcare system and medical liability reform…[Read more and listen to the interview here.]
Last fall, as the U.S. economy seemed to be issuing its death rattle, a representative from Credit Suisse received a call from the Federal Reserve. The Fed, the voice on the other end chirped, was calling to congratulate the international financial giant on its prudence, Credit Suisse having admirably avoided becoming enmeshed in the subprime mortgage debacle...[more]
“Five-Year Plans and New Deals, Wrapped in Golden Chains”
In Creedence Clearwater Revival’s classic 1970 song “Who’ll Stop the Rain,” lead singer John Fogerty laments the seductive but empty nature of government largesse with the lyric, “five-year plans and New Deals, wrapped in golden chains, and I wonder, still I wonder, who’ll stop the rain.”...[more]
Restoring Economic Liberty Will Require Restoring Democracy
Hope springs eternal for politicians in the minority. Embattled Republicans are already spinning scenarios in which the 2010 midterm elections will provide an unambiguous rejection of the Obama Administration’s dramatic expansion of government. But what if the GOP is proven right … the voting public once again demands change … and America discovers that a Congress full of resurgent Republicans is powerless to stop the bleeding?...[more]
CFIF Warns Against Increasing Capital Gains Taxes on CNBC’s “Street Signs” With Erin Burnett
This week, CFIF Director of Legal and Public Affairs Timothy Lee appeared live on CNBC’s “Street Signs” with Erin Burnett to explain why increasing taxes on capital gains is a bad idea...[more]
“Net Neutrality” – Government Prepares to do to the Internet what it’s doing to the Auto Industry
By way of "Net Neutrality,” the federal government is preparing to do to the Internet what it has done to the auto industry, public schools, the tax code, the home mortgage industry, the postal service, the healthcare industry, the ethanol industry, the airline industry, freedom of political speech and the financial industry bailout...[more]
Memo to the markets from coast to coast, Wall Street to Main Street: Not to steal Dorothy’s line from the “Wizard of Oz” but “we’re not in America anymore.”...[more]
Doctors: How Many Presidential Colonoscopies Can You Take?
Jim Geraghty of National Review Online initiated and has virtually patented the phrase, “All statements from Barack Obama come with an expiration date,” documenting same with accelerating frequency...[more]
Obama Plan Would Repeat the Follies of the Great Depression
Only two months into its existence, the Obama Administration has already earned a reputation for being among the world’s finest manufacturers of Trojan horses....[more]
The One Area Where Obama Chooses to Highlight Government Waste Is… Military Procurement?
His endless hurricane of bailout packages, budget proposals, pet social projects and supplementary spending bills will inflate wasteful federal spending, deficits and national debt to unfathomable levels...[more]
Veterans Beat the Crap Out of Shameless Commander-in-Chief, Rightly So
Remember the President who so loves the “troops?” The camo-clad First Lady who in the past month began staging what was being hailed as a “signature issue” -- her empathy for the problems of military families?...[more]
A Tale of Two Arbitrations: Big Labor Commences One Ambush While Trial Lawyers Prepare Another
Arbitration is similar to traditional court litigation in that opposing sides present their best evidence and arguments to neutral arbitrators (usually former judges), who then render a decision after applying the law to the facts...[more]
Obama’s Signing Statement Two-Step
At the beginning of last week, the new administration and its mainstream media allies were touting yet another profound “change” from the Bush administration...[more]
Why Medical Malpractice Reform Must Be a Part of Real Health Care Reform
Recently, Hans von Spakovsky, a Visiting Legal Scholar at The Heritage Foundation, joined CFIF’s Renee Giachino to discuss a recent Memorandum published by Heritage entitled “Promoting the General Welfare Through Civil Justice Reform,” and why the Obama Administration must advance the cause of legal reform…[Read more and listen to the interview here.]
Brand New Administration, Same Old Judges War?
After eight years of unfairly smearing and blatantly obstructing the confirmation of President George W. Bush’s judicial nominees -- purportedly to advance bipartisanship -- Democrats now find that the shoe is on the other foot. And that shoe no longer fits...[more]
Barack Obama: The Hypocrite’s Hypocrite
On March 11, President Barack Obama issued a statement criticizing earmarks, including those that “have been used as a vehicle for waste, fraud and abuse....inserted at the eleventh hour, without review, and sometimes without merit, in order to satisfy the political or personal agendas of a given legislator, rather than the public interest.”...[more]
Card Check: Is Now Really the Time to Jeopardize Even More Jobs?
This week, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and Barack Obama thrust their cynical “Never Waste a Good Crisis” agenda into full speed...[more]
Obama Is Taking an Economic Flu Patient and Giving It Pneumonia
On November 4, 2008, the day Barack Obama was elected President, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 9,625...[more]
Help Wanted: How You, Too, Can Profit from Pork and Earmarks
You missed the banking, auto maker and insurance bailouts. You couldn’t get to Miami fast enough to be the thousandth person in line for the 30 firefighter jobs. You can’t wait several years for the jobs promised by the so-called “economic stimulus” package; you’re not sure what a “green job” is, and the last time you attempted to develop an “alternative energy resource” you had a firecracker mishap or were doing a Ben Franklin with lightning...[more]
Obama's Budget Will Harm Small Businesses and Destroy American Jobs
Few would suggest that Barack Obama would intentionally kill American jobs and persecute the small businesses that create them...[more]
Think American Capitalism Is Stumbling? Take a Look How European Socialism Is Faring
Market Capitalism May Have the Flu, but Socialism Has Pneumonia...[more]
Why Massive Government Spending Is Ineffective "Stimulus" – A Primer
Liberals say "yes," conservatives say "no." Exhausted Americans, who are worried about the economy and saturated in conflicting arguments from both sides, understandably become confused and throw up their hands. This makes it even more important that we understand the relevant economic truths...[more]
Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off
This week is a milestone in American history. Our new president, his bumfuddled tax cheat treasury secretary and his Congress are busily committing roughly $3 trillion, in just one week, without a clue as to whether any of it will do any good, and almost certain knowledge that most of it won’t – and is not intended to...[more]
ABC’s George Stephanopoulos Admits Daily Calls with Rahm Emanuel
Now, along comes the disturbing news that ABC News’s Chief Washington Correspondent George Stephanopoulos has been engaging in daily conference calls with new White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, who is known as one of the most shrill and unrepentant partisans in Washington...[more]
The Government That Cannot Withstand Scrutiny (and It’s Less Than a Month Old)
Pressed by the media on the personnel, let’s call them glitches to be charitable here, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said, “The bar that we set is the highest that any administration in the country has ever set.”...[more]
Obama Stabs Automakers with One Hand, Offers Taxpayer Subsidies with Other
"The government’s view of the economy can be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it."...[more]
House Republicans (and a Few Conservative Democrats) Get Remarkably Stimulated
The last Roman Emperor, one Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (AD 37-AD 68) fiddled while Rome burned, we were all told as school children...[more]
FISA Court Vindicates Telecoms, Rejects Trial Lawyers
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review’s August decision, which was just announced last week, stems from an appeal challenging the legality of a 2007 government request to surveil certain suspects’ communications. Although it arose under the Protect America Act, which was a temporary law subsequently replaced by amendments to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), and its details remain classified, it obviously serves as critical precedent...[more]
Confirmation Wonderland: The Developing Saga of Timothy Geithner
Bill Richardson, you see, didn’t make it to Confirmation Wonderland, that special U.S. Senate place intended to certify a President’s choices for certain high level administration jobs are of sufficient ability and character to serve in those jobs...[more]
Getting Back to American Principles on Economic Stimulus
With world financial markets in turmoil, families on Main Street struggling to make ends meet and U.S. unemployment projected by some to exceed nine percent this year, one doesn’t need to be a financial wiz to realize the economy needs a boost, and fast...[more]
While an increasing number of Americans face layoffs, benefit cuts and difficulty paying their bills, the last thing that President-Elect Obama and Congress should be doing is devising ways to make taxpayers’ lives even tougher by forcing them to subsidize healthcare for illegal immigrants...[more]
Got Money To Burn Right Now? Big Labor Apparently Does
During this difficult economic period, is pouring tens of millions into political lobbying the best way for union leaders to be spending members’ hard-earned dues?...[more]
Details of presidential limos are kept under careful, understandable wraps by the car maker and its development partner, the Secret Service, even long after the limos exit service. The new one, while badged as a Cadillac, appears, based on photographs of testing and the reports of car experts, to be built on a GMC 2500-series truck frame, and is likely to be the largest, heaviest such presidential limo yet...[more]
Shocking News – Big Labor Implicated In Blagojevich Arrest
According to the federal indictment, Blagojevich allegedly suggested a pay-for-play agreement with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the nation’s fastest-growing labor group. Under the alleged proposal, he would receive a posh position within the SEIU following his term as Governor in exchange for filling the open Senate seat of President-Elect Barack Obama with someone especially friendly to the organization...[more]
FreedomCast: Big Labor’s Assault on the Secret Ballot
Recently, Steven J. Law, Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, joined CFIF’s Renee Giachino to discuss the deceptively-named Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), how its passage would upend decades of settled labor law and increase the risk of coercion to employees...[more]
Why Is President Bush Pardoning Drug Felons, But Not Decorated Border Patrol Agents?
Back in 2004, when President Bush was re-elected, bitter minions of the Angry Left began slapping garish bumper stickers reading “1-20-09” on their hypocritically carbon-emitting automobiles...[more]
The media’s “no drama” nickname is sticking as President-elect Obama announces his cabinet and other senior-level appointments. Indeed, other than speculation as to which notable individual will get which executive department, there have been few controversies about Obama’s selections...[more]
The New Old Clinton Administration
When Hillary Clinton became President-elect Clinton...[more]
Proposed Bailout Would Save Big Labor, Not Automakers
Current discussion regarding a potential bailout generally ignores the restructuring option, and presents a false dilemma. Namely, either temporarily prop up the Big Three by throwing more good bailout money after bad, or instead allow it to simply die...[more]
It's Not All About the Supremes
Americans will not only decide who gets at least a four-year lease on the White House, but will also indirectly be choosing who will get lifetime seats on the federal bench...[more]
Justice David Souter insisted in dissent that there was "no evidence" of voter "fraud" in Indiana, just as there was "a dearth of evidence ... in any other part of the country."...[more]
Americans Say "No" to Google's Energy Plan
The Center for Individual Freedom (CFIF) today announced that its activists and supporters have flooded Members of Congress with more than 25,000 letters during the past week expressing outrage over an expensive, dubiously beneficial energy plan being peddled by Internet titan Google...[more]
Taxing Joe the Plumber (and You and Everyone Who Has Anything To Tax)
It is now abundantly, if not absolutely, clear that Barack Obama will misrepresent his long-standing association with ACORN, now, finally, embroiled in the most extensive voter registration scandal ever investigated...[more]
Will John McCain Really Tax Your Health Care For the First Time?
At our very core, we conservatives remain steadfastly - and justifiably - opposed to more taxes...[more]
Fewer Crap Sandwiches, Please!
U.S. House of Representatives Minority Leader John Boehner this week referred to the original proposal for the bailout of the economy as a "crap sandwich."...[more]
The Problem with Taxing "The Top 5%:" Most of Them Are Small Businesses
Raising Taxes on "Top 5%" Would Punish Small Employers and Ordinary American Workers...[more]
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]
Will Sarah Palin's Energy Wisdom Be Contagious?
Nowhere is this more true than with regard to the critical matter of energy policy. After all, despite burdensome fuel prices and ever-increasing dependence upon foreign oil, both major candidates continue to oppose domestic drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), they both bow to the false prophets of human-caused climate change and they both favor destructive carbon cap-and-trade legislation...[more]
Leave Appointment of Judges to the Lawyers?
Only our nation's leading and largest organization of lawyers could have the audacity to suggest that they should be in charge of selecting just who should, and should not, sit on the federal bench. But that's just what the American Bar Association did a little more than three weeks ago...[more]
Fiction: Domestic Drilling Won't Have Impact for Ten Years or More
Recent Moves toward Greater Domestic Drilling Have Dramatically Reduced Energy Prices in Just One Month...[more]
CFIF Joins Coalition of 60 Groups In Opposition to "Gang of Ten" Energy Plan
Letter Warns That the So-Called Compromise Plan Raises Energy Taxes and Doesn't Do Enough to Increase Domestic Energy Production...[more]
FreedomCast: How Higher Energy Costs Slow our Economy
Recently, Myron Ebell, Director of Global Warming and Energy Policy for the Competitive Enterprise Institute, joined CFIF’s Renee Giachino to discuss U.S. energy policy, including expanded oil and gas exploration and drilling. …[Read more and listen to the interview here.]
Media Bias vs. Money: Which Is the Bigger Problem in Politics?
