Justices against Court-Imposed Cap-and-Trade

By |2011-04-21T10:19:17-04:00April 21st, 2011|

This column by ACRU Senior Legal Analyst Ken Klukowski was published April 19, 2011 on The Washington Examiner website.

It appeared yesterday during oral arguments in a case raising important constitutional and political issues that members of the U.S. Supreme Court doubt the wisdom of allowing federal judges the power to regulate carbon emissions.

The case was AEP v. Connecticut in which eight states sued American Electric Power and other electricity providers over carbon emissions. They allege that although there is no authorizing federal statute, that federal “common law” — centuries-old legal doctrines of practice and tradition — entitle them to have federal courts designate […]

Economics and Property Rights at Center of Supreme Court's Microsoft Case

By |2011-04-20T12:27:22-04:00April 20th, 2011|

This column by ACRU Senior Legal Analyst Ken Klukowski was published April 18, 2011 on The Washington Examiner website.

Property rights and economics are at the heart of a Microsoft case that pitted a top Bush lawyer against top Clinton and Obama lawyers in arguments before the Supreme Court yesterday.

Justices heard arguments in Microsoft Corp. v. i4i. At issue was whether i4i’s patent was infringed upon by a feature in Microsoft Word (being used to write this column, ironically).

The case turns on Congress’s language in the 1952 Patent Act, and what burden it places on parties challenging a patent. Although statutory interpretation […]

Obama's Taxes and America's Jobs

By |2011-04-20T12:06:21-04:00April 20th, 2011|

This column by ACRU General Counsel and Policy Director for the Carleson Center for Public Policy (CCPP) Peter Ferrara was published April 20, 2011 on The American Spectator website.

Between President Obama’s political campaign speech on the budget last week, and House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s thorough 2012 budget proposal, which the Republican House has already begun enacting, federal tax and spending issues have been fatefully framed for 2012.

Ryan’s 2012 budget proposes to return federal taxes to their long run postwar historical average over the last 60 years of 18.3% of GDP. In sharp contrast, what Mr. Obama is proposing is to raise […]

Federal Appeals Court Dismisses National Day of Prayer Challenge

By |2020-04-23T21:52:54-04:00April 19th, 2011|

This column by ACRU Senior Legal Analyst Ken Klukowski was published April 17, 2011 on The Washington Examiner website.

On April 14, a federal appeals court dismissed a challenge to the National Day of Prayer in a notable victory for religious liberty.

The first national call for prayer was from President George Washington in 1789. Since then, every U.S. president except one has issued such calls on various occasions, also routinely making such proclamations on Thanksgiving and Memorial Day.

In 1952, Congress passed a law creating a National Day of Prayer, the first of which President Truman proclaimed on July 4, 1952. The president […]

The Gang That Won't Shoot Straight

By |2020-04-23T21:54:03-04:00April 16th, 2011|

This column by ACRU Senior Legal Analyst Jan LaRue was published April 16, 2011 on Townhall.com.

Hollywood and Washington are rife with elites opposed to the right to bear arms for folks in flyover country “who cling to guns or religion,” as their champion in the White House described us.

Some notable exceptions include Tom Selleck, who supports the Second Amendment. He stars in the Jesse Stone film series. Selleck snuffing bad guys–what’s not to like? Jesse’s advice: “In a fight–front sight.”

In the premiere episode, Jesse’s weakness, besides drinking too much, is for a liberal city attorney who sounds […]

Obama's Budget Speech Frames The Debate For 2012

By |2011-04-15T20:15:20-04:00April 15th, 2011|

This column by ACRU General Counsel and Policy Director for the Carleson Center for Public Policy (CCPP) Peter Ferrara was published April 14, 2011 on Forbes.com.

President Obama’s budget speech Wednesday fatefully framed the debate for 2012. House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s 2012 budget proposes to return the level of federal taxes relative to the economy to the long run, historical, postwar average over the last 60 years at 18.3% of GDP. Ryan’s budget would also return the level of federal spending over the next 10 years to its long run, postwar, historical average as a percent of GDP, […]

Death Trap Democrats

By |2011-04-13T11:57:47-04:00April 13th, 2011|

This column by ACRU General Counsel and Policy Director for the Carleson Center for Public Policy (CCPP) Peter Ferrara was published April 13, 2011 on The American Spectator website.

Despite November’s New Deal magnitude political earthquake, surviving House Democrats just laughed off their historic 63 seat loss and reelected ultra-left San Francisco Democrat Nancy Pelosi as House Minority Leader, a position she will now apparently hold for life. Somehow Democrats are convinced that the American people will come to realize the error of their ways and turn to embrace taxation that seizes most of their money for the government to spend, rejecting traditional American prosperity. Good […]

The Welfare Reform Model for Medicaid

By |2011-04-13T11:32:50-04:00April 13th, 2011|

This column by ACRU General Counsel and Policy Director for the Carleson Center for Public Policy (CCPP) Peter Ferrara and Vice President for Policy at Americans for Prosperity Phil Kerpen was published April 13, 2011 in The Wall Street Journal.

One of the greatest bipartisan policy successes of recent decades was welfare reform, enacted into law by a Republican Congress and signed by President Bill Clinton in 1996. As House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R., Wis.) has proposed in his budget, those reforms should now be extended to Medicaid and beyond.

The 1996 reform of the old Aid to Families […]

No More Czars for the President

By |2020-04-23T21:57:12-04:00April 12th, 2011|

As a member of the Conservative Action Project, ACRU CEO Susan Carleson and leaders of 28 other organizations representing a broad cross section of the conservative movement are united in opposing the creation of more unaccountable "czars."

MEMO FOR THE MOVEMENT: Senators Schumer and Alexander want to reduce the number of presidential appointments subject to Senate confirmation. This process undermines Advice & Consent role and weakens congressional oversight responsibility.

No More Czars for the President—It is a Bad Deal!

RE: A proposal by Senators Schumer, Alexander and others to eliminate the confirmation process for hundreds of political appointees and basically create more executive […]

Diversity Perversity

By |2011-04-06T15:15:40-04:00April 6th, 2011|

This column by ACRU Policy Board Member and Professor of Economics Dr. Walter E. Williams was published April 6, 2011 on Townhall.com.

The terms affirmative action, equal representation, preferential treatment and quotas just don’t sell well. The intellectual elite and their media, government and corporate enthusiasts have come up with diversity, a seemingly benign term that’s a cover for racially discriminatory policy. They call for college campuses, corporate offices and government agencies to “look like America.”

Part of looking like America means if blacks are 13 percent of the population, they should be 13 percent of college students and professors, […]

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