Free Republic

Article II § 2 of the Constitution authorizes the President "to fill up all vacancies that may happen during the recess of the Senate, by granting commissions which shall expire at the end of their next session." On the 26th of last month, the Senate entered recess, see 156 Cong. Rec. S2180 (2010), and the following day, President Obama announced fifteen recess appointments. This essay will explain why I don't think those appointments are valid, and why circuit-level caselaw to the contrary is unpersuasive.

...The top income tax rate will rise from 35 to 39.6 percent (this is also the rate at which two-thirds of small business profits are taxed). The lowest rate will rise from 10 to 15 percent. All the rates in between will also rise. Itemized deductions and personal exemptions will again phase out, which has the same mathematical effect as higher marginal tax rates... Read more: http://www.atr.org/sixmonths.html?content=5171#ixzz0t7stW5gw

For Hire or Charter Bethany Stotts, July 8, 2010 In their interim report on a National Study of Charter Management Organization Effectiveness, Mathematica and the Center on Reinventing Public Education contrast charter management organizations (CMOs) with coexisting public school districts and explain how the leaders of the former have considerable latitude in terms of hiring, firing and other institutional practices. “In contrast to typical school districts in which school leaders frequently complain about the lack of flexibility in allocating school resources, well over one-third of surveyed CMOs (41 percent) allow their schools to determine the number of teaching positions needed...

The Dark Side Of Illegal Immigration 84rules July 7, 2010

...So, to demonstrate the differences between the two scenarios, one can trace each kind of deal. If Goldman Sachs owns a set of residential mortgages and wants to hedge its risk on those mortgages, it could purchase an insurance policy on which it pays over time, and if the mortgages default, it could redeem its contract that it had made with AIG. But, from Goldman Sachs’ position, if the mortgages lose most of their value but do not enter default, then its insurance policy is useless. Likewise, AIG makes the money parceled out over time and has little ability to...

In order to pay for current incongruous spending levels, government spending is now 23% of GDP, Democrats have attempted to levy the American people with a slew of new taxes. More prominently, House Democrats, aided by a handful of Republicans, managed to pass HR 2454, commonly referred to as cap-and-tax, legislation that would have raised a family of four’s energy costs by $22,800 from 2012 to 2035 had the bill not stalled in the Senate... Read more: http://www.atr.org/politicians-serious-deficit-tie-government-workers-a5186#ixzz0svIa0vQr

Earlier in the month, Senator Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) proposed the Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act (PCNAA). Simply put, this bill would provide the President with emergency powers to shut down portions of the internet during a supposed “cyber attack.” A recent amendment mandates that the President would retain controlling powers for 120 days, after which Congressional approval is necessary. In addition, this also allows the President to force private businesses to comply and shut down any and all of their Internet network operations. During this period, the government is not liable whatsoever for any loss of sales... Read...

Is it just me or does Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan sound just like Rosie O’Donnell? When being questioned by Senator Jeff Sessions this week the senator asked her: Do you consider yourself a progressive? Kagan almost choked on her self for a full eight seconds trying to formulate her non-response. (Fast forward to about 1:50) Either way I think that she is dangerous for the country given her views on freedom of speech, abortion, and gun rights to name just a few. Meanwhile the president, in his infinite wisdom only took 71 days to figure out that we should...

"Abu Yahya al-Libi’s Long, Lonely Journey" SNIPPET: "On 29 April 2010, Abu Yahya al-Libi penned a statement entitled, “Jihad and the Battle of Dubious Claims.” Released in early June, this essay is nothing if not one of his seminal works." SNIPPET: "I’m just not seeing how this essay is going to be rousing jihadists to action any time soon. I see in his writing a man that has been continuously reading, thinking and talking about the steep hill that global jihadist movement must trudge. But I also see a man who is growing frustrated with what he believes to be...

"It depends on what the meaning of the word "is" is." William Jefferson Clinton, 1998 testimony to the Grand Jury on the question of his relationship to Monica Lewinsky prior to his impeachment It should not be lost on any of us that the recent Supreme Court decision in McDonald v. Chicago was more than a referendum on our right to bear arms, it was confirmation of the critical importance of the Fourteenth Amendment to the protection of our individual rights. In particular, the Privileges or Immunities Clause and the Due Process Clause. In short the court held that the...

