Free Republic

The Electoral College remains in place over two centuries after the framers of the Constitution empowered it to select presidents. Though occasionally maligned, this system of electing a chief executive has been incredibly successful for the American people. Many modern voters might be surprised to learn that when they step into a ballot box to select their candidate for president, they actually are casting a vote for fellow Americans called electors. These electors, appointed by the states, are pledged to support the presidential candidate the voters have supported. The Electoral College holds its vote the Monday after the second Wednesday...

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals will hear oral argument next Tuesday, September 27 on the Environmental Protection Agency’s so-called Clean Power Plan. The centerpiece of resident Obama’s climate policy agenda, the Plan establishes first-ever carbon dioxide (CO2) emission standards for “existing” (already built) coal and natural gas power plants. The Plan will increase consumer energy prices and impede job and GDP growth yet have no discernible effect on global temperatures or sea levels. However, that’s not why the Court should strike it down. The Court should overturn the Plan because it is an unlawful power grab. The Plan will...

All of us know how politicized the Nobel Prize is, but many people falsely believe that it's only been politicized since around the time of Obama, perhaps since the time of Carter. It's been a tool for awarding statists for over a century. Don't forget, Wilson also won a Nobel. On May 5th, 1910, Theodore Roosevelt gave his acceptance speech for receiving his political prize. Here is how Roosevelt began the last paragraph of that speech: Finally, it would be a masterstroke if those great powers honestly bent on peace would form a League of Peace, not only to keep...

It's about the abuse of the tax code to undermine federalism and the constitutional separation of powers You probably saw yesterday - and maybe you celebrated - the news that a federal judge has ordered a nationwide halt to the Obama policy of requiring states, cities and school districts to accommodate “transgender” bathroom usage or face the loss of federal funds. It’s certainly good news that the transgender nonsense has suffered a defeat. But if you think that’s all this is about, you’re missing a much larger point. Obama and the Democrats don’t even really care all that much about...

Obama has asserted, by pure fiat, on no legal, medical, scientific, or commonsense grounds whatsoever, that he can dictate how children use school bathrooms around the country. This is an obnoxious and dangerous abuse of federal power, and it looks suspicious. What is Obama's motivation? Adults may not remember the deep shame and embarrassment children often feel, as early as age four, around toilet training. Sibling rivalry can get pretty intense. Being called a "poopy kid" by your brother or sister might look pretty harmless to parents, but young children can experience it as a sink-through-the-floor feeling of overwhelming shame....

RALEIGH, N.C. — The Republican leaders of North Carolina’s General Assembly defiantly announced Thursday that they would not meet a Monday deadline to suspend or repeal a state law limiting bathroom access for transgender people, setting up a potential legal showdown over what has become one of the nation’s most explosive cultural issues. “We will take no action by Monday,” said Tim Moore, the speaker of the State House of Representatives, referring to the deadline the Justice Department gave the state to tell federal officials whether the law would stand. “That deadline will come and go.” Though Mr. Moore criticized...

Republican Donald Trump says he'd be fine with Caitlyn Jenner using the bathroom of her choice at Trump Tower. (AP File Photo) (CNSNews.com) - Republican Donald Trump, appearing on Thursday's "Today" show, said transgenders should be allowed to "use the bathroom that they feel is appropriate." "So if Caitlyn Jenner were to walk into Trump Tower and want to use the bathroom, you would be fine with her using any bathroom she chooses?" host Matt Lauer asked Trump. "That is correct," Trump said. Asked for his view on the North Carolina bathroom controversy, Trump said the state has "paid a...

Real estate mogul Donald Trump would not let states take control of federal lands, the Republican presidential candidate said in a recent interview. "I don't like the idea because I want to keep the lands great, and you don't know what the state is going to do," Trump said during a talk with Field & Stream magazine earlier this week. The trade publication, sitting down with Trump at Las Vegas' Shooting, Hunting, and Outdoor Trade Show, had asked about the issue of turning over federally controlled lands to individual states -- an idea previously floated by rival 2016 contender and...

Even in his very first years on the US Supreme Court, Justice Antonin Scalia already was making a profound impression on the Court, on Washington, and on American life. I matriculated at Georgetown Law shortly after Scalia joined the Court, and throughout the course of my legal studies, he often was the talk of both the town and the law school. He quickly became something of a judicial folk hero to students who favored judicial restraint, a method of judicial decision-making marked by a justice’s broad deference to the decisions of the people and their elected representatives, and by...

In the debate over Ted Cruz's stand that the issue of the sanctity of marriage should be strictly left up to the states, those who favor a Federal Marriage Amendment such as Governor Mike Huckabee and Senator Rick Santorum are accused of wanting to trample on states rights. The truth is neither of these gentlemen is opposed to federalism. Federalism is a great heritage of our nation. It allows different states to operate according to the dictates of each state's citizenry. Take the issue of gambling. My home state of Idaho forbids casinos but allows the lottery while our neighboring...

