SCOTUS Denies Review in Planned Parenthood Funding Case

By |2013-05-29T15:40:04-04:00May 29th, 2013|

This column by ACRU Senior Legal Analyst Ken Klukowski was published May 28, 2013 on Breitbart.com.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to take a case where a federal appeals court struck down an Indiana law denying Medicaid funds to abortion provider Planned Parenthood.

Medicaid is a federal-state partnership where government pays for healthcare for low-income Americans. It has become increasingly one-sided to the point where now the federal government dictates most details to the states; it’s a partnership in name only. In 2011, Indiana enacted a statute denying future Medicaid funds to Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion provider in the […]

Striking a Sour Note on the Boardwalk

By |2020-04-23T21:52:43-04:00May 28th, 2013|

This column by ACRU Senior Fellow Robert Knight was published May 28, 2013 on The Washington Times website.

What do you do if you’re a street fiddler who wants to play as loud as you want, and the cops tell you to pipe down?

Well, you could make a federal case of it.

On April 10, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Maryland against Ocean City, Md., on behalf of William F. Hassay Jr., who has earned money playing his violin on the boardwalk seasonally since 1995, according to the suit.

Senate Confirms Rising Star, Could Be Next SCOTUS Nominee

By |2013-05-28T07:17:22-04:00May 28th, 2013|

This column by ACRU Senior Legal Analyst Ken Klukowski was published May 26, 2013 on Breitbart.com.

The U.S. Senate on Thursday unanimously confirmed Sri Srinivasan to be a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit by a vote of 97-0, and he should already be considered someone on President Obama’s short list for the Supreme Court.

Srinivasan has a spectacular legal resume that looks much like John Roberts a decade ago. In 2003, Roberts was a graduate of Harvard and Harvard Law, clerked for a top federal appeals judge and then a Supreme Court justice (William Rehnquist), later served […]

Turning the Tables on the IRS

By |2013-05-27T21:48:43-04:00May 27th, 2013|

This column by ACRU Senior Fellow Robert Knight was published May 27, 2013 on The Washington Times website.

It’s pretty clear that the Internal Revenue Service acted illegally in its abuse of Tea Party and other conservative groups and individuals since 2009.

Why else would Lois G. Lerner, director of the IRS’ division of exempt organizations, take the Fifth Amendment before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee?

She invoked it last Wednesday after reading a statement in which she claimed, “I have not done anything wrong.” My lying eyes conclude that the lady has something to hide, but hates […]

Time to Go for the Kill

By |2013-05-23T07:54:19-04:00May 23rd, 2013|

This column by ACRU General Counsel and Senior Fellow for the Carleson Center for Welfare Reform (CCWR) Peter Ferrara was published May 22, 2013 on The American Spectator website.

The IRS scandal provides Republicans and conservatives with the opportunity to repeal and replace Obamacare now. The House Republican majority should refuse to fund the expansion of the IRS necessary to manage Obamacare. Without that funding, and hiring thousands of additional agents, the IRS cannot even begin to manage Obamacare.

President Obama may throw a fit. He may refuse to sign funding bills to keep the federal government open. No matter. Let him close his government […]

Congress Investigating Obama Admin's Hostility to Religion in the Military

By |2013-05-20T12:18:33-04:00May 20th, 2013|

This column by ACRU Senior Legal Analyst Ken Klukowski was published May 13, 2013 on Breitbart.com.

Following 59 Members of Congress sending a letter to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel regarding Pentagon officials meeting with an anti-Christian extremist, another group of 72 House Members has sent a second wide-ranging letter, exploring whether these infringements on religious liberty violate both federal law and the Constitution.

The first letter demanded that Hagel explain why Pentagon brass met with anti-Christian extremist Mikey Weinstein. It highlighted various disturbing statements Weinstein has made–most of which were first reported by Breitbart News–such as calling Christians “monsters,” and claiming […]

Obamacare Implodes

By |2013-05-16T08:14:26-04:00May 16th, 2013|

This column by ACRU General Counsel and Senior Fellow for the Carleson Center for Welfare Reform (CCWR) Peter Ferrara was published May 15, 2013 on The American Spectator website.

Health policy economists are puzzled by a persistent slowdown in the growth of health care spending that seems to have started in mid-2005, and accelerated since then. The Wall Street Journal summarized it on Monday, saying, “The health [spending] growth rate has flattened out at about 3.9% over the last three years–a record low since the 1960s and down from the old normal of 6.2% to 9.7% in the 2000s.”

Economists thought at first that the […]

59 Congress Members Demand Hagel Explain Meeting with Anti-Christian Extremist

By |2013-05-15T07:53:15-04:00May 15th, 2013|

This column by ACRU Senior Legal Analyst Ken Klukowski was published May 13, 2013 on Breitbart.com.

Monday morning, Congressmen Steve Scalise and John Fleming–both Republicans representing districts in Louisiana–sent a letter signed by 59 Members of the U.S. House of Representatives to Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel at the Pentagon, demanding answers regarding Pentagon officials’ meeting with an anti-Christian extremist.

This story began two weeks ago when Breitbart News reported on at least one such meeting. Since that time it has become a growing controversy, as Breitbart News reported additional disturbing details. Now Congress is weighing in.

The Scalise-Fleming letter […]

ACRU Asks Supreme Court to Strike Campaign Finance Limits

By |2020-04-23T21:52:44-04:00May 14th, 2013|

Political speech should have higher protection than “pornography, nude dancing and abortion,” brief says.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 13, 2013) — In an amicus brief filed May 8, the American Civil Rights Union argues that limits on campaign donations infringe on freedom of speech.

Written by ACRU General Counsel Peter Ferrara, the brief in Shaun McCutcheon and Federal Election Committee v. Federal Election Commission sides with plaintiff Shaun McCutcheon, who is appealing a September ruling by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia upholding the federal campaign contribution law.

Mr. McCutcheon had wanted to donate more money to three […]

House Republicans Prove Effective At Restraining Runaway Democrat Spending

By |2013-05-14T06:28:03-04:00May 14th, 2013|

This column by ACRU General Counsel and Senior Fellow for the Carleson Center for Public Policy (CCPP) Peter Ferrara was published May 9, 2013 on Forbes.com.

House Republicans are proving effective in restraining the runaway federal spending desired by President Obama and Congressional Democrats. That does not remotely mean that the House Republican majority has solved Washington’s spending, deficit and debt problems. But while they looked helpless at the turn of the year when Obama and the Democrats rolled over them in enacting Obama/Democrat tax increases on capital investment, official federal government budget numbers show that the House Republican majority […]

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