The Supreme Court today released its opinion on a case limiting how many candidates could be supported by a wealthy individual. Prior to its ruling, campaign limits were such that Under the current limit, a donor can’t give more than $123,200 to candidates, parties and political action committees. Of that, just $48,600 can go directly […]
Archives
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Hobby Lobby and Religious Freedom
25 Mar 2014
Today, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments for two cases that involve the Affordable Care Act, contraceptives, and religious freedom. Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Woods, combined by the Court, examine the extent to which the federal government’s mandates can infringe on the free exercise rights of religious business owners. According to early reports, the Court is, […]
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If you would like the background information on this post, go to Part 1. If you are more interested in the theological issue, see Part 2.) Though I think the theological difference between Jim Crow discrimination and the same-sex debate is important, the comparison also makes constitutional assumptions that are troubling and misguided. There was, […]
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Let Them Bake Cakes (Part 2)?
26 Feb 2014
(In Part 1, I talked a bit about the controversy surrounding gay marriage as it relates to providing public accommodations or services from Christians.) For me at least, there is one other question that few seem willing to address directly. Is the current homosexual rights movement analogous to the civil rights struggle of the 1950s […]
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Let Them Bake Cakes (Part 1)?
25 Feb 2014
To bake the cake or not to bake the cake? That is the question. It seems simple, but this query is generating a fair amount of controversy within the Christian community. The question is not really about whether our cakes should be from scratch or a box, but it is about gay marriage and the […]
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FCC Wants to Study Editorial Choices?
20 Feb 2014
Ajit Pai, an F.C.C. (Federal Communications Commission) commissioner dropped a media bomb in The Wall Street Journal. Pai revealed the F.C.C.’s plans to conduct an intrusive study of broadcast newsrooms throughout the country, primarily by interviewing owners, editors, and reporters about their story choices. The stated purpose is to find out whether or not the stations […]
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Federal Court Overturns Virginia Marriage Law
17 Feb 2014
On Thursday evening, a federal district court judge overturned Virginia’s 2006 constitutional amendment, and other statutes, that defined marriage as between one man and one woman. The ruling, by Arenda L. Wright Allen, also required Virginia to respect same-sex marriages performed in other states. Allen’s ruling sets the stage for another appeal ultimately to the […]
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The Weekly Standard‘s Charlotte Allen has revisited Kelo v. New London (2005). The aftermath is nearly as ugly as the initial case. For those uninitiated, Kelo dealt with government’s power to seize private property. The Constitution implies and accommodates this power of eminent domain in the Fifth Amendment, so long as government seizes the property for […]
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Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-NY), scion of the New York political family, has declared that conservative extremists have no place in his state. What is it that makes them extreme? Apparently, it is opposition to abortion, gay marriage, and gun control. Today, January 22, 2014, is the 41st anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court […]
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Supreme Court News
02 Dec 2013
Two Federal appeals have been addressed by the United States Supreme Court today. First, the Court refused to hear an appeal from Amazon.com which had argued that it should not be required by the State of New York to collect sales taxes the same way as physical retailers do since it does not have a […]
Bert Wheeler
Jeff Haymond
Marc Clauson
Mark Caleb Smith
Tom Mach