Appearing on Letterman’s show, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg defend his ban on large-sized sugary drinks (recently struck down by the courts) by suggesting that it’s the government’s job to inform people as the consequences of the choices they’re making: The problem with Bloomberg’s argument is that when you ban something you’re not informing their…
Thanks Fracking: US Oil Imports Continue To Fall
For years the proponents of green energy subsidies told us we had to shower subsidies on things like ethanol and wind power to “end our dependence on foreign oil.” Well, our dependence on foreign oil is shrinking these days, but not because of any government policy. The oil and gas revolution kicked off by innovations…
Democrat Wants NASCAR To Cut NRA Sponsorship
How dare NASCAR accept a sponsorship from the NRA. What do they think this is, a free country? Sen. Chris Murphy wants NASCAR to pass on NRA’s race sponsorship. In a letter sent Thursday to NASCAR CEO Brian France, Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, asks the stock car racing association to drop the NRA’s sponsorship of…
Heidi Heitkamp Voted To Confirm A Rabidly Anti-Gun Judge
Yesterday Republicans blocked the appointment of Caitlin Halligan to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. She was originally nominated in 2010, and this is the second time Republicans have blocked her appointment. The problem? Halligan has an extremely anti-gun track record: Iowa GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley, ranking member of the…
Just 6% Of Americans See The Media As Very Trustworthy, And That's A Good Thing
According to Rasmussen, Americans have a pretty low opinion of the media: Most voters still get their news from television and consider the news reported by the media generally trustworthy. Fifty-six percent (56%) of Likely U.S. Voters say they get most of their news from TV, including 32% who get it from cable news networks…
ND Legislature Hall Of Shame Week 7: Rep. Mike Nathe
I’m a little late getting to this week’s Hall of Shame inductee thanks to a rough trip back from Phoenix where I was attending a conference over the weekend. The weather was really, really bad in Denver but thankfully my flight was one of the few to get out, though not without some delays and…
Half Of Detroit Property Owners Didn't Pay Their Taxes Last Year
Wow. Detroit — Nearly half of the owners of Detroit’s 305,000 properties failed to pay their tax bills last year, exacerbating a punishing cycle of declining revenues and diminished services for a city in a financial crisis, according to a Detroit News analysis of government records. The News reviewed more than 200,000 pages of tax…
Kopp Column: America's Checks Do Not Balance
Yes, Washington needs more tax revenue to do the job it is doing, and that’s the problem. It’s doing too much. The Federal Government is operating beyond its “job description” or its “scope of work.” There are some who believe President Obama does too much and often operates outside the law. For example, he enacted…
Supporting Christopher Dorner Is Like Supporting Abortion Clinic Bombers
Perhaps it’s fitting when Occupy Wall Street is holding up Robin Hood as a hero that someone like Christopher Dorner, who went on a murder rampage after alleging that he was fired for blowing the whistle on police brutality, would also become a sort of hero to some (including, specifically, the occupiers). But what often…
ND House Votes Down Two Year Income Tax Moratorium, Passes New Wind Subsidies
When I was in Bismarck last week visiting the legislature a Republican member of the House took me aside and told me that the Republican majority would be voting down a lot of tax relief proposals this week and wondered if I might curtail criticism until we see what kind of tax relief is left…