“In 2010, this congress passed the Healthy and Hunger-free Kids Act. We were wrong to pass it for five reasons. Number one, it was a Senate bill--that should have been our first tipoff.* Number two, it was opposed by the National Governor's Association. Three, it was opposed by the school boards association. Four, it violated the Constitution. Finally, number five, we created a one-size-fits-all federal program, not defined by us.”

“I’m sure that if we had wanted to run an ad that says ‘trees smell nice’ or something, they probably would have let us run that — but who knows,” said Brad Johnson, its campaign manager. [...] “Our goal was to highlight Pfizer and other corporations’ support of the Heartland Institute,” Mr. Johnson said. “The question to ask is whether these corporations are based on a foundation of science or on a foundation of profit.”

The situation plainly called for bold action, and Officer Juan M. Ornelas met the challenge by brandishing a Taser and asking Ms. Brooks if she knew what it was. She did not, but she told Officer Ornelas what she did know. “I have to go to the bathroom,” she said. “I am pregnant. I’m less than 60 days from having my baby.” The three men assessed the situation and conferred. “Well, don’t do it in her stomach,” one said. “Do it in her thigh.” Officer Ornelas twisted Ms. Brooks’s arm behind her back. A colleague, Officer Donald M. Jones, applied the Taser to Ms. Brooks’s left thigh, causing her to cry out and honk the car’s horn. A half-minute later, Officer Jones applied the Taser again, now to Ms. Brooks’s left arm. He waited six seconds before pressing it into her neck. Ms. Brooks fell over, and the officers dragged her into the street, laying her face down and cuffing her hands behind her back.

“It won’t be long,”*their brief said, “before the word spreads throughout society’s criminal underground that the Ninth Circuit hasn’t simply given them a ‘get out of jail free’ card, but a ‘never have to go to jail in the first place’ card.”

I just think he should, instead of making people victims of people who are successful, we should be telling people, "Look, you are having a hard time, I feel bad for you. Let's look at what you're doing, let's teach you how to succeed. Let's give you the tools to succeed" as opposed to turning everybody into victims, a victim mentality is what he's selling and nobody with a victim mentality will get anywhere, ever.

It was mostly a motley bunch of hijab and skullcap-clad Muslims, aging ex-hippies and tie-dyed stragglers who looked as if they just rolled in from the local Occupy protest. There were, it must be said, a handful of reasonably normal-looking people with them as well. Normal, except for their brainwashed, aggressive Leftist views.[...] I locked eyes with a few of them--who were staring a hole through me—gave them a big smile, and said “Hey, thanks for coming out! Be sure to stay for the whole speech—I’d like to talk to you during the Q and A.” They just looked at me, dumbfounded. You could almost hear them mumble through their tape. “Doesn’t he know he’s supposed to be rattled by us?”

Under the proposal, “any expatriate with either a net worth of $2 million or an average income tax liability of at least $148,000 over the last five years will be presumed to have renounced their citizenship for tax avoidance purposes,” according to a release from Schumer’s office, and they would pay 30 percent capital gains tax — the same rate as people pay in the U.S. If an expatriate can prove he or she has a legitimate reason for renouncing U.S. citizenship, no penalties will apply. The bill would tax any prospective gains an expatriate who has renounced his or her citizenship in the past ten years who did so for purposes of tax avoidance. In Saverin’s case, Schumer spokesman Brian Fallows said that if the Facebook co-founder liquidates all his holdings in the company before the bill is passed, he will escape penalty. However, if he takes his time selling off his assets, for the purpose of letting it grow and then seeks to sell off and he would pay 30 percent on those earnings. According to Schumer’s office, 1,780 people gave up their citizenship in 2011, a rise from 235 in 2008.

Whatever Mr. Saverin's motivation, the more important point is that it is his decision, however misguided. America was built on millions of similar individual decisions to come to our shores. It is precisely that ability to decide for oneself that has made America such a magnet for two centuries. The way to continue to be a magnet for the best and brightest is not to impose Soviet-style exit taxes to punish people who want to leave the country. That is what oppressive and demagogic regimes do, and it's humiliating to see U.S. Senators posture in such fashion. The way to punish Mr. Saverin is to make the U.S. so appealing and dynamic again that he'll be sorry he ever left.