Food Stamp Politicians by Laurence M. Vance January 24, 2012 Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich is in hot water for referring to Barack Obama as “the food-stamp president.” The NAACP and the National Urban League have sharply criticized Gingrich for saying that “the African-American community should demand paychecks and not be satisfied with food stamps.” In the FOX News Republican presidential debate held in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, on January 16, Gingrich was asked about these things by panelist Juan Williams. Gingrich denied that he was insulting black Americans and seeking to belittle people and stated, “The fact is that more people have been put on food stamps by Barack Obama than any president in American history.” Gingrich’s statement was made the focal point of his new ad that ran statewide in South Carolina making the case that he is the only candidate who can beat Obama. The exchange was also highlighted in a fundraising email headlined, “Standing Ovation,” in which Gingrich writes, “I would be the ...
Is Ron Paul an Isolationist? by Laurence M. Vance January 17, 2012 The word isolationist is a pejorative term used to ridicule advocates of U.S. nonintervention in foreign affairs, intimidate their supporters, and stifle debate over U.S. foreign policy. Throughout the twentieth century, opponents of U.S. intervention in foreign wars were smeared as isolationists. Conservative and Republican opponents of Congressman and presidential candidate Ron Paul, although they may argue and fight among themselves, are all agreed on one thing: Ron Paul is an isolationist and espouses a dangerous foreign policy of isolationism. Actor and conservative activist Chuck Norris insists that “Texas Representative Ron Paul’s bent toward being an isolationist who wants to bring home every one of our 572,000 troops abroad makes the anti-terror, pro-military hairs on the back of my neck stand.” Speaking in South Carolina just before Christmas, Newt Gingrich “sharply criticized Mr. Paul for what he said were his isolationist views on foreign policy.” While stumping in Iowa the week before the Iowa caucuses, Rick Santorum “urged ...
Three Views on the Drug War by Laurence M. Vance January 10, 2012 One of the most important things the Republican congressman and presidential candidate Ron Paul said as a guest on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno recently was what he said during his backstage interview after the show was over. The first thing Representative Paul was asked was a question submitted by a Jay Leno Facebook fan: “Are you gonna legalize marijuana?” His answer was that he was “not going to enforce any federal laws against marijuana.” He went on to say that there was “no authority in the Constitution to regulate anything a person puts in their body.” In a Ron Paul interview with Jon Stewart back in October, there was an omitted clip that appeared only online. In that segment, Dr. Paul said he fears the war on drugs more than he fears the drugs themselves. He not only said the war on drugs violates civil liberties, but also made the case for freedom of choice ...
Not Ending Social Security As We Know It by Laurence M. Vance December 27, 2011 Social Security is not only the cornerstone of the welfare state, it is the most expensive item in the federal budget. The Social Security system provides benefits for retirement, disability, survivorship, and death to 54 million Americans at a price to its 157 million taxpayers of more than $700 billion a year. Social Security is a relic from the New Deal. The first ...
Outrage over Body Parts of War Dead Is Misdirected by Laurence M. Vance December 20, 2011 There didn't seem to be a lot of outrage last month when it was reported by the Washington Post that the Dover Air Force Base mortuary had for years been disposing of the unidentified remains of U.S. soldiers by cremating them and then dumping the ashes in a landfill in King George County, Virginia. The Dover mortuary receives ...
Blue Angels Budget Blues by Laurence M. Vance December 13, 2011 The Navy's Blue Angels flight-demonstration team is in trouble. And not because their commander resigned earlier this year after flying his F/A-18 Hornet below minimum altitude at an air show in Virginia and causing a month-long safety stand-down. Headquartered at the Pensacola Naval Air Station, the Blue Angels have been flying and thrilling audiences for more than 60 years. The ...
Drug Testing for Welfare Benefits by Laurence M. Vance November 15, 2011 Lawmakers in dozens of states are considering proposals to require drug testing of welfare recipients. In these days of budget tightening, states are looking for ways to balance their budgets without raising taxes. The drug-testing requirements are supposed to save the states money, since they will cause some families to be prohibited from receiving welfare benefits. The proposed measures seem ...
Gambling, Freedom, and Federalism by Laurence M. Vance November 8, 2011 The United States Congress Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, better known as the supercommittee, was created back in August by the Budget Control Act of 2011, which raised the debt limit. The committee consists of twelve members of Congress, evenly divided between the House and the Senate and between Democrats and Republicans. By the day before Thanksgiving, the committee ...
The Problem with Public Education by Laurence M. Vance November 1, 2011 In the wake of the shootings in Phoenix, Arizona, earlier this year, a bill was proposed in the Arizona legislature that would allow faculty members at universities and community colleges to carry a concealed weapon while working on campus. Naturally, this was a polarizing topic among students and faculty. Had it passed, Arizona would have been the second state ...
Taxing the Rich by Laurence M. Vance October 26, 2011 President Obama’s American Jobs Act of 2011 (S.1660) recently went down to defeat in the Senate. Two Democrats joined with all forty-six voting Republicans (Sen. Tom Coburn did not vote) to kill the $447 billion plan. The most egregious part of this bill was that it “amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose on individual taxpayers in taxable years ...
Would McCain Have Been Any Better? by Laurence M. Vance October 20, 2011 It has been said that every president makes us nostalgic for his predecessor. But as bad as the presidency of Barack Obama has turned out to be, I still look back on the Bush years with regret rather than longing. George Bush will go down in history — at least among proponents of liberty, property, and peace — as one ...
Korea Shows All That Is Wrong With U.S. Foreign Policy by Laurence M. Vance October 19, 2011 The tension on the Korean peninsula escalated late last year when South Korea began live-firing drills off its coastline. That was after North and South Korea shelled each other for the first time since the 1953 armistice that ended the Korean War. U.S. forces in the area went on high alert even as the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George ...