For years, decades really, the mainstream media have been telling the American people that money is a gargantuan problem in politics. Some politicians (John McCain and Barack Obama spring to mind) have said the same and moved to regulate same, calling their self-protection racket "campaign finance reform" while holding as many fundraisers as can be scheduled...[more]
Trial Lawyer Lobby Salivates at Prospect of Obama White House
As the nation inches toward the November elections and a possible Obama White House, few groups are salivating quite like the trial lawyers lobby...[more]
Inflated Tires Are Not a National Energy Policy
Now that John McCain has ever so slyly maneuvered Paris Hilton into the Presidential race to drain feminist votes from Barack Obama, we can only hope her stunning announcement video - delivered pool side in a stylin' leopard print swimsuit - will elevate the debate...[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]
Time and again, we've explained why we're against campaign finance "reform." Quite simply, not only do such restrictions violate core free speech and association rights, but all too often our elected representatives manipulate campaign finance rules to advantage themselves and disadvantage their opponents...[more]
CFIF Joins Coalition Urging Congress to Permit More Domestic Energy Production
With every American feeling the pinch from high prices at the pump, the Center for Individual Freedom (CFIF) this week joined a coalition of 40 organizations, representing millions of American consumers, urging Congress to permit more domestic energy production...[more]
The Numbers Are In, Again - The Rich Pay More Than Their "Fair Share"
Latest IRS Data Shows that Wealthier Americans' Portion of Taxes Actually Exceeds Their Portion of Income...[more]
Colombia Provides Valuable Lesson to the World — and Deserves American Support
Conservative President Uribe Proves that Only Force Defeats Terrorism, While American Liberals Continue to Disdain America's Friend...[more]
A Conyers Investigates. A Conyers Is Investigated
U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Democrat of Michigan, likes to investigate folks, almost all of whom work or have worked in the Executive Branch currently administered by that other political party...[more]
Congress Plays the Blame Game, Does Little Else for Energy
By Robert Taylor: Although Congress may not be doing much to solve the energy crisis, they are managing to point a lot of fingers. Its target du jour to paint as the hapless scapegoat for the now record-high oil prices: oil speculators...[more]
CFIF Applauds Effort to Increase Domestic Oil Production
Last week, President George W. Bush announced new efforts to relieve burdensome fuel costs and reduce America's dependence on foreign oil by finally tapping oil sources available right here in the United States. Center for Individual Freedom President Jeffrey Mazzella released the following statement applauding the President's announcement...[more]
CFIF Praises GAO for Sustaining Boeing Protest
The Center for Individual Freedom (CFIF) today praised the United States Government Accountability Office for its announcement yesterday upholding Boeing's protest against the Air Force's aerial refueling tanker contract decision...[more]
So, it's all but official. Barack Obama is the Democratic Party's nominee to be the next President of the United States...[more]
Senate Debates a Climate Bill that Has Already Failed in Europe that would raise gasoline prices, which are already surpassing $4 per gallon...[more]
Trying Her Best to 'Save the World' ... Illegally
It might not be as colorful as Alanis Morissette's "black fly in your chardonnay," but Nancy Pelosi's television turn in a climate change advertisement is ironic in so many ways -- not the least of which is that, in the process, the Speaker of the House may have violated the very campaign finance "reform" laws she has long supported...[more]
Center for Individual Freedom Launches "America's Tanker" Web site
"By awarding this critical weapons contract to a European-built system from a European corporation, the Air Force has essentially outsourced our national security to a company that is owned in part by governments that have opposed our foreign and military policies and that have ties to some of our nation's adversaries," said Timothy Lee, CFIF's director of Legal and Public Affairs...[more]
31,000 Scientists Shatter the Myth of a "Scientific Consensus" on Global Warming
Environmental extremists routinely assert a "scientific consensus" that global warming is occurring, and that human activity somehow causes it. This week, however, over 31,000 scientists spoke up and reduced that myth to a smoldering rubble...[more]
Coalition of Organizations Urges President Bush to Reconsider American Taxpayer Support for Mongolia
Increasingly-Hostile Mongolian Government Continues to Receive American Taxpayer Dollars Despite Targeting Western Interests...[more]
Obama and Clinton Vote Against Oil Independence - Again
Liberal political leaders, including two who happen to be running for President, constantly claim to seek American oil independence. Invariably, however, they turn around and thwart measures to achieve precisely that...[more]
CFIF Urges Congress to Oppose Burdensome Regulation of the Internet
The Center for Individual Freedom this week joined with other national free market organizations to send a letter to the House of Representatives warning members against burdensome regulation of the Internet...[more]
Obama Wants More Supervision Of Everyone... Except Big Labor
Senator Barack Obama rests his entire campaign upon the claim that he is a "post-partisan" candidate who trumpets the slogan "change we can believe in."...[more]
Greenpeace Founder: We Must Go Nuclear
Speaking before an audience in Boise, Idaho last week, Greenpeace Founder Dr. Patrick Moore confirmed that there is no proof that humans are causing global warming, and he wisely advocated a dramatic shift toward reliance upon nuclear power...[more]
Changing Marketplace, Global Competition Require New Type of Airline
The U.S. airline industry has experienced a tumultuous flight in recent years, with 150,000 jobs and more than $29 billion lost since 2001. And now, with fuel prices rapidly on the rise, many carriers are further struggling to keep up with costs and appease disgruntled passengers...[more]
McCain Stands Up For Free Trade
Youngstown, Ohio Speech Against Self-Destructive Protectionism Is A Refreshing Show Of Wisdom...[more]
The Center for Individual Freedom today published a full page ad in the Wall Street Journal calling on President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to "Send a Clear Message to Mongolia: Eliminate Corruption and Protect Private Property -- Or Risk Losing U.S. Foreign Aid."...[more]
The Waiting Game and the Stalling Game
It is never a surprise when games are played on Capitol Hill. But as fun as it is for the politicians to play the stalling game on judicial confirmations -- especially since everyone knows the name on the mailbox at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue will change in less than a year -- it is excruciating for the American people, the courts and the would-be judges who, as a result, are being forced to play the waiting game...[more]
Condescending Remarks Reveal Obama's True Feelings About Faith, Firearms and Working-Class Voters...[more]
American Taxpayers Call on Congress to Stop Unconditional Debt Relief
The Center for Individual Freedom (CFIF) this week announced that its supporters and activists, along with other concerned taxpayers, have sent nearly 30,000 letters to Congress in the last week urging their Representatives to vote against H.R. 2634, the Jubilee Act for Responsible Lending and Expanded Debt Cancellation...[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]
If Barack Obama is elected President of the United States, he is going to send ugly, burly men to your house and confiscate your guns, which will be melted down and reformed into windmills. All civilian ammunition will be transferred to Yucca Mountain, to be stored with nuclear waste...[more]
Al Gore Equates Global Warming with World War II and Civil Rights Movement, While Europe Announces Cap-and-Trade Failure...[more]
CFIF, American Taxpayers Call on President Bush to Protect Western Interests in Mongolia
Nearly 35,000 Letters Sent to President Bush Expressing Concern about Backsliding on the Rule of Law, Infringement of American Property Rights and Increased Corruption...[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]
McCain Should Reject Dangerous Cap-and-Trade Legislation
Despite a slowing economy that may slump toward recession, unrelenting global warming alarmists continue to press carbon cap-and-trade proposals...[more]
Class Action Convict Turns to Ethical Education?
A little more than two weeks ago, a federal judge sentenced William Lerach to two years in prison for paying kickbacks to investors so they would be on-call plaintiffs for the disgraced and all-but disbarred class action king's securities lawsuits...[more]
Obama and Clinton: Celebrating Economic Illiteracy
While Senators Obama and Clinton continue to scratch, claw and bloody each other like Soviet and Hungarian waterpolo players at the 1956 Olympics, they are racing to the bottom in their dangerously anti-free market rhetoric...[more]
CFIF Joins Coalition Expressing "Deep Concern" About Lack of Action on Judicial Nominees
Last week, the Center for Individual Freedom (CFIF) joined a coalition of 60 organizations — led by our friends at the Committee for Justice — in urging the Senate Judiciary Committee to act on President Bush's judicial nominees...[more]
Why Is President Bush Attempting to Fund The Dangerous Law of the Sea Treaty?
As President Bush counts down his final year in office, Americans naturally wonder whether he'll use his remaining time to advance conservative principles despite a hostile Congress, or instead seek to create a "legacy" in the minds of the literati...[more]
Internet Freedom Jeopardized by Over-Regulation
The Center for Individual Freedom (CFIF), a leading constitutional and free market public policy organization, today voiced its opposition to the recently released "Net Neutrality" bill sponsored by Representatives Ed Markey and Chip Pickering...[more]
An Open Letter to Congress: Don't Fall for "Stimulus" Fairy Tales
In a letter sent to every member of the U.S. House and U.S. Senate, the Center for Individual Freedom (CFIF) this week joined two dozen organizations in urging caution regarding the so-called "economic stimulus" plan currently being considered in Congress...[more]
Giuliani's Tax Cut Proposal: A Legacy Worth Preserving
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who became an American hero on 9/11 and regularly led the race for Republican nominee for President, withdrew from the race this week after Florida failed to resuscitate his candidacy...[more]
By John Yoo: War is a continuation of politics by other means, the German strategist Carl von Clausewitz famously observed in his 19th-century treatise, "On War." Clausewitz surely could never have imagined that politics, pursued through our own courts, would be the continuation of war...[more]
Mrs. Clinton Wins — and Loses — in Michigan
Competing head-to-head with the nationally televised Democratic Presidential Candidate Debate and the results of the Michigan Republican Presidential Primary Tuesday night, Hillary Clinton's blowout 15-point win in the Michigan Democratic Presidential Primary got far less attention than it should have...[more]
Tax Rate Cuts, Not Tax Rebates, Stimulate the Economy
As the risk of American economic recession increases and portions of the economy soften, politicians in Washington and along the campaign trail climb over themselves with stimulus proposals...[more]
By Henry I. Miller: Feinstein's bill to ban some chemicals in toys might help rats, but it's bad for people...[more]
John Edwards: Demagogue to the End
n both his Iowa and New Hampshire prime time TV concession speeches, and probably on the stump as well, Democrat presidential candidate John Edwards has, with manifest stage anger drawn deeply from the well of his trial lawyer heart, lashed out regarding the case of Nataline Sarkisyan...[more]
McCain to Pharmaceutical Innovators: Drop Dead
Senator McCain Slurs Pharmaceutical Industry as "The Big Bad Guys" During Debate, Calling His Commitment to Free-Market Principles into Further Question...[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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
"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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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 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]
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]
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. 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]
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]
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]
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]
Free-Market Organizations to FCC: Price Controls for "Special Access" Services = Bad Public Policy
In a letter sent today to each commissioner on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and key Members of Congress, 16 state and national free-market organizations expressed opposition to government-mandated price controls in the broadband enterprise marketplace, including special access services...[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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
FreedomCast: Karl Rove’s Retirement and Executive Privilege
Recently, Caleb Burns, an associate with the law firm of Wiley Rein LLP,
joined CFIF’s Renee Giachino to discuss the battle brewing over executive
privilege. ...[Read more and
listen to the interview here.]
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]
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'd..[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]
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]
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. ...[Read
more and listen to the interview here.]
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]
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]
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]
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]
U.S. Senate Rejects
Amnesty, 53-46
Learn how your Senators voted now. …[vote
tally]
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. …[Read the letter here
(.pdf).]
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]
Congratulations. Your country thanks you, for successfully interrupting something far more offensive than the names you have, in most cases, incorrectly been called...[more]
CFIF Joins Coalition in Airing Concerns About Senate Energy Legislation
In a letter sent to all U.S. Senators this week, the Center for Individual Freedom joined more than two dozen state and national free-market organizations to air concerns about S. 1419, the Renewable Fuels, Consumer Protection, and Energy Efficiency Act of 2007, sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Among other issues, the letter points out that the bill should be titled the "Making Energy Less Affordable Act." ...[Read the full text of the letter now (.pdf).]
Hey Congress: Don't Muck With Our Trucks
Recently, CFIF Director of Legal and Public Affairs Timothy Lee joined Renee Giachino, to discuss how increased fuel economy standards in bad public policy and what can be done by concerned drivers, auto enthusiasts and all who believe it is wrong for Washington to meddle with the rights of automobile owners to buy and operate the vehicles they want and need. ...[Read more and listen to the interview here.]
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]
CFIF Urges
Congress to Make Internet Tax Moratorium Permanent
In a letter to all members of the U.S. House of Representatives
and U.S. Senate, the Center for Individual Freedom (CFIF) this week joined more
than two dozen state and national free-market organizations in urging Congress
to make permanent the current moratorium on Internet taxes...[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]
Senate Ignores Public Opposition to Amnesty Bill
The mother of all political miscalculations by the U.S. Senate — the latest amnesty-for-llegal-aliens bill — is a train still creaking dangerously along its broken and discredited tracks...[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]
President Bush Must Defy Russian Coercion and Domestic Opponents
Steadfast in his advocacy of missile defense to date, President Bush is under increasing pressure to betray President Reagan's revolutionary peacekeeping brainchild...[more]
CFIF to FCC: Keep
Radio Spectrum Auction Free and Fair
CFIF joined with other national free-market organizations in urging the
FCC to ensure that the upcoming auction of 700 MHz of radio spectrum remains
free, open and fair. Furthermore, the letter encourages the FCC to reject a
proposal by the company Frontline, which would impose "network neutrality"
regulations and restrict those who may bid for the spectrum…[Read
the letter here (.pdf)]
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]
Like Father, Like Son: A Legal Legacy Lost?
Isn't it funny how history — even recent history — repeats itself in spite of the oft-cited aphorism that it's important to learn from history so we don't repeat it. More realistically, famed lawyer Clarence Darrow once noted, "History repeats itself; that's one of the things wrong with history." And, so it is with the Presidents Bush, father and son...[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]
FreedomCast: Ordinary Citizens are Being Shut Up and Shut Out of the Political Process
Recently, Steve Simpson, a senior attorney at the Institute for Justice, joined CFIF Corporate Counsel & Senior Vice President Renee Giachino to discuss campaign finance laws versus free speech and the First Amendment...[Read more and listen to the interview here.]