SNIPPET: "Jere Van Dyk, a freelance CBS reporter and author held by the Taliban for 45 days last year, still gets threatening messages from the Islamic militants on his answering machine in New York City. “I am wary,” Van Dyk says. “I have received about 40 to 50 calls since I returned." He also gets threats via e-mail. "I have been threatened. I think most, maybe all, of the calls have come from my interpreter. He has called my family.”"

SNIPPET: "On Friday, Mubarak Hamed, the former director of the now defunct Islamic American Relief Agency-USA (IARA) based in Columbia, Missouri, pled guilty to three counts of a federal indictment charging that he illegally sent more than a million dollars to Iraq in violation of U.S. sanctions, conspiracy, and tax violations. Federal agents raided IARA's offices in 2004, seized its assets, and said it was part of a global network of similar Islamic charities that supported terrorist organizations. As part of his plea agreement, Hamed admitted the U.S.-based charity was part of this international network, with the IARA branch based...

...In oral arguments for Citizens United, the Deputy Solicitor General argued that under current law, the government believed it had the power to ban any publication that included the functional equivalent of express advocacy. This prohibition, the government stated, extended to pamphlets, movies and even books. In her nomination hearing, Kagan seemed to show no remorse over her role as the arbiter of that opinion... Read more: http://www.atr.org/kagan-strong-case-make-farenheit-dystopia-a5161#ixzz0sH8raRNu

...You may have noticed that President Obama has broken his central campaign promise – a “firm pledge” that Americans making less than $250,000 would not see “any form of tax increase.” He first broke this pledge sixteen days into his presidency when he signed a 156 percent increase in the federal excise tax on tobacco. And Obamacare contains 21 tax increases – several of which violate his “firm pledge”. To protect you from these tax hikes, Americans for Tax Reform presents the “Obama Tax Hike Exemption Card”. The card fits neatly in your wallet and contains a list of the...

The Official Obama Administration Scandals List has just hit 1,500! The list contains the lies, broken promises, flip-flops, gaffes and scandals of Team Obama. From the President's early days in politics through today, the list has already filled up one book; Legacy of Lies - The 2009 Obama Administration! The latest three added to the list are... Biden's SmartA** GaffeSupreme Court Nominee Elena Kagan comparing the NRA to the KKK!Obama's Caribou Coffee Cover-Up! Please help me to spread the word about this incredible list! Tell your friends! Email your favorite liberals too! Tweet this post (or the list)! Facebook us!...

SNIPPET: "The guy who uploaded it seems to think that he's a cyber-hacker for Allah, too."

Podcast: Cmdr Charles Kerchner, Mario Apuzzo

On Monday, June 28, 2010 former Ku Klux Klansman and Senator Robert Byrd passed. In a strange twist of fate the senator's passing occurred on the anniversary of the repeal of the Fugitive Slave Act. According to Michael Zak, The Fugitive Slave Act was written by a pair of Democrats, Senator James Mason (D-VA) and Senator Andrew Butler (D-SC), had written the Fugitive Slave Act. The bill repealing the Fugitive Slave Act was written by a Republican congressman from Ohio, Rufus Spalding and signed into law by Republican President Abraham Lincoln. Let's not forget that it was the Republican Party...

"Rooz: Kurdish Officials' Silence on American Hikers Affair – Motivated by Fear of Iran" SNIPPET: "A recent article in the American journal The Nation stated that the American hikers who have been detained in Iran for over a year for entering the country illegally were actually seized in Iraqi Kurdistan. In response to this article, Kurdish journalists told the Iranian online daily Rooz that the silence of Kurdish officials in this matter was due to their desire to avoid confronting Iran." The spokesman of the Kurdistan government has refused to answer Rooz's questions on this issue."

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Sunday shows that 25% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as president. Forty percent (40%) Strongly Disapprove, giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -15 (see trends).