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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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.

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.

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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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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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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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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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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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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