Senator Rand Paul On Freedom
By: Brian Darling (Diary) | August 3rd at 01:41 AM |
Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) spoke at The Heritage Foundation yesterday. Sen. Paul, in 20 seconds, expressed the sentiments of many freedom loving Americans who feel violated every time they board a plane. “The next time you are in the airport. The next time the TSA asks you to hold your hands above your head. Little bit higher. Hey hun, just a little bit higher. And | Read More »
The Defense Sequester And Tax Hikes
By: Brian Darling (Diary) | August 1st at 06:31 PM |
Rep. Randy Forbes (R-VA) had a battle of words with OMB Director Jeffrey Zients in the House Armed Services Committee today regarding looming automatic defense cuts. This debate is a preview of what we shall see on the national stage this fall’s presidential and Congressional races. The argument between Rep. Forbes and Obama official Zients shows the Obama Administration’s firm committment to higher taxes on the American people. Clearly, | Read More »
Law of the Sea Treaty Dead
By: Brian Darling (Diary) | July 16th at 03:00 PM |
Three conservative cheers for Sens. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Kelly Ayotte (R–N.H.) for announcing critical opposition to the Law of the Sea Treaty (LOST). The LOST is a treaty being pushed by the Obama administration that would bind the U.S. to decisions of a United Nations-sanctioned governing body of the world’s oceans. Conservatives worry that U.S. Senate ratification of the Treaty would lead to an | Read More »
Health Savings Accounts Under Attack
By: Brian Darling (Diary) | July 6th at 01:00 AM |
Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) are an oasis in the desert of government-run health care. That is why President Obama’s health care bureaucrats are intent on killing HSAs. According to a recent Wall Street Journal piece by 2021, health care spending will be almost one fifth of the whole U.S. economy. In nine years, the government share will be about half. By 2021, health-care spending is likely to be nearly | Read More »
Individual Mandate A Tax Or A Penalty
By: Brian Darling (Diary) | July 4th at 07:00 PM |
For conservatives, the debate over whether the individual mandate in ObamaCare is called a tax or a penalty has become a litmus test for the Romney campaign’s conservative credentials. It should not. Eric Fehrnstrom, Spokesman for Mitt Romney, said on MSNBC earlier this week that Romney “believes that what we put in place in Massachusetts was a penalty, and he disagrees with the court’s ruling that | Read More »
Holder Stumbles Under Questioning About David Alexrod
By: Brian Darling (Diary) | June 7th at 03:10 PM |
Rep. Randy Forbes (R-VA) asked some tough questions today at a hearing of the House Judiciary Committee of Obama’s Attorney General Eric Holder. Holder could not directly answer questions about the nature of Obama Senior Advisor David Alexrod’s push to politically influence the Justice Department in 2009. Holder said this in response to a question about Axelrod, “there’s a political dimension to the job I have | Read More »
Law of Sea Treaty A Back Door For Cap And Trade
By: Brian Darling (Diary) | May 30th at 05:00 PM |
Conn Carroll had an excellent piece at the Washington Examiner yesterday titled “Obama’s Lame Duck Plan To Pass Cap And Trade.” Carroll makes the case that Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.) may use the Law of the Sea Treaty (LOST) as a back door to implement cap and trade regulations on United States citizens. Mike Brownfield of The Heritage Foundation (my employer) wrote a short history of LOST | Read More »
Washington Post Promoting Misleading Filibuster Arguments
By: Brian Darling (Diary) | May 15th at 01:30 PM |
Today Ezra Klein at the Washington Post put out a piece promoting Common Cause’s lawsuit to have the Senate filibuster declared unconstitutional. Klein repeats myth after myth about the filibuster. This piece should commence an interesting national debate finally putting the argument to bed that the filibuster is somehow unconstitutional. Abolition of the filibuster will lead to a Senate with less time for debate and limited transparency for the American people. It | Read More »
Dear Tea Party, Applaud Rand Paul
By: Brian Darling (Diary) | May 10th at 07:00 PM |
Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) has stepped up to the plate to fight reauthorization of the crony capitalist Export-Import Bank. I wrote yesterday that the Tea Party is losing on this issue despite the heroic efforts of Rep. Tom McClintock (R-CA) and other members who agree that the Ex-Im Bank is a high offense against free market capitalism. The Export-Import Bank was created in 1934 by FDR to facilitate trade | Read More »
Dear Tea Party, We Are Losing
By: Brian Darling (Diary) | May 9th at 04:30 PM |
Please send more members to Congress. The House just passed legislation that is offensive to free market capitalism reauthorizing the Export-Import Bank. And only 93 conservative Representatives opposed. Conservative cheers to Rep. Tom McClintock (R-CA) for making a speech on the House floor discussing the reasons why it is a terrible idea to reauthorize the crony capitalist Ex-Im Bank. A bill to reauthorizes the Ex-Im Bank through 2014 | Read More »
