Dayhoff Westminster Soundtrack: Call Senate back and pass a workable payroll tax deal and other news and opinion from the Washington Examiner

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Call Senate back and pass a workable payroll tax deal and other news and opinion from the Washington Examiner

Call Senate back and pass a workable payroll tax deal

Texas Gov. Rick Perry, a candidate for the Republican nomination for president, has suggested making Congress a part-time legislature. Whatever you think of the idea, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada has already given us something approximating it by sending his members home without a proper payroll tax deal written into law. By passing an unworkable two-month deal as a "take-it-or-leave-it" proposition, then heading home, Reid has acted very much in the tradition of Obamacare, the massive and hastily assembled health care law whose drafting errors will haunt Americans until it is finally repealed.

If America is the battleground, nobody has any rights

By: Gene Healy

Last Thursday -- which happened to be the 220th anniversary of the ratification of the Bill of Rights -- the Senate passed a defense bill that demonstrates just how cavalier Congress can be with our fundamental liberties. Given the opportunity to clarify existing law and confirm that American citizens are not subject to indefinite military detention at the order of the president -- Congress punted.

Examiner Local Editorial: Metro hikes fees as ridership plummets

By: Examiner Editorial

Just a year after the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority imposed its largest, most complicated fare increase ever -- introducing "peak of the peak" into the Washington commuting lexicon - Metro General Manager Richard Sarles is seeking another 5.7 percent fare hike. But passengers have already begun to flee the toxic combination of rising fares, shoddy service, maintenance delays and deteriorating infrastructure.

Death of an atheist

By: Cal Thomas

Perhaps not since Madalyn Murray O'Hair and Carl Sagan has there been such an "evangelical" atheist as Christopher Hitchens, the writer and social commentator who died last week after a long and public battle with esophageal cancer. Hitchens railed against those who believe in God. While an original writer, and smart, there was nothing original about his unbelief. Such views have been expressed since the dawn of humanity.

Protecting liberty means knowing your Bill of Rights

By: Janine Turner

Americans celebrated the 220th anniversary of the ratification of the Bill of Rights last week. This document is the cornerstone of our individual freedoms.

It's California business as usual as debt, taxes grow

By: Bob Williams

Last week, the California Department of Finance confirmed that the state's fiscal year revenues through June will come in $2.2 billion short of expectations, prompting Gov. Jerry Brown to implement $1 billion in budget cuts.

Gallup 'fear' poll, the GPS case and the Ninth Amendment

By: Mark J. Fitzgibbons

In November, the government made the Orwellian argument before the Supreme Court that law enforcement officials may attach GPS tracking devices to cars without a warrant. This month, Gallup issued poll results showing that 64 percent of Americans fear big government. Well, gee whiz.

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