ScaifeNet because we can't let Soros have all the fun...

A three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that California's ban on same-sex marriage — enacted in 2008 in a popular vote on Proposition 8 — violates the constitutional right to equal protection. Cato's chairman Robert A. Levy, also co-chair of the advisory board to the American Foundation for Equal Rights (which sponsored the suit) has argued: "The principle of equality before the law transcends the left-right divide and cuts to the core of our nation's character. This is not about politics; it's about an indispensable right vested in all Americans."

• "The Circuit Court Ruling on Proposition 8," by David Boaz
• "Marriage Equality for All Couples," by Robert A. Levy and John D. Podesta
• "The Constitutional Case for Marriage Equality," Cato Video

While Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and private subprime lenders have deservedly garnered the bulk of attention and blame for the mortgage crisis, other federal programs also distort our mortgage market and put taxpayers at risk of having to finance massive financial bailouts. In a new paper, Cato scholar Mark A. Calabria argues that one such agency, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), should be scaled back immediately, and an emphasis should be placed on improving its credit quality. "At the same time," says Calabra, "the agency should be placed on a path to ultimately be eliminated, with its risk-taking being transferred back to the private sector."

• "Fixing Mortgage Finance: What to Do with the Federal Housing Administration?," by Mark A. Calabria

The Department of the Interior oversees more than 500 million acres of land through the Bureau of Land Management, the National Park Service, the Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the Bureau of Reclamation. Much of this land is productive, rich in natural resources, and popular with recreational visitors. Yet rather than generate a net return for taxpayers, the department consumes billions of dollars a year in subsidies. On DownsizingGovernment.org, Cato scholars analyze the department's spending and recommend cuts to save taxpayers $8 billion annually.

• Downsizing the Department of the Interior

The ostensible purpose of gun control legislation is to reduce firearm deaths and injuries. But if policymakers are truly interested in harm reduction, they should pause to consider how many crimes are thwarted each year by ordinary persons with guns. A new paper from Clayton E. Cramer and David Burnett uses a collection of news reports of self-defense with guns over an eight-year period to survey the circumstances and outcomes of defensive gun uses in America. The authors conclude that the vast majority of gun owners are ethical and competent, and tens of thousands of crimes are prevented each year by ordinary citizens with guns.

• "Tough Targets: When Criminals Face Armed Resistance from Citizens," by Clayton E. Cramer and David Burnett
• Defensive Gun Use: An Interactive Map

President Obama on Wednesday unveiled a plan to jump-start the flagging housing market by making it easier for homeowners to refinance their mortgages. Cato scholar Mark A. Calabria has argued that these proposals will do nothing to turn around either the housing market or the broader economy. "In fact," says Calabria, "by continuing his trend of confusing redistribution of wealth with its creation, the effort will likely hurt both the economy and the housing market."

• "Obama's Unwelcome Mat," by Mark Calabria
• Mark Calabria evaluates the state of the Union with respect to housing, Cato Video
• Financial Fiasco: How America's Infatuation with Homeownership and Easy Money Created the Economic Crisis, by Johan Norberg

On the heels of a Congressional Budget Office study concluding that federal employee compensation is 16 percent higher than that of similar private-sector workers, the U.S. House voted Wednesday to freeze federal pay. Just on Monday, Cato scholar Chris Edwards had argued, "Congress should freeze or cut federal wages and then start overhauling federal benefits to reduce costs. To deal with today's large budget deficits, we need to restrain all areas of spending, and so it is reasonable to cut federal pay packages and better align them with private-sector practices."

• "CBO Study on Federal Pay," by Chris Edwards
• "Overpaid Federal Workers," by Chris Edwards
• "Federal Government Is a Lucrative 'Industry'," by Tad DeHaven
• DownsizingGovernment.org

In the latest issue of Cato Policy Report, we present a 1985 lecture from William A. Niskanen, distinguished senior economist and chairman emeritus of the Cato Institute who passed away last year. Still timely and relevant, the lecture discusses the importance of limiting the role of the state to those activities that serve the common defense and the general welfare. Also in this issue, David Boaz discusses the need for Occupy Wall Street fans to redirect their protest. "The center of the problem," says Boaz, "isn't Wall Street; it's Pennsylvania Avenue."

