by Fred Lucas

President Barack Obama went to China on Friday to participate in his final G-20 leaders summit—marking a legacy critics say has left America weaker on the global economic front.

While still the world’s largest economy, the United States has experienced weak growth since the Great Recession because of policies that make America less competitive, said James Amos, president and CEO of the National Center for Policy Analysis, a free-market think tank.

“The president has used one crisis after another to transform from a free enterprise system to a large social context that government can fix all our problems,” Amos, a former CEO who also was chairman of the International Franchise Association, told The Daily Signal in a phone interview. “If the private sector is working to support the public sector, we are not going to be competitive internationally.”

Nevertheless, Amos said he believes the summit of G-20 leaders could benefit both the U.S. and global economy.

“It is a giant photo op, but business gets done through relationships,” Amos said. “It’s a question of showing leadership, whether you are talking about the G-20 or other areas.”

The economy has underperformed for the entire Obama presidency, said James Roberts, a research fellow for economic freedom and growth at The Heritage Foundation.

But, Roberts said, there is little the U.S. or other countries could learn from G-20 policies.

“The G-20 has become a mini-U.N., with cronyism and corruption and promoting policies of spending more and taxing more,” Roberts told The Daily Signal.

The G-20, or Group of 20, is made up of representatives of rich and developing nations. Its members are the European Union and these 19 countries: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Britain, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, and the United States.

A White House press release says the president will use his final G-20 economic summit to advance “strong, sustainable, and balanced global economic growth.”

A more precise focus should be doing away with trade barriers by confronting Chinese protectionism, promoting cybersecurity, and opposing wasteful and corrupt state-owned enterprises, said Roberts, who edits portions of Heritage’s annual Index of Economic Freedom.

Writing in the “2017 Global Agenda for Economic Freedom,” a Heritage report released this week, Roberts called