This Week From AAI

Tim Tebow Law, Power To Holder, & Why Follow A Budget?

The Arkansas Project

58 Arkansas legislators have joined Cato Institute's amicus brief against Obamacare's individual mandate. And why does Governor Beebe keep saying Arkansas is #5 in education? It's not really true, and it's holding us back from real reforms. 

Budget? Why Follow a Budget?

Families and businesses have budgets, yet Washington doesn't-and it hasn't for the last three years. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid doesn't think this major omission is that big of a deal, and the White House has no opinion on the matter. Read The Heritage Foundation's full analysis here.

 

Congratulations, You're Paying Your Neighbor's Phone Bill

A finer example of the immortal nature of taxes than the telephone tax you will never find. Passed in 1898 to fund the Spanish-American war, it stayed on the books in different forms until 2006. In 1996, it was supplemented with the Universal Service Fund fee, paying for a program called "Lifeline," which is not remotely as urgent or necessary as its name suggests. Bottom line: You are paying for millions of other people's phone service with every call you make. More from Charles C.W. Cookeat National Review Online.

 

Holder vs. Racist Photo-ID Cards

A  bunch of racists in South Carolina are trying to hold down blacks by forcing them, and everybody else, to show photo identification before they can vote. Astonishing! Luckily, Attorney General Eric Holder is on it. Holder's deputy, Assistant Attorney General Thomas E. Perez, blockedthis provision on December 23, citing "the racial gap that presently exists among photo identification holders in the state." Specifically, "8.4% of white registered voters lacked any form of DMV-issued ID, as compared to 10.0% of non-white registered voters." This 1.6-percentage-point gap can mean only one thing: racism. Deroy Murdock at National Reviewsays, "Power to Holder!"

Why Republicans Must Become More Libertarian

"The new debate in the Republican party needs to be between conservatives and libertarians," says Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.). "A lot of the libertarian ideas that Ron Paul is talking about...should not be alien to any Republican." Watch Senator Demint's full interview withReason.

 

Obama's Enemies List

How would you feel if aides to the president of the United States singled you out by name for attack, and if you were featured prominently in the president's re-election campaign as an enemy of the people? Consider that all this is happening because you have been selected as an attractive political punching bag by the president's re-election team. This is precisely what has happened to Charles and David Koch. Read morefrom Theodore Olson of The Wall Street Journal.

$5 Trillion and Change

The political strategy behind Obamanomics was always simple: Call for "stimulus" to rescue the economy, run up the debt with the biggest spending blitz in 60 years, and then when the deficit explodes call for higher taxes.  The Wall Street Journal explains.

"Tim Tebow Law" Would Let Homeschooled Virginia Kids Play Public School Sports

Sometime this week Virginia lawmakers are expected to vote on a lawwhich would allow the state's "tens of thousands of" homeschooled kids to play sports on public school teams; in fact it would prevent public schools from being part of any intramural-type organizations which barred the presence of homeschoolers. So, who are the folks objecting to this bill? Lucy Steigerwald expounds at Reason.

 

 

Giving Colleges Some "Skin in the Game"

Among the many reforms brought into place by the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010 was the concept of "skin in the game" for mortgage originators -- an idea exemplified by the Mortgage Partnership Finance (MPF) mortgages of the Federal Home Loan Banks.  MPFs force the originator of the loan, usually the banks, to accept a loss should the loan fail to be repaid as opposed to being covered by some sort of government guarantee, says Alex J. Pollock, a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. More from the National Center for Policy Analysis. 

The Human Capital Imperative: Bringing More Minds to America

There is no doubt that immigration is often a contentious and polarizing political issue. However, in the important national dialogue over the issue, it is crucial to parse high-skilled immigration from low-skilled immigration. This first group must be recognized as a crucial tool for long-term economic growth, say Nick Schultz & Dewitt Wallace.  Read more from at the National Center for Policy Analysis. 

 

  

Dependence on Government at All-Time High

Published by the Heritage Foundation for the past 10 years, the Index of Dependence on Government tracks the growth in government dependence dating back to the early 1960s.  This year's edition shows an alarming trend, says Patrick Tyrrell of The Heritage Foundation.

Lessons From Solyndra

In September 2011, solar energy giant Solyndra filed for bankruptcy and laid off 1,100 employees.  The collapse was a major embarrassment for the Obama administration; however, fallout from the bankruptcy has revealed a number of additional factors that speak to the broader implications, according to Robert P. Murphy of Pacific Research Institute.