Last week I posted on a POLITICO story in which Marco Rubio’s senior advisors were reported as crowing about how they were going to depict Ted Cruz as a “craven insider who lacks authenticity.” The first step in that attack was Cruz’s position on the Gang of Eight amnesty bill pushed by Marco Rubio. This has been argued to the point of exhaustion and I’m not going to revisit it other than to say that the media seem convinced that they carried the day for Rubio and GOP voters disagree with that assessment. Now we see another planted attack in...

The Obama administration has warned states to comply with federal efforts to resettle Syrian refugees in communities around the U.S. or else find their states subject to enforcement action. In a letter this week, the Office of Refugee Resettlement threatens states concerned about resettling Syrians with punitive responses if they refuse to accept the refugees. ORR explains that states may not refuse ORR-funded benefits for refugees on the basis of religion and national origin.“Accordingly, states may not categorically deny ORR-funded benefits and services to Syrian refugees,” ORR Director Robert Carey wrote in the letter. “Any state with such a policy...

Another day, another controversy. Medical marijuana activists are rightly upset over comments DEA head, Chuck Rosenberg, made to reporters last week.During a Q&A, he talked about his stance on medical marijuana. "What really bothers me is the notion that marijuana is also medicinal because it's not. We can have an intellectually honest debate about whether we should legalize something that is bad and dangerous, but don't call it medicine -- that is a joke." Right, so you want to have an intellectual debate prefaced with medical marijuana is a joke. Want to clarify that bit a more? "There are pieces...

The biggest problem in American government today is the hyper-nationalization of government. Even in the middle of Republican presidential politics, even when every Republican candidate claims to be a "conservative," the myopic fixation on federal government resolution of every conceivable problem dominates everything, and the centralization of all power into our Potomac cesspool is largely ignored. The problem, of course, is Washington. America is brought down not by awful governance in New York City or Chicago. America easily survives over-taxation in Massachusetts or over-regulation in California. The beauty of American government has always been federalism, the retention of most governmental...

Things got very awkward on Thursday when Chris Matthews asked DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz what the difference was between the modern Democratic Party and Socialism. Debbie Wasserman Schultz was completely stumped. She couldn’t answer the question. We haven’t seen that dazed look since Rachel Dolezal was busted as a fraud. Because, as we all know, there is no difference between today’s Democrat Party and radical Socialism. On Sunday DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz was again asked to explain the difference between the modern day Democratic Party and Socialism. Again She failed. “You know Chuck it is always fun to...

Today, many are cheering the end of an era in the South. As The New York Times reports, many see the lowering of the Confederate flag from outside South Carolina’s State House as “closing a chapter on a symbol of the Deep South and its history of resistance and racial animus.” [snip] Mohammed Elibiary: "Today is a new day in the South. Gone will be the Confederacy as we create the New South. Federalism & individual rights, no states' rights." [snip] Mohammed Elibiary: "States' rights was defeated with the Confederacy in the Civil War. USA has federalism and individual rights,...

[MUST WATCH VIDEO[ No matter how you feel about gay marriage, can’t we at least agree that little kids should not be used as props for cheap propaganda stunts? These Australian kids say that you should be able to “marry who you love.” First of all, who cares what kids think? These are very adult-oriented questions and children have neither the life experience nor the intellectual capacity to give a rational response. By saying you should be able to “marry who you love” are they saying that a father can marry his daughter or a brother his sister? Or how...

According to a new CNN poll, majorities support both SCOTUS’ ObamaCare and its gay marriage decision: "According to a new CNN/ORC poll, 63% support the Court’s ruling upholding government assistance for lower-income Americans buying health insurance through both state-operated and federally-run health insurance exchanges. Slightly fewer, 59%, say they back the ruling which made same-sex marriages legal in all 50 states." It’s not surprising that a majority of voters like ‘free money – which is undoubtedly what they think about ObamaCare subsidies – or that they support legalizing gay marriage. Previous polls showed that already. No, what’s shocking here is...

Neither Presidential Candidate has a backbone. Senator Marco Rubio and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush have responded to SCOTUS’ illegal same-sex marriage ruling by saying that it’s now time to move on. Here’s the senator from Florida: “While I disagree with this decision, we live in a republic and must abide by the law. As we look ahead, it must be a priority of the next president to nominate judges and justices committed to applying the Constitution as written and originally understood…“I firmly believe the question of same sex marriage is a question of the definition of an institution, not...

Is the idea of federalism dead? Does the concept have no relevance in the modern world? Not according to Ernest Young, who addressed the topic in an essay titled “Federalism as a Constitutional Principle.” The essay was given as the William Howard Taft Lecture on Constitutional Law at the University of Cincinnati College of Law on October 28, 2014. In fact, Young believes that federalism, and understanding its concepts, is needed more than ever. “The need for federalism has radically increased as the world has become more diverse, complex, and interconnected,” he said. He starts off citing the 1995 Supreme...