Stunning Political Victory against Illegal Immigration
Remember the liberal, pro-amnesty for illegal aliens mantra following the 2006 elections? The one that had it that politicians in any way critical of illegal immigration lost because of that stance...[more]
President Caves to Environmentalists in Expanding Failed Fuel Economy Scheme
President Bush this week ordered increased Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards, exacerbating an already-defective fuel economy program...[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]
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]
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]
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...[Read the full text of the letter here (.pdf).]
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]
CFIF Applauds Florida Legislature's
Passage of Video Choice Bill
The Center for Individual Freedom (CFIF) today applauded the Florida
Legislature's passage of the "Consumer Choice Act of 2007," predicting that
the largest beneficiaries of more competition in the marketplace will be consumers
across the state...[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]
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]
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]
CFIF Encourages Governor Sonny Perdue to Sign Consumer Choice for Television
Act Into Law
Following the Georgia House's lead, the state Senate last week overwhelmingly
passed the Consumer Choice for Television Act, which, if signed into law, will
result in long-overdue lower prices and more choices for cable TV consumers
across the state...[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]
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]
FreedomCast: Physicians Organized to Fight for Medical Malpractice Reform
Recently, Ken Kilpatrick, Education Director for the Politically Active Physicians Association (PAPA), sat down with CFIF Corporate Counsel & Senior Vice President Renee Giachino to discuss the nation's medical malpractice crisis and why the real victims of this crisis are the patients...[Read more and listen to the interview here.]
Congress Becomes Big Labor's Obedient Subsidiary
Why Not Unionize the Military While We're at It?...[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]
Last week, Washington's Culture of Corruption went from just plain disgusting to full-out scary...[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]
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]
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]
FreedomCast: Will Tougher Ethics Rules and Earmark Transparency Reform Congress?
Recently, Peter Sepp, Vice President of Communications for the National Taxpayers Union, joined CFIF Corporate Counsel & Senior Vice President Renee Giachino to discuss ethics reforms, Congressional pensions and what more Congress can and should do to curb its Members’ ethical transgressions…[Read more and listen to the interview here.]
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]
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]
But a book released a week ago Tuesday, on the same day President Bush delivered the State of the Union Address, reminds conservatives why his most important and lasting legacy may be the federal courts, and specifically, the U.S. Supreme Court...[more]
Unnecessary Regulation of the Internet Is Harmful to Consumers
"Over regulation will delay innovation, stifle growth," says Free Market Advocacy Organization...[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]
"If You Can't Beat Microsoft, Sue 'Em" -- In Europe
Competitors Again Exploit European Antitrust Rules to Undermine Microsoft's Windows Vista...[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]
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]
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]
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]
Congress Seeks to Silence Its Critics, Chill Grassroots Activism
What if "We the People" were severely restricted from becoming informed and speaking out in the legislative process?...[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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
Illegal Immigration and the Limitations of "Basic Pilot"
This week, Department of Homeland Security agents, as many as 1,000 of them, raided Swift & Company meatpacking plants in six states, arresting approximately 1,300 individuals suspected of a variety of immigration violations...[more]
An
Open Letter to President George W. Bush:
No Tax Hikes for Social Security!
Instead of tax hikes, the letter calls for market-based solutions, such as personal retirement accounts, as a more effective means to solving the Social Security crisis...[more]
John Bolton's Resignation: Another Really Good Man Done Gone
John Bolton waited patiently - for more than a year - while the U.S. Senate blocked his confirmation as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. The President gave him a recess appointment, so he went and did his job and did it well...[more]
Charlie Rangel Does His Best John Kerry Impression
"You know, education, if you make the most of it, if you study hard and you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, uh, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq."...[more]
CFIF to Congress: No Congressional Pensions for Felons
"While the desire to 'close ranks' in support of perks may be strong, giving Congressional pensions to felons does not pass the 'smell test'..." with most taxpayers across the country...[more]
The Cost of Missing Tuesday's Deadline
While Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and the candidates whom he handpicked were experiencing the thrill of victory last week, the Republicans whom Schumer and Company routed weren't the only ones feeling the agony of defeat. Indeed, the Democrats' takeover of the Senate -- not to mention the House of Representatives -- on Tuesday was just the final defeat for several judicial nominees who had been thwarted by Schumer for years...[more]
Florida 13: Trying to Duplicate Election 2000
Florida 13, as the congressional district along Florida's central gulf coast is designated, does not yet have a new congressperson...[more]
Liberally Flaunting the Voters in Michigan
While the President of the University Michigan was listening, she didn't care what the voters had to say -- at least not if it wasn't what she wanted to hear...[more]
CFIF Endorses Congressman Mike Pence for Republican Leader of the House of Representatives
"Indiana Congressman Mike Pence provides Congressional conservatives with a critical opportunity to reclaim the principles of limited government, fiscal responsibility, free enterprise and ethical leadership," says CFIF President...[more]
Cheer up, conservatives. Far from rejecting conservative principles, voters across America have resoundingly affirmed them. And they sent a harsh admonition to those who choose to neglect them...[more]
Rumsfeld Resigns: Who is Robert Gates?
Just one day after the midterm elections, in which many Americans cast their votes in part against the Administration's policy and slow progress in Iraq, President Bush announced the resignation of Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld...[more]
Debunking the Myths on Trans Fat, Global Warming and Other Junk Science
Recently, Steve Milloy, Founder of junkscience.com, joined CFIF Corporate Counsel and Senior Vice President Renee Giachino to discuss the irresponsible claims made by the junk science community. In his interview, Mr. Milloy covers a diverse range of scientific themes in an effort to help us recognize the suspect science being disseminated in support of issues ranging from global warming to trans fat...[Read more and listen to the interview]
Short-Term Punishment, Long-Term Consequences
If you're disappointed with the job Congress is doing, you're far from alone. According to the latest Wall Street Journal-NBC News poll, Congress' approval rating fell to a 14-year low in mid-October, with only 16 percent of registered voters approving, while a whopping 75 percent disapprove...[more]
Looming Supreme Court Vacancies: Reason Enough to Vote November 7
Five - that is how many U.S. Supreme Court Justices will reach age 70 or older between this November 7 and the next nationwide election in November 2008...[more]
"We the undersigned organizations wish to, once again, express our support for Senate legislation to correct this injustice during the final session days of the 109th Congress," the letter continues...[more]
Europe vs. America, and Why Elections Matter
This week's favorable Justice Department decision on the AT&T/BellSouth merger again contrasts the European and American approaches toward business affairs...[more]
Dingy,
Dirty, Really Disgusting Harry Reid
(and the Bipartisan Culture of Corruption)
Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is Minority Leader of the U.S. Senate, and you're not. Harry Reid lives in the Ritz-Carlton in Washington, and you don't. Harry Reid flipped a $400,000 real estate purchase into a 175 percent profit, and you didn't. Harry Reid gave $3300 in Christmas bonuses to Ritz-Carlton service staff out of campaign funds, and you can't...[more]
Just when the 2006 midterm elections were starting to get really good - deep, deep, deep in the mud - John McCain began to put the pedal to the metal for 2008...[more]
Fact: So-Called "Record" Deficit Is One-Third Below Historic Average
Apparently pioneering the adage that "you can fool enough of the people enough of the time to regain political power," liberal politicians and commentators constantly allege a "record" budget deficit...[more]
When their legislation led to the creation and dominance of so-called 527 organizations in federal elections, the two Senators sought to squelch the speech of those organizations and their members, too...[more]
CFIF Joins Letter Applauding President's Environmental Plan
Innovation and technology, not cap and trade policies, will address environmental issues and protect the economy...[more]
Bush Conspiracy Forces Lower Gasoline Prices
If lowering taxes to stimulate the economy were not enough, just look at what President Bush has done for us now. In one of the widest ranging conspiracies in history, requiring a worldwide labyrinth of coordination with everyone who has anything whatsoever to do with the price of crude oil...[more]
Mars and Pluto Climates Warming, Al Gore Scours for Extraterrestrial SUVs
Mars and Pluto are undergoing their own periods of global warming, according to multiple scientific studies. This has important implications for our own planet, and for Al Gore and liberal environmentalists as well...[more]
Government Excess: Soon You Can Find Some of It Yourself
Whether conservative or liberal, Republican or Democrat, few can argue with a straight face that there isn't massive waste when it comes to the federal government spending our taxpayer dollars...[more]
Safeguarding the U.S. Economy is Vital to National Security and Winning the War on Terror
Five years have passed since terrorists viciously attacked our country on September 11, 2001. While U.S. intelligence, along with that of our allies, have been diligent in preventing another attack on U.S. soil since that frightful day, the reality is we know the terrorists plan to strike again...[more]
Chafee Derails Bolton Confirmation Bid
Hope had been renewed when Senator George Voinovich reverse his position and announced that he would support Bolton's confirmation...[more]
With Friends Like These in the Judicial Confirmation Battle...
Time and time again, we have criticized Democrats for their unprincipled position of pushing politics where it doesn't belong -- onto the federal bench. But now, we find that a couple of Republicans are just as wrong in their "principled" refusal to play politics where it is both expected and appropriate -- in the U.S. Senate...[more]
Tax Snapshot: Wealthier Americans Actually Pay More than Their Fair Share
You've heard it from liberals a million times: the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, which resuscitated America's economy following the 2000-2001 Clinton/Gore recession, were "tax cuts for the rich," and that "the rich don't pay their fair share in America." Reality is quite different...[more]
On August 7, 2006, illegal immigrant Adan Pineda-Doval, 20, rolled a Chevrolet Suburban packed with twenty-one (yes, twenty-one) illegal immigrants while fleeing U.S. Border Patrol agents, killing eleven and injuring ten others...[more]
The Battle against Asbestos Lawsuit Abuse Gains Momentum
Frivolous asbestos litigation is crippling our judicial system and large swaths of our economy. Across the country, hundreds of thousands of asbestos lawsuits have been filed, 8,400 companies are defending themselves, 75 companies have been bankrupted by a flood of frivolous claims, tens of thousands of Americans have lost their jobs, and retirement savings have been eviscerated...[more]
The Cost of Scamnesty: $126 Billion
When the Center for Individual Freedom began calling the U.S. Senate immigration bill scamnesty, some thought we were just engaging in over-the-top rhetoric. Now, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has not called the bill scamnesty; it has proved it...[more]
It's Time for Some Government Accountability
After all, at least private entities must answer to shareholders, the public, board members, owners, accountants, customers, numerous government agencies, or other authorities. Moreover, private companies must publish detailed and accurate financial statements, under penalty of government prosecution, as well as frivolous class-action lawsuits... [more]
When It Comes to Cable Service, Competition Is the Answer
Fights over and about the tools we use to communicate are nothing new in Washington. Through the late 1980s and 1990s, long-distance giants fought with local telephone companies in Congress...[more]
The partisan minority in the U.S. Senate used to content itself with obstructing the President's nominees...[more]
Border Security: Voting Against It, Before Voting For It
Just three weeks after voting against it, the U.S. Senate this week overwhelmingly voted to begin funding the 370-mile border fence and 500-mile vehicle barrier called for in the "comprehensive immigration reform" legislation passed by the body in May...[more]
France Fails the World... Again
By Ray Seilie: The European Union, led by France and its small but vocal farming lobby, has scuttled the Doha Round of WTO negotiations, preserving artificial trade barriers and harming consumers throughout the world...[more]
Congressman Tom Tancredo: A Discussion on Illegal Immigration and What Congress Should Do About It
Recently, Congressman Tom Tancredo (R-CO) joined CFIF Corporate Counsel and Senior Vice President Renee Giachino to discuss our nation’s illegal immigration crisis and his new book, In Mortal Danger: The Battle for America's Border and Security... [more]
Attention U.S. Congress: Make Budget Justifications Public!