Top Ten Reasons To End The Export-Import Bank
By: Brian Darling (Diary) | May 4th at 03:00 PM |
Corporate Welfare and Crony Capitalism are the two phrases that come to mine when a free market conservative hears talk of reauthorizing the Export-Import Bank. According to The Hill, it looks like the House will take up a Export-Import bank reauthorization, including a massive $40 billion increase in loan authority, as early as next week. A draft deal negotiated by House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) and Minority Whip | Read More »
The Palin-Bolling Proposal To Lower Gas Prices
By: Brian Darling (Diary) | April 19th at 05:00 PM |
Conservatives need to do a better job of explaining how they would lower gas prices. More drilling is a great piece of the pie, but there needs to be more. Governor Sarah Palin and Eric Bolling, Fox News host of of The Five, have put together a comprehensive plan to lower gas prices and they mapped out the details in the video below. The FOX gas | Read More »
Senator Obama Was Correct – The Ex-Im Bank Is Corporate Welfare
By: Brian Darling (Diary) | March 28th at 06:00 PM |
On September 22, 2008, Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) sounded like a conservative in the below speech. Candidate for president Obama railed against programs “that don’t work” like a “reading program that hasn’t improved our children’s reading.” This talk was music to the ears of independent and conservative leaning democratic voters who don’t like government waste. Sen. Obama talked about duplication in government programs and advocated cutting those programs. | Read More »
This Week in Washington — March 26, 2012
By: Brian Darling (Diary) | March 26th at 01:00 PM |
Shall the federal government be allowed unfettered power over citizens? That is the ultimate question for nine justices of the U.S. Supreme Court this week. The three days of Supreme Court oral arguments on ObamaCare may be the most important constitutional discussions of our lifetime. This week in Washington is going to be dominated by a national discussion the constitutionality of ObamaCare, yet Congress plods on. The House of Representatives is expected to take | Read More »
What Has Happened To Us?
By: Brian Darling (Diary) | March 19th at 05:30 PM |
Terrorists have won at least one victory. The above video was taken of a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) inspection of an injured three year old boy from Spring of 2010. This video makes me want to cry for this child and for a nation that allows this to happen on a daily basis.
Senate Majority Leader Reid Playing Politics With Nominations
By: Brian Darling (Diary) | March 13th at 01:00 PM |
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has tossed some red meat to his left wing base who have called for an end to the filibuster. On Monday, Reid filed cloture on 17 district court nominations as a means to argue that Republicans are obstructing President Obama’s judicial nominations. According to one Senate study, President Obama and President George W. Bush’s nominations are on the same pace. Reid’s allegations of Republican obstructionism are pure politics. | Read More »
Fake Filibuster Outrage From Left
By: Brian Darling (Diary) | March 12th at 06:10 PM |
The left is fear-mongering on the issue of the filibuster. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid filed cloture on 17 nominees today and the left was quick to parrot the Reid talking points claiming Republican “obstruction” of these nominees. The fact of the matter is that there is no filibuster and Reid is merely setting the table so he can make hysterical arguments about Republican obstructionism. | Read More »
This Week in Washington — March 12, 2012
By: Brian Darling (Diary) | March 12th at 06:00 PM |
The House is out of session this week. Tthe Senate will be in session to finish work on a bloated two year $109 billion highway bill. Big fight this week on judicial nominations with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) expected to file cloture on about seventeen nominees today. Also, expect a fight when the Senate tries to use a House passed Small-Business bill to pass the | Read More »
Yet Another Obama Administration Aviation Security Failure
By: Brian Darling (Diary) | March 6th at 05:15 PM |
Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano has failed us again. Her hostility to allowing pilots to be armed against terrorists is going to make our nation less safe. On Monday, Napolitano’s vision for a “risk based” security system failed to keep a box cutter off a commercial aircraft in Houston. Secretary Napolitano said recently at a House Homeland Security Committee hearing that she is proposing a 50% cut | Read More »
This Week in Washington — March 5, 2012
By: Brian Darling (Diary) | March 5th at 12:00 PM |
The Senate will work through a Senate version of a highway funding bill this week. The House has a relatively light schedule. This week will dominated with discussion about “Super Tuesday” and President Obama’s Tuesday press conference intended to steal the press corps on “Super Tuesday.” The House is working on a bill that will partially repeal ObamaCare. The Senate is continuing work on a highway bill that spends too | Read More »