Category: Politics

Congress, Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Media, Politics, Science, Society

Government Wants ISPs to Spy On You

Submitted by Gene Howington, Guest Blogger

While everyone was distracted with the hullabaloo surround the artificial “debt ceiling crisis”, Congress did manage to get some work done.  Unfortunately that work was in furtherance of eroding your right to privacy.  Thursday, July 28, the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee submitted a bill (H.R. 1981) under the politically motivated and misleading name Protecting Children From Internet Pornographers Act of 2011, which was quietly lobbied for by conservative Republicans and the Department of Justice, voted in committee to advance regulations requiring Internet service providers to retain your account information.  This information preserved would include not just your IP address, but customers’ names, addresses, phone numbers, credit card numbers and bank account numbers as well.  The Judiciary Committee approved this bill in a 19-0 vote, rejecting a last minute amendment that would have required the retention of IP addresses only by 7-16.

Continue reading “Government Wants ISPs to Spy On You” →

Congress, Politics

Do We Really Need A Debt Ceiling?

Submitted by Mike Appleton (Guest Blogger)

The debate raging in Congress over increasing the so-called “debt ceiling” makes for wonderfully frenetic headlines.  It allows Republicans to play pin the blame on the donkey and Democrats to respond with accusations of irresponsible brinkmanship.  In the end it is likely that a bill in some form will be passed because the government must pay its bills.

But lost in the frenzy is a fundamental question.  The budget is determined by Congress through the appropriations process.  Therefore, Congress essentially determines the amount of the nation’s debt.  The borrowing authority granted by Congress to the Treasury provides flexibility in financing that debt.  The executive branch cannot spend more than is appropriated, nor borrow more than is needed to service debt.

So, since Congress controls the purse strings, and the power of the President is limited to implementing the fiscal will of Congress, why is it necessary to periodically debate Treasury’s borrowing authority?  More specifically, is there any logical reason for the imposition of the misnamed “debt ceiling”? Continue reading “Do We Really Need A Debt Ceiling?” →

Congress, Politics

Half Of Americans Don’t Pay Any Taxes

-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger

It’s a common claim from the Right, but it’s not true. Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas), in a Senate floor speech,  claimed “Fifty-one percent — that is, a majority of American households — paid no income tax in 2009. Zero. Zip. Nada.” At least he used the often omitted “income” adjective. However, those individuals still pay payroll taxes, like Social Security and Medicare, sales taxes, and often property taxes.

Continue reading “Half Of Americans Don’t Pay Any Taxes” →

Congress, Constitutional Law, Politics

Coin Seigniorage – Legal Response To Debt Ceiling Crisis

-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger

Coin seigniorage (CS) is the net revenue derived from the issuing of coins. It cost less than one dollar to mint a dollar coin and the difference between the manufacturing costs and face value (one dollar) is pure profit for the Treasury. The United States could just print more paper money, however, there is a statutory limit to the amount of paper currency in circulation at any one time.

There is not, ironically, a similar statutory requirement on the amount of coinage. The idea of using CS to solve the debt crisis is garnering a lot of serious attention.

Continue reading “Coin Seigniorage – Legal Response To Debt Ceiling Crisis” →

Bizarre, Congress, Politics

Mc-Statesman And The “Deceivers”

Submitted by Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger

The battle over raising the debt ceiling has made some interesting bedfellows and even more intriguing and perplexing moments. At this instant, we are awaiting the vote on Speaker Boehner’s Plan which has been delayed to allow the mainline Republicans to scurry about coaxing tea partiers off their high horses named “No Taxes,” and “Cut Government.” For his part, Boehner has the distinct look of the bridegroom anxiously waiting at the legislative altar while the cavorting bride finishes up at the  ‘No, no Nanette” (you’ll recall that ditty, “Tea For Two.’) themed bachelorette party over at Michele Bachmann’s encounter group/ chapel/ballroom.

Continue reading “Mc-Statesman And The “Deceivers”” →

Congress, Constitutional Law, Courts, Justice, Politics

Can The Default “Crisis” Be Solved Unilaterally?

