Jefferson Review
"Your Liberty is Our Interest"
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Jefferson Review |
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"Your Liberty is Our Interest" |
May 1, 2006 | |
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Home / Archives / Links / Quotes / Book Reviews / Advertise /Contact us / Subscribe / Calendar |
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Center for Individual Freedom Lunchtime Liberty Update CFIF Salutes House Energy and Commerce Committee Members for Voting to Ensure Competition and Choice for Consumers 
This week,
the House Committee on Energy and Commerce voted 42-12 to approve the
Communications Opportunity, Promotion, and Enhancement Act of 2006. The
legislation, if passed by the full House and Senate and signed by the President,
will ensure competition in the video service market, ultimately benefiting
consumers by way of lower prices and more choices in their television service.Before voting on the full legislation, the Committee voted against a "network neutrality" amendment that would have led to regulation of the Internet. CFIF applauded the committee's actions in the following statement. Read more now. Freedom Line: It's a Bird. It's a Plane. No, it's... Little Chuckie Schumer 
When Lolita
Grabovitch complained yesterday to Trump Tower neighbor Esther Shoppingale about
the rapidly escalating price of Jimmy Choo to-die-for pedipretties, she never
fathomed that congressional care would come so quickly.Yet sure enough, by dinner U.S. Senator Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) had announced a wide-ranging investigation into price gouging by shoe designers, shoe stores and shoe leather producers, domestic, foreign and terrorist. Read more now. State Issues: The Food Police Go to the States 
When we think
about the men who gathered in Philadelphia in 1787 to craft our Constitution, we
usually picture the greatest men of their age, putting aside self interest and
struggling to shape the blueprint of a nation. This is a worthy and honorable
portrait and in many ways, an accurate one.But too often we forget that there were concrete events that provided the impetus for their gathering, and many related to commerce. Read more now. Federal Issues: Another Constitutional Lesson for Capitol Hill 
Alright, we
admit it. We do enjoy pointing out the constitutional ignorance of others,
especially when those others owe their seats of power to the very first Article
of the "supreme Law of the Land." But even we were shocked this week when the
Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA),
demonstrated his prodigious constitutional naivete in an op-ed column published
by The Washington Post.On Tuesday, Chairman Specter went on the offensive in black-and-white in support of a bill he is sponsoring that would "mandate[ ] television coverage of the Supreme Court['s]" proceedings. Even if televised oral arguments were the greatest good imaginable, that doesn't mean Chairman Specter -- or, for that matter, the Congress -- can simply make it so. After all, the Constitution does divide power among the three branches of our government through the structural "separation of powers." Read more now. Guest Commentary: Civics Education 101: The Case for Good Citizenship By Alan B. Bookman 
Nearly 44,000
Florida residents willingly -- in fact, quite happily -- recently faced a
challenging test of their knowledge of our government and its history, and they
all passed. You may be surprised to learn the test takers were all immigrants to
the United States taking the examination for citizenship. You may be even more
surprised to learn that most native-born Americans, and most Floridians, are not
required to take a civics course and many would be unable to pass a similar
test.In fact, according to the Florida Law Related Education Association, here in Florida less than 10 percent of our counties require civics instruction in the schools. As a result, many children, like their parents, are in the dark when it comes to the light of democracy. They have only a vague, and often inaccurate, picture of our government. Read more now. Your Turn -- Meeting Nonsense With Commonsense: Fairness Coming to Florida's Civil Justice System 
With time
running out in many state legislative sessions to pass much-needed litigation
reform, thankfully the Florida legislature wasted no time this session in
passing a law that will eliminate the concept of "joint and several" liability.
