Morning Briefing
For January 4, 2013
1. Unchanged: Americans Are Still Fleeing High-Tax, Forced-Unionism States With Good Reason
FLike some sort of communicable disease, as they have for decades, Americans are still finding union-dominated states that force workers to pay unions (or be fired) very unattractive to live in and, as a result, are leaving by the droves.
According to an annual study conducted by the moving company United Van Lines, the top ten states that Americans are fleeing from continue to be those states that do not have Right-to-Work laws. . . . please click here for the rest of the post →
2. Our Task Going Forward
With much drama and suspense, John Boehner was reelected as Speaker of the House today by the slimmest of margins. The entire focus of the vote was centered on the brewing conservative rebellion. Ultimately, only 12 Republicans either declined to vote or voted for someone other than Boehner (Garrett, Bachmann, and Blackburn initially declined to vote, but voted for Boehner upon the second call), just shy of the requisite number to force a second vote.
It takes enormous courage to publicly stand up and oppose the Speaker of your own party. It required even more courage for freshmen like Tom Massie, Ted Yoho, and Jim Bridenstine to vote against Boehner. The abstentions of Mick Mulvaney and Raul Labrador were particularly powerful and symbolic. When leadership tossed off a couple of conservatives from committee assignments, they pointed to the promotions of Mick Mulvaney and Raul Labrador (to the Financial Services and Judiciary Committees) as proof that there was no purge. It’s heartening to see that these guys did not take the bait and did not allow leadership to drive a wedge between conservatives. . . . please click here for the rest of the post →
3. Responding to Russia’s Adoption Ban
Before the fiscal cliff nightmare came to a head, families across the globe were celebrating the holidays; thoughts of politics being far from the minds of many. Spending extra time with family is often one of the beloved highlights of the holiday break. Yet for so many families in the United States, this past season was heartbreaking. 46 families in particular were forced to focus on politics when it changed the face of their families, perhaps permanently.
On December 28, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law banning adoption of Russian children by U.S. families starting January 1. Included in the ban were the 46 U.S. families that were in the process of adoption, many of which had already met and formed relationships with their children. . . . please click here for the rest of the post →
4. Too Much Government, Too Little Spectrum
When conservatives complain about the federal government, we all know the usual litany. The government spends too much, taxes too much, borrows too much, and regulates too much. But there is another “too much” most people don’t even know about: The federal government controls too much spectrum.
Why is this important? Well, when you make a call on your cellphone, you’re using spectrum. When you listen to the radio or watch broadcast television, you’re using spectrum. And when you surf the Internet, send a text, download an app, watch a movie, or play a game on your smartphone or tablet, you’re using spectrum. Put simply, our daily lives are ever more dependent on the airwaves over which communications signals travel.
But guess who controls a majority of the best spectrum, the spectrum most suitable for mobile broadband? It’s the federal government itself. Almost 60 percent of that spectrum is in federal hands, primarily used by federal agencies for their own purposes. . . . please click here for the rest of the post →
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