In an open letter to the U.S. Senate this week, the Center for Individual Freedom joined more than 50 state and national free-market organizations encouraging support of efforts to make the budget justifications for all federal departments available to the public...[more]
By James K. Glassman: Using trade to help poor countries makes sense. But a large chunk of the benefits of GSP access go to countries which aren't really poor and which, in some cases, actively oppose American interests, including sound global trade policy...[more]
Self-Inflicted Wounds: U.S. Tax Laws Jeopardize Global Competitiveness
Believe it or not, America now has the highest corporate tax rate in the industrialized world...[more]
The European Commission (EC), in all its zeal to control competition worldwide by targeting successful U.S. corporations, has once again shown its anti-American stripes, disregard for fairness and contempt for intellectual property rights...[more]
Senate Must Fix Broken Asbestos System
The Center for Individual Freedom (CFIF) this week joined more than 100 organizations representing veterans, healthcare providers, small businesses, lawmakers and concerned citizens to demand the Senate vote on a The Fairness in Asbestos Injury and Compensation Act (FAIR Act). The FAIR Act would finally allow victims to receive fair compensation by bypassing courtrooms and the federal government's assertion of immunity from prosecution...[more]
President Calls on Senate to Pass Line-Item Veto and Eliminate Wasteful Spending
President Bush this week discussed the annual Mid-Session Review released by the Office of Management and Budget. Included among the good news that the deficit this year is going to be significantly less than previously predicted was his call for the United States Senate to pass the Legislative Line-Item Veto legislation recently approved by the House of Representatives...[more]
If you think the Left doesn't discriminate based on race then you haven't been paying attention to judicial confirmation process for the past few years...[more]
Partying Like It's 1999: State Politicians Repeating 1990s Budget Indiscretions
As the nation's robust economy generates federal, state, and local revenue windfalls (thank you, Bush tax cuts), state governments are regrettably repeating their disastrous 1990s budget indiscretions. Unless taxpayers demand change, they will ultimately pay the price...[more]
Last week, the Senate fell one vote shy of passing a constitutional amendment that could have led to a ban on desecrating the American flag. Whether such a constitutional amendment is a good or bad approach is not the subject here...[more]
Judicial Nominations and a Possible Supreme Court Retirement
Summer officially started last week, which typically means things inside the beltway slow down as the heat rises. Not so this year. Among hot items on Congress' plate are a constitutional amendment on flag burning, a line-item veto bill and summer hearings on illegal immigration...[more]
The War Against Terror and The New York Times
Many on the left snickered last week when the U.S. Attorney General announced arrest of the Miami terrorists-in-training. Not exactly the brightest boys on virgin quest, not Osama, not significant. No? The Justice Department acknowledged that they were "aspirational" rather than "operational," but rolled them up anyway. Good...[more]
Attention U.S. Senate: GSE Over-Regulation Unnecessary
Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and other Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs) that support affordable housing in this country have been a hot topic in the nation's capitol for some time...[more]
John Kerry's Boffo New Comedy Act
Just when we think John Kerry's political comedy cannot possibly get any funnier, it does. The man is a master, soon to be recognized in France with the same awed appreciation heretofore reserved only for Jerry Lewis...[more]
NAM Executive Vice President Discusses Asbestos Litigation Reform and the FAIR Act
Earlier this month, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the Fairness in Asbestos Injury Resolution Act (the "FAIR Act"). The stated purpose of the bill is to "create a fair and efficient system to resolve claims of victims for bodily injury caused by asbestos exposure."...[more]
Property Rights: One Year After Kelo
So the number of eminent domain actions in the last year is more than half the total from the previous five years combined. That's shocking. And it demonstrates that Justices O'Connor and Thomas were correct in their dissents. The Kelo decision has unshackled governments to take private property with only the flimsiest of rationales...[more]
CFIF Urges Passage of Line Item Veto Act of 2006
With the federal budgets expanding at an alarming rate, a record deficit and future obligations jeopardizing our nation’s very economic foundation, the Center for Individual Freedom this week sent a letter to all Members of the House of Representatives urging swift passage of H.R. 4890, the Legislative Line-Item Veto Act of 2006. H.R. 4890 is a good and necessary first step in the ongoing battle to end Congress’s obsession with carelessly spending taxpayer dollars on pork-barrel projects...[more]
CFIF Adds Its Voice to New Ad Campaign Against Regulating the Internet
The Center for Individual Freedom this week joined several other conservative and free-market organizations on a new ad campaign renewing our demands that Congress resist calls to regulate the Internet...[more]
Turning the Tables on Abusive Tort Lawyers
And in Texas, a grand jury has commenced a criminal investigation based upon the findings of federal Judge Janis Graham Jack, who one year ago issued a blistering opinion against fraudulently-manufactured silicosis suits by lawyers, physicians and x-ray services...[more]
Get Ready for November's Democrat Landslide
Get ready for Democrats to retake the House and Senate come November. You know you should because the mainstream media has been telling you to for weeks now. You see the signs everywhere, for yourself...[more]
CFIF Joins Effort Demanding Full Accounting of Federal Grants
Americans should not be forced to navigate the treacherous waters of bureaucracy just to find out who is receiving their tax dollars...[more]
CFIF Praises Senators Specter and Leahy for New and Improved FAIR Act for Asbestos Victims
"We applaud Senators Specter and Leahy for reintroducing the FAIR Act," said CFIF President Jeffrey Mazzella. "This vital legislation will ensure that real victims of asbestos exposure are fairly compensated. Just as important, it will put an end the baseless claims that have inundated our nation's civil justice system."...[more]
Of Fences and Felonies and Political Suicide
Two current Washington controversies highlight, to the extent that most rational citizens require, the bizarre disconnect between many in Congress and the American people...[more]
Government Spending and Congress' Obsession With 'Pork'
Recently Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) released its annual report, dubbed the "Pig Book," which lists nearly 10,000 items put into appropriations bills for this fiscal year that it says weren't scrutinized during normal congressional procedures or required to meet grant requirements...[more]
CFIF Calls On Congressmen Sensenbrenner and Conyers to Withdraw 'Net Neutrality' Legislation
As the House Judiciary Committee prepares to mark-up legislation sponsored by Chairman James Sensenbrenner and Ranking Member John Conyers that seeks to regulate the Internet under the guise of "network neutrality," the Center for Individual Freedom (CFIF) today called on Committee members to consider the unintended and harmful consequences of the legislation...[more]
With All Due Respect, Mr. President...
We want to encourage the legal immigration that has made this country what it is, while preserving the standards, character, culture, language and identity of this country and its ability to move forward with economic and social stability...[more]
CFIF Joins Coalition of Free-Market and Grassroots Groups Urging "No New Internet Regulations"
"America's technological preeminence is threatened by those who want the government to move in and regulate what entrepreneurs, investors, and visionaries have created," the ad reads. "We oppose network neutrality and any other form of regulation or taxation of the Internet. And we're ready...to fight to keep the Internet free," the ad continues...[more]
Free Speech Restored in Louisiana
After nearly two years of litigation, the Center for Individual Freedom (CFIF) won an important free-speech decision last week when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled that Louisiana's campaign finance law does not restrict or regulate independent political issue advertising...[more]
Understanding Prices at the Pumps (Part II)
The U.S. House of Representatives recently voted 389-34 to make gasoline "price-gouging" a federal felony. The Wall Street Journal followed the vote with an editorial acknowledging that the "irony here is that if there is any extortion or swindling going on in the oil marketplace, Congress is the guilty party...[more]
PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH'S ADDRESS TO THE NATION ON IMMIGRATION
On Monday, May 15, 2006, President George W. Bush delivered a primetime televised address to the nation on the issue of immigration. What follows is the text of the President's speech...[more]
A Layman's Guide to Understanding Gasoline Prices
These days it may be easier to predict with accuracy the weather for the next morning than the price of gasoline at the pumps. Indeed, if the price at the pump drops evens a penny it's newsworthy, as gasoline prices hover around $3 per gallon in many places across the country...[more]
Liberal Lies About Kavanaugh's Credentials
Senate Democrats and their liberal puppet masters are proving once again that their attacks on President George W. Bush's judicial nominees amount to nothing more than political partisanship and electoral sour grapes -- not that anyone needed any more evidence of that fact...[more]
McCain Declares War on the Constitution (Again)
After all, just look at the comment that McCain made during an interview just two weeks ago, and consider its implications. McCain's comment reveals his willingness to impose his view of what constitutes "clean government" even though it means setting aside a fundamental right clearly and explicitly defined in the Constitution...[more]
The General Is a Spook: Get Over It
Political America – red and blue – is puzzling. Devoid of logic, consistency and originality, politicians daily run so fast to be interviewed by the media that what they say seems like nothing more than bees buzzing around the hive, absent the public benefit of honey production...[more]
CFIF Joins More Than 50 Organizations to Urge U.S. Senate to Protect Private Property Rights
Last summer, the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Kelo v. City of New London, Connecticut, significantly expanded the eminent domain power of states and localities as the Court ruled it constitutional for the government to take private property and hand it over to private developers...[more]
Phyllis Schlafly on Immigration Reform
May Day came and went in the United States with American businesses and consumers taking less of a beating than a piñata at a child's birthday party. Protesters left their employment positions and took to the streets demanding special rights and amnesty for illegal aliens in an attempt to show how immigrant labor affects the American economy...[more]
Statement of CFIF President Jeffrey Mazzella on the Committee's Passage of the Communications Opportunity, Promotion, and Enhancement Act of 2006...[more]
Another Constitutional Lesson for Capitol Hill
That seems pretty self-explanatory to us. In other words, Chairman Specter, who is firmly ensconced in the legislative branch, the Congress of the United States, cannot infringe on the power granted by the Constitution to another separate and independent branch of the government, the judiciary, the Supreme Court of the United States...[more]
Congresswoman McKinney's Crash Course on the Constitution
The Congresswoman proved both last month when, according to a police report, she assaulted a Capitol Hill police officer "with [a] closed fist" after he tried to stop her from rushing right through a House office building's security checkpoint without showing her congressional credentials. But that's only the beginning of this story...[more]
Georgia Gets Tough on Illegal Immigrants
The State of Georgia has done what the U.S. Congress (thanks largely to political gamesmanship in the Senate) cannot. It has produced signed, sealed and delivered legislation to deal with the state's burden of illegal immigration...[more]
Reviving the Property Rights Outrage
Last June, the Supreme Court's decision in the now-infamous Kelo case struck a judicial blow to Americans' constitutional right to own property without fear of government seizure...[more]
Bringing Competition to Cable Television
The lack of competition in the cable markets is causing quite a stir in Congress and state legislatures as cable and telephone lobbyists and local government officials trade words over the best and most economical way to get video services to consumers...[more]
Center for Individual Freedom Delivers More Than 3,000 letters to Majority Leader Boehner
CFIF has been a longtime advocate of keeping the Internet free of regulation and taxation. Two weeks ago, the organization conducted an Internet letter writing campaign on the issue of network neutrality...[more]
Memogate
Lives:
Olati Johnson and Columbia Law School's Dancing Dean
On March 28, David M. Schizer, Dean of the Columbia Law School, wrote a letter to the editor of the New York Sun. That was followed by a note to a blog therightcoast.blogspot.com — by Professor Avery Katz of Columbia Law School. Both were responding to a March 24 column in the New York Sun by Curt A. Levey, General Counsel of the Committee for Justice, who questioned the involvement of Lee Bollinger, now President of Columbia University, in the Columbia Law School faculty appointment of Olati Johnson...[more]
Editor's Note: Senate Judiciary Committee Scandal Resurfaces
In the past week, the Senate Judiciary Committee scandal generally referred to as "Memogate" has resurfaced, with an intriguing new twist...[more]
The
Honorable Judge Pickering talks about the
Politics of Judicial Confirmation and the Culture War
According to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee's website, as of March 17, 2006, the nomination of 33 judges for federal circuit and district court positions remain pending in either committee or on the floor. A total of 45 vacancies are reported, with 18 listed as judicial emergencies...[more]
By Congressman Paul Ryan: U.S. taxpayers deserve to have Congress justify how it spends their money. This is the simple idea behind giving the president a modified, constitutional version of the line-item veto...[more]
CFIF Ad Campaign Warns Against Regulating the Internet
The Center for Individual Freedom (CFIF) this week launched a series of print ads in an effort to derail Congressional action that will lead to regulation of the Internet...[more]
The
Contract With America… Renewed
Republican Study Committee Promises to Balance the Budget
It’s no secret that many conservative leaders in Congress seem to have forgotten the very reasons they came to Washington in the first place – to fight for lower taxes, smaller government and more individual freedom. As Heritage Foundation President Edwin J. Feulner recently put it, “We [have] strayed from both the principles of Ronald Reagan of just 25 years ago and from the vision of our Founding Fathers.” ...[more]
The Bipartisan Incumbent Protection Act, Part Two
Senator John McCain (R-AZ) just doesn't get it. Elections are for the voters, not the politicians...[more]
New CFIF Ad Urges National Cable Competition Law
"We want Congress to hear the voices of consumers weary of waiting for a choice in emerging video technologies while paying annual rate increases to cable for no good reason,"...[more]
The Need for Asbestos Litigation Reform
CFIF Corporate Counsel & Senior Vice President Renee Giachino recently debated a representative from the National Taxpayers Union on the Fairness in Asbestos Injury Resolution Act (the "FAIR Act"), which is currently being considered in the United States Senate...[more]
Sailing Off the Edge of the World
It's time for everyone to take a deep breath. The current kerfluffle about the operation of U.S. seaports is revealing, yet again, the profound impact of 9/11. And none of us should like what we see in ourselves...[more]
By Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist : Many people in Washington have long known a dirty little secret about tax-cut measures: When done right, they actually result in more money for the government...[more]
Center for Individual Freedom Urges Senate to Enact Cable Franchise Reform
"Current regulatory climate is preventing competition in the marketplace and hurting consumers," says CFIF Presiden...[more]
Fifth of Americans Believe They Are Being Wiretapped!?!?
