Many people continuing to absorb the recent SCOTUS Healthcare ObamaNation… A few questions pass through my own personal mind:  
FIRST – If the healthcare insurance “mandate” is an allowable, albeit unavoidable, taxation passed on citizens regardless of their economic inactivity then what happens to all those “waivers” granted?   A non-congressional federal department, in this case HHS, cannot lawfully “waiver” taxation?
SECOND – If the first dime of healthcare coverage is now considered taxation, because the first moment of non-engagement in activity is considered taxable, then all healthcare premium expenditures are taxes and therefore automatically deducted from taxable income right?   I mean the only way to collect the taxation is through employment activity, ie. income, and if income expenditures on healthcare coverage are now considered taxes, then they should be deductible from income from the first dime.  No?
(Economist)  AS PETER SUDERMAN of Reason put it, “Some coup”. The individual mandate passes constitutional muster after all. Crisis of legitimacy averted! Akhil Reed Amar’s life has not been a fraud!
However, according to the majority decision by John Roberts, the Supreme Court’s conservative chief justice, the mandate cannot be justified on commerce-clause grounds. Indeed, Mr Roberts wholly affirms the argument that the commerce clause cannot regulate economic inactivity. From the syllabus of the decision: (more…)

Many people have wondered what President Obama specifically meant in Tucson Arizona when he called his supporters toward a “New Civility“, a “New Tone”…. 
 Now we know.   All you need to do is CLICK HERE to witness first hand.

A friendly reminder of Civics 101 for the Democrats who visit this site

The role of the Executive Branch is to “ENFORCE” existing laws.   ENFORCE THEM not determine which should be enforced and which should not based on political ideology.   Constitutionally, President Obama cannot just pick and choose which laws to carry out because he personally doesn’t like them. 
The fundamental aspects of Arizona’s SB1070 immigration bill were upheld in a Supreme Court Decision today, delivering another substantial blow to the White House and President Obama.
But what President Obama did in response to his defeat today is once again reflective of how petulent and childish this community organizer is.   How this man-child ever made it to hold the office of chief executive is beyond my comprehension.
Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer celebrated the Supreme Court’s ruling Monday on her state’s tough immigration law, calling the court’s decision a “victory for the rule of law.” (more…)

The truth of the matter is that, as I said, we created 4.3 million jobs over the last 27 months, over 800,000 just this year alone.

Unless President Obama is attempting to re-write the laws of economics, the government “we” did not create a single job.   Employers do.

The private sector is doing fine.

Really?   Tell that to the thousands of businesses closing, the millions of homeowners being foreclosed upon and the 23 million unemployed or underemployed who have been eating Ramen noodles for too long. (more…)

In honor of our many wonderful Texans who frequent, and greatly enliven this site, we are choosing the great state of Texas as the next in our American Puzzle Pieces series. To refresh your memory, we started this series because we who live scattered across America have come together here, united by beliefs and values we share, by concerns for the future and direction of our country. We enjoy each other, learn a little, share some humor and a beer or two from a Texas sized cooler, manned by our own WeeWeed. To date, I have written articles on a couple of states I have called home, and Pat gave a great feature on Michigan. Sadly, tragically, I have never visited Texas. However, with all the attention given the Lonestar State after Rick Perry’s hat toss, we have wanted to show our appreciation for our Texans, so I have decided to make them work. Being Texans, I just don’t think they will care. (more…)

Several months ago, we introduced the Puzzle Pieces series, hoping to share what we love about our homes, to bring out more knowledge about various areas of the country we all love. We have fallen behind in the series, so I thought this patriotic weekend would be a good time to get back to it.

I would like to share a little history, a little folklore, a little of my love of my home state, Georgia. (more…)

“If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look about you.”  The official state motto of Michigan encourages both visitors and residents to enjoy their surroundings.

 People who have never visited my home state think of it as an industrial state, home of the Big Three auto makers, so this statement may seem strange to you:  Michigan is one of the most unusual of the fifty states.  It is split into two peninsulas, and is surrounded by four of the five Great Lakes, giving it 3,200 miles of coastline, more than the Atlantic coast of the United States.  It has a beautiful and diverse landscape – virgin pine forests, beautiful waterfalls and inland lakes, fertile farmlands, and the tallest sand dunes in North America. (more…)

Friday afternoon I decided to return home for the weekend through some back roads in the Smokies rather than the faster method of the interstate. It took me four and a half hours instead of the usual two and a half, and it was an afternoon of pure pleasure. Let me tell you a little about my former home state, the state I was raised in and called home until 2001. But first, spend an afternoon in the beautiful Smokies with me.  (more…)