Frequently Searched

Week in Review: The Big Catch in President Biden’s COVID Relief Plan

June 12, 2021

Should states have to surrender their ability to cut taxes in order to get federal relief money? That’s the big catch in President Biden’s COVID relief plan—but Goldwater is taking on this unconstitutional plan.

The President’s American Rescue Plan Act will give states billions of federal dollars to help them recover from the economic damage done by the COVID-19 pandemic. But states that take the funding won’t be able to cut taxes through 2024. That’s unconstitutional—and in response, many state attorneys general havefiled federal lawsuits challenging this “Tax Mandate.” This week, the Goldwater Institute filed a brief supporting the state of Ohio’s challenge.

What’s the real purpose behind the Act’s Tax Mandate? It’s designed to impose a pro-tax political philosophy on all states. But forcing states that have managed their finances well during the pandemic to adopt the tax-and-spend perspective of states that have managed their finances poorly is simply foolish. A smarter recovery plan would allow states to take the federal dollars while also allowing them to enact tax reforms to encourage business and job growth that will help speed their recovery.

You can read more about our brief at In Defense of Liberty.

Illinois Denies Second Amendment Rights — But Goldwater Continues the Fight

A deferral of rights is still a denial of rights. And because of one court decision this week, one such denial will be allowed to continue: The federal district court in Chicago declined to grant a preliminary injunction in a Goldwater case that would have put a halt to the state of Illinois’s illegal delays in issuing the permits Illinoisans need to exercise their Second Amendment rights.

Under state law, the Illinois State Police is required to grant or deny a person’s application for a Firearm Owners Identification (FOID) card within 30 days of receiving. In Illinois, residents must obtain a FOID card in order to possess a gun. But those waits frequently stretch far longer—to sometime more than 100 days. Unfortunately, the court’s decision this week ensures that these delays will persist.

Goldwater Senior Attorney Jacob Huebert joined the WMAY Morning Newsfeed this week to talk about why the court’s decision is bad news for Illinoisans’ constitutional rights. “This is a total deprivation of Second Amendment rights until the state gets around to acting on your FOID card application, and to some people that can be the difference between life and death,” Huebert said. Goldwater will continue to work to ensure that the state of Illinois follows its own law.

You can read more about our case here, and you can listen to the full WMAY interview with Huebert here.

Summer Listening on Economic Liberty and Equality under the Law

We’ve got two new listening opportunities to kick off your summer. First, Goldwater Vice President for Litigation Timothy Sandefur recently joined the American Enterprise Institute’s Naomi Schaefer Riley and Ian Rowe on their podcast “Are You Kidding Me?” to discuss how the Indian Child Welfare Act makes it harder to protect Native American children from abuse and neglect—and how irrational it is that the federal government continues to impose race-based barriers against the adoption of at-risk children. Sandefur discusses the recent decision in the Brackeen case, as well as some of the other cases the Goldwater Institute has worked on to defend the rights of Native kids and the adults who want to care for them.

Sandefur also recently sat down with the Pacific Legal Foundation’s Anastasia Boden to talk about the Constitution’s protections for economic liberty, on PLF’s podcast “Dissed,” which features famous dissenting opinions in U.S. Supreme Court history. Be sure to check out both podcasts!

COMING SOON—A Time for Choosing: Critical Race Theory or the American Dream

By seeking to impose a divisive, race-based worldview on every aspect of American life, Critical Race Theory is becoming increasingly prevalent in our nation’s schools and boardrooms. Activists use Critical Race Theory to reject the fundamental principles on which our freedom is based, pervert the idea of justice, and deny everyone’s rightful claim to an opportunity to pursue the American Dream. What can we do to fight back against this pernicious philosophy?

On Tuesday, June 29, the Goldwater Institute will host a live video discussion about the growing use of Critical Race Theory in everyday life. Radio show host and commentator Kevin Jackson and Goldwater Senior Fellow Jonathan Butcher will talk about how we can learn from serious failures of the past while keeping alive the promise of the American Dream.

Stay tuned for more details about how you can join us for this special event in the days ahead.

 

 

More on this issue

Donate Now

Help all Americans live freer, happier lives. Join the Goldwater Institute as we defend and strengthen freedom in all 50 states.

Donate Now

Since 1988, the Goldwater Institute has been in the liberty business — defending and promoting freedom, and achieving more than 400 victories in all 50 states. Donate today to help support our mission.

We Protect Your Rights

Our attorneys defend individual rights and protect those who cannot protect themselves.

Need Help? Submit a case.

Get Connected to Goldwater

Sign up for the latest news, event updates, and more.

Wait! Don’t close this yet!

We are grateful for your support of the Goldwater Institute’s efforts to advance and defend liberty throughout the United States. For over 36 years, we’ve been defending the rights of Americans to live their lives free from government interference.

And Goldwater is unique in that we direct our efforts to the 50 states where we introduce and advance innovative ideas that expand freedom. And we fight in courtrooms and capitals nationwide to defend individual liberty.

In 2024 alone, we scored over 50 policy and litigation victories defending liberty!

And that’s just the beginning.

Our plans for 2025 include:

  • Stopping pernicious DEI and other woke programs in America’s universities.
  • Ensuring that patients suffering from rare and terminal diseases have access to cutting-edge, lifesaving medical treatments, without having to first seek permission from the government.
  • Defending parental rights across the United States so that parents can send their kids to the school that best fits their needs, free from leftist indoctrination.
  • Eliminating government interference in the fundamental right of individuals to own property and use it as they see fit.
  • And much, much more

We seek to restore the presumption of liberty; that people are free to act without first asking permission from the government.

But we cannot do this without you. Will you join us as we fight to preserve and advance liberty throughout the country? As we seek new and innovative ways to defend freedom in all 50 states?

And there’s great news: Thanks to a generous Goldwater supporter, your donation today will be doubled!

So please, join us in fighting to advance liberty and score real wins for freedom from coast to coast!