Rick Santelli's Chicago Tea Party |
- Ethics, free speech at center of high court case on legislative votes
- ‘State sovereignty’ bills make slow but steady progress
- TX bill expanding online sales tax collection OK’d
- Michigan State Police reply to ACLU about cell phone data extraction devices
- Amazon packing after South Carolina tax vote
- Colorado latest state to test rejecting federal health care law
- Rand Paul: ‘I want to see…Trump’s Republican registration’
- Rubio, Rand Paul Use Different Strokes for Tea Party Folks
- The Fed Will Make Sure Obama Wins in 2012: Strategist
| Ethics, free speech at center of high court case on legislative votes Posted: 28 Apr 2011 08:52 AM PDT Washington (CNN) — Michael Carrigan was on the losing side of a public vote that put him at odds with a state ethics commission, but now the Nevada city councilman hopes to win on a larger stage at the U.S. Supreme Court. The justices Wednesday cautiously debated an unusual free-speech case over the responsibility of public officials to step aside from issues where conflicts of interest may arise. Members of the high court themselves may be directly affected by the outcome, amid a period of increasing national debate over recusal in hot-button political matters. “Is the vote of a judge in a case like the vote of a legislator? Is that speech?” asked Justice Antonin Scalia. “Because judges are subject to ethical rules which prohibit their participating if there would be, quote, ‘an appearance of impropriety.’ If there’s anything vaguer than that, I can’t imagine what it might be. Can I get out of all that stuff?” At issue is a whether a state or local legislator’s vote is considered “free speech” that would shield them from a level of enforceable oversight from conflict-of-interest laws. In the last argument of the current term, the high court was debating whether the state law in question was both overly vague and burdensome, when applied to the discretionary actions of a single legislator. To read more, visit: http://www.cnn.com/2011/CRIME/04/27/us.scotus.free.speech/ |
| ‘State sovereignty’ bills make slow but steady progress Posted: 28 Apr 2011 08:48 AM PDT By Andy Hogue, The Lone Star Report On the heels of an election that reacted strongly to the Obama Administration’s agenda, several Texas legislators filed bills early in the session to take a bold stand for state’s rights. The bills and resolutions, most of which originated in the newly formed State Sovereignty Select Committee, attempt to wrangle control from the hands of the federal government. But with a little over a month to go before sine die, the fate of many of these bills is uncertain. We take a look at progress of three of likely candidates for ink from the Governor’s pen below. *Health care compacts This plan got some traction last week in the form of HB 5, which passed the House along party lines. The bill would place Texas into what’s known as an interstate “health care compact” — an agreement between states to regulate interstate commerce. It’s been done before, explained bill author Rep. Lois Kolkhorst (R-Brenham), most recently in 2005 in regard to juvenile justice procedures. About 200 compacts (authorized by the U.S. Constitution, by the way) are in effect. To read more, visit: http://www.lonestarreport.org/Home/tabid/38/EntryId/1098/State-sovereignty-bills-make-slow-but-steady-progress.aspx |
| TX bill expanding online sales tax collection OK’d Posted: 28 Apr 2011 08:42 AM PDT By CHRIS TOMLINSON, Bloomberg Businessweek The Texas House approved a bill on Tuesday that would expand the number of Internet companies required to collect sales tax. The bill, which passed on a 122-23 vote, would change the definition of what it means to have a physical presence in Texas. State Rep. John Otto, R-Dayton, said it would force Internet-based companies like Amazon.com to collect sales taxes if they pay marketers in Texas to advertise for them. Under a U.S. Supreme Court ruling, a company does not have to collect state sales tax if it does not have an office, or some other physical presence, in that state. The tax is still due on those transactions, but the customers are supposed to pay it. They usually don’t. Local retailers complain this gives Internet retailers an unfair price advantage. While Internet sales have gone up, local stores have seen a drop in revenues and blame the sales tax issue. State lawmakers also face a $27 billion budget shortfall over the next two years, and many want to see more efficient collection of taxes already on the books. The Alliance for Main Street Fairness, a coalition of traditional retailers, praised Tuesday’s vote. To read more, visit: http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9MS2M800.htm |
| Michigan State Police reply to ACLU about cell phone data extraction devices Posted: 28 Apr 2011 08:38 AM PDT The Michigan State Police do not seem to appreciate the publicity raining down on it over Fourth Amendment rights and its use of Universal Forensic Extraction Devices (UFED) which can extract data off 95% of cell phones on the market. The ACLU was quoted a half million dollars as the cost of documents associated with a FOIA request. I reported on it last week as State Police can suck data out of cell phones in under two minutes. I asked the ACLU of Michigan if it had a reply to the MSP saying it had worked with the ACLU “to narrow the focus and reduce the cost?” I also asked the ACLU about its reaction to the MSP saying, “the implication that the MSP is using the devices to ‘quietly to bypass Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches’ is untrue and harmful to police and community relations?” ACLU of Michigan staff attorney Mark Fancher responded:
To read more, visit: http://www.networkworld.com/community/blog/michigan-state-police-reply-aclu-about-cell-p?t51hb&hpg1=mp |
| Amazon packing after South Carolina tax vote Posted: 28 Apr 2011 08:31 AM PDT Amazon all but told South Carolina goodbye Wednesday after the online retailer lost a legislative showdown on a sales tax collection exemption it wants to open a distribution center that would bring 1,249 jobs to the Midlands. Company officials immediately halted plans to equip and staff the one million-square-foot building under construction at I-77 and 12th Street near Cayce. "As a result of today's unfortunate House vote, we've canceled $52 million in procurement contracts and removed all South Carolina fulfillment center job postings from our (Web) site," said Paul Misener, Amazon vice president for global public policy. The decision came shortly after state representatives rejected the tax break 71-47. To read more, visit: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/04/28/113086/amazon-packing-after-south-carolina.html |
| Colorado latest state to test rejecting federal health care law Posted: 28 Apr 2011 08:27 AM PDT By Associated Press, Greenfield Daily Reporter DENVER — Colorado Republicans are the latest state lawmakers to test ideas challenging the new federal health care law. But the proposal that advanced in the GOP House Tuesday faces long odds in a divided Legislature. A House committee voted 7-6 on a party-line vote to add Colorado to a compact of states trying to snub federal health mandates. Supporters say the move could give states more control over health spending. Republican Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal added that state to the compact last week, and other states are considering joining. To read more, visit: http://www.greenfieldreporter.com/view/story/faabb578a43848a38bccf5f3eb2d0fea/CO-XGR–Colorado-Health-Care/ |
| Rand Paul: ‘I want to see…Trump’s Republican registration’ Posted: 28 Apr 2011 08:23 AM PDT CONCORD, N.H. — The contrast could not have been clearer. Where Donald Trump flew into this first-in-the-nation primary state yesterday on his personal helicopter, Senator Rand Paul flew in on Southwest – and had coffee spilled on him, to boot. Where Trump was greeted by a horde of reporters, only a handful came to hear Paul speak before the Merrimack County Republican Committee at a Holiday Inn here. And where Trump is heavy on the style and oftentimes light on the substance, Paul delivered a policy-rich speech in a dry tone. But not without tweaking Trump for his insistence that President Obama release his complete birth certificate. "I've come to New Hampshire today because I'm very concerned," Paul said. "I want to see the original long-form certificate, with embossed seal, of Donald Trump's Republican registration." "Seriously don't you think we need to see that?" he said, adding that Trump had donated to Democrats such as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. "I'm afraid that I could be kicked out of my apartment," he said. "He's my landlord in Washington. Can you imagine the family strife if we ran against each other?" To read more, visit: http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2011/04/rand_paul_i_wan.html |
| Rubio, Rand Paul Use Different Strokes for Tea Party Folks Posted: 28 Apr 2011 08:17 AM PDT Freshman Republican Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida and Rand Paul of Kentucky are both leaders of the tea party movement. But they've adopted opposite ways of operating in Washington, with Rubio the diligent insider and Paul, the rabble rouser, Politico reports. Both approaches are solid, says Matt Kibbe, president of tea party group FreedomWorks, which former House Majority Leader Dick Armey founded. "The first iteration was a protest movement where we were simply banging on the castle doors trying to get someone to pay attention to our agenda," Kibbe told Politico. To read more, visit: http://www.newsmax.com/Politics/Rubio-Paul-teaparty-Republicans/2011/04/27/id/394335 |
| The Fed Will Make Sure Obama Wins in 2012: Strategist Posted: 28 Apr 2011 08:12 AM PDT As we approach next year’s presidential elections, the chances of President Barack Obama being ousted by a rival from either side of the political divide are low, according to Thanos Papasavvas, the head of currency management at Investec Asset Management. "History is very much on the side of the incumbent President and unless we have a double-dip recession with a significant increase in unemployment I don't believe Obama will lose 2012," Papasavvas said in an interview with CNBC on Thursday. "On the economic side, any signs of a deteriorating economic environment will see the Fed enacting QE3 (the third round of quantitative easing, or creating money) and hence indirectly reducing the probability of the economy derailing Obama," Papasavvas added. With the Republicans divided and no major rival yet to emerge, Papasavvas believes the American right wing will keep its powder dry for 2016 when four years of fiscal austerity will play into their hands. "With no credible Republican heavyweight to face Obama, even those who have indicated their intent to run like Mitt Romney are unlikely to burn significant political or actual capital for 2012 preferring instead to wait for the 2016 election," said Papasavvas. To read more, visit: http://www.cnbc.com/id/42794512 |
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