Millions upon millions upon millions of your fellow countrymen and countrywomen are either paranoid or suffer delusions of grandeur (it's a terrible burden to be too unimportant to be wiretapped) or both...[more]
The Judges War Continues, and It Must
Those of us who care about the proper role of judges and their correct interpretation of the Constitution must not get complacent after the tremendous successes we have witnessed over the past five months...[more]
Tax Talk From Inside the Beltway
A conversation with John Berthoud, President of the National Taxpayers’ Union...[more]
Unneeded Government Regulation Would Slow 'Net's Growth, Stunt Potential
"The growth and success of the Internet as a tool for expanded commerce and the free flow of ideas can be directly attributed to the government's 'hands off the Internet' approach," said Jeffrey Mazzella, CFIF's president. "Consumers have never witnessed the explosive growth of a new technology as they've enjoyed with the Internet. It would be a grave mistake to risk slowing that growth and stunting the Internet's potential with unnecessary government rules and regulations."...[more]
Senator Biden's Needle in a Haystack
"The system's kind of broken," the Senator said. "[We should] just go to the Senate floor and debate the nominee's statements, instead of this game."...[more]
CFIF Expresses Dismay in Letter to Senator Reid, Group Calls for Passage of Asbestos Reform
In the reporter session, Sen. Reid claimed that the FAIR Act leaves asbestos victims "out in the cold." In the same session, Sen. Reid also stated that the FAIR Act would cost U.S. businesses $900 billion...[more]
CFIF Urges All 100 Senators to Support the FAIR Act
In anticipation of Senate action on the FAIR Act when lawmakers return to normal business in February, CFIF this week urged all 100 Senators to support this much needed legislation, which will provide justice for real victims of asbestos exposure and end the trial lawyers’ gravy train...[more]
BB&T Corp.: Our Bucks Won't Fund Eminent Domain Seizures
According to John Allison, Chairman and CEO of BB&T Corporation, "The idea that a citizen's property can be taken by the government solely for private use is extremely misguided; in fact, it's just plain wrong." ...[more]
Alito Hysteria at the New York Times
Today, thus, we come to ponder editorials, specifically two lead editorials this week (January 23 and January 26), both foaming-at-the-mouth hysterical in opposition to the confirmation of Judge Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court. Ralph Neas and Nan Aron don't go that far over the edge...[more]
Asthmatics Beware: The Government May Ban Your Inhaler
Eco-terrorists have struck again. Not in the dead of night, to be pursued by diligent agents of the FBI, but right out in the open, in a public meeting, under the auspices of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)...[more]
CFIF
Warns Congress Against Calls for ‘Net Neutrality’ Legislation
The Center for Individual Freedom (CFIF) today called on Congress
to reject any temptation to impose regulations on the Internet, and reminded
legislators that its growth and success as a tool for expanded commerce and
the free flow of ideas can be attributed in large part to their resistance thus
far to erect government mandated roadblocks...[more]
Justice Delayed: The Unconscionable Treatment of Judge Alito
It's now common knowledge that Judge Alito will ultimately be approved in committee by a 10-8 party-line vote. Absent what Democrats themselves consider to be an unlikely ability to dig up a silver bullet, he will be confirmed by the full Senate...[more]
Grave Concerns: The Inquisition of Samuel Alito
They are gravely concerned that he might be a racist. They are gravely concerned that he might be a crook. They are gravely concerned that he might be for big guys over little guys. That he might be against immigrants, women. That he might have a fetish for strip-searching 10-year-old girls...[more]
But that hasn't prevented the Democrats from insisting upon hour after hour of "questions," during which the presence of Judge Samuel Alito has been rarely necessary other than to provide the Democrats with the opportunity to make their unfounded accusations in person...[more]
Judge Alito Makes Opening Statement Before Senate Judiciary Committee
This was a lawyer who had never argued a case before the court before. And when the argument began, one of the justices said, "How did you get here?," meaning how had his case worked its way up through the court system. But the lawyer was rather nervous and he took the question literally and he said -- and this was some years ago -- he said, "I came here on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad."...[more]
What's Right Is Wrong, What's Left Is Right
Not that anyone needed more evidence that the so-called "mainstream media" suffers from a liberal bias. But if we did, we would only have to look so far as the recent coverage of President George W. Bush's choice to be the next justice of the Supreme Court of the United States...[more]
The Specter of Switching Sides
The infamous history reaches all the way back to 1987, which is a long time when you're talking about a sitting United States Senator. He is the Senior Senator from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and he has played a primary role in the Senate's "advice and consent" on every nominee to the Supreme Court of the United States for nearly a quarter century...[more]
Federal Telephone Excise Taxes and You
Some readers undoubtedly know that they pay a three percent federal excise tax on telephone service. Fewer may recall that the tax was enacted in 1898 as a temporary tax to fund the Spanish-American War and remains in place to this day, which is as good a reason as those countless others to be cynical about any government promise...[more]
No matter how you slice it, the college football post-season is not an appropriate topic for Congress, whose powers are supposedly limited by a little document called the Constitution.[more]
Yet that is not the case this holiday season, as gas prices have fallen substantially in recent weeks. Nonetheless, Congress is debating a measure that would impose a multi-billion dollar windfall profits tax on U.S. oil companies, following the industry's recent good earnings announcements...[more]
Provably Qualified: President Bush's Supreme Court Short List
The professors did not have high expectations for the five judges who were frequently mentioned as President Bush's "short listers" for seats on the Supreme Court. In fact, the law professors bluntly stated their "expectation ... that the Bush Five" — Judges Samuel Alito, Emilio Garza, Edith Jones, J. Michael Luttig and J. Harvie Wilkinson —"would fare abysmally in the tournament (given [the law professors'] perception of ideological focus of the current administration)..."[more]
Judge Samuel Alito, Jr., Answers Judiciary Committee Questionnaire
This week, Judge Samuel Alito, Jr., President Bush's nominee to be the next Associate Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court, filed his written answers to the questionnaire submitted to him by the Senate Judiciary Committee...[more]
Slanted Alito Scholarship from a Prejudiced Professor
It's about time the U.S. Senate or the mainstream media vetted those publicly attacking Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito as thoroughly as the Judge himself...[more]
CFIF Urges House Republicans to Reinstate ANWR Into Budget Bill
In a letter to House Speaker Dennis Hastert and 25 House Republicans, CFIF this week urged them to reinstate the provision to open ANWR to responsible oil and gas exploration into the House Budget Bill...[more]
Gunning for Limited Government
Nearly a decade ago, Judge Samuel Alito, Jr., asked whether “the Commerce Clause still imposes some meaningful limits on congressional power”...[more]
Internet Free Speech: Simplicity Itself
On Wednesday, the House of Representatives struck yet another blow against the First Amendment by refusing to pass a bill that would clearly protect free speech on the Internet...[more]
A Great Month for Legal Reform, Sort Of
October was a great month for legal reform in Washington. Well, sort of...[more]
By Professor John Yoo Suppose that the
Freedom of the Press Is Not Temporal
Faced with confusing and conflicting speculation, supported by few uncontested facts, we pass for now on yet another bloviation. There's already plenty of that, distinguishing neither mainstream nor new media, revealing mostly the ignorance of some, the viciousness of others, the bloated egos of many...[more]
How Long Could Your State Run on ANWR Oil?
Recent disruptions in oil production caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita,
coupled with
Given the suffering and anarchy that followed Katrina’s devastation of the Gulf Coast, it’s tempting to look for scapegoats...[more]
‘No Comment’ from the Washington Post
Michael Getler, the ombudsman of the Washington Post, must not have liked the complaint we sent him two weeks ago...[more]
CFIF Urges Massachusetts to Reject New Red Tape for Cell Users
This week, CFIF joined a coalition of major organizations to urge Massachusetts legislators to reject a proposal to increase taxes and regulatory red tape on cell phone users...[more]
Midday Thursday, the U.S. Senate confirmed John Roberts to be the 17th
Chief Justice of the
CFIF Applauds Roberts’ Confirmation
The U.S. Senate today confirmed John Roberts as the 17th Chief Justice of the United States...[more]
Senator Russell Feingold didn’t ask Judge John Roberts any questions about the constitutionality of campaign finance “reform” during his four-day-long confirmation hearing...[more]
Who You Gonna Trust: CFIF or the Washington Post?
On September 20, the Washington Post published “Alaska Natives Offer a Herd of Reasons to Block Oil Drilling” by Vanessa de la Torre...[more]
Susette Kelo Testifies Before Senate Judiciary Committee
By Susette Kelo: I thank Chairman Specter and the rest of the Senate Judiciary Committee for the opportunity to testify about legislation to cut off funding to governments that abuse eminent domain law....[more]
The “Truth” about ANWR: Tell It All, Sarah James
Larry Schweiger, President of the National Wildlife Federation, has e-mailed supporters that Sarah James, spokesperson for the Gwich’in tribe of native Alaskans, is in Washington to tell Congress the “truth”...[more]
How quickly the Democrats forget their own history....[more]
Remembering Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist
With the passing of William H. Rehnquist, the 16th Chief Justice of the United States, America lost a universally respected jurist and a supremely dedicated public servant....[more]
A Supreme Court Confirmation Hearing Is Coming to Town
You’d think Christmas was coming early to our nation’s capital given what several Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee have been doing...[more]
John Roberts and the Third Amendment: Another Liberal Nightmare (Satire)
Liberal opponents of federal appeals court Judge John Roberts’ ascendancy to the U.S. Supreme Court, thus far unable to tarnish his reputation, face new hurdles as the U.S. Senate must now confirm him as Chief Justice...[more]
The Rutledge Precedent Debunked
The Left has spent the last four years laying the groundwork for liberal Senators like Chuck Schumer and Dick Durbin to undertake extensive and detailed questioning of judicial nominees concerning their positions on specific issues...[more]
Confirmation Process Shouldn't Be a Political Quest for Legal Outcomes
In the abstract, federal judges have a relatively simple sounding mission: administer our justice system by interpreting and applying the law...[more]
States Race to Restore Private Property Rights
Less than two months after five justices on the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that it was constitutional for local governments to seize private property for private development...[more]
By Alexander Schwab: Revelations of last-minute lobbying and shady negotiations may transform CAFTA into a pyrrhic victory, as Americans increasingly learn the hefty cost of congressional collusion: pork barrel spending...[more]
It was only a month ago that Republicans couldn’t raise their hands fast enough in defense of property rights and home ownership...[more]
The Smithsonian’s Museum of Political Correctness
Last week, the U.S. Senate approved legislation sponsored by liberal Republican Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) to create National Women’s History Museum....[more]
Judge Roberts' Judiciary Committee Questionnaire
Supreme Court nominee Judge John Roberts recently filed his responses to the Senate Judiciary Committee's questionnaire...[more]
CFIF Tells to Congress to Slash Technology-Squelching Red Tape
This week, CFIF joined more than 30 groups representing millions of Americans to urge Congress to eliminate cumbersome regulations that are preventing new providers from competing with monopolistic cable companies...[more]
The Privileged Press, May We All Enjoy the Freedom
America learned just how privileged the press is after the Federal Election Commission released one of its rulings last week...[more]
Dellinger’s Weather Vane Imitation
In a column in the Washington Post, former Solicitor General Walter Dellinger does his best impression of a weather vane, swinging at the direction of the hot air blowing from liberal interest groups...[more]
By Alexander Schwab: A California toad is creating quite
a stir in Judge John Roberts’ nomination to the Supreme Court of the
Roberts’ Nomination Leaves Liberals Scratching Their Heads
To a live primetime television audience Tuesday night, President George
W. Bush announced his long-anticipated choice to serve as the next Associate
Justice of the Supreme Court of the
Judge John Roberts: Legal Top Gun
In general, Americans aspire to have the best of everything ― the best food, the best sports, the best military ― and the best Supreme Court...[more]
CFIF Praises Judge Roberts’s Nomination to the Supreme Court
President Bush today nominated Judge John Roberts to fill the vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court. In response, Jeff Mazzella, President of the Center for Individual Freedom, made the following statement...[more]
Safire Urges Federal Journalist Shield Law
By William Safire: On July 13, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing to consider a proposed federal law that would protect journalists' right to protect the identities of confidential sources...[more]
President Bush Introduces Supreme Court Nominee Roberts
On July 19, 2005, President Bush nominated Judge John G. Roberts to be Associated Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Here is the full text of the President's remarks...[more]
Fairness Isn’t Part of the Obstructionist Playbook
As President Bush deliberates on whom to nominate to fill the first Supreme Court vacancy in more than a decade, it’s worth contemplating the other side of the confirmation equation: the U.S. Senate...[more]
Each summer
The President
Consults with Liberal Senators
(a Double Super Secret Transcript)
President Bush has been consulting with liberal Senators about his Supreme Court nominee, and CFIF has the transcript...[more]
Why the Supreme
Court Should Matter to You…
And It’s Not for the Reasons that You Think
Last week’s announcement that Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor is retiring created the first Supreme Court vacancy in more than 11 years and set off a high-stakes, high-profile battle over who will replace her...[more]
By Alexander Schwab: It’s ironic that, in the world’s freest nation, it takes only five individuals out of a population of 280 million to empower tyranny, savage liberty and assault the legal foundations of our country...[more]
CFIF Urges New Supreme Court Justice to Protect Constitution
Justice Sandra Day O’Connor announced today that she would retire after more than 20 years on the Supreme Court. In response, Jeff Mazzella, President of the Center for Individual Freedom, made the following statement...[more]
CFIF Warns Senate about Drug Importation Liability Risks
Any new litigation or liability that results from legalizing the importation of drugs from foreign countries will only add to the litigation and liability crisis that currently plagues our courts...[more]
The Caribou Con: In Search of ANWR Truth
As Congress once again contemplates the wisdom, necessity and consequences of oil exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), one of the most persistent arguments against it has been the alleged potential threat to the Porcupine Caribou herd, so-named after the Porcupine River, which is within the herd’s range...[more]
Henry Saad got thrown under the bus. Plain and simple...[more]
Filibuster Fight Left Rumblings Along the Sidelines
By Senator John Cornyn: More than four years ago, President Bush nominated Texas Supreme Court Justice Priscilla Owen to the federal court of appeals...[more]
Keep the Ball Rolling on Asbestos Legislation
After months of negotiations, the Senate Judiciary Committee last week endorsed a bill to create a privately-financed asbestos victims trust fund...[more]
It is now little more than a day after the infamous gang of 14 in the U.S. Senate decided that they would control the fate of President Bush’s judicial nominees...[more]
Last night, fourteen so-called “moderates” temporarily hijacked
the U.S. Senate, defying the President of the
Frist: Agreement Falls Short of Principle
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) made the following statement on the Senate floor on Monday evening, May 23 after the announcement of an agreement betwen 14 Senators to scale back the use of filibusters to block judicial confirmations...[more]
Senators Strike Deal on Judicial Filibusters
On Monday, May 23, fourteen Senators -- seven Republicans and seven Democrats -- reached an agreement that they say will limit the use of the filibuster to obstruction judicial confirmation. Here is the full text of that agreement...[more]
The Magnificent Seven Confront the Dirty Dozen
As the debate over judicial confirmations rages on the Senate floor, a Dirty Dozen Senators have been trying to cut a backroom deal that would allow them to avoid voting on the Constitutional Option...[more]
Senator Bond Makes the Case for Fairness
The Senate debate over judicial confirmations that has been raging over the last few days has prompted many speeches...[more]
