Brian and Garrett Fahy are attorneys from Los Angeles who previously worked in the White House and Senate Republican Conference, respectively. They write on national legal and political affairs. They can be reached at BGTownhall@gmail.com. http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BrianandGarrettFahy http://media.townhall.com/TownHall/icons/TH-feed-icon-128x128.gif http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BrianandGarrettFahy TownHall.com, Where your opinion counts. 128 Copyright (c) 2013 Townhall.com, A Salem Communications Web. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED jim.dearras@townhall.com (Jim De Arras) Fri, 24 May 2013 04:01:00 GMT Fri, 24 May 2013 04:01:00 GMT http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss RSS.NET: http://www.rssdotnet.com/ "Everything comes from the top." This quote from an anonymous source in the IRS Determinations Unit explains why the IRS targeting of conservative groups did not likely originate with low level staffers at a remote IRS... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BrianandGarrettFahy/2013/05/24/scandalous-ignorance-n1605007 a9da21d1-b310-4df9-a8fb-d43c57076045 Fri, 24 May 2013 04:01:00 GMT After Wednesday's remarkable congressional testimony by State Department officials with inside knowledge of the Benghazi attack, it is settled that the explanations for the attack and the American non-response advanced... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BrianandGarrettFahy/2013/05/10/benghazis-inconvenient-truths-n1591933 dd90a901-9a80-4408-9201-313c880a7c6e Fri, 10 May 2013 04:01:00 GMT "Approximately 30 seconds before the first explosion, he lifted his phone to his ear as if he was speaking on his cell phone, and kept it there for approximately 18 seconds. A few seconds after he finished the call, the... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BrianandGarrettFahy/2013/04/24/the-lessons-of-41513-n1576291 bd85f65e-18e8-44dd-acc6-002324f4b365 Wed, 24 Apr 2013 04:01:00 GMT On Wednesday, the U.S. Senate voted 54-46 to defeat an amendment that would have required broader background checks on gun purchases. The amendment, sponsored by Pennsylvania Republican Senator Pat Toomey and West... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BrianandGarrettFahy/2013/04/19/why-obama-misfired-on-gun-control-n1572472 5ac100b8-ded1-4df8-b6a1-d0d5fde754f1 Fri, 19 Apr 2013 04:01:00 GMT On Wednesday, the U.S. Senate voted 54-46 to defeat an amendment that would have required broader background checks on gun purchases. The amendment, sponsored by Pennsylvania Republican Senator Pat Toomey and West... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BrianandGarrettFahy/2013/04/19/why-obama-misfired-on-gun-control-n1572469 6c129b3d-12cd-4ea1-8c21-1b3700c12aac Fri, 19 Apr 2013 04:01:00 GMT With the passing of Margaret Thatcher, and the commemoration of Winston Churchill day, world attention this week was rightly focused on the greatest Prime Ministers of the 20th century. Given that Thatcher, more... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BrianandGarrettFahy/2013/04/12/thatcherism-the-cure-for-an-ailing-america-n1565165 f70d32df-4342-4f17-ad43-f8161caed8d0 Fri, 12 Apr 2013 04:01:00 GMT This week, the Supreme Court heard oral argument in two gay marriage cases: Hollingsworth v. Perry, which will decide the fate of California's Proposition 8; and United States v. Windsor, which will decide the fate of... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BrianandGarrettFahy/2013/03/29/the-gay-marriage-divides-n1551909 f91047ec-c457-419d-8a7f-80502468e7d0 Fri, 29 Mar 2013 04:01:00 GMT Ten years, $1.7 trillion dollars and 4,800 casualties. This was the cost of America’s effort to remove Saddam Hussein and enable the growth of the Middle East’s first Muslim democracy. Ten years later,... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BrianandGarrettFahy/2013/03/21/after-a-decade-of-war-what-is-the-mission-now-n1544617 c844e488-ecf2-4d2d-a0bb-488d2d068e13 Thu, 21 Mar 2013 04:01:00 GMT In Charlie Wilson's War, Congressman Charlie Wilson, who helped arm the Afghanistan mujahedeen in their war against the Soviets, is admonished by his love interest that "if this were a real war," then he and the country... