California's Ninth Circuit Reaffirms the Second Amendment

Apr 21, 2009 - PUBLIC POST * :faint: I keep expecting Rod Serling to step out from behind a tree or something. The Ninth Circuit is usually a font of babbling nonsense, but they got one right this time. From the Cato Institute: Yes, California, There Is an Individual Right to Keep and Bear Arms Posted by Ilya Shapiro Last June, the Supreme Court ruled in District of Columbia v. - 2 Comments

Could a Second Amendment case establish Fourteenth Amendment originalism?

Jun 08, 2009 - Bill of Rights, Inc. Could a Second Amendment case establish Fourteenth Amendment originalism? By Will Haun The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals recently decided McDonald v. - 2 Comments

Mary Landrieu sold her vote on health care for $100 million it appears.

Nov 20, 2009 - ABC News' Jonathan Karl reports: What does it take to get a wavering senator to vote for health care reform? Here’s a case study. On page 432 of the Reid bill, there is a section increasing federal Medicaid subsidies for “certain states recovering from a major disaster.” The section spends two pages defining which “states” would qualify, saying, among other things, that it would be states that “during the preceding 7 fiscal years” have been declared a “major disaster area.” I am told the section applies to exactly one state: Louisiana, the home of moderate Democrat Mary Landrieu, who has been playing hard to get on the health care bill. - 2 Comments

Health Care passes in the House

Nov 08, 2009 -   http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/08/health-care-passes-the-sc_n_349783.html   The House floor erupted in one of the loudest cheers the chamber has heard in years when Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), an hour before midnight, cast the 218th and deciding vote on landmark health care reform.   There were still six minutes and fifty-two seconds on the clock and the chair made a move to gavel the vote closed. - 24 Comments

Sarah, Sarah, Sarah

Nov 09, 2009 - WEST ALLIS, Wis. – Sarah Palin rallied thousands of abortion opponents Friday night with a a stark warning that the same philosophy that allows abortion rights could soon be invoked to allow the government to cut off health care for the elderly or children with special needs. Speaking to a fund-raising banquet of Wisconsin Right to Life, the former Alaska governor and 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee asserted that if policy-makers don’t believe a child in the womb is valuable, then “perhaps the same mind-set applies to other persons.” “What may they feel about an elderly person who doesn’t have a whole lot of productive years left,” Palin asked an audience of about 5,000 who paid $30 each to hear her speak in an airplane hangar-like exhibition hall at the Wisconsin state fairgrounds just outside of Milwaukee. - 9 Comments

Health reformers prepare for Senate hurdle (Financial Times of London)

Nov 09, 2009 - Health reformers prepare for Senate hurdle By Edward Luce in Washington Published: November 8 2009 20:19 | Last updated: November 8 2009 20:19 The first thing Barack Obama did late on Saturday night following the passage of the healthcare bill in the House of Representatives was to phone the heads of three industry lobby groups to thank them for their support. Not included on the list was the largest insurance lobby group, American Health Insurance Plans, which doggedly continues to oppose Democratic reform efforts. Amid all the late night celebrations after the razor-thin 220-215 vote for the bill, Karen Ignagni, head of AHIP, warned that it would be a much tougher battle to push reform through the Senate in the weeks ahead. - 0 Comments

SCOTUS Gun Case Could Broaden Other Rights

Oct 02, 2009 - In announcing on Wednesday that it would review a case that asks whether individuals have a fundamental right to bear arms under the U.S. Constitution, the Supreme Court did more than just step into a heated debate over gun control. Although McDonald v. - 0 Comments

Dems go after anti-trust exemption for insurers

Oct 21, 2009 - House committee votes to repeal antitrust protections for health insurers  By Shailagh Murray Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, October 21, 2009; 1:58 PM The House Judiciary Committee voted Wednesday to strip federal antitrust protections shielding health insurers from investigations into price fixing and other business practices, the first step in a legislative bid to clamp down on the much-maligned industry. Although Democrats have led the repeal push in recent weeks, the committee's 20-9 vote came with the support of three Republicans. The legislation would repeal portions of the 1945 McCarran-Ferguson Act that allows states to regulate health insurance providers without federal intervention. - 6 Comments

Gay Rights Marchers Divided on Obama

Oct 11, 2009 - WASHINGTON – Thousands of gay and lesbian activists marched Sunday from the White House to the Capitol, demanding that President Barack Obama keep his promises to allow gays to serve openly in the military and work to end discrimination against gays. Rainbow flags and homemade signs dotted the crowds filling Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House as people chanted "Hey, Obama, let mama marry mama" and "We're out, we're proud, we won't back down." Many children were also among the protesters. - 20 Comments

Investigators Document Repeat Illegal Sales at Gun Shows

Oct 07, 2009 -   By David S. Fallis                                                                                                   Washington Post Staff Writer                                              Wednesday, October 7, 2009; 6:14 PM   Undercover investigators working on behalf of the New York City mayor's office repeatedly bought guns from unlicensed dealers at gun shows even though they disclosed they probably couldn't pass a background check. That finding is among those outlined in a 36-page report released Wednesday by Mayor Michael Bloomberg's office that documents alleged illegal gun sales by private and licensed dealers earlier this year at seven gun shows in three states. - 6 Comments