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The US Supreme Court will hold hearings this week on a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Obama’s health care plan. The lawsuit was filed by twenty six states, four small business owners, and the proudly ferocious National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB.)  The lawsuit contends the federal government does not have the authority to order people and businesses to buy health insurance (and face fines if they don’t.)  The hearings will surely be closely watched. Indeed, the future

At a time in the presidential election cycle when Republican candidates traditionally draw stark distinctions between themselves and their Democratic rivals, Ron Paul is following a different tactic by highlighting a 'nearness of position' between himself and incumbent President Obama. Of course, no one has ever accused the dark horse hopeful of running a conventional campaign. Paul, when asked to respond to comments made by the president at Tuesday's White House press conference, told CNN that

Winning 6 states, including the critical state of Ohio, Mitt Romney won the most Super Tuesday contests last night, followed by Santorum's 3 wins, Gingrich's single win in his home state of Georgia, while Ron Paul still awaits his first primary win. The combative nature of the primary season, however, is taking a toll on the Republican Party.  Speaking of the elongated primary race, pollster Peter Hart states, “The primaries have not raised the stature of the party, nor enhanced the appeal of th

There has been more than one declared "Do-or-Die" situations for various Republican presidential candidates so far in this year's tumultuous primary election cycle. When it comes to delegate count, Mitt Romney's camp should be looking toward victory in today's results as a mathematical obligation. Without major wins, this primary season is guaranteed to drag on into summer, if not through the doors of the Republican National Convention in Tampa. If Romney fails to sweep today's contests, his ca

With 437 GOP delegates up for grabs, Republican presidential hopefuls gear up for Super Tuesday, when 10 states will hold primaries or caucuses. While Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum battle against each other in multiple states, popular opinion is that Ohio will be the state to watch. The state has 66 delegates up for grabs. Perhaps more importantly, no Presidential nominee has continued on to win the office without being the victor in Ohio. Results in the state could thus greatly illustrate gener

While most Republicans, according to recent polls, are adamantly opposed to a brokered convention, given the new party nominating rules it is highly unlikely that the primary process will be wrapped up quickly. Newt Gingrich predicted at this weekend's California Republican Convention that the presidential primary season may well extend to California, putting the state's 172 delegates into play in June. 2012 could host an unusually prolonged primary season for a presidential race in recent his

The Canadian Tar Sands have become a hot topic on the campaign trail this year especially since President Obama rejected the proposed Keystone Oil Pipeline extension.  Yes, I said extension because there already exists one Keystone Oil Pipeline running from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, but because of increased production, there now needs to be a second pipeline.  But this extension has environmentalists raising their voices, and even some throughout the country not so sure about it.  The issue,

The Mercatus Center at George Mason University has published an update and a revision of a 2007 study entitled “Freedom in the 50 States: An Index of Personal and Economic Freedom”. The report analyzed three primary “freedom variables” for each state, determining the overall burden that local and state policies place on individual residents. So how did California stack up? Frankly, not so good. In fact, California was only underperformed by New Jersey and New York. The authors, William Ruger a

So, what happened? California used to be the promised land, the place everyone else seemingly wanted to move to, especially during the Rose Bowl Parade when it was freezing back East and sunny in SoCal. You could almost hear families saying, 'let's move where it's warm and the economy is booming.' But that was yesterday. Those in North Dakota watching the Rose Bowl this January may wish it was warmer there, but can be consoled by knowing their state is solvent, unemployment is low, and their eco

As Los Angeles commuters were making their way home Monday evening they were treated to a spectacular site.  Around sunset, a large missile emerged from the Pacific Ocean north of Catalina Island and about 35 miles out to sea and rocketed skywards. A local station's traffic helicopter captured a brief video of the missile, with a substantial contrail, disappearing into the stratosphere, en route to Asia. At this point in time, these are the only facts we, the American public, know. Amazingly en