New Origination Clause Article Now Published
The Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy has now published my article on the Origination Clause. That’s the article documenting the research that found—contrary to all expectations—that the taxes in Obamacare were validly adopted. But it also found that the regulations and appropriations in Obamacare were invalidly adopted. You can read a summary of […]
Obamacare’s Constitutionality and the Origination Clause: New Evidence
This article originally appeared at the American Thinker. One of the constitutional disputes triggered by the Affordable Care Act, Obamacare, is whether by substituting new material for the original House-passed bill (H.R. 3590), the Senate exceeded its constitutional power to amend the original measure. This, in turn, has provoked a debate over whether the Founders […]
The Arkansas-Indiana Religious Freedom Controversy: “Progressive” Hypocrisy On Display
This article originally appeared at CNS News. When two of the largest corporations in the world—Walmart and Apple Computer—pressured Indiana and Arkansas politicians not to adopt laws protecting religious freedom, did you hear any howls against “corporate lobbying” or “corporate money” or corporate meddling in politics? Chances are you didn’t. Because Walmart and Apple were […]
So What is This “Amendments Convention” Thing? A Quick Intro
Are you a journalist or other citizen who needs a quick overview of the Constitution’s Article V “Convention for Proposing Amendments?” Get our issue paper, “Curing Federal Dysfunction by Constitutional Amendment: A Primer.” It’s a vital resource for anyone who wants a quick and accurate overview of the process. It explains what a Convention for […]
VA Scandals—Only the Latest Example of the Failure of Socialism
To know more about socialized medicine—and our future under Obamacare—check out the Department of Veterans’ Affairs health care scandals. The scandals encompass service failure, egregious cost overruns and delays, and basic failures (such as blood test mixups) that would be comical if not so dangerous. The VA hospital situation in Denver is a case in […]
The Principles of the Common Law
Although the Constitution is not, strictly speaking, a common law document, it was written against the backdrop of common law. The term “common law” has various meanings, but the meaning I’m using here is the system of case law we inherited from England, including the bodies of jurisprudence known as admiralty and equity. That system […]
How Liberal Propagandists Fooled Conservatives into Opposing an Amendments Convention
This article originally appeared at CNS News. Some conservative groups have become known for uncompromising opposition to the Constitution’s convention method of proposing constitutional amendments. They may think they are protecting the republic. But it turns out that they are mostly carrying water for the liberal establishment. New research shows that nearly all the arguments […]
Where Chief Justice Burger Likely Got His Anti-Amendment Convention Views
This article originally appeared in the American Thinker. Opponents of the Constitution’s Article V convention method of proposing amendments tout three letters written in the 1980s by former Chief Justice Warren Burger. In those letters, Burger took a very hard line against any convention of states that might bypass Congress and propose corrective constitutional amendments. […]
Why the Senators’ Letter to Iran Was Both Appropriate and Legally Necessary
This article first appeared at the American Thinker website. Suppose you are in a general partnership with Smith. Smith handles day-to-day management, subject to your approval. But recently, he’s been acting somewhat high-handedly. Without consulting you, Smith is busy negotiating a contract with Macropus International Corp., a company notorious for unscrupulous practices. Smith has made […]
King v. Burwell: The Latest Obamacare Mess at the Supreme Court
When I first heard about King v. Burwell, the latest Obamacare controversy before the U.S. Supreme Court, I assumed it was the kind of case in which the legislative intent was clear, but for one reason or another the wording of the statute did not match the legislative intent. That would have been an interesting […]
New Book About How Deborah—Judge and Biblical Heroine—Freed Israel From Terrorism!
Betty Natelson, my wife, has just published a new book—for readers 9 years and up—about the biblical heroine Deborah. Deborah was the Hebrew judge who, along with her military commander Barak, liberated Israel from Canaanite terrorism—a topic that seems particularly appropriate today. The book is entitled Battlesong: The Biblical Story of Deborah. Battlesong generally follows […]
Mike Stern Rebuts Claim that "Congress Would Control an Amendments Convention"
Article V scholar and former House of Representatives legal counsel Mike Stern has just written a response to the irresponsible claim that Congress could control a Convention for Proposing Amendments, either by specifying how commissioners are allocated or in other ways. His response is worth wide publicity. Here it is: RESPONSE TO FEBRUARY 24, 2015 […]
