Free Republic

Arizona governor's veto aimed at own party's right Feb 27, 2014 By BOB CHRISTIE PHOENIX (AP) - Republican Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer slapped down the right wing of her own party, vetoing a bill pushed by social conservatives that would have allowed people with sincerely held religious beliefs to refuse to serve gays.

This column is part of an ongoing series of essays examining and applying the timeless principles and truths of the Federalist Papers to the political events of our day. “I don’t control the checkbook . . . I’m not the king of New Jersey. I’m just the governor.”- NJ Gov. Chris Christie The recent Jersey Shore town hall meeting that many who are “Ready for Hillary” may have hoped would end Chris Christie’s threat to their champion took an unexpected turn in the direction of a primer on 21st century American federalism. More the lion tamer than the elephant in...

PHOENIX — The Arizona Legislature gave final approval Thursday to legislation that allows business owners asserting their religious beliefs to refuse service to gays and others, drawing backlash from Democrats who called the proposal "state-sanctioned discrimination" and an embarrassment.

SALT LAKE CITY, February 12, 2014–Can Utah shut down the new NSA data center by turning off the water? A new bill introduced by state Rep. Marc Roberts seeks to do just that. The legislation drafted by a transpartisan coalition organized by the Tenth Amendment Center (TAC) and the Bill of Rights Defense Committee (BORDC) called OffNow Coalition. The Utah Fourth Amendment Protection Act would expressly prohibit state material support, participation, and assistance to any federal agency that collects electronic date or metadata without a search warrant “that particularly desribes the person, place and thing to be searched or seized.”...

Union Suffers Big Loss at Tennessee VW Plant Volkswagen workers rejected the UAW by a vote of 712 to 626. Neal E. Boudette Updated Feb. 14, 2014 11:44 p.m. ET The United Auto Workers union suffered a crushing defeat Friday, falling short in an election in which it seemed to have a clear path to organizing workers at Volkswagen AG VOW3.XE +1.10% 's plant in Chattanooga, Tenn. The setback is a bitter defeat because the union had the cooperation of Volkswagen management and the aid of Germany's powerful IG Metall union, yet it failed to win a majority among the...

Ohio National Guard stages drill fighting fictional “right-wing terrorists” Robert Spencer Feb 10, 2014 Useful idiots They had a drill fighting left-wing terrorists last year, until leftists complained, whereupon they apologized. Meanwhile, no one would even dare to suggest that they hold a drill involving fighting against Islamic jihadists. Everyone knows that Islam is a Religion of Peace and that Tiny Minority of Extremists that has hijacked it is nowhere near Ohio, right? Well, there was Nuradin Abdi, who in August 2002 planned a jihad attack against an Ohio shopping mall. And Abdullah Mohammed Muslim, an Ohio Muslim who trained...

January 14, 2014 Five facts about Fox News By Jesse Holcomb One of the most closely observed—and powerful—figures in the news business, Fox News Channel President Roger Ailes, is the subject of a 560-page biography being released today. Even before its publication, “The Loudest Voice in the Room” by journalist Gabriel Sherman has triggered jousting matches between Ailes’ legions of critics and defenders. Whatever one’s view of Ailes, it is undeniable that he has turned the 17-year-old Fox News Channel into a powerhouse that dominates the cable news ratings and wields substantial power in the world of conservative politics. Below...

Does a state have the right to nullify federal statutes the state considers unconstitutional? This depends largely on how you define “nullification.” It also depends on what you mean by “right” and what kind of document you understand the Constitution to be. IOW, it depends on your premises. Unfortunately, people often discuss/debate, and attack each other over—the merits or demerits of nullification without making their premises clear. The result is quarreling among people who are fundamentally on the same side. The Constitution has been characterized as: * A compact (i.e., contract) to which only the states are parties, by which...

Two months ago, Emma Roller and I wrote about the possibly historic Assembly of the States in Mount Vernon. Momentum had been building oh-so-slowly on the right for a new, state-led constitutional convention, which could pass amendments far quicker than the Congress could. (And no one sees a scenario, any time soon, where there'll be 67 conservative votes in the Senate to pass amendments.) The reaction: Largely just a lot of doubt that this would come to anything.