Senate Democrats Distort ‘Checks and Balances’
The Senate’s ‘Advice and Consent’ role in the confirmation process is to approve or reject Presidential appointments by simple majority vote, as the Constitution and Supreme Court precedent make clear...[more]
Don't Buy the Democrats' "Rules Change" Spin
The assertion that Republicans are planning to “change Senate rules” is creative political spin by Senate Democrats and their surrogates...[more]
Liberal BS v. Senate Horse Puckey
If Priscilla Owen is confirmed to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, the Republic as we know and love it will not much longer survive...[more]
Judicial Confirmation Hypocrisy
As the Senate moves closer to a vote on the Constitutional Option – a vote to end the filibusters against President Bush’s judicial nominees – Senate Democrats have ramped up their rhetoric in an effort to defeat the measure...[more]
Majority Leader Frist Opens Judicial Debate
Opening the debate on Texas Supreme Court Justice Priscilla Owen’s nomination to a federal appeals court, Majority Leader Bill Frist made the following statement...[more]
The Constitutional Option Explained
Today, the Senate begins an historic debate aimed at ending the Democrats’ unprecedented obstruction of the President’s judicial nominees...[more]
A Brief History of the Use of the Constitutional Option
The Constitutional Option is nothing new. Senators have used it or tried to use it a number of times over the years...[more]
CFIF Launches Ad Campaign on Judicial Nominees
As the Senate this week begins its long anticipated debate on ending the filibusters against President Bush’s judicial nominees, the Center for Individual Freedom today announced an ad campaign urging an end to the Democrats’ obstruction...[more]
CFIF Files Ethics Complaint Against Minority Leader Reid
Complaint says Minority Leader broke Senate Rules by referening confidential FBI report in public...[more]
CFIF Preparing Judicial Nomination Ad Campaign
How much is it worth to you to get the TRUTH out to the American people...[more]
Making the Right Choice on Drug Importation
Drug importation is not only illegal, it is unsafe. Unfortunately, far too many Americans, particularly seniors, are unaware of or simply ignoring those facts...[more]
Importation Legislation Plays ‘Russian Roulette’ With America’s Health
Rising prescription drug costs have Americans, especially our nation’s seniors, scrambling to find affordable medicines...[more]
In political circles, it is common knowledge that Democrats at all levels rely on generous financial support from plaintiffs’ lawyers...[more]
CFIF: U.S. Must Stop Brazil from Stealing American Patents
While the U.S. Trade Representative’s Office this week announced a new initiative to end overseas counterfeiting (“STOP!”) to much fanfare, it decidedly turned its back on protecting American patents abroad by allowing Brazil to proceed with plans to violate the patents of three U.S. drug makers...[more]
Mexican Government’s Official Guide to Illegal Immigration
In 2004, the Mexican Government issued a comic-book style official guide
book for Mexicans planning to enter the
Lax Immigration Enforcement Leads to Tragedy
By Michael Lynch: Imagine this… Your 18 year-old daughter graduates from high school and enrolls at a local college. It’s quite an exciting time for her and the whole family....[more]
The Right Medicine for the Senate
When those who wrote our founding documents and crafted our constitutional system contemplated the Congress, they envisioned a group of citizens assembling for brief periods a few times a year to do the nation’s business...[more]
American Justice Partnership President Discusses Legal Reform
Legal reform was the topic of discussion when Dan Pero, President of the American Justice Partnership, joined the Center’s Corporate Counsel, Renee Giachino, on “Your Turn — Meeting Nonsense with Common Sense."...[more]
We’ve been to our share of Congressional hearings, and most are about as dull as infield dirt. But a House Government Reform Committee hearing slated for March 17 on the use of steroids in baseball ought to be full of fireworks...[more]
Weighing the Risks of Social Security Reform
Much of the national debate on Social Security reform has focused on the potential risks involved with President Bush’s proposed personal retirement accounts...[more]
Of all the selfish exploitation schemes that greedy trial lawyers have perpetrated on our justice system, their abuse of asbestos litigation is certainly the worst...[more]
A Personal Message From CFIF President Jeff Mazzella
I want to thank each and every one of you who has participated in CFIF’s blast fax campaign to end the obstructionist filibusters blocking President Bush’s judicial nominees...[more]
Florida Justice Reform Institute Director Discusses Legal Reform
Recently, on the radio program “Your Turn — Meeting Nonsense with Common Sense” the Center’s Renee Giachino interviewed Pam Philp, the Executive Director of the Florida Justice Reform Institute, about the goals of the recently-formed organization and the need legal reform in Florida...[more]
Injudicious Secrecy and an Unfree Press
Apparently the public doesn't have a right to know. That's the lesson that will be learned from Tuesday's federal appeals court decision announcing "there is no First Amendment privilege protecting journalists ... from testifying ... or otherwise providing evidence ... regardless of any confidence promised by the reporter to any source." But reading further into the decision, it only got worse...[more]
Senator Reid's Revisionist History on Judges
It's official. This week, President Bush formally re-nominated 20 judicial nominees whose confirmations were never voted on by the full Senate during his first term, including seven appellate nominees whose confirmations were filibustered by Senate Democrats...[more]
SBC’s Acquisition of AT&T: Win-Win for Consumers and Telecom Industry
What was once a market consisting solely of the infamous Ma Bell monopoly — broken up in 1984 — the telecommunications industry has exploded in the past couple of decades with many vendors offering new, competitive low-cost services...[more]
Splitting the Ninth Circuit Is Inevitable
By Congressman Mike Simpson: Every few decades, Congress must exercise its Constitutional authority and realign the United States Courts of Appeals into more efficient and manageable circuits that best represent the people within the circuit and provide them with an expeditious judicial process...[more]
CFIF Joins New Legal Reform Alliance
In an effort to bolster legal reform in the states, the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) today officially launched the American Justice Partnership (AJP). The partnership brings together leading national and state organizations to coordinate the fight for effective legal reform... [more]
Thinking About Social Security
We like Social Security reform. We love the politics of it. We readily acknowledge that we suffer adult attention deficit disorder during discussions of Social Security economics. While that would seem to disadvantage us against those who create economic projections with abandon, we do understand a factor that is far more important...[more]
Report Finds ‘Clear Conflict of Interest’ in CBS-Kerry Campaign Contacts
The news was all bad this week for CBS when an independent panel led by former Attorney General Richard Thornburgh and former Associated Press President Louis Boccardi issued its report about how "60 Minutes" erred so badly in airing a segment attacking President Bush based on memos that were apparently forged...[more]
CFIF Urges FCC Not to Increase Calling Card Costs
In a letter to the FCC, the CFIF urges the commissioners to resist any temptation to allow regulatory changes that would increase the cost of a phone call home for the men and women serving in America’s armed forces...[more]
The nomination of Judge Alberto Gonzales to serve as our nation's 80th Attorney General — and our first of Hispanic descent — is the American dream come true. Yet his nomination faces noisy, if ultimately futile and unjustified, opposition...[more]
The re-election of President George W. Bush by a solid majority of American voters apparently made no difference at all … at least when it comes to how the Left is handling confirmations...[more]
Last week, we urged Congress to make two common sense immigration proposals a top priority when the House and Senate return to work in January. While they’re at it, they should also correct an unfortunate injustice in our existing immigration laws: the inflexibility of an obscure edict known as the 2-year rule...[more]
As President Bush looks below cabinet level for those in his administration who need to be moved on down the road, he would do well and good to whip a pink travel ticket on Centers for Disease Control Director Julie Gerberding...[more]
Imagine for a moment, a day about a year from now.Two men, dressed similarly in khaki pants, button-down shirts and sensible shoes walk simultaneously into different ends of a shopping mall in Towson, Maryland, a suburban community just outside of Baltimore and only 45 miles from Washington, D.C. It is 2 o'clock on a Saturday afternoon, just three weeks before Christmas, and the mall is packed with frazzled holiday shoppers. Many are children, waiting impatiently for a photo on Santa's knee...[more]
Five months after banishing "junk food" from their premises, Los Angeles public schools have stumbled upon a remarkable discovery: children won't spend their allowance money on carrot sticks and broccoli. Banning soda also had another, equally predictable result: the soft drink companies ended sponsorship deals that had previously brought campuses tens of thousands of dollars...[more]
Another winter has come in Washington and brought with it another pork-laden omnibus spending bill. That’s right. Thanks to Congress’s continued inability to do its job, taxpayers are once again left holding the bag as billions of our hard-earned dollars are wasted...[more]
Make no mistake, the issue of judicial confirmations played a pivotal role in President George W. Bush winning a second term and a stronger majority in the United States Senate...[more]
It’s Time for Congress to Kill the Pig
President George W. Bush has put forth an ambitious agenda for his second term in office. From working to pass legislation putting the shackles on opportunistic plaintiff’s attorneys who abuse our justice system to simplifying the tax code; from winning the War on Terror to reforming Social Security, the President’s agenda is one of freedom and prosperity for the American people....[more]
On Election Day, voters in several states made their voices heard on legal reform. In California, voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition 64, an initiative to stop trial lawyer shakedowns of small business owners...[more]
CFIF Launches 'Litigation Watch 2004'
In anticipation of one of the closest and, indeed, most litigious presidential contests in U.S. history, the Center for Individual Freedom today launched Litigation Watch 2004, the definitive online clearinghouse for the status of and up-to-the-minute news and analysis about election-related litigation in key battleground states and across the country...[more]
Blame John McCain for the Campaign Ads
During the course of this rotten-to-the-core campaign year, some phrases have been repeated über ad nauseum. We may not have picked your most detested, but ours is, "Hi, I’m Johnny Scum, and I approved this message."...[more]
John Banzhaf: In His Own Litigious Words
Say what you will about John Banzhaf, George Washington University law professor and leader of the litigious anti-food crusade, at least he makes no attempt to conceal his scurrilous designs. On the contrary, this litigating busy body has clearly articulated his utopian vision: an America in which everyone’s stomach is empty and every lawyer’s wallet is full...[more]
John Kerry vs. John Kerry on Legal Reform
His Record Reveals the Truth Behind His New Rhetoric:Kerry is a Consistent Opponent of Legal Reform...[more]
Marshall Manson Offers Written Testimony Before Committee Hearing on "Reducing Childhood Obesity"
Given the report earlier this year from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention demonstrating that obesity and diseases caused by obesity are now leading killers in the United States, there can be no question that obesity is and ought to be a major health concern for all Americans. In recent months, this "obesity crisis" has attracted significant public and media attention...[more]
A Letter to the California Performance Review Commission
In a letter to the California Performance Review Commission, the Center for Individual Freedom opposed the Commission’s recommendation for the state to implement a procurement preference in favor of open source software over proprietary software...[more]
CFIF Files FEC Complaint Against CBS, Kerry Campaign
The Center for Individual Freedom today filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission charging that CBS and Kerry-Edwards 2004, Inc., illegally coordinated election communications. The complaint charges that CBS and the Kerry campaign violated federal campaign finance laws when they colluded to attack President Bush based on claims and documents now believed to be fake...[more]
The Center offers expert written or witness testimony on BCRA’s catastrophic effects on First Amendment and election law...[more]
CFIF ‘Study’ Reveals Plaintiffs’ Lawyers Sex Discrimination Hypocrisy
The Center for Individual Freedom today released a "study" that raises questions regarding potential gender bias at law firms suing a bevy of major corporations…for gender bias...[more]
Sexual Hypocrisy: Turning the Tables on Plaintiffs’ Lawyers In Class Action Discrimination Lawsuits
Mimicking their own class action lawsuits against asbestos, tobacco and food, many of the big plaintiffs’ firms are now putting gender on trial in search of a new con game to play for jackpot justice. These law firms’ new marks include Costco, Wal-Mart, Merrill Lynch, Boeing, Home Depot and others, while the pawns are those companies’ employees, who allege gender bias and sexual discrimination...[more]
Disenfranchising Our Overseas Troops
Nearly 500,000 Americans are abroad, defending our freedom as members of our armed forces. In standing their post and protecting the rest of us back home, they make enormous sacrifices. They live in tiny compartments aboard submarines and in tents on the gritty desert. They spend months, even years, away from their families. Some give up their lives in service of their nation...[more]
ABA Retains Little Objectivity in Nomination Process
The nation’s largest lawyers’ organization, the American Bar Association, has played a prominent role in the confirmation of federal judges for more than a half century. Since 1952, the ABA’s Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary has examined and rated the professional qualifications of potential federal judges before the U.S. Senate considers them for confirmation...[more]
Two weeks ago, eight state attorneys general (representing California, Connecticut, Iowa, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin), joined by corporation counsel of New York City, announced a federal lawsuit against five power companies (American Electric Power Co., Cinergy Corp., Southern Co., the Tennessee Valley Authority and Xcel Energy Inc.)...[more]
American Tort Reform Association’s Victor Schwartz Comments on Tort Reform and the Upcoming Election
On the radio program "Your Turn — Meeting Nonsense with Common Sense," the Center’s General Counsel, Renee Giachino, recently interviewed the American Tort Reform Association’s General Counsel, Victor Schwartz, about his thoughts regarding Democratic Presidential-hopeful John Kerry’s selection of former trial attorney John Edwards as his running mate, and the implications for tort reform should Kerry-Edwards win the upcoming election...[more]
Spitzer: Surrendering to the Temptations of Power
In the name of fighting crime, government prosecutors have tremendous power to investigate, charge, and sue those suspected of wrongdoing. But that power can lead to abuse. Easy access to favorable publicity lures ambitious prosecutors into pursuing politically popular cases, even if those cases aren’t always legally sound. And prosecutors can be tempted to use their posts to further their own political or ideological agendas...[more]
Recently, eleven Democratic members of Congress sent a letter to U.N. Secretary—General Kofi Annan requesting the world body dispatch election monitors to oversee this fall’s U.S. Presidential voting. Yes. That’s right. These eleven Democrats want the United Nations, that bastion of honesty, fair play and good sense, to supervise the Presidential election in the world’s leading democracy...[more]
Charter Chuck Caught with Public Bucks; Schumer Blames "Accounting Errors"
The Other America is peopled by government officials who have access to their money, money they hondle from contributors dedicated to the furtherance of good government and our money. We learn of the misuse of ours only when someone is caught. So it was that several weeks ago Charles Schumer, the Democrat senior senator from New York, got caught...[more]
Liberals vs. Limbaugh: The Harkin Fumble
In an institution like the U.S. Senate where blowing hard is a career prerequisite, it is difficult to stand out. Tom Harkin (D-IA) manages, usually with no substance and less grace. In the corn-fed liberal’s current foray, he has decided to join the silly and counterproductive pile-on of Rush Limbaugh...[more]
Conduct Unbecoming a United States Senator
More than forty years ago, it was simply "routine" when President John F. Kennedy recess appointed 25 judges to the federal bench in the span of a little more than a year. Amongst those judicial recess appointees was Griffin B. Bell, a Georgian, who was selected to serve as a circuit judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, which was then responsible for cases in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas...[more]
Book Review: Desperate Measures to Overcome U.N. Failure
"Emergency Sex and Other Desperate Measures" — A new book by three experienced United Nations staffers provides an unusual and candid look at the incompetence and corruption that has plagued the organization’s peacekeeping efforts over the last twelve years...[more]
CFIF Urges U.S.
