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May 21, 2013, 2:30 pm
By
Jeff Bachman
With the revelation that the Department of Justice secretly obtained two
months of The Associated Press’ telephone records and used security
badge access records to track James Rosen’s visits to the State
Department, along with a warrant to search Rosen’s personal emails,
there has been a rush in the mainstream media to declare the DOJ’s
actions to be part of what they claim to be President Obama’s aggressive
pursuit of those who would leak secret information to the press.
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May 21, 2013, 12:30 pm
By
Ellynne Bannon
The cozy relationship between politicians and big business has been a
fact of life in America since the days of the robber barons. Today, this
affiliation is especially strong between certain governors and the oil
and gas industry. And, the consequences could include drastic impacts on
the health and safety of their constituents. Nowhere is this more
apparent than in the case of Colorado’s Gov. John Hickenlooper. Given
that Colorado is the epicenter of both the gas boom and the controversy
over its impacts, the governor has become a leading national figure on
oil and gas. Earlier this year, Hickenlooper appeared in front of the
U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee during a hearing and
stated that he drank fracking fluid, implying that it’s safe. Shortly
after, he was forced to clarify that what he drank isn’t actually used
commercially, stating that: “I don’t think there’s any frack fluid right
now that I’m aware of that people are using commercially that you want
to drink.” It turns out that this wasn’t the last time that the governor would go to bat for the oil-and-gas industry.
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May 21, 2013, 10:30 am
By
Robert N. Tracci
Legislative efforts to shield the media from disclosing sources of
classified information often follow perceived incidents of prosecutorial
overreach. Following the Valerie Plame investigation, media shield
legislation received consideration in both houses. The Free Flow of
Information Act curtailed investigate authority to compel disclosure of
media sources who disclose national security and other law enforcement
sensitive information.
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May 21, 2013, 8:30 am
By
Steven Jansen
As Congress begins debating immigration reform measures, prosecutors
across the country are striving to pursue justice and provide for safer
communities. We strive for case outcomes that reflect a balance of
punishment, compassion and concern for victims and community, including
for offenders who are not citizens of the United States. Individuals who
are not citizens oftentimes face immigration penalties that are not
conducive to these outcomes.
The current immigration system fails
to provide clear guidelines for prosecutors and judges who are
attempting to provide a holistic approach to law enforcement. The
criminal justice system, when applied to immigrants, often leads to
mandatory no-bond detention and deportation sentences.
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May 20, 2013, 6:30 pm
By
Lundy Khoy
I arrived in America as a refugee from Cambodia when I was only one year old. This country is the only place I know. But
during my first year of college at George Mason University in 2000, I
made a mistake that could have led to me being banished me from my home
and sent back to Cambodia. I was arrested with friends for having
ecstasy on me after going to a party. I know, a stupid thing to do, but
perhaps made more understandable because I was only 19 at the time. But
if an amendment proposed by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is included in
the final immigration reform bill that is currently being marked up in
the Senate, immigrants who are convicted of similarly minor crimes, and
even those who are not convicted of any crime, could be detained
indefinitely, even for life.
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May 20, 2013, 5:30 pm
By
Robert Atkinson
As globalization and offshoring have ramped up, the left and right have both responded with failed strategies. The
right’s response has been Panglossian, denying the problem. The left’s
response has been vituperative, and worse in its consequences. When
liberals see U.S. companies sourcing globally, they don’t see trade,
they see betrayal. They don’t see the inexorable creation of an
integrated global market — they see, in the words of Lou Dobbs, a “War
on the Middle Class.”
These observers miss the fact that the
United States is in a race for global innovation advantage that requires
policies that promote a competitive business climate to attract
investment instead of repel it. Notwithstanding the recent surge in
energy production, American companies still face sharp competition as
other countries become more attractive places to do business.
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May 20, 2013, 5:00 pm
By
Margaret Stock
The Senate Judiciary Committee will turn to questions of immigration
enforcement in the coming week as the senators continue to mark up the
immigration bill crafted by the Gang of Eight. One amendment in
particular could cause huge problems for military family members by
mandating the imprisonment for 60 to 90 days of people who overstay
their permission to be in the United States. It’s doubtful that Sen.
Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) realizes how military families would be affected
by the fifth of his 49 amendments to the Border Security, Economic
Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act, or S. 744, but serious
harm will result if his proposed amendment is adopted.
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May 20, 2013, 4:30 pm
By
Jon Potter
The patent system is intended “to promote progress of science and the
useful arts.” However, in the fast-moving mobile app industry, we are
witnessing the opposite: patents are slowing innovation and serving the
interests of exploitative patent trolls. Sometimes referred to as
patent assertion entities (PAEs), patent trolls do not develop or sell
new technologies. Instead, they build patent portfolios in order to turn
around and license them to operating companies. The burden that this
places on innovators drags down our economic recovery, slows job
creation and effectively taxes our most innovative products and
services. Despite important efforts like the America Invents Act (AIA),
passed by Congress in 2011, the patent troll problem is getting worse.
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May 20, 2013, 3:30 pm
By
Rep. Ed Royce (R-Calif.)
The uprisings that have swept across the Middle East and North Africa
since 2010 have forever altered the region’s political and security
landscape. They have also called into question longstanding U.S.
policies toward the Arab world. Yet this unrest also presents an
historic opportunity to advance reforms that will economically empower
millions of people and ultimately help stabilize the region. Generations
of citizens in Arab countries have been forced to endure human rights
abuses and political repression. It would therefore be easy to mistake
the Arab Spring for a political uprising. But it was not speeches by
long-suffering opposition leaders in exile that drove millions of people
to the streets. From Sidi Bouzid to Tahrir Square, the protests were
driven by young men and women — students, street vendors, and would-be
entrepreneurs — demanding the opportunity for a better economic future.
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May 20, 2013, 3:16 pm
By
Raha Wala
In 1988, President Reagan led a bipartisan effort to ratify the United
Nations Convention Against Torture. Twenty-five years ago today, he told
the Senate in a letter that, “Ratification of the Convention by the
United States will clearly express United States opposition to torture,
an abhorrent practice unfortunately still prevalent in the world today.” The
recent phenomenon of unyielding partisanship and stalemates on Capitol
Hill can make it easy to forget that it was once common to put aside
partisan differences and work on issues of national concern. From
Reagan’s leadership on the Convention Against Torture to the Senate’s
overwhelming support in 2005 for the McCain amendment designed to
prohibit abusive interrogations, the United States has a strong history
of bipartisan opposition to torture.
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