The Bell Tolls for Obamacare

By |2020-04-23T21:58:19-04:00November 23rd, 2011|

This column by ACRU General Counsel and Senior Fellow for the Carleson Center for Public Policy (CCPP) Peter Ferrara was published November 23, 2011 on The American Spectator website.

On November 14, the Supreme Court granted the Writ of Certiorari to hear the appeal of the cases testing the constitutionality of Obamacare. The resulting decision will mark an historic watershed not only in the restoration of constitutional jurisprudence, but in fundamental, market reform of the entire entitlement state.

Historic Decision Brewing

I write serving as the General Counsel of the American Civil Rights Union (ACRU), as one of several current positions. The ACRU was […]

Supreme Opportunity to Right a Wrong

By |2020-04-23T21:58:19-04:00November 22nd, 2011|

This column by ACRU Senior Fellow Robert Knight was published November 21, 2011 in The Washington Times.

In March, the Supreme Court will hear the challenge by 26 states and the National Federation of Independent Business to the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare. A ruling is expected by midsummer.

Although many provisions don’t kick in until 2014, this 2,700-page mess is already giving America’s health care system a bad cold, which will morph into pneumonia if the law is not overturned. A few of the symptoms already have emerged:

Adding costs: Some […]

The Texas Tea Party Debate

By |2020-04-23T21:58:19-04:00November 9th, 2011|

This column by ACRU General Counsel and Senior Fellow for the Carleson Center for Public Policy (CCPP) Peter Ferrara was published November 9, 2011 on The American Spectator website.

In 1858, U.S. Senator Stephen A. Douglas was facing a tough reelection challenge in Illinois from former Congressman Abraham Lincoln. A serious, reasoned America was at the height of debate over the fundamental human rights challenge posed by its contradictory maintenance of the vile institution of slavery, in the most path-breaking, classical liberal nation in the world.

Lincoln and Douglas held seven 3-hour debates in that reelection fight. First one candidate spoke for 60 minutes, then […]

Cain's '9-9-9' Tax Reform Plan Is Unconstitutional

By |2020-04-23T21:58:19-04:00October 14th, 2011|

This column by ACRU Senior Legal Analyst Ken Klukowski was published October 13, 2011 on The Washington Examiner website.

Herman Cain’s signature 9-9-9 proposal has two problems. First, it’s unconstitutional, and second, it’s not conservative because it transforms Washington from the head of a federal republic into a centralized ruling authority.

Cain proposes scrapping the current tax code, and replacing it with a 9 percent personal income tax, 9 percent corporate income tax, and 9 percent national sales tax.

After an unspecified period of time, the income and corporate taxes would be dropped, and everyone would pay a 30 percent (not 23 percent, as […]

ACRU Files Amicus Brief Supporting Arizona Immigration Legislation

By |2020-04-23T21:58:20-04:00September 15th, 2011|

Arizona is ground zero for the illegal immigration tidal wave, with nearly half of all illegal border crossings in that state alone. This includes gang members in Mexican drug cartels and criminals fleeing their home countries south of the border. To counter the physical safety concerns and the costs arising from this illegal immigration, Arizona enacted the Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act (S.B. 70) on April 29, 2010. That legislation seeks to use state law enforcement resources to promote more effective enforcement of federal immigration laws in Arizona. The legislation does that through cooperative law enforcement with federal agencies and sanctions expressly designed to […]

Obama's War on the Secret Ballot

By |2020-04-23T21:58:20-04:00August 29th, 2011|

This column by ACRU Senior Fellow Ken Blackwell and Clint Bolick of the Goldwater Institute was published August 28, 2011 on The Huffington Post.

The Obama Administration has fired its opening salvo against a cornerstone of democracy: the right to secret ballot.

Last fall, voters in four states voted overwhelmingly to amend their constitutions protect the right of workers to vote by secret ballot in deciding whether or not to form unions. That right has been enshrined in federal law for 75 years but is threatened by bills pending in Congress.

Nonetheless, the Obama National Labor Relations Board has filed […]

Block Grant Welfare to the States

By |2020-04-23T21:58:20-04:00June 29th, 2011|

This column by ACRU General Counsel and Senior Fellow for the Carleson Center for Public Policy (CCPP) Peter Ferrara was published June 29, 2011 on The American Spectator website.

The first step in defusing America’s Ticking Bankruptcy Bomb, the title of my new book, is to restore a booming economy. I discussed last week how to do that by applying the lessons of Reaganomics.

The next step is fundamental entitlement reform, to reduce the overwhelming future burden of exploding entitlement expenses. As I argue in the book, we will never be able to solve the entitlement crisis by simply trying to cut benefits for the […]

It's Time To Block Grant Welfare To The States

By |2020-04-23T21:58:20-04:00February 26th, 2011|

This column by ACRU General Counsel and Director of Policy for the Carleson Center for Public Policy Peter Ferrara was published February 23, 2011 on Forbes.com.

If any liberal reform had been as wildly successful as the 1996 welfare reforms spearheaded by then House Speaker Newt Gingrich, every schoolchild in America would have been forced to memorize the details by now. The reforms of the old New Deal-era Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program involved the ultimate welfare policy dream of President Reagan and his longtime welfare guru Robert Carleson, as explained in Carleson’s recent posthumously published book Government Is […]

Ohio Government Censors Pro-Life Group, Court Battle Begins

By |2020-04-23T21:58:20-04:00October 27th, 2010|

ACRU Senior Legal Analyst Ken Klukowski wrote this column appearing October 26, 2010, on Townhall.com.

Congressman Steve Driehaus broke faith with his constituents in the Cincinnati, Ohio area, by voting for the big-government monstrosity known as Obamacare. The pro-life Susan B. Anthony List (SBAL) has run billboards condemning Driehaus’ vote, asserting that Obamacare funds abortion. SBAL is correct that Obamacare does fund abortion under a federal court ruling that covers Ohio.

Ohio has a law making it a crime to publicize a false statement. On suspicion that SBAL’s statement was a lie, the Ohio Elections Commission has launched an investigation in an attempt to […]

Orrin Hatch, Ken Blackwell and Ken Klukowski: Why the Health-Care Bills Are Unconstitutional

By |2020-04-23T21:58:20-04:00January 2nd, 2010|

President Obama's health-care bill is now moving toward final passage. The policy issues may be coming to an end, but the legal issues are certain to continue because key provisions of this dangerous legislation are unconstitutional. Legally speaking, this legislation creates a target-rich environment. We will focus on three of its more glaring constitutional defects.

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