The United States Department of Agriculture is pondering changes in the regulation of “natural” chicken. The major poultry producers in the nation — Perdue, Pilgrim’s Pride, and Tyson Foods — have taken different sides in this argument. Perdue claims that its competitors, Pilgrim’s Pride and Tyson, are injecting water and salt into their poultry, increasing the weight of the chicken artificially.

Governor Schwarzenegger of California on Wednesday ordered furloughs for 156,000 of the state’s 237,000 employees. The estimated savings from these furloughs is $150,000,000 per month — only $80,000,000 of which comes from savings in general revenue — a drop in the bucket compared to the overall state deficit which stands at $19,000,000,000.

Anthony Martin at the Conservative Examiner has described the Obama Plan for the systematic removal of our remaining American liberties — brick by brick. Each step is intimately connected with the operation of the free market.

Federal District Court Judge Susan Bolton, during the course of a July 22 hearing, made it clear to parties attacking and parties defending the new Arizona immigration law, SB 1070, that she will not issue a ruling that invalidates the entire law before it goes into effect on July 29. Her questioning of ACLU lawyer Omar Jadwat may provide some insight into Judge Bolton’s rulings in the case. The judge asked Jadwat: “Why can’t Arizona be as inhospitable as they wish to people who have remained and entered the United States illegally? Who am I to stop the state of Arizona?”

Gigantic congressional bills, crammed with every goodie needed to buy a senator or congressman, filled with little rewards for special interest groups who help the right people, and often jammed with just plain foolishness, are the hallmark of how business has been conducted for many decades in our capitol. The massive healthcare bill passed by Democrats last winter is an excellent example of this messiness. Section 9006 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act amends the Internal Revenue Code so that, beginning in January 2012, a Form 1099 will have to be filled for all purchases of gold which exceed $600. This, of course, has nothing to do with health care at all. It does have to do with collecting yet more money from Americans in income taxes: $17 Billion over the next ten years, the Joint Committee on Taxation reports.

Organized labor has increasingly moved away from its original stated goal: representing industrial workers against the “ogres” of big business.

The Tea Party movement is consciously constructed around the founding principles of the Declaration of Independence — all men are created equal. These words were echoed 87 years after the Declaration of Independence by Abraham Lincoln, the Great Emancipator of African Americans.

The federal stimulus program, intended to create jobs in the American economy, has largely been funneled into government jobs that do not create goods or services and — in fact — may hinder the private sector from growing (as government activity often does).

Andrew Cuomo, in announcing his candidacy for Governor of New York, has attacked: “The influence of lobbyists and their special interests.” His solution is to pass state campaign finance laws which create new contribution limits. As he delivered this pronouncement, however, Cuomo sat on an estimated $7.1 million that he had received from political action committees, real estate and construction firms, big unions, and health care lobbying firms.

Oklahoma lawmakers are supporting an amendment to the Oklahoma Constitution that would prohibit state courts from relying upon Sharia (Islamic law) or international law in deciding cases.