As a companion must-read article to Tim’s column on the ObamaCare birth control mandate, John Cochrane…
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Cato on Contraception Mandate: 'We Should All be Exempt'

As a companion must-read article to Tim’s column on the ObamaCare birth control mandate, John Cochrane of Cato explains why President Barack Obama’s proposed compromise to exempt church-related institutions misses the point:

Our nation is divided on social issues. The natural compromise is simple: Birth control, abortion and other contentious practices are permitted. But those who object don't have to pay for them. The federal takeover of medicine prevents us from reaching these natural compromises and needlessly divides our society.

The critics fell for a trap. By focusing on an exemption for church-related institutions, critics effectively admit that it is right for the rest of us to be subjected to this sort of mandate. They accept the horribly misnamed Patient Protection and Affordable…[more]

February 10, 2012 • 04:52 pm

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Jester's CourtroomLegal tales stranger than stranger than fiction: Ridiculous and sometimes funny lawsuits plaguing our courts.
Home Jester's Courtroom Debtor Sues to Hang Up Student Loan Company's Debt Collection Practices
Debtor Sues to Hang Up Student Loan Company's Debt Collection Practices Print
Tuesday, February 09 2010

A Seattle attorney is suing student loan company SLM Corp., or Sallie Mae, over what he describes as "unrelenting" automatic-dialed phone calls that he claimed harassed him over late payments on his law school loan.
 
Mark A. Arthur filed a class action lawsuit in federal district court in Seattle seeking injunctive relief and damages.  In the suit, Arthur seeks $500 for every call from Sallie Mae that he alleges violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.
 
"Sallie Mae harassed me with dozens of unwanted calls to my cell phone, including calls that woke me up at all hours of the night and often within hours of each other.  These unrelenting calls unfortunately corresponded with a time in my life that required great attention to family issues," Arthur said in a statement.
 
Arthur further claims he never gave Sallie Mae his cell phone number and did not give consent for the company to call him.
 
Officials at the student loan company countered that they follow the law when making collection calls.
 
—Source:  Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle)

Question of the Week   
Where does the United States rank in The Heritage Foundation’s 2012 Index of Economic Freedom?
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Quote of the Day   
 
"Someone needs to ask Mr. Obama how an increasingly impoverished nation, limping along on food stamps and housing subsidies, is going to pay for the existing beneficiaries, along with 77 million Baby Boomers set to retire in the next 25 years. A president who has impaired the vibrancy of the private sector so badly has long since forfeited the moral high ground."…[more]
 
 
—Mona Charen, Nationally Syndicated Columnist
— Mona Charen, Nationally Syndicated Columnist
 
Liberty Poll   

Should the Obama administration support Israel in a military strike against Iranian nuclear facilities?