HB145, which will end the possibility of defendants in civil lawsuits being
forced to pay a larger share of the damages than their share of the liability,
now awaits the expected signature of the governor. Under the new law, businesses
and individuals would be liable only for damages that matched their share of the
responsibility -- a measure being applauded by small and large businesses
throughout the state.Recently, Florida's Lieutenant Governor Toni Jennings joined CFIF Corporate Counsel & Senior Vice President Renee Giachino to discuss Florida's efforts to restore justice to its legal system and other measures being considered this legislative session. What follows are excerpts from the interview that aired on "Your Turn -- Meeting Nonsense With Common Sense," heard on WEBY 1330 AM, Northwest Florida's Talk Radio. Read more now. Editorial Cartoons: The Cartoons of Michael Ramirez 
View more of Michael Ramirez's latest cartoons on CFIF's website now. CFIF History & Civics Quiz: Question of the Week 
Of the 11 Member Nations comprising the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), how many are located in the Americas? (a) None (b) One (c) Two (d) Three Get the correct answer now. Jester's Courtroom: Tales Stranger Than Fiction Featuring bizarre and sometimes humorous real life stories from the courtroom. Sunscreen Affords No Protection Against Lawsuits 
A class
action lawsuit has been filed in California charging sunscreen makers with
fraudulently exaggerating the effectiveness of their products. According to
legal documents, the suit, which names nine defendants, including
Schering-Plough, Hawaiian Tropic, Neutrogena, Bull Frog and Banana Boat, lulled
consumers into believing sunscreens would protect them equally from
cancer-causing UVA and UVB rays. Lawyers in the case have called sunscreen the
"snake oil of the 21st Century."The lawsuit further alleges that the companies in the $455 million U.S. sunscreen industry give consumers a false sense of security by labeling their products as "waterproof" or "sunblock," and claiming "all-day protection" against both rays. "Members of the public believe they can spend more time in the sun without risk," the suit states. "However, in reality, although protected from skin burn (the skin's natural warning system), they are not being protected from harmful sun rays that can cause and have caused a variety of dangerous skin conditions, such as skin cancer." The plaintiffs are seeking refunds for consumers and a mandate that the manufacturers surrender any profits derived from the sale of their sunscreens. Further, the plaintiffs are demanding that the manufacturers be required to remove allegedly false labels and seek unspecified damages, with a portion of the money to go to consumer education programs. Coppertone maker Schering-Plough issued a statement, saying that "labeling and advertising for all Schering-Plough products are developed in compliance with applicable laws and FDA regulations." One dermatologist, Dr. Omeed Memar, called the lawsuit "ridiculous," as people should use their common sense rather than relying on a label. Dr. Richard G. Glogau, a clinical professor at the University of California-San Francisco, believes filing a lawsuit against sunscreen manufacturers for failing to prevent all sunburns is "akin to someone suing a seat belt manufacturer because seat belts don't prevent 100 percent of the deaths." In the wake of the lawsuit, the American Academy of Dermatology issued a reminder not to stay in the sun long even when using sunscreen. Source: Chicago Tribune and The Post-Crescent (Appleton, WI) Read more now. Since many of these gems do not attain national attention, the Jester welcomes you to share with us your favorite wacky stories from a courtroom near you! Please be sure to provide the source. You may e-mail us at info@cfif.org. Notable Quotes: Quote of the Week 
Max
Schulz, Senior Policy Advisor to Department of Energy Secretaries Bodman and
Abraham and Manhattan Institute Fellow, on the Outcry Over Rising Energy Prices:"If we want to knock down the price of $70+ crude oil, the best place to start would be by expanding our own production, not by running to regulators and government lawyers to investigate spurious charges of price gouging." Get more Notable Quotes. Do you have a notable quote you'd like to share with the Center, e-mail it to info@cfif.org. Be sure to provide us the source of the quote.
As a non-profit, 501(c)(4) corporation, the Center for Individual Freedom relies upon the generous private financial support of individuals, associations, foundations and corporations. Please consider becoming a proud supporter of the Center today. Donate online now. Share this message with a friend now! Center for Individual Freedom 113 S. Columbus Street, Suite 310 Alexandria, VA 22314 info@cfif.org http://www.cfif.org The Center for Individual Freedom is a nonpartisan constitutional advocacy organization with the mission to protect and defend individual freedoms and individual rights in the legal, legislative and educational arenas. Don't miss any of CFIF's Lunchtime Liberty Updates or Action Alerts. Make
sure our latest news and commentary continues to reach your e-mail inbox. Please
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