• January/February 2012 Issue of Cato Policy Report

Immigration has been instrumental in U.S. history in promoting economic development and increasing the range of options open to people. In a new, special issue of Cato Journal, the authors examine the economics and demographics of immigration, the current U.S. immigration system and efforts to either enforce or reform it, and the potential for movement toward an immigration system that would expand opportunities for legal immigration.

• "Is Immigration Good for America?," Winter 2012 Issue of Cato Journal
• Subscribe to Cato Journal

President Obama's State of the Union address on Tuesday focused mainly on economic inequality, taxes, manufacturing, and education. Obama proposed new tax reform, including increased tax rates for the nation's wealthiest, education and job-training initiatives, and more clean energy incentives. Cato Institute scholars live-blogged the address, offering real-time commentary of Obama's proposals.

• "A Redistributive State of the Union," by Michael D. Tanner
• Live Blog of the 2012 State of the Union Address and the GOP Response
• "State of the Union 2012," Video Response from Cato Scholars

President Obama's State of the Union address on Tuesday focused mainly on economic inequality, taxes, manufacturing, and education. Obama proposed new tax reform, including increased tax rates for the nation's wealthiest, education and job-training initiatives, and more clean energy incentives. Cato Institute scholars live-blogged the address, offering real-time commentary of Obama's proposals.

• Live Blog of the 2012 State of the Union Address and the GOP Response

The Supreme Court ruled against the government's position in U.S. v. Jones, the case dealing with the Fourth Amendment constitutionality of using GPS to track individuals' movements without a warrant. Cato scholar Jim Harper approves: "The Supreme Court has delivered a big win for privacy. The Jones majority returned to property rights as a basis for Fourth Amendment protection. ...It may seem like a return to the past, but it is also a return to a foundation on which privacy can be more secure."

• "U.S. v. Jones: A Big Privacy Win," by Jim Harper
• "Jonesing for a Fourth Amendment Upgrade," by Julian Sanchez
• "A Unanimous Privacy Victory in U.S. v. Jones," Cato Video
• Cato's Amicus Brief in U.S. v. Jones

In the wake of Wednesday's "black out" protest of pending antipiracy legislation, consideration of both SOPA and PIPA has been halted in the House and Senate, respectively. Both bills will be held indefinitely for additional deliberation. Cato scholar Julian Sanchez warns that even revised legislation could be far from toothless: "The Justice Department and private copyright owners can still seek to have entire foreign sites branded as infringers, triggering an array of remedies that would still deter technological investment and innovation, and still impose serious burdens on American companies and ordinary Internet users."

• "What's Next for SOPA and PIPA?," by Julian Sanchez
• "The Internet Is Not Government's to Regulate," by Jim Harper
• "Blackout Protesting SOPA, PIPA Bills Makes Statement on Censorship," by Julian Sanchez and David Segal
• "Internet Censorship Is the Wrong Answer to Online Piracy," Cato Video featuring Julian Sanchez

Thousands of internet sites are taking part in a "blackout" protest against anti-piracy laws being discussed by lawmakers. The two bills, nicknamed SOPA and PIPA, are "through-the-looking-glass information control, with enormous potential to obstruct entirely lawful communications and impinge on First Amendment rights," writes Cato scholar Jim Harper. Adds Julian Sanchez, "The practical effect of SOPA will be to create an architecture for censorship—both legal and technological—that will radically alter the costs of engaging in future censorship unrelated to piracy or counterfeiting."

• "The Internet Is Not .gov's to Regulate," by Jim Harper
• "SOPA: An Architecture for Censorship," by Julian Sanchez
• "Killing the Internet to Save Hollywood," by Julian Sanchez
• "Internet Censorship Is the Wrong Answer to Online Piracy," Cato Video featuring Julian Sanchez

Because no constitutional amendment can be enacted without Congress's approval, limitations on the federal government that Congress opposes are virtually impossible to pass. In a new paper, law professor Michael B. Rappaport argues that Article V of the U.S. Constitution is defective and should be reformed. "Returning power to the states," says Rappaport, "would militate against our overly centralized government by helping to restore the federalist character of our Constitution."