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BrianandGarrettFahy/2013/02/19/obamas-wars-unprincipled-unfocused-unexplained-n1515490 af58dc07-66c2-4908-9683-08eac001458d Tue, 19 Feb 2013 16:14:00 GMT The 2012 presidential campaign is over, but not for President Obama. The community organizer turned Senator turned president, who ran on hope and change in 2008 and its antipode character assassination in 2012, has no... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BrianandGarrettFahy/2013/01/30/obamas-total-war-against-the-gop-n1500550 8da220a6-8d12-460e-9a03-432f4be60c5b Wed, 30 Jan 2013 05:01:00 GMT Accomplished legislator. Effective, insightful administrator. Respected, bipartisan leader. Policy visionary. Nothing of the sort has been said of Chuck Hagel - or of President Obama's other Cabinet nominees John Kerry http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BrianandGarrettFahy/2013/01/11/obamas-empty-cabinet-n1486862 40e54ac9-4785-460d-8cea-46222b74c175 Fri, 11 Jan 2013 05:01:00 GMT When the history of the 2012 fiscal cliff debate is written, conspicuously absent will be any mention of robust presidential leadership to avert the impending financial crisis. Whatever the president believes was the... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BrianandGarrettFahy/2012/12/09/the_perils_of_president_present 7bef1ec5-82c2-4e70-b6b0-02baf1596e10 Sun, 09 Dec 2012 05:01:00 GMT In 2010, the Republican Party made significant midterm gains in a "wave election" as a result of the rise and effectiveness of the Tea Party, which reflected and galvanized the electorate's concerns over spending, debt,... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BrianandGarrettFahy/2012/12/04/off_the_cliff_and_on_message bc93a094-cf2e-4ad4-b759-a3047aec32a3 Tue, 04 Dec 2012 05:01:00 GMT Further illustrating his tireless commitment to (not) addressing the forthcoming financial meltdown, President Obama recently traveled to Myanmar, a country of minimal strategic value to the United States. There to... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BrianandGarrettFahy/2012/11/28/the_fiscal_cliff_and_chinese_windfall fd9d743b-53b0-409a-a756-fe49c2078940 Wed, 28 Nov 2012 05:01:00 GMT Stockholm syndrome is a psychological phenomenon where hostages develop and express empathy and positive feelings towards their captors, sometimes to the point of defending them. Such feelings are generally... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BrianandGarrettFahy/2012/11/09/swing_state_stockholm_syndrome 6db1deb8-1080-41f8-939b-c41ae2477e46 Fri, 09 Nov 2012 12:17:00 GMT Fellow citizens, As voters, you are the jury of this election. You must render a verdict on the president's stewardship of this nation for the past four years. Yours is a solemn duty, one enshrined in the... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BrianandGarrettFahy/2012/11/05/mitts_closing_argument 5917300c-0ae2-4bd3-95ca-3b5d793daa9f Mon, 05 Nov 2012 05:01:00 GMT The final presidential debate on foreign policy muddled the differences between Mr. Romney and Mr. Obama on foreign policy, but foreign policy is second or third on most voters' list of priorities. Therefore, the... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BrianandGarrettFahy/2012/10/26/why_mitt_wins 14992a01-375b-4565-9273-20fb26f93a54 Fri, 26 Oct 2012 04:01:00 GMT As a result of Mitt Romney's hands-down, no contest victory in the first presidential debate, the race for president now, more so than before, is an actual contest. Democrats are on defense, and Vice President Biden is... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BrianandGarrettFahy/2012/10/11/big_mitt_v_small_barack 9172650f-2ebd-4920-b1ab-5254bb6a2e29 Thu, 11 Oct 2012 04:01:00 GMT President Obama's whereabouts reveal what he values, and doesn't. To wit: In the week preceding the violent attacks on our embassies on 9/11/12, according to the Washington Post, President Obama could not find time... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BrianandGarrettFahy/2012/09/28/presidential_priorities f374c8b8-de60-498e-a334-faeb7da86703 Fri, 28 Sep 2012 04:01:00 GMT In the film "The Truman Show," actor Jim Carrey played lovable simpleton Truman Burbank who, unbeknownst to him, lived his entire life trapped in a television show. His wife, co-workers and friends were all actors, his... