Cruz: Obama Picks and Chooses Which Laws to Enforce (VIDEO)

President Obama has “flouted the constitutional limits on the authority of the President” more than any other President before him, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) said at a recent Heritage event.

“Prior to this presidency, the way you had reasonable modifications of federal law is you went to Congress, you introduced legislation, you worked with elected representatives of both parties, you passed a change in the law, and you sign it into law,” Cruz said. “That’s the way the constitutional system worked.”

But as Cruz sees it, that is not how Obama operates.

“As you know, the President has picked and chosen which laws to enforce and which laws not to enforce,” Cruz said.

Cruz noted Obama’s own words when he said in the State of the Union he wouldn’t wait for Congress to act. Earlier this year, Obama told lawmakers, “If Congress won’t act soon to protect future generations, I will.”

Via: The Foundry

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The Mounting Troubles for Vermont’s Obamacare Exchange

On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Brad Jackson and Ben Domenech are joined by John McClaughry to discuss the Vermont Obamacare exchange, why the Governor pulled the “safety valve,” and what is next for the state’s troubled exchange.

We’re brought to you by Stephen Clouse and Associates and The Heritage Foundation’s Morning Bell. If you’d like to email us, you can do so at bjackson[at]coffeeandmarkets.com. We hope you enjoy the show.

Via: Red State

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Public Pensions and the Death of American Cities

On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Brad Jackson and Ben Domenech are joined by Francis Cianfrocca to discuss American cities going broke, why public union pensions play a significant role and if Washington may eventually bail out bankrupt cities and states.

We’re brought to you by Stephen Clouse and Associates and The Heritage Foundation’s Morning Bell. If you’d like to email us, you can do so at bjackson[at]coffeeandmarkets.com. We hope you enjoy the show.

Via: Red State

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Heritage’s Obamacare “Crystal Ball”

If you find yourself in New York City’s Times Square this week, look up. That’s where, all month, you’ll see Heritage’s six-story warning about Obamacare.

“Warning: Obamacare may be hazardous to your health,” it reads, placed where 1.5 million people can see it every day.

But more than your health is at risk. Fox News’s Eric Bolling called the billboard a “crystal ball” in this segment of Fox Business Channel’s “Cashin’ In.” That is because the examples of Obamacare’s hazards are piling up: Universal Orlando, Sea World, and Trader Joe’s are just some of the employers cutting hours for part-time workers so they can stay beneath the 30-hour threshold Obamacare imposes for health care coverage.

“What’s it going to take for the folks in D.C. to wake up and realize this warning sign has become a reality: Obamacare is a hazard for all hard-working Americans,” Bolling says. Americans get it: Two new polls over the weekend from NBC News/Wall Street Journal andUSA Today/Pew Research Center show the law is still unpopular with large numbers of Americans.Heritage’s answer is to defund it now. The crystal ball says it could get a lot worse.

Via: Heritage Foundation

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Heritage Foundation gets tough: Think tank puts punch behind its conservative ideas

The Heritage Foundation has decided it is better to be feared than loved.

The conservative think tank conducted private market research on Capitol Hill between 2008 and 2009, asking respondents whether they were ever worried about being on the wrong side of Heritage’s position.

“Overwhelmingly, nobody cared,” said Tim Chapman, now the chief operating officer of Heritage Action, the organization’s three-year-old advocacy arm.

To combat this, the think tank created Heritage Action to knock some skulls around. But by doing so, Heritage upset the traditionally cozy relationship the Heritage Foundation had with congressional Republicans.

It was along this strategic arc – a conscious decision to be more combative – that the think tank chose Sen. Jim DeMint, 62, a polarizing, conservative firebrand, to lead it.

But DeMint wasn’t the board’s original choice for the post of president.

Heritage’s Board of Trustees initially had doubts about whether choosing a politician would be the right move for a think tank that had for decades been led by a former Hill staffer with a Ph.D., outgoing president Ed Feulner.

“There was a great debate over whether Jim DeMint was the right guy, because he was political. The Heritage Foundation is not political,” one board member told the Washington Examiner.

In the first half of 2012, Heritage offered the presidency to Larry Arnn, the president of conservative Hillsdale College and a member of the board. After considering it, Arnn declined the job, deciding instead to remain in academia.

Arnn did not respond to requests for comment.

The search to replace Feulner took the better part of three years, during which 18 candidates were interviewed. Academics, “two or three” politicians, staff from other think tanks, and even media figures were considered for the position, Heritage Executive Vice President Philip Truluck said.

Via: Washington Examiner

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How to Reform Food Stamps

For decades, farm bills have combined agriculture policy with the food stamps program. These farm bills would have been better deemed “food stamp bills,” as food stamps account for about 80 percent of farm bill costs.

In July, the House passed an agriculture-only farm bill. By separating agriculture programs from food stamps, the House took a good first step, but it missed the point of separation by passing the bill without any real reforms. The House is expected to take up a food stamps bill in the near future. There are several crucial reforms that should be put into place.

Ripe for Reform

The food stamps program is one of the largest and fastest growing of the federal government’s roughly 80 means-tested welfare programs that provide cash, food, housing, medical care, and social services to lower-income Americans. Spending on food stamps has increased substantially over the past several years, doubling from $20 billion to $40 billion between fiscal years (FY) 2000 and 2007 and then doubling again to roughly $80 billion by FY 2012.[1] Moreover, food stamps is just one program of a nearly $1 trillion government welfare system.

The increase in food stamp spending over the past five years is certainly partially due to the recession and the subsequent increase in food stamp enrollment. However, program growth is also due to policy changes made over the past decade that have eased eligibility requirements. States have also been employing aggressive outreach tactics to bring more individuals onto the rolls.

Food stamps has remained largely unreformed since the 1970s and is in dire need to be brought into the modern world. Policymakers should take the opportunity now to reform food stamps. Congress should:

Via: Heritage Foundation

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