Free Republic

I was recently hired to review the Supreme Court opinion in the case of Texas v. White, 74 U.S. 700 (1869). The opinion in that matter was written by Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase, who had served in Lincoln's cabinet during the Civil War prior to his appointment as chief justice. In the recent talk of secession, this case is often thrown out as having settled the matter legally, just as the Civil War settled the matter militarily. This memorandum of course does not address the wisdom of secession and does not advocate secession. It is devoted solely to analysis...

December 14 has come and gone—and President Obama’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act—better known as Obamacare—has received a stunning blow. State governments had until December 14, 2012 to decide whether or not they would build their own health insurance exchange, an online service that would allow individuals to purchase private health insurance if it wasn’t provided for by their employees. That date has now passed, and the exchange has been rebuked by half the states—with 25 state governments refusing to participate in this critical component of Obamacare. Their refusal won’t stop exchanges in their states. Under the law, states...

States must commit to fully expanding their Medicaid programs to take advantage of generous funding in the federal health care law, the Obama administration said Monday. The ruling affects a federal-state program that covers nearly 60 million low-income and severely disabled people, caught in a tug-of-war between Republican governors and the Democratic administration. President Barack Obama’s health care law expanded Medicaid to cover people up to 138 percent of the federal poverty line, or about $15,400 for an individual. The change mainly affects low-income adults without children at home, as well as low-income parents who can’t get coverage under current...

For decades, it has been obvious that there are irreconcilable differences between Americans who want to control the lives of others and those who wish to be left alone. Which is the more peaceful solution: Americans using the brute force of government to beat liberty-minded people into submission, or simply parting company? In a marriage, where vows are ignored and broken, divorce is the most peaceful solution. Similarly, our constitutional and human rights have been increasingly violated by a government instituted to protect them. Americans who support constitutional abrogation have no intention of mending their ways. Since Barack Obama’s re-election,...

The Obama administration is strategizing how to fight legal pot in Colorado and Washington, reports Charlie Savage of The New York Times. While "no decision" is "imminent," Savage reports that senior level White House and Justice Department officials are considering "legal action against Colorado and Washington that could undermine voter-approved initiatives." A taskforce made up of Main Justice, the DEA, the State Department, and the Office of National Drug Control Policy is currently considering two courses of action, reports Savage: One option is for federal prosecutors to bring some cases against low-level marijuana users of the sort they until now...

Erick Erickson informs his conservative readers that Sen.-elect Ted Cruz, the agreed-upon star of the new GOP class, has picked Chip Roy as his chief of staff. Why they should be happy: Chip currently works for Governor Rick Perry. If you’ve ever read Governor Perry’s book Fed Up!, well, you know Chip Roy as the guy who helped put pen to paper for the Governor and helped shape Governor Perry’s thinking on federalism issues. That represents no change from what we expected -- Cruz was always going to join the Mike Lee/Rand Paul Appeal to Reason caucus. It's just good...

Five Republican governors rejected on Friday a major provision of President Barack Obama's healthcare reform law that calls on U.S. states to set up online health insurance markets where consumers can purchase private coverage at federally subsidized rates. That makes it likely that the federal government will establish its own markets, known as healthcare exchanges, in those states and potentially supplant state control of private individual insurance markets. But in what could be a sign of thawing relations between administration officials and some state Republican leaders, three of the five governors -- representing Ohio, Michigan and Florida -- expressed a...

<p>Presumably, a proposal being developed in Texas right now won’t be necessary should its petition on the White House website to secede from the union be successful.</p> <p>But if not, the Lone Star state apparently wants to be prepared to challenge whatever it views as a federal encroachment on the rights of the state, or its citizens.</p>

At the close of 2011, Barack Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act for the year 2012. In it are what some constitutional experts consider to be some of the greatest constitutional violations in American history. At issue are sections 1021 and 1022 which, in essence, create a new power for the federal government to “indefinitely detain” – without due process – any person. Indefinitely. That’s little different than kidnapping.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott, one of the most vocal critics of the federal health care overhaul, is dropping his staunch opposition to the law. Scott said in an interview Tuesday with the Associated Press that he now wants to negotiate with the federal government. He said it's time for Republicans to offer solutions to help families after they lost their bid to defeat President Barack Obama. "The election is over and President Obama won," Scott said. "I'm responsible for the families of Florida. … If I can get to yes, I want to get to yes."