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BrianandGarrettFahy/2012/09/21/barack_obamas_truman_show_presidency 25c0c326-5ee0-4625-90e8-70bcfe5e74ba Fri, 21 Sep 2012 04:01:00 GMT Often in politics, what is not said is as or more important than what is. Silence can serve as an endorsement, an admission, an evasion, or all of the above. As the Democrats gather in Charlotte for their convention, it... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BrianandGarrettFahy/2012/09/06/convening_against_convention 42b17918-df8e-411e-bb50-65c01bb975bd Thu, 06 Sep 2012 04:01:00 GMT Like conflict, numbers have a way of concentrating the mind. Everyone knows the economy is in bad shape. But just how bad is it? As President Obama campaigns to move the country "Forward" and tries to scare the middle... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BrianandGarrettFahy/2012/08/25/barack_obamas_war_on_the_middle_class ca688c68-ad7f-43c4-938c-90ce904c9013 Sat, 25 Aug 2012 04:01:00 GMT Mitt Romney’s choice of Republican Congressman and budget guru Paul Ryan as his running mate has profoundly altered the presidential race. In selecting the wonkish, articulate Ryan, Mitt Romney has enhanced his... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BrianandGarrettFahy/2012/08/18/romney_20_the_paul_ryan_effect 6f233485-f753-4b6c-87e9-d5c2cf7fb729 Sat, 18 Aug 2012 04:01:00 GMT In 1972, Palestinian terrorists affiliated with terrorist group Black September murdered 11 Israeli Olympic athletes and one American, David Burger, in Munich, Germany. German security forces were unable to rescue the... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BrianandGarrettFahy/2012/07/24/a_moment_for_olympic_moral_courage 5cf87f35-2406-4f19-a017-88cfa4c3143b Tue, 24 Jul 2012 18:59:00 GMT In one of Saturday Night Live's best sketches, Chris Farley played Matt Foley, a three hundred pound, disheveled divorcee and motivational speaker. In one memorable episode, Foley gives a speech entitled, "Go For It" to... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BrianandGarrettFahy/2012/07/20/obama_the_new_matt_foley_motivational_speaker 02c9463a-33be-468a-b09b-78950357b839 Fri, 20 Jul 2012 15:30:00 GMT In the classic comedy Office Space, the annoying, worthless boss Bill Lumbergh instructs his indifferent employees to ponder this question before acting: "ask yourself, is this good for the company?" Likewise here,... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BrianandGarrettFahy/2012/07/06/the_ioffice_space_i_response_to_obamacare_is_this_good_for_the_country a116e198-2cca-461e-8342-11f65fb4be17 Fri, 06 Jul 2012 04:01:00 GMT In 2000 and 2004, before the advent of the Tea Party, George W. Bush won Nevada, Colorado, Indiana, Ohio, Virginia, North Carolina, Florida and the White House. In 2008, Barack Obama did the same. This year, Mr. Obama... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BrianandGarrettFahy/2012/06/21/beyond_the_beltway___reading_the_tea_leaves_of_another_tea_party_election d5b3f1c2-db33-47df-a857-7ef7c79f4f59 Thu, 21 Jun 2012 16:03:00 GMT Welcome to the season of spin. As the presidential contest heats up, so does the parade of "news stories" trumpeting a carefully manicured version of President Obama and his record, making the case for a second term in... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BrianandGarrettFahy/2012/06/07/beyond_the_beltway_how_to_read_the_news 4bd4defb-9f8e-4321-87ee-50f2c183b576 Thu, 07 Jun 2012 04:01:00 GMT In Hawthorne, California, birthplace of the Beach Boys and just minutes south of Los Angeles International Airport, Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) is making the futuristic "final frontier" envisioned in... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BrianandGarrettFahy/2012/05/25/beyond_the_beltway_americas_next_sputnik_moment be9ec888-5d3c-4d38-a649-650d427aff8c Fri, 25 May 2012 04:01:00 GMT The economy created a disappointing 115,000 jobs in April, and the "official" unemployment rate "dropped" to 8.1 percent (from 8.3%) as a result of more Americans leaving the job market altogether. The economic recovery... