By Rand Paul
Obama acts as though we no longer have a Constitution
Independent voices from the TWT Communities
The Obama administration reversed course Thursday and said it no longer would give a prestigious international women's award to an Egyptian political activist after she was accused of posting anti-Semitic and pro-terrorist comments on Twitter.
In stark contrast to the last congressional session, Republican lawmakers have introduced only a handful of bills to strike down or dismantle President Obama's health care law in the first weeks of the new Congress — the latest indication that the epicenter of debate over "Obamacare" has shifted to the nation’s statehouses.
Despite taking a beating this week in the "fiscal cliff" showdown with President Obama and Democrats, conservative Republicans have vowed to regroup in coming weeks and redouble their efforts to rein in federal spending.
President Obama gathered Democrats and Republicans at the White House Rose Garden on Thursday to sign a bill designed to encourage investment in startup businesses and take a break from election-year partisan sniping.
The House will vote Thursday on a spending blueprint for 2013. Members will choose from among five options this week, but only House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan's plan has enough support to pass. Still, the House GOP's conservative wing wants to educate the public about fiscal responsibility by debating their second "Cut, Cap and Balance" plan.
Chairman Ben S. Bernanke defended the Federal Reserve's decision to hold interest rates at record-low levels for the next three years, during a contentious hearing before federal lawmakers.
Just as they did the last time the party captured the House of Representatives, Republicans are pushing a major overhaul of the nation's welfare system.
Liberals were partly right when they criticized House Republicans, saying the new requirement for a constitutional justification for each new piece of legislation was mere posturing. The sniping, however, came from the wrong angle. The problem isn't with the requirement, but with its loopholes and lack of enforcement teeth.
An influential group of conservative House Republicans issued a blueprint Thursday for slashing the budgets of PBS, Amtrak and the National Endowment for the Arts — and dozens of other government programs and agencies — in a bid to roll back spending and shrink the national debt.
Congressional Democrats led by outgoing Speaker Nancy Pelosi are so intent on expanding government that they deny the Constitution imposes any limits on their power. Rep. Scott Garrett, New Jersey Republican, insists federal lawmakers be blocked from exceeding its authority. On Tuesday, he offered a resolution that will serve as an acid test to see whether the incoming Congress is serious about limiting government.
Rep. Scott Garrett, New Jersey Republican, said Thursday that the outrage over conservative talk-show host Rush Limbaugh's comments on contraception last year drew far more national reportage than has the trial, which he described as "nonexistent."