At the close of 2011, Barack Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act for the year 2012. In it are what some constitutional experts consider to be some of the greatest constitutional violations in American history. At issue are sections 1021 and 1022 which, in essence, create a new power for the federal government to “indefinitely detain” – without due process – any person. Indefinitely. That’s little different than kidnapping. In response, there’s been a bit of a firestorm from people across the political spectrum. Local communities in Colorado sent out the first warning shots, passing resolutions and ordinances rejecting...

Contrary to popular myth, states are under no obligation to expand Medicaid or create a health insurance exchange, and they should refuse to do either. That from Michael F. Cannon, director of health policy studies at the Cato Institute. He argues that the costs to the private sector will be significant if states agree to create exchanges.

President Obama has won reelection, and his administration has asked state officials to decide by Friday, November 16, whether their state will create one of Obamacare’s health-insurance “exchanges.” States also have to decide whether to implement the law’s massive expansion of Medicaid. The correct answer to both questions remains a resounding no. State-created exchanges mean higher taxes, fewer jobs, and less protection of religious freedom. States are better off defaulting to a federal exchange. The Medicaid expansion is likewise too costly and risky a proposition. Republican Governors Association chairman Bob McDonnell (R.,Va.) agrees, and has announced that Virginia will implement...

(CNSNews.com) – Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia said recently that--"especially after last term"--he does not know if he is confident the Constitution can be restored to its original meaning. He likened his own efforts to do so to the character "Frodo" in the Lord of the Rings, who fights the good fight not certain he will win. While discussing his new book Reading Law at Stanford University on Oct. 19, the Hoover Institution’s Peter Robinson quoted to Scalia a passage from Scalia's book, Reading Law: "Originalism does not always provide an easy answer, or even a clear one. Originalism is...

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The slogan goes, "Don't Mess With Texas." But with President Barack Obama in the White House a more appropriate cry might be: "Try it and we'll sue." The Texas attorney general's office has filed 24 lawsuits against the federal government since Obama took office — litigation that has cost the state $2.58 million and more than 14,113 hours spent by staff and state lawyers working those cases. ....Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott said the costs are worth it, calling the litigation "a fight against the unprecedented ideology coming from the Obama administration." In an interview, he...

I wish the Republican Platform was binding. Why? Because the GOP, for all intents and purposes, has just proposed to eliminate the Department of Education, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Department of Energy, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Transportation, the Department of Health and Human Services, along with a host of other government programs, agencies, and departments.More specifically, they endorsed the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which means they put themselves on record in favor of getting rid of all federal spending and intervention that is inconsistent with the Founding Fathers’ vision of a...

There recently appeared an article at Salon critical of the idea of repealing the 17th Amendment. In it, author Alex Seitz-Wald explains how the desire to return the selection of U.S. Senators back over to the state legislatures, as opposed to direct election now, developed, and why it would be harmful if tried. In this piece, the first of two on the subject, I’ll summarize the argument, argue the benefits of repealing this amendment, and correct a few points made by Seitz-Wald. His overview is that the idea had been a “hobbyhorse of the fringe right” for quite some time,...

The U.S. Government is suing New Mexico for perceived damages in a groundwater case, and the prize is control of the state's water. In May 2011 we learned that the EPA was beginning to change the way America's waters are controlled, and that control was to be extended to your ponds and puddles. Happening now in New Mexico: The lawyers told the committee [New Mexico Legislature Water and Natural Resources] the U.S. government is apparently trying to take over legal management of the state's water supply. The federal government has asserted claims for damages to groundwater in a natural resource...

Here’s the blueprint for how the states can eviscerate three central pillars of Obamacare, crippling it, and set the stage for replacing it if Mitt Romney takes the White House and the GOP takes the Senate this November. Many are focusing on whether Congress will refuse to fund all the provisions of Obamacare that require federal money. While very important, this is only one barrel of what must be a double-barreled approach. The other is what states can do to dismantle Obamacare. And if we pursue both of these simultaneously, we can defeat Obamacare and safeguard the greatest healthcare system...

Editor's Note: This column was coauthor by Ken Klukowski, a columnist at Breitbart.comHere’s the blueprint for how the states can reject three central pillars of Obamacare and set the stage for replacing it, if Mitt Romney takes the White House and the GOP takes the Senate this November. Two reasons compel dismantling Obamacare. First is restoring individual liberty by empowering states against the national government and citizens against both. Second is recognizing that free markets outperform centrally-planned markets, so private-sector healthcare will better serve Americans than government-controlled Obamacare ever could. However disappointing the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold Obamacare’s individual...