Respectfully Submitted by Lawrence Rafferty-Guest Blogger

Following up on the continuing saga of the debt default crisis and our earlier articles, I had a few more thoughts on how the crisis should be handled. The first suggested solution came from President Clinton who argued for it in a recent interview. Continue reading “Can The Default “Crisis” Be Solved Unilaterally?” →

Criminal law, Politics, Science, Society

Dead Men Do Tell Tales (Of Rigged Elections)

Submitted by Gene Howington, Guest Blogger

If you’ve never heard of King Lincoln v. Blackwell, don’t be too surprised.  Project Censored calls the outsourcing of the 2004 Presidential elections in Ohio “one of the most censored stories in the world.”  Originally filed on August 31, 2006 in Ohio, King Lincoln Bronzeville v. Blackwell is an ongoing civil case to decide if the the Ohio Secretary of State at the time, Kenneth Blackwell, violated the Civil Rights Act (42 USC §§ 1983 and 1984) and the 1st, 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments to the Constitution by conspiring to “deprive and continue to deprive Ohioans of their right to vote and have, in fact, deprived and continue to deprive Ohioans of their right to vote by, in a selective and discriminatory manner, unfairly allocate election resources (such as voting machines), institute a system of provisional ballots, purge voter registrations, and broke the bi-partisan chain of custody ballots”.  The vote at the heart of the issue is the 2004 Presidential election where, in defiance of exit poll data, there was a sudden and unexpected shift in votes for George W. Bush.

New filings include a revealing deposition of the late Michael Connell.   Connell died shortly after giving his deposition in a small plane crash that is described as “suspicious”*.  In life, Connell served as the IT guru for the Bush family and their personal minister of propaganda, Karl Rove. Connell ran a private IT firm called GovTech that created the controversial electronic voting system that Ohio used during the election.  GovTech’s system transferred Ohio’s vote count late on election night to a partisan Republican server site in Chattanooga, Tennessee owned by a company called SmarTech. That is when the alleged vote shift happened that led to Bush’s unexpected victory.

Continue reading “Dead Men Do Tell Tales (Of Rigged Elections)” →

Courts, Justice, Lawyering, Politics, Religion, Supreme Court

NY’s Marriage Equality Act Sees First Court Challenge

Submitted by Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger

In This Corner: NY Governor Andrew Cuomo ...

A coalition of conservative groups filed for an injunction in a Livingston County, New York Supreme Court (a trial court in NY parlance) asking the judge to overturn New York’s same-sex marriage law. New Yorker’s for Constitutional Freedom (NYCF) seek to enjoin operation of the law claiming that procedural requirements for the legislation were ignored, legislators were promised huge campaign contributions in exchange for their vote by NYC Mayor Bloomberg, and that Governor Andrew Cuomo violated the three-day review period by falsely issuing a “message of necessity” to the Legislature to speed up passage of the legislation. Through their lawyers, Liberty Counsel, the conservative action group also claims the public and lobbyists were shut out of the process.

Continue reading “NY’s Marriage Equality Act Sees First Court Challenge” →

Congress, Justice, Politics, Society

The Solution to the Debt Crisis is an Easy One.

Respectfully submitted by Lawrence Rafferty-Guest Blogger

I have a slightly different take on the debt ceiling discussion started by Mike Appleton earlier.  The Debt ceiling issue is on every cable and broadcast TV channel and on just about every website and blog including here on Prof. Turley’s blog. The debt limit and its feared default has controlled the airwaves for weeks now, and it isn’t going to end soon if the news reports are to believed. The Democrats want increased revenue and the Republicans want cuts only to spending in order to convince both sides to do something that was done about 19 times during the preceding administration without much fanfare from either side. No matter who you support there is an easy solution to the problem and the majority of Americans agree with it. The Hill Continue reading “The Solution to the Debt Crisis is an Easy One.” →

Congress, Politics

The Phony Debt Ceiling Debate

Submitted by Mike Appleton, Guest Blogger

Humorist Tom Bodett observed on NPR’s “Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me” this weekend that if we raise the debt ceiling any higher, we won’t be able to paint it.  In addition to being funny, his comment was more intelligent than most of what passes for debate on the issue.