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BrianandGarrettFahy/2012/05/14/solyndra_v_bain_capital f3d3199f-9245-4d7b-999e-105aaa47bf0b Mon, 14 May 2012 04:01:00 GMT When a justice you nominated to the Supreme Court, who shares your view of proper constitutional interpretation, tells your Solicitor General that neither she nor the rest of the Court is buying your argument, you know... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BrianandGarrettFahy/2012/05/02/beyond_the_beltway_potus_scotus_reckoning 96627701-6236-47c6-9e56-a227a7daf65c Wed, 02 May 2012 04:01:00 GMT The contretemps over Obamacare and the outrage in the religious community over the Administration’s forcing contraception and abortifacients down the throats of religious employers are the philosophical... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BrianandGarrettFahy/2012/04/20/beyond_the_beltway_a_founding_critique 74fa54f7-1608-4243-84e5-096eb88b1f9f Fri, 20 Apr 2012 04:01:00 GMT President Obama's re-election effort is in full swing, but you wouldn't know it by the Administration's recent pronouncements. On issue after issue, even when the Administration is on the losing end, it insists that it http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BrianandGarrettFahy/2012/04/03/obama_v_charlie_sheen__whos_really_winning 6f632ec1-5cd1-4009-a5dc-4ed58e411e83 Tue, 03 Apr 2012 14:02:00 GMT Revealing his distorted view on the relationship between faith and politics, at the recent National Prayer Breakfast President Obama exploited Scripture to justify increasing taxes on those he defines as rich. ... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BrianandGarrettFahy/2012/03/13/beyond_the_beltway_chips_salsa_and_child_soldiers 574e970f-4c18-4f00-855a-5356400fde0e Tue, 13 Mar 2012 04:01:00 GMT National attention has again been focused on California. President Obama was recently in Los Angeles fundraising with celebrities and movie stars. This past weekend, those same movie stars celebrated the recession... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BrianandGarrettFahy/2012/03/01/whats_the_matter_with_california_everything 588cefca-45b2-486e-8f3e-639c73b9abe8 Thu, 01 Mar 2012 05:01:00 GMT The Great Recession is proceeding apace, but it cannot be seen in the undulations of the Dow Industrial average or the housing index. Rather, the more worrisome and dangerous recession is happening abroad as President... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BrianandGarrettFahy/2012/02/17/beyond_the_beltway_the_great_recession 9a5bc961-bdc8-491f-99b7-6b8e0cc780f0 Fri, 17 Feb 2012 05:01:00 GMT Emperors in medieval Christendom often disregarded Papal edicts because the Pope lacked the armies to enforce them. Times have changed. As has been widely reported, President Obama's Health and Human Services... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BrianandGarrettFahy/2012/02/08/how_obama_lost_the_catholic_vote b3638e2f-548e-457a-b06c-8880331416ef Wed, 08 Feb 2012 05:01:00 GMT According to the New Testament gospel of Matthew, chapter 28, the messiah ascended into heaven, promising to return one day. In 2008, he made good on that promise, descending into Chicago's Grant Park on a mission to... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BrianandGarrettFahy/2012/01/25/beyond_the_beltway_the_obama_promised_land 17c81307-f67e-4827-be91-3fdc0c9dc986 Wed, 25 Jan 2012 05:01:00 GMT The Republican nomination process, presently venued in New Hampshire, comes during a perilous chapter in the nation's foreign policy. Iraq appears poised to come apart at the sectarian seams and Iran has, in the same... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BrianandGarrettFahy/2012/01/11/a_big_stick_president b4e66cd9-795f-43e5-b665-103d393e1189 Wed, 11 Jan 2012 05:01:00 GMT Nebraska senator Ben Nelson's recent announcement that he is retiring is further bad news for Democrats. After the disastrous 2010 midterms, the GOP's pickup in NY-9, GOP gains in November's local elections, and... