The Heritage Insider: Brexit will be good for a lot of reasons, a win for separation of powers, gun control lies, what's at stake in Scalia replacement?

June 25, 2016

 

 

The Brits vote for independence from the EU. That’s not just good for the British sovereignty; it’s good for America, too. Now Britain needs to consider its trade relations with the rest of the world—and a new relationship with Europe, too. President Obama’s deferred action on illegal aliens lost at the Supreme Court this week; the Constitution won. You are being lied to by gun control activists. Also: it’s time to think seriously about what’s at stake in the next Supreme Court pick. Plus, over 40 new studies, articles, speeches, videos, and events at The Insider this week. Visit to see what the conservative movement has been thinking, writing, saying, and doing to win battles for liberty.

 

 

Brexit wins. British voters chose to leave the European Union on Thursday, severing a 40-year-old economic and political union with the continent. Nile Gardiner writes that the vote is a win not just for British sovereignty, but for American interests as well: “Brexit will result in a bonfire of red tape, freeing the city of London and enterprises across the nation from European Union diktat. And at last, Britain is free again to negotiate its own free trade deals, a huge boost to the world’s fifth largest economy. The United States should seize upon Brexit as a tremendous opportunity to sign an historic free trade agreement with the United Kingdom—a deal that would advance prosperity on both sides of the Atlantic. Brexit will also strengthen the Anglo-American special relationship, the most important bilateral partnership in the world. Britain outside the EU will be a stronger ally for the United States, from confronting Russian aggression in Eastern Europe to defeating the Islamist terror threat.” [The Daily Signal]

 

Now what? Sam Bowman argues that Britain’s best option is to pursue membership in the European Economic Area—i.e., remain in the Single Market but without membership in the European Union: “The EEA Option takes much of the risk out of leaving. Brexit means a huge change to the way Britain will be governed, including the prospect of rebooting the country’s political culture altogether, as well as forging better links with the rest of the world in the form of free trade agreements and perhaps even setting up a common travel area with the other Anglosphere countries like Australia and Canada. But a lot of that opportunity could be lost if economic fears dominate the first few years of independence. EEA gives us breathing room to make Brexit a slow, safe process — not a risky, sudden event. We need a strong economy to get the other changes we want.” [Adam Smith Institute]

 

The President can’t just make up new rules. The Obama administration’s program to give illegal aliens legal status (deferring deportation) and other benefits is dead this week. We’re referring to the so-called Deferred Action for Parents of Americans program, which the administration started in 2014. Texas and 25 others states went to court charging that in creating the program the Obama administration had failed to “take care that the laws be faithfully executed” as required by the Constitution, and that it violated the Administrative Procedures Act for issuing new regulations. The Supreme Court voted 4-4 in the case, which means the lower court’s preliminary injunction is upheld. Elizabeth Slattery and Hans von Spakovsky write that the decision “is a huge win for Texas and all of the 26 states” that challenged the program: “At its core, this case underscores the importance of each branch of the federal government respecting the limits of its authority and of each branch working to keep the others in check. Thursday’s ruling is also a victory for the separation of powers and limited government.” [The Daily Signal]

 

You are being lied to by the boosters of gun control. There has been lots of misinformation about guns following the Orlando shooting, writes James Agresti. One prime example stems from anti-gun activists’ 30-year effort to confuse the public about what guns are being targeted for further restrictions. When they say “assault weapon,” they are referring to a gun that cosmetically looks like an automatic rifle but is in fact just a semi-automatic. The term is easily confused with “assault rifle,” which denotes an automatic weapon. Agresti notes that with the exception of grandfathered weapons, civilian possession of guns capable of firing multiple rounds with one-pull of the trigger has been illegal since 1986. He further notes that the Department of Justice has found that no legal owner of such weapons has been convicted of using them in a crime from 2006 to 2014. [The Insider]

 

The next Supreme Court justice: Put this event on your calendar: “Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt will deliver a lecture on what is at stake with Justice Scalia’s replacement and the major upcoming cases whose outcomes will likely hinge on who the replacement will be.” Noon on June 30 at Hillsdale College’s Allan P. Kirby Jr. Center for Constitutional Studies & Citizenship in Washington, DC. [Allan P. Kirby Jr. Center for Constitutional Studies & Citizenship]

 

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