The Supreme Court released two 5-to-4 decisions this week that have serious First Amendment implications. In both decisions, the Court ruled against government coercing speech. In NIFLA v. Becerra, the Supreme Court reversed the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision that California’s Reproductive Freedom, Accountability, Comprehensive Care, and Transparency (FACT) Act was likely constitutional and […]
Last summer, rumors abounded that Associate Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy would retire, but nothing came of it. Those rumors were given new life as Politico released the audio of a speech made by Senator Dean Heller (R-Nev.) in Las Vegas last week. Heller hopes that a Kennedy retirement would rally his base in a […]
Yesterday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments for Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission. This case has enormous religious liberty implications nationwide. You may remember that Jack Phillips, owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop in Lakewood, Colo., refused to make a custom-made wedding cake for a same-sex couple’s wedding reception in 2012. Even though they were […]
On Sunday, California Governor Jerry Brown vetoed AB 569. The bill, introduced by Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher (D-San Diego), would have prohibited faith-based organizations including churches, colleges, non-profit organizations, and pro-life pregnancy centers from having a code of conduct about abortion and sexual behavior. The bill only provided a ministerial exemption for those who are […]
The U.S. House passed the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act by a vote of 237 to 187 on Tuesday afternoon. The bill if passed into law would ban abortions after 20 weeks except to save the life of the mother or in cases of rape and incest. This bill was also passed by the House […]
As a former pastor and student of church history, I took issue with a few aspects of Dr. Carolyn McLarty’s article on Tuesday about President Trump’s executive order promoting religious liberty. First, as I wrote at Caffeinated Thoughts, the executive order does not accomplish anything except set a positive tone throughout the administration. I acknowledge […]
Four Colorado state legislators have introduced a bill that would lower the state’s age of consent for outpatient psychotherapy from 15 to 10 years of age. State Representatives Dafna Michaelson Jenet (D-HD 30) and Lois Landgraf (R-HD 21) along with State Senators Steve Fenberg (D-SD 18) and Don Coram (R-SD 6) are sponsors of HB17-1320. […]
Over the weekend President Donald Trump took to Twitter and made some very serious claims about former President Barack Obama. Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my “wires tapped” in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 4, 2017 Is it legal for a […]
Deal Hudson earlier this week claimed Donald Trump won his first debate with Hillary Clinton. He said he won because he didn’t self-destruct. We must have been watching two different debates. I think Donald Trump won the first 20 minutes of the debate, but unfortunately for him and his supporters, it was a 90 minute […]
Donald Trump has ended the speculation. Indiana Governor Mike Pence will be Trump’s running mate. Trump’s choice of Pence was a safe, but unimaginative choice. Pence has the legislative and governing experience Trump lacks, but Pence lacks three essential ingredients that Trump needs. It may not be possible to find a running mate who delivers […]
Although national general election polling overall has been generally abysmal for Donald Trump, FBI Director James Comey’s press conference about the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails was about as bad as it could politically get for Clinton, short of an indictment. Now, we are waiting to see polling taken after the announcement and subsequent House hearing […]
Back in March, I wrote about an ad that targeted U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) because of his support of Donald Trump should he become the nominee. His Democrat opponent, Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick (D-AZ), released an ad called “Trump” that linked McCain to Trump. It was brutal, but these types of ads practically write themselves […]
Jon, I think we need to look up the definition of stolen. In order for the GOP nomination to be “stolen,” wouldn’t that mean the nomination was Donald Trump’s in the first place? The delegate math hasn’t changed for Trump; he was expected to win the Northeastern Primaries. Unless he wins Indiana and sweeps California, […]
Monica Vernon, a Democrat candidate in Iowa’s 1st Congressional District race, discussed her opposition to the First Amendment Defense Act that is co-sponsored by Congressman Rod Blum (R-IA) whom she hopes to unseat. Her comments were in response to a question about her opinion of members of Congress who base their opposition and support of […]
March 15th or Super Tuesday 3 (I originally called it Super Tuesday 2, but apparently March 8th was “super” as well) was a good night for Donald Trump. He won every state that he led the polls in. He wracked up lots of delegates and took one step closer to the GOP nomination for president. […]
Last week during the Fox News GOP Debate in Detroit, Ohio Governor John Kasich painted himself to be an advocate of state and local control of education. Kasich said, “And, frankly, look, if I were president, I’d take 104 federal programs, bundle them into four buckets, and send it to the states, because fixing schools […]
Yes, it’s true that real estate mogul Donald Trump has spoken against Common Core, but it has almost always been in the context of taking a jab at Jeb Bush. Will we hear him mention it again now that Bush is out of the race? Also, how will he deal with Common Core if elected […]
I shared some post-South Carolina Primary thoughts on Facebook Saturday night, but I wanted to expand on that here. This is a three-way race between Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio. Currently Donald Trump is in the driver’s seat. Finally after South Carolina pollsters can finally pat themselves on the back because the polling […]
Donald Trump either misspoke or had a Freudian slip while speaking at Clemson University in Clemson, SC on Wednesday: “We are going to do something special. . . . Okay, are you ready? Common Core we’re going to keep. Trade we are going to make great. Military – we’re going to go through the . […]
I want to take a look at each of the candidates in the Republican presidential field following Donald Trump’s rout in the First in the Nation primary state of New Hampshire. In a nutshell, I believe the race effectively comes down to a Donald Trump vs. Ted Cruz race. Cruz moving forward may be the […]