• "Renewing Federalism by Reforming Article V: Defects in the Constitutional Amendment Process and a Reform Proposal," by Michael B. Rappaport

President Obama has announced plans to elevate the Small Business Administration to a cabinet-level agency. The move would be part of a larger plan by the administration to combine the SBA with five other government offices to create a single agency. The SBA's elevation is disappointing to Cato scholar Tad DeHaven, who recently called for the program's termination: "We should dispense with government favoritism to small businesses and large businesses, and allow America's entrepreneurs to compete on a level playing field to serve consumers, not plunder taxpayers."

• "Obama Proposes New Department of Corporate Welfare," by Tad DeHaven
• "Terminating the Small Business Administration," by Veronique de Rugy and Tad DeHaven
• "Merging Wasteful Agencies Won't Shrink Government," featuring Chris Edwards
• "Waste, Fraud, and Abuse in Small Business Administration Programs," Testimony by Tad DeHaven

President Barack Obama on Friday announced plans to elevate the Small Business Administration to a cabinet-level agency. The move would be part of a larger plan by the administration to combine the SBA with five other government offices to create a single agency. The SBA's elevation is disappointing to Cato scholar Tad DeHaven, who recently called for the program's termination: "We should dispense with government favoritism to small businesses and large businesses, and allow America's entrepreneurs to compete on a level playing field to serve consumers, not plunder taxpayers."

• "Terminating the Small Business Administration," by Veronique de Rugy and Tad DeHaven
• "Merging Wasteful Agencies Won't Shrink Government," featuring Chris Edwards
• "Waste, Fraud, and Abuse in Small Business Administration Programs," Testimony by Tad DeHaven

At the Detroit Auto Show, CEO Dan Akerson admitted that General Motors may have to cut back production of the Chevrolet Volt because the 4,600-plus Volts on the market now are about three times the monthly sales. Cato scholar Patrick J. Michaels has long argued that the Volt's long-term viability may be a risky proposition. "Taxpayers and corporations can't prop up this flop forever," says Michaels. "GM management should end the misery before being told off by the voters, the markets and its own technology."

• "GM's Flop in Green," by Patrick J. Michaels
• "Let's Divest of GM Yesterday," by Daniel Ikenson
• "The EPA's Odd View of 'Consumer Choice'," by Patrick J. Michaels

The United States is the land of opportunity—the opportunity to be great, the opportunity to fail and try again. In the most recent issue of Cato's Letter, John A. Allison, the former chairman and CEO of BB&T, argues that the real cause of the financial crisis was philosophical. "We got into this mess through a combination of altruism and pragmatism, which is what I call 'the free-lunch mentality.' ...Unfortunately, this free-lunch mentality leads to a lack of personal responsibility, which is the central issue that underlies all of our financial problems."

• "The Real Causes of the Financial Crisis," by John A. Allison
• Subscribe to Cato's Letter

The Supreme Court heard arguments on whether the FCC should still have a role in policing the nation's airwaves or whether its indecency regulations violate guarantees of free speech and due process. In a recent op-ed, Cato scholars Ilya Shapiro and Trevor Burrus say that the FCC is living in the past: "Because the law is stuck in 1978, the medium through which we receive most of our information receives less First Amendment protection than other media. ...Isn't it time for a new rule?"

• "Court Should Pull FCC Into 21st Century," by Ilya Shapiro and Trevor Burrus

On January 8, the No Child Left Behind Act turned ten years old, but there was no party. The law's been an expensive dud, coupling massive policy illogic with a cost of about $25 billion per year. But it's not an isolated failure, says Cato scholar Neal McCluskey, "Washington's edu-meddling has produced nearly five decades of empty promises and empty wallets, more than enough futility to illustrate why the Feds must obey the Constitution and get out of education."

• "NCLB: Perspectives on the Law," by Neal McCluskey
• "No Child Left Behind: A Decade of Failure," Cato Video
• "The Impact of Federal Involvement in America's Classrooms," by Andrew Coulson
• "End It, Don't Mend It: What to Do with No Child Left Behind," by Neal McCluskey and Andrew J. Coulson