Raising the debt ceiling is hardly a difficult decision to make, requiring that Congress answer only the following questions:

1. Are we unable with existing revenues to pay our debts as they become due?

2. Do we have the ability to borrow the funds necessary to cover the shortfall?

3. Will the additional borrowing push us over the existing debt ceiling?

If the answer to these questions is “yes,” the debt ceiling needs to be raised. Congress has always managed to get through the process rather easily, voting to increase the debt ceiling 74 times since 1962.  So why the current impasse on a routine matter? Continue reading “The Phony Debt Ceiling Debate” →

Academia, Politics, Religion, Science, Society

Science Marches On . . . Even In Texas
Charles Darwin

Submitted by Gene Howington, Guest Blogger

Last Thursday, July 21, the Texas Board of Education in an 8-0 unanimous vote opted to keep teaching evolution in high school biology classes using approved scientifically accurate textbook supplements from established mainstream publishers. They did not approve of the creationist-backed supplements from International Databases, LLC. Four times as many people showed up to testify in favor of the scientifically accurate texts as showed up to oppose them.

Continue reading “Science Marches On . . . Even In Texas” →

Academia, Columns, International, Military, Politics, Society

The American Quest for Empire

Submitted by: Mike Spindell, guest blogger

A startling thought occurred to me recently and that is while I’m only approaching the age of sixty-seven, I have lived in eight decades on this planet. Every one of those eight decades has had an American involvement in a foreign war. To be sure there is a massive degree of difference in magnitude let’s say between World War II and Grenada, but both were wars nonetheless. There is a common thread in all of these involvements that goes beyond the immediate causes and that is the quest for Empire. A persistent undertone in American thought has been expansive since Jefferson made The Louisiana Purchase. While this need to expand hasn’t always been present in the public political debate as a motivation, those whose thoughts held sway over the political and intellectual backbone of our country openly discussed it. While America, which initially remained primarily an agrarian nation, was expanding into the vast frontier of this continent, our dreams of empire focused on taming the country and overwhelming its Native American population. By the mid Nineteenth Century, the industrial revolution influenced American thought and the need to expand to acquire natural resources, replaced agrarian needs, while making the taming of the frontier more urgent.

Given our constitutional underpinnings and the magnificent sentiments of the Declaration of Independence, many felt qualms about our displacement of Native Americans in our expansion westward. Darwin’s Origin of The Species, published in 1859 became an instant sensation for intellectuals worldwide and for those with the power to shape a nation’s thought processes. Social Darwinism, survival of the fittest, was the new model for developing rationales and mythologies, which absolved the country of residual guilt in our struggle with the native population and allowed opinion shapers and ideologues to frame the issue in terms of the struggle of civilization against savagery.

Continue reading “The American Quest for Empire” →

Criminal law, International, Justice, Politics

You Got To Know When To Hold(er) ‘Em

Submitted by Gene Howington, Guest Blogger

More potential bad news for Rupert Murdoch and News Corp. as Thursday’s Wall Street Journal reports that the U.S. Department of Justice is preparing subpoenas relating to alleged foreign bribery and alleged hacking of voicemail of Sept. 11 victims.  This is in addition to a separate FBI probe into the  alleged hacking of voicemail of Sept. 11 victims and a possible FCPA-related (Foreign Corrupt Practices Act)  investigation by the SEC related to allegations of bribing police in Great Britain.  There are also a substantial number of civil suits springing up related to the activities of News Corp.’s now shuttered News of the World operation.  While Murdoch and News Corp. have attempted to contain the damage done by the News of the World U.K. phone hacking scandal, it seems like their efforts are failing as the investigation into their operations expands across the Atlantic.  The real question lies with A.G. Eric Holder’s Department of Justice willingness to act.

Continue reading “You Got To Know When To Hold(er) ‘Em” →

Congress, Politics, Things That Tick Me Off

The Gang of Six and Their War on Main Street

Submitted by Lawrence Rafferty-Guest Blogger

It is probably just me, but it seems that every time we hear about a proposed deal to extend the debt limit and avert a government shutdown and a debt default, the plan does nothing more than cut the taxes on the wealthiest Americans and Corporations.  The latest proposal by the so-called Gang of Six is just one more example of Congress attacking the Middle Class. Continue reading “The Gang of Six and Their War on Main Street” →