U.S. taxpayers should not be ‘very pleased’ to pay more than one fifth of U.N. budget

In the midst of the fiscal cliff panic, which dominated the American media cycle during the holiday season, another very important debate over the use of the United States’ finances was talking place in the international community at the United Nations. At the end of December, the United Nations General Assembly decided that the U.S. would continue to pay more than one fifth of the world organization’s budget for the next three years.

In response to the legislation, U.S. representative for U.N. management and reform, Joseph Torsella, said taxpayers should be satisfied with the U.N’s decision, pointing out that it could have been worse  - the U.N. could have demanded a higher contribution from taxpayers.

By /// January 8, 2013

Why Eric Holder’s suggestion that the U.S. should automatically register voters is a terrible idea

The United States should consider automatically registering voters, Attorney General Eric Holder said Tuesday at an event at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston.

Holder’s statements ignore the foundation of effective democracy: active and thoughtful citizen engagement.

By /// December 15, 2012

In final debate on election eve, third party candidates clash on economic policy, climate change

WASHINGTON—Libertarian Gary Johnson and Green Party candidate Jill Stein clashed Monday night on the day before the Nov. 6 election, as each outlined positions on economic policy and climate change.

Johnson, former Republican governor of New Mexico and Libertarian nominee for the 2012 presidential race, outlined his Libertarian approach for job creation in the opening remarks of the third party debate, which was sponsored by Russia Today, and held in their Washington, D.C. studios and broadcast on YouTube.

“When it comes to jobs, let’s eliminate income tax, corporate tax, abolish the IRS, replace all of that with one federal consumption tax,” Johnson said. “I’m advocating the fair tax, which I think is the answer to tens of millions of jobs being created in this country because we are talking about a zero corporate tax rate environment.”

By /// November 6, 2012

Obama camp says “Goodbye” in campaign e-mail

The National Finance Director for the Obama Rufus Gifford campaign sent an email Friday saying “goodbye” to all of Obama’s supporters and making a last ditch effort to ask for money.

“This is me saying goodbye to your inbox,” the e-mail read before it begged supporters who have not yet pledged money to the campaign to get on the bandwagon.

“Seriously, you’ve waited until the last minute here – and we have our final big budget meeting tomorrow. We need your help now, before it’s too late,” said Gifford.

By /// November 3, 2012

VIDEO: Romney campaign capitalizes on Obama’s “revenge” comments in new ad

The Romney campaign quickly churned out an ad using President Obama’s vote for “revenge” comments on the campaign trail Friday and asked voters to vote “for love of country,” instead.

“No, no, no — don’t boo, vote,” Obama said on the campaign trail Friday. “Vote. Voting is the best revenge.”

With just three days before the election the Romney camp has no time to lose, and it shows.

By /// November 3, 2012

Emergency compliment site offers new way to boost self-esteem

People struggling with sadness, low self-esteem, or general feelings of uncoolness can now fight back, courtesy of EmergencyCompliment.com, a website that provides kind words with one click.

Guests to the ultra-simple site first observe a compliment in thick white letters on a neon-colored background.

Background colors change as users view more praise like: “Keep walking around naked. Your neighbors are into it,”

By /// November 3, 2012

Conservative, Liberal and Libertarian panelists clash on foreign policy, agree on drone usage

WASHINGTON—Liberal Bill Scher, Libertarian Tim Cavanaugh, and Conservative Jim Antle clashed Thursday night ahead of the Nov. 6 election, as each outlined his partisan perspective on military intervention; but all agreed on the careful use of drones in foreign policy decisions.

Antle, associate editor of The American Spectator, outlined his conservative approach of a “humble” foreign policy upon arrival to the panel debate, which was sponsored by Young Americans for Liberty, held on the American University campus.

“The initial strikes against those that attacked us were necessary but to go off and pursue regime change in other unrelated countries people already wanted to intervene in prior to 9/11 was simply casting about in search of a solution to a problem the political class was not really certain how to solve,” he said.

By /// November 2, 2012