Observations From the Back Row

Monckton: Obama crew 'existential threat' to U.S. - But warns GOP not in position to reverse socialism
By John Griffing
Editor’s Note: John Griffing recently interviewed Lord Monckton, who is sounding the alarm that unless the current warnings are heeded, the West is on the precipice of financial and political collapse. The framers of your Constitution understood that the people know best what is best for the people: in that sentence is the definition of Confucianism. You now have a Socialist president, a Socialist administration, a Socialist Democrat party, Socialist governors and legislators in many states. These people – whatever they say – do not believe in the libertarian, democratic principles that your Constitution encapsulates. They hate it.

Johnson challenges IRS Obamacare gimmick
The freshman senator from Wisconsin is challenging the IRS rule that circumvents Congress to support the creation of federal-facilitated health insurance exchanges and expose millions of Americans to Obamacare penalties. When President Barack Obama and the Democrats passed the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, they made a poorly crafted law, said Sen. Ron Johnson, who beat liberal icon Russ Feingold in 2010. In the law, individual states are expected to establish health care insurance exchanges, which are to be marketplaces where insurance plans are bought and sold.  Johnson said, as someone who is trying to frustrate the implementation of the health care law, he cannot ignore a bureaucratic gimmick to fix a problem that should be resolved in Congress.

The ObamaCare Decision: A Gift for Congress
Trevor Burrus
Did you know that Congress passed a massive tax increase when they passed the Affordable Care Act—a.k.a. ObamaCare—in 2010? If you didn’t, then you were not alone. Not only did Congress not realize they were passing a tax, but President Obama explicitly said that the penalty for not having qualifying health insurance was not a tax.  Today, the Supreme Court ruled that, in fact, Congress did pass a substantial tax increase when they compelled citizens to purchase health insurance or pay a fine. Unquestionably, Congress is very happy that it took two years of litigation and a blockbuster opinion from the Supreme Court to determine that the penalty is really a tax. Otherwise, if it were known at the time, Congress may have faced incredible political opposition to the Affordable Care Act and it likely would never have passed.


Let’s be honest: No one is closing tax loopholes
By David Harsanyi
After the lack of journalistic vigor displayed during Barack Obama’s magnificently ambiguous 2008 campaign, it’s comforting to see so many reporters clamoring for details about Mitt Romney’s policy proposals. Romney, you see, has a tax plan — a vague plan that relies on the sound notion that tax cuts can generate economic growth and even, consequently, raise revenue. Many in the media disagree. But as Harvey S. Rosen, an economist at Princeton University, recently wrote (pdf), “under plausible assumptions, a proposal along the lines suggested by Governor Romney can both be revenue neutral and keep the net tax burden on high-income individuals about the same.” The problem is that keeping the plan revenue-neutral on paper can be achieved only by closing tax loopholes. Which loopholes? We don’t know. Romney, as vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan explained, believes “the best way to do this is to show the framework, show the outlines of these plans and then to work with Congress to do this. That’s how you get things done.” This might be solid political reasoning, but in reality, it’s not going to happen. And the problem isn’t that wealthy oil barons or special interest lobbyists love loopholes (they do); it’s because



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