Angry over revelations of National Security Agency surveillance and frustrated with what they consider outdated digital privacy laws, state lawmakers around the nation are proposing bills to curtail the powers of law enforcement to monitor and track citizens. Their efforts in at least 14 states are a direct message to the federal government: If you don’t take action to strengthen privacy, we will. “We need to stand up and protect our liberty,” said Republican Missouri state Sen. Rob Schaaf, author of a digital privacy bill. Police groups, however, say the moves will in some cases hinder efforts to deter or...

by Gina Cassini | Top Right News First in the nation. On Monday, an Arizona state senate committee became the first legislative body in the country to pass a bill designed to thwart surveillance programs from the National Security Agency (NSA).Senate Bill 1156 (SB1156), the Arizona 4th Amendment Protection Act, was introduced by Sen. Kelli Ward and 14 other sponsors and co-sponsors. The bill faced its first hurdle today, with an important hearing and vote in the Senate’s Government and Environment committee, where it required passage by majority vote to move forward. After a lengthy debate with significant opposition from...

by Gina Cassini | Top Right News In 2013, Arizona was named America's  #1 State for Gun Owners, by Guns and Ammo Magazine. This week, Arizona legislators aimed to improve on that status, advancing nullification of federal gun laws and stopping  state enforcement of them. Arizona State Senator Kelli Ward, along with eight co-sponsors, introduced the Second Amendment Preservation Act in the Grand Canyon State. According to the bill, SB1294, all federal regulations which violate the Second Amendment would be recognized as "invalid and void in this state" (that would be any federal gun law).

In what is taking shape as a sort of Great Awakening, state legislators have begun to learn that they hold equal status with Congress when it comes to proposing amendments to the U.S. Constitution. Indeed, a handful of state legislators from each state, as yet unknown, are destined for the annals of American history the moment the nation's first Convention for Proposing Amendments is gaveled to order. The process, found in Article V of the U.S. Constitution, requires the legislatures of at least two thirds (34) of the states to pass resolutions demanding that Congress call a "Convention for Proposing...

Beretta doesn’t bluff: Moving production to Tennessee Beretta told Maryland’s state legislature that passage of anti-gun bills early last year would force the company to re-think their plans for growth and expansion in Governor Martin O’Malley’s state. “Berettas don’t bluff,” the Old Line State lawmakers were told. The legislature passed a whole new raft of gun restrictions anyway. Well, not only did Beretta cancel plans for growth and expansion in anti-gun Maryland, they announced their intention to move the whole kit and caboodle to Tennessee later this year. (The Tennesseean) – Beretta, one of the world’s leading gun manufacturers, will...

On January 27th Florida state representative Dan Eagle (R-Cape Coral) put forward a bill to prevent any "agent of the state or its political subdivisions [from participating] with or [assisting] federal agents in the enforcement of federal firearms laws." According to the Tenth Amendment Center, the bill also bars the state from "[providing] material support of any kind to federal agents in the enforcement of these laws." Eagle explained the bill thus:

Wilson County’s Sen. Mae Beavers on Wednesday withdrew her bill tackling the Affordable Care Act. She said she did so to instead propose a simpler version closer in language to what other states are doing. “We made it much simpler, and that’s just that state employees cannot be commandeered to enact federal laws,” said Beavers following Wednesday’s senate session. The new bill, which is also called the Tennessee Health Care Freedom and ACA Noncompliance Act, is based on similar legislation already introduced in Georgia. It would still prohibit any cooperation by the state or its agencies in implementing or administering...

AUSTIN, Texas - Gov. Rick Perry defended Colorado and Washington's legalization of marijuana on Thursday, saying it was an issue of state rights, while touting initiatives in Texas as national models for keeping minor drug offenders out of jail. Perry's comments during the World Economic Forum in Switzerland echoed his past comments on drug policy, but they caused a bit of a stir because of how publicly the Republican endorsed lesser punishments for non-violent drug offenders.

Attention COS patriots: Georgia needs your help! Tomorrow, January 24, at 9:30am the state senate Rules Committee will hold a hearing to discuss the COS application. This is a huge step towards passing the application in Georgia, and we need to show the committee we mean business. So here’s what you can do: If you live in Georgia, go to the meeting! It will be held at the Georgia State Capitol in hearing room #450. We need to pack the room so the senators know how many Georgians support a Convention of States. If you can’t make it to Atlanta,...

States are vowing to go to the courts for permission to ask newly registered voters to show proof of citizenship after a federal commission ruled late Friday that it’s up to the national government, not states, to decide what to include on registration forms. Under the motor-voter law, federal officials distribute voter-registration forms in all of the states. Arizona, Kansas and Georgia all asked that those forms request proof of citizenship, but the federal Election Assistance Commission rejected that in a 46-page ruling released late Friday, just ahead of a court-imposed deadline. The EAC said states can check driver’s license...

Bailing Out Health Insurers and Helping Obamacare Jeffrey H. Anderson January 13, 2014 Robert Laszewski—a prominent consultant to health insurance companies—recently wrote in a remarkably candid blog post that, while Obamacare is almost certain to cause insurance costs to skyrocket even higher than it already has, “insurers won’t be losing a lot of sleep over it.” How can this be? Because insurance companies won’t bear the cost of their own losses—at least not more than about a quarter of them. The other three-quarters will be borne by American taxpayers. For some reason, President Obama hasn’t talked about this particular feature...