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BrianandGarrettFahy/2012/01/04/beyond_the_beltway_an_upticket_electoral_effect_in_2012 3bf89981-d585-49e9-b81a-f178abc36675 Wed, 04 Jan 2012 05:01:00 GMT It's been a busy and momentous fortnight. As we celebrated Christmas and prepare for 2012, the world said a warm goodbye to Vaclav Havel, and a bitter good riddance to Kim Jong Il. Also, political observers noted the... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BrianandGarrettFahy/2011/12/28/beyond_the_beltway_christmas_conviction__consequence 0374b6c3-cd5a-454d-bc2c-110ef2e8fc25 Wed, 28 Dec 2011 16:31:00 GMT It's time to stop selectively using religion as a cudgel to attack the faithful and divide the nation. Recent examples are plentiful. Consider Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney, and Tim Tebow. Each bears witness to the... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BrianandGarrettFahy/2011/12/16/beyond_the_beltway_keeping_the_faith_in_faith 70232a66-fc58-40c8-8fd2-8f5689effa02 Fri, 16 Dec 2011 17:45:00 GMT With the recent publication of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) alarming report concerning the development of Iran’s nuclear program, the United States foreign policy establishment and our... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BrianandGarrettFahy/2011/12/08/beyond_the_beltway_we_begin_bombing_in_five_minutes 8e434e41-c82f-4f4a-ab97-61613cd108a0 Thu, 08 Dec 2011 05:01:00 GMT In the aftermath of the nation's favorite fall pastimes -- overeating and over shopping -- comes a tumultuous week of new news about old topics: Barney Frank, Billy Crystal and the Occupy movement. Domestically,... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BrianandGarrettFahy/2011/12/02/beyond_the_beltway_-_barney_frank,_billy_crystal__the_occupy_movement 4db0fe24-0a9d-49db-8497-6f01687c380d Fri, 02 Dec 2011 18:27:00 GMT Against the backdrop of the forthcoming Supreme Court challenge and GOP nomination process, where the candidates debate the best policies for the "replace" plank of the GOP's "repeal and replace" agenda, emerges the... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BrianandGarrettFahy/2011/11/24/beyond_the_beltway_the_wrong_prescription_for_medicaid_reform 82d18b1b-0651-45f3-ba53-bb7450f32aba Thu, 24 Nov 2011 05:01:00 GMT In last weekend's New York Times, Columbia Professor Jeffrey Sachs predicted and championed a new progressive movement that will allegedly restore "honest and effective government for all," revive "crucial public... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BrianandGarrettFahy/2011/11/17/beyond_the_beltway_a_response_to_jeffrey_sachs_progressive_vision 3a7094d2-f7e8-41e1-b304-2c3f75554a48 Thu, 17 Nov 2011 05:01:00 GMT To prevail in a civil case, a plaintiff must generally prove that it is more likely than not that the defendant's behavior satisfies the elements of a particular cause of action. The most common civil claim (think car... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BrianandGarrettFahy/2011/11/10/beyond_the_beltway_the_economic_case_against_barack_obama 09069709-7db4-41ff-850e-0d2d6e079cea Thu, 10 Nov 2011 05:01:00 GMT It is a revealing, and perhaps sad, commentary on the state of the GOP nomination process that so little - if any - discussion has been spent on the proper role of the federal government's most powerful branch, the... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BrianandGarrettFahy/2011/11/03/beyond_the_beltway_courting_silence 66fa738f-7173-43c2-92eb-1c46d2f9916d Thu, 03 Nov 2011 04:01:00 GMT Despite the surging Herman Cain, the White House's attempt to link his health care advisors to the much-maligned and constitutionally dubious Obamacare, and tepid support from the Tea Party, Mitt Romney and his backers... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BrianandGarrettFahy/2011/10/28/beyond_the_beltway_mitt_romney's_nomination_a_foregone_conclusion_really 6ad6b23f-6196-474a-8026-89edb2a92971 Fri, 28 Oct 2011 18:41:00 GMT One common theme emerging from the post-GOP debate analysis is the focus on which candidates scored rhetorical points. Given that the debate is on some (superficial) level about delivering verbal punches, this makes... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BrianandGarrettFahy/2011/10/20/beyond_the_beltway_the_inability_to_articulate 01b73129-53e4-4ddf-b4a1-28942a8f8fb0 Thu, 20 Oct 2011 19:45:00 GMT