House of Representatives to Voice Disapproval of Eurpean Commission’s Recent
Ruling Against Microsoft
In a letter to members of the U.S. House of Representatives, the
Center for Individual Freedom, together with other national organizations, requested
that House members join with a bipartisan group of representatives and senators
in articulating their own disapproval of the EC’s recent unfair decision
against Microsoft...[more]
U.N.-Checked U.N.-Ethical Behavior
As details of the U.N. Oil for Food scandal continue to drip forth, a new internal survey of U.N. employees provides further evidence that the organization is rife with corruption, scandal, unethical managers, crooked bureaucrats and shady deals...[more]
Update: U.N. Oil for Food Investigation Hampered
As details of the scandal involving the U.N.’s Iraq Oil for Food program continue to dribble from inside and outside the world body, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan has pledged a complete investigation and promised that those found guilty of corruption or improper behavior will be punished. To that end, Annan recruited former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker to lead a U.N.-sponsored probe...[more]
Apparently it is possible for consumers to know too much about the products they buy and use everyday. After all, that is precisely the message being sent by a growing number of restrictions and lawsuits that target advertisements for stating — wait for it — just the facts. That’s right, for products ranging from food and drugs to alcohol and tobacco, companies are increasingly being forced not to tell the public the truth for fear of being hit with draconian penalties simply because those facts are packaged in a 30-second television spot or a glossy magazine layout...[more]
Litigation Won’t Make America Thinner
In the hours after midnight, cable TV is saturated with ads for diet pills promising big and easy weight loss and ads for law firms promising big and easy legal judgments and settlements. Until recently, there was no direct connection between the two groups trolling for customers, but leave it to America’s trial lawyers to find one. Welcome to the brave new world of obesity litigation...[more]
Given the recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention demonstrating that obesity and diseases caused by obesity are now leading killers in the United States, there can be no question that obesity is and ought to be a major health concern for all Americans. The central questions now are: whether and if so how the federal government should respond...[more]
White House, Daschle Strike ‘Deal’ on Some Judicial Confirmations
After nearly two months of negotiation, the White House and Senate Democrats reached an agreement this week that will enable some of President Bush’s judicial nominees to get up or down votes on the Senate floor...[more]
Democrat Memogate: Standoff at the Civil Rights Commission
The United States Commission on Civil Rights did not meet on May 17, the date marking the 50th Anniversary of the unanimous Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education that mandated integration of America’s public schools...[more]
Oil for Food’s U.N.-Inspections
Over the last two weeks, the Center for Individual Freedom has reported on the growing U.N. Oil for Food scandal. This week, the inexorable dripping of incriminating information continues...[more]
Is the ‘Constitutional Option’ Viable to Break Partisan Filibusters Against Judicial Nominees?
Never before in our nation’s history has a judicial nomination to a federal appeals court been defeated by a filibuster, a parliamentary tactic that requires 60 affirmative votes rather than a simple majority for confirmation by the U.S. Senate. Never, that is, until now...[more]
Democrat Memogate: Quiet Waters Run Quietly
There will be times like this; there are for any scandal. Nothing seems to be happening. Those who believe that investigations must move forward with all due speed and diligence become frustrated, not a unique emotion even for routine expectations of government, but palpable when wrongs must be righted...[more]
This week, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) unveiled the results of its latest "study." CSPI was horrified to learn that a large percentage of food products sold in school vending machines are sodas, chips and candy. And, in a shocking disclosure that seemed straight from a Dave Barry column, the group also revealed that these products are not nutritious...[more]
CFIF Opposes Federal Plan to Ban Certain Foods from the Nation’s Schools
The Center for Individual Freedom today announced its staunch opposition to a new federal proposal to restrict food choices in the nation’s schools. Senator Tom Harkin (D-NE) and other members of Congress pressed for such a plan at a Capitol Hill press conference today...[more]
Update: U.N. Oil for Food Scandal Continues to Grow
Last week, the Center for Individual Freedom outlined the growing scandal surrounding the United Nations’ Oil for Food program (see "Oil for Osama"). But in the last few days, even more information evidencing the breadth of the scandal and the possible extent of the cover-up has come to light...[more]
The Kerry-Kennedy Court: Tribe and Tested
Nine seats have been occupied for nearly a decade now. But sometime after January 20th, several seats on the Supreme Court will surely become vacant. The list of possible retirements that could occur during the next four years is long by Supreme Court standards, and includes a majority of the current Court. Based on age alone, there are four likely departures, all of whom are in their 70s or 80s: Chief Justice William Rehnquist, 79, and Justices John Paul Stevens, 84, Sandra Day O’Connor, 74, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 71. Add to that list Justice Antonin Scalia, who many commentators believe is frustrated with the cloistered nature of Supreme Court life, and the distinct possibility exists that five justices will hang up their robes during the next presidential term...[more]
The United Nations’ Oil for Food program scandal continues to swell. Recall that documents discovered after the liberation of Iraq revealed that the U.N.’s self-described flagship humanitarian program was wracked with bribery, kick-backs, smuggling, under the table deals and influence peddling. Among other revelations, evidence uncovered in Baghdad implicated long-time U.N. official Benon Sevan who was responsible for managing the program and reported directly to Secretary General Kofi Annan...[more]
Democrat Memogate: Chasing the Red Herring
U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats have gotten their way. On Monday, the Justice Department announced a criminal investigation into the downloading and leaking of Democrat memos that discuss the strategy and tactics of opposing President Bush’s nominees to the federal bench...[more]
From Texas to Connecticut, state legislators are working on education initiatives to better our public schools and to fund them. As they debate these critical issues, their attention must also focus on new and proposed policies that will rob public schools of desperately needed funds...[more]
By Senator George Allen: The growth of the Internet over the past 10 years has provided greater opportunity for everyone — from the largest multinational corporation to the smallest mom-and-pop start-up business. By giving more people access to knowledge and information, the personal computer and the Internet have empowered tens of millions of Americans as consumers and entrepreneurs, and as citizens in our free society...[more]
Center Files Senate Ethics Complaint Against Senator Kennedy and His Former Aides Johnson and Barnes
The Center for Individual Freedom today filed a complaint with the Senate Select Committee on Ethics against Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) and two of his former aides, Olati Johnson and Melody Barnes...[more]
The United Nations has long been a bastion of hope for the naïve idealists who seek a Star Trek-like nirvana under a benevolent global government...[more]
Democrat Memogate: As the Wagons Circle
On April 19, Jonathan Groner published a brief piece in Legal Times. The lead sentence read: "The Virginia State Bar has rejected an ethics complaint filed last December against Elaine Jones, president of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund."...[more]
Obstructionist Tactics Only Strengthen the Case for Medical Malpractice Reform
For the third time in the past year, Senate Democrats last week successfully filibustered an attempt to bring medical malpractice reform legislation to a vote. But apparently the obvious refusal of these senators to even consider the issue is not enough for some reform opponents, who are calling yet again for Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) to recuse himself from voting on any bills affecting the healthcare industry...[more]
Democrat Memogate: In the Eye of the Scandal
After months of frustration that neither the press nor the government are doing their respective jobs with regard to the smoldering U.S. Senate scandal that has come to be called Memogate, the Center for Individual Freedom provided some missing journalism...[more]
CFIF Files Ethics Complaint Against Olati Johnson
The Center for Individual Freedom today filed an ethics complaint with the First Departmental Disciplinary Committee in New York against Olati Johnson, the former aide to Senator Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) who wrote the April 17, 2002, memo urging the Senator to delay consideration of a judicial nominee in order to manipulate and influence the outcome of the University of Michigan affirmative action cases then pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit...[more]
In a letter to presidential candidate John Kerry (linked below), the Center for Individual Freedom today urged him to immediately come clean on Mary Beth Cahill’s (his campaign manager) involvement in the plot to manipulate the outcome of the University of Michigan affirmative action cases then pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit...[more]
Letter to Kerry calls for acknowledgment of possible criminal action by his campaign manager
In a letter to presidential candidate John Kerry, the Center for Individual Freedom asks that Kerry condemn his campaign manager's roll in memogate...[more]
Former NAACP Attorney
Olati Johnson
Wrote Controversial Staff Memo to Senator Kennedy
The Center for Individual Freedom has learned the identities of two former aides to U.S. Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) who, in a memo dated April 17, 2002, recommended that the Senator delay confirmation proceedings of Judge Julia Smith Gibbons to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit. The purpose of the delay was to influence the outcome of the University of Michigan affirmative action cases, then pending before that court...[more]
Nearly 4,000 Americans Urge Senator Kennedy to Come Clean on Memogate
The Center for Individual Freedom today delivered a petition signed by nearly 4,000 people from across the country to Senator Edward Kennedy demanding to know whether he obstructed justice in the University of Michigan affirmative action cases when they were pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit...[more]
As a part of their campaign to obstruct President Bush’s judicial nominees, Senate Democrats, led by U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY), and outside special interest groups, tried to brand Judge Charles Pickering a racist. In an extraordinary interview with CBS’s 60 Minutes broadcast March 28, Judge Pickering rebutted those charges...[more]
CFIF Unveils ‘Memogate Lineup’ Ad
The Center for Individual Freedom today unveiled the second in its series of ads on Memogate. In the ad, which features a "lineup" of Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and Dick Durbin (D-IL), who are at the heart of the controversy, the Center calls on Democrats and Republicans alike to stop ignoring the content of the memos and calls for a full investigation...[more]
Let the Sunshine In On Medical Malpractice Lawsuits
In a setback to efforts by physicians at self-help medical malpractice tort reform, a new national database set to track litigious patients, attorneys and expert witnesses was pulled from the Internet last week. After opening in November under the direction of a Texas physician, the site’s slogan read, "they can sue, but they can’t hide." For a nominal monthly fee, physicians were encouraged to query the database of public records of litigation in order to "assess the risk of offering [their] services to clients or potential clients." In a nutshell, a physician could learn the litigation proclivities of potential patients before, rather than after, rendering services...[more]
The Food Police: Coming Soon to a Texas School Lunchroom Near You
The Lone Star State may soon find its school lunch lines getting a lot lonelier. That’s because the food police will be coming to a local school cafeteria near you if Texans do not take a stand against the nutrition guidelines recently announced by the Texas Department of Agriculture. This summer, on August 1, 2004, when Texas families are still focused on fun and sun, the revised Texas Public School Nutrition Policy will take effect, significantly restricting the foods available on school grounds and in the cafeterias...[more]
Democrat Memogate: Kennedy Stonewalling
On March 19, Charles Hurt of The Washington Times produced one of those enterprising news stories that restore credit to an increasingly lazy profession. Hurt asked a group of prominent law professors about the now-notorious staff memo written to Senator Ted Kennedy. That would be the memo recommending that Senator Kennedy fulfill a request from Elaine Jones of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund to stall the confirmation of judges to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit until after the University of Michigan affirmative action case was decided by that court...[more]
CFIF Launches Ad Campaign Questioning Senator Kennedy on ‘Obstruction of Justice’
The Center for Individual Freedom today launched the first in a series of ads questioning U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) on whether or not he "obstructed justice" in the University of Michigan affirmative action cases then-pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit...[more]
Democrat Memogate: The Gang That Can’t Shoot Straight
Just when we thought members of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee — Republicans and Democrats alike — couldn’t possibly shame themselves or the Senate any more, they did. Several times. With no end in sight. Shame, as a public function, is limited by the number of people paying attention, currently few. Shame also requires susceptibility to such emotion, not currently evident in the Judiciary Committee. That’s expected through the initial stonewall phase. Media and public attention on most government scandals starts haltingly and builds slowly, as more and more dots are connected, usually by journalists with the noses of truffle pigs, also currently in short supply...[more]
By Erin Murphy: Former Rep. Bill Janklow (R-SD) , who is currently serving a 100-day jail sentence for second-degree manslaughter and reckless driving after he collided with and killed a motorcyclist in August, now faces a civil wrongful death suit that could well result in a sizable verdict. But because he was driving home from a speech to Korean War veterans at the time of the accident, the Justice Department concluded that Janklow's actions were "official business" within the scope of his duties as an elected official. Thus, under the Federal Tort Claims Act, Janklow's employer — the federal government — must pay any verdict, meaning that taxpayers will ultimately foot the bill...[more]
Center Urges Attorney General Ashcroft to Investigate Content of Judiciary Memoranda
In a letter to U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft, the Center for Individual Freedom today asked that any criminal probe into how some Judiciary Democrats’ collusion memoranda regarding judicial confirmations were obtained and "leaked" include a thorough examination of the memos’ content and a complete investigation into the unethical and potential illegal conduct they may evidence...[more]
Starting the Climb Back up the Slippery Slope
It seems so obvious: "Congress shall make no law … abridging freedom of speech, or of the press, or of the right of the people to peacefully assemble…" According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, "abridge" means "to reduce in scope: diminish." It’s difficult to understand how the authors of the First Amendment could have been more plain...[more]
For several months, Senate action on President Bush’s judicial nominees has ground to a halt as the Judiciary Committee and its members have been consumed with what has become popularly known as "Memogate." The term refers to reportedly more than 4,000 memoranda to and from Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee that outline troubling collusion between liberal special interest groups and Committee Democrats to obstruct the confirmation of many of the President’s judicial nominees...[more]
Center Backs ‘First Amendment Restoration Act’ Urges Congress to Strike Limits on Free Speech
The Center for Individual Freedom today announced its support for H.R.3801, the First Amendment Restoration Act of 2004. The bill, introduced by Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD), would repeal provisions of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA) which silence interest groups in the days leading up to elections...[more]
Center Renews Call for Immediate Investigation Into Content of Judiciary Memoranda
As Senate Sergeant-at-Arms William Pickle prepares to release the results of his investigation into how Judiciary Democrats’ memoranda were obtained and made public, the Center for Individual Freedom today renewed its calls for a full investigation into the corruption and potential criminal wrongdoing outlined in the contents of the memos...[more]
Center Urges Senate to Pass "Invest in America Act"
The Center for Individual Freedom today urged Senators to support the Invest in America Act, which is now contained in the JOBS Act (S.1637), sponsored by Senator Charles Grassley. "This legislation would generate billions of dollars of investment for research and development, new equipment, and new jobs here in the United States," said Marshall Manson, the Center’s Vice President of Public Affairs...[more]
A federal appeals court declared the federal dairy checkoff program unconstitutional Tuesday concluding that forcing farmers to pay for generic advertising constituted compelled speech in violation of their First Amendment rights...[more]
Appoint Them All, Mr. President
For three years, the President of the United States did the right thing with regard to judicial appointments. He looked at judicial vacancies throughout the federal courts, at both district and appellate levels. He found people of impressive credentials he believed would interpret the laws of the land, not make new law, and not act as entrepreneurs of radical views. He nominated them, according to constitutional procedure...[more]
Protect Freedom: Control Spending
In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson described the fundamental truth of politics: namely that all individuals are "endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness." Unfortunately, we often forget the significance of these words in the context of our representative democracy. Jefferson’s famous sentence is a reminder that all power in a democratic government is vested first with the people...[more]
Democrat Memogate: The Beginning of Political Scandal
As political scandals go, the case of the U.S. Senate Democrat memos is difficult to assess thoroughly, for the moment. The evidence is currently under lock and key by the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms. That evidence consists of some three to four thousand memos from or to Democrat members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, believed to detail collusion between Democrats and leftist groups to block confirmation of many of President Bush’s judicial nominees...[more]
Center Calls for Justice Department Investigation
The Center for Individual Freedom joined over two dozen organizations this week in asking the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate whether Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee or their staffs exchanged efforts to obstruct the confirmation of President Bush’s judicial nominees for campaign contributions and support...[more]
Florida again may be the state to watch in the upcoming 2004 elections, although perhaps not for the same reasons as it was back in November of 2000. Assuming all goes right with Florida’s new voting systems, there should be fewer hanging chads and butterfly ballots. But even so, voters nationwide should still turn their eyes south to watch the Sunshine State as it takes the electoral lead on legal reform...[more]
President George W. Bush unveiled his $2.4 trillion dollar budget for the 2005 fiscal year on Tuesday with few surprises. It accounts for sizeable increases in defense and homeland security spending, makes the tax cuts passed during his Administration permanent, and suggests more tax cuts in the future, not to mention holding the growth of other federal discretionary spending (outside of Medicare and Social Security) to one-half of one percent. But what this budget and, for that matter, President Bush’s previous three budgets do not squarely address is the bottom line for the federal government — because it remains boldly printed in red ink...[more]
Black and White in the ‘Gray Lady’
It goes without saying that the mantra of The New York Times Editorial Pages is "All the Leftist Propaganda That’s Fit to Print." But sometimes the newspaper’s transparent knee-jerk liberalism shocks even us. Take, for example, the Gray Lady’s political hypocrisy when it comes to appointment of federal judges...[more]
Is Truth in the Eye of the Beholder?:
Does the First Amendment Protect Fact-Based Speech that Could Be "Misleading"?
From fast food to sneakers, more and more frequently manufacturers, retailers and their advertisers are facing lawsuits brought by consumers who allege injury after buying, consuming or using well-marketed products. But while false advertising has always been fair game in the world of torts, many plaintiffs today do not claim they were duped by untrue statements. Instead, the latest trend in consumer protection is liability based on "misleading" speech, even when the sales pitch may be fact-based and literally true. The Federalist Society’s Law and Advertising Subcommittee, which is chaired by Center for Individual Freedom Assistant General Counsel Reid Alan Cox, is hosting a panel discussion on these important issues on January 15, 2004, from 12:00 pm - 2:00 pm, at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. To attend the panel discussion, RSVP to the Federalist Society by phone at 202.822.8138, or register online by visiting here.
Senator Lieberman Jumps onto the Junk Food Wagon
"Every third American devotes himself to improving and uplifting his fellow-citizen, usually by force." — H.L. Mencken Senator Joe Lieberman has just become that third American. Earlier this month, the Connecticut Senator and Democratic Presidential Candidate announced that he is calling for a federal investigation into the marketing practices of "junk food" companies...[more]
Center Urges
Senator Kennedy to 'Do the Right Thing' With Regard to Incriminating Judicial
Memos
In a letter reproduced here, the Center for Individual Freedom
urges Senator Kennedy to immediately release the names of all staffers named
in the April 17, 2002, memorandum, including its author; disclose all information
on activities and decisions resulting from the April phone call and memorandum;
and recuse [himself] from all Senate deliberations and votes on judicial nominees
until a full investigation, including a pending ethics complaint filed against
you, is completed...[more]
Supreme Court: 5-4 for Campaign Finance Reform; Constitution: 0
Shocking. No other word can better describe the U.S. Supreme Court’s opinion delivered this week in the long-awaited campaign finance reform case, McConnell v. FEC. Led by the Court’s notorious cowgirl, the nine justices rode off in all directions, leaving a cloud of First Amendment dust behind...[more]
Grievance Filed With Virginia State Bar Against NAACP Official
The Center for Individual Freedom today was joined by several national grassroots organizations in filing a grievance with the Virginia State Bar calling for a full investigation and for appropriate action to be taken against Elaine R. Jones, President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, Inc...[more]
Methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) was probably not a subject of your Thanksgiving dinner discussions. Nonetheless, only days earlier, a provision regarding MTBE was the primary factor in the 11th hour U.S. Senate scuttling of this year’s energy bill...[more]
Clogging the Legal Arteries with Obesity Lawsuits
The average American consumes between 2,500 and 3,500 calories in a Thanksgiving dinner — the equivalent of more than two large pepperoni pizzas. In today’s litigious society, the process server may soon show up at mom’s door with an obesity lawsuit, charging her with some form of intentional infliction of bloating...[more]
Senator Kennedy and the Other N-Word
When Senator Kennedy used that other N-Word last week, he did not specify to whom he was referring. He didn’t have to. The targets of his pejorative are those nominees for the federal bench whose confirmations are being and will be blocked by Senator Kennedy and others at the behest of the organized left...[more]
CFIF Exposes 44 U.S. Senators as ‘Enemies of Justice’ Releases Judicial Nominations Scorecard
As partisan animus continues to infect the judicial confirmation process in the U.S. Senate, the Center for Individual Freedom today released a judicial nominations scorecard for the first session of the 108th Congress...[more]
Judicial Nominations Scorecard
Escalating partisan animus continues to infect the judicial confirmation process in the 108th Congress. A minority of U.S. Senators have chosen to obstruct justice and to abandon their responsibility to the American people by refusing simple up or down votes on President Bush’s nominees. Click here, to download the scorecard detailing this year's Senate votes that would have ended the partisan filibusters now blocking five of President Bush’s nominees and that has caused one to withdraw his nomination.
Filibusters and the Constitution
The current "wrangling" in the Senate over President George W. Bush’s judicial nominations "has constitutional dimensions, raising important questions about the Senate’s role in the judicial confirmation process under the Advice and Consent Clause," according to a new white paper authored by four attorneys, including the Center for Individual Freedom’s Assistant General Counsel, Reid Alan Cox, and published by the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies...[more]
By Congressman Darrell Issa: Earlier this year, during the confirmation process of Federal Appeals Court nominee Miguel Estrada, Sen. Barbara Boxer made a promise. Boxer said that while she supported the filibuster of Miguel Estrada she would not use the filibuster to block the President's nominees if they would simply answer the Senate's questions...[more]
Intellectual Diversity Endangered
By Anne Neal: One pundit on higher education has described our colleges and universities as islands of oppression in a sea of freedom. While the comment is humorous, the observation is quite serious. The lack of intellectual diversity on our college and university campuses is increasingly troublesome and of profound concern to all of us interested in the education of our next generation of leaders...[more]
By Senator George Allen: The Senate will soon vote on The Internet Tax Nondiscrimination Act (S. 150), my bill that permanently prohibits taxes on a consumer's ability to access the Internet. This law should and must pass to advance Internet access and digital opportunity for all people in the United States...[more]
Wanted: A Mute to Serve on the D.C. Circuit
Looking for a new job? Perhaps you should watch the classified advertisements for an employment opportunity to serve as judge on one of our Nation’s most influential courts, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. After all, the classifieds appear to be the only place left where President Bush can search for a nominee who meets the criteria of those Senators filibustering multiple judicial nominations. Candidates who have any personal opinions espoused in a speech or included in an article simply need not apply...[more]
Pork: The Other Checkoff Victory
Members of the Campaign for Family Farms ("CFF") and many other independent hog farmers are as happy as pigs in …, well, you know what we mean. This week, a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit upheld a lower court ruling that the national pork checkoff program is unconstitutional because the payment of the mandatory assessments violates the First Amendment rights of pork producers by compelling them to subsidize speech with which they do not agree...[more]
It’s been more than a quarter century since a simple majority of the U.S. Senate has employed a parliamentary procedure ominously known as the "nuclear option" to effect a change in the body’s Standing Rules. Back then, in 1975, it was a bare Democratic majority that mustered the will to force a change in Rule XXII, the "cloture rule," decreasing the number of votes required to break a filibuster from two-thirds of the Senate, or 67 votes, to the current level of three-fifths of the body, or 60 votes...[more]
Setting the Record Straight on Judge Pickering
By Senator Orrin G. Hatch: In 1962, the Governor of Mississippi violated an order of the United States Supreme Court and personally barred James Meredith, a black student, from enrolling at the University of Mississippi. It took hundreds of United States Marshals and National Guard soldiers, acting under the direction of President Kennedy, to ensure his enrollment. Wide-scale rioting ensued. Dozens of U.S. Marshals were shot; hundreds of people were injured; two men were killed. This is the Mississippi that still existed when Judge Charles Pickering sent his young children to newly integrated public schools in Jones County, Mississippi, in the 1960s...[more]
Sports Betting:
The National Football League Versus the Trial Lawyers
Move over NFL, NBA, WNBA and NHL. A new betting line may soon take over Vegas sports lounges. That new "sport" in town, NDPL, is becoming increasingly popular on the courts. Strike that, make it "in the courts." The NDPL, National Deep Pockets League, has lawyers and plaintiffs racing to America’s courthouses to file lawsuits in an attempt to score big payouts against deep pockets, with the NFL becoming the most recent opponent of the NDPL...[more]
Center
Urges House Committee to Investigate Greenpeace
In a letter reproduced here, the Center for Individual Freedom urged the
House Committee on Ways and Means investigate and hold hearings on abuses of
tax-exempt status by non-profit organizations in general, and violations committed
by the group Greenpeace in particular.
To read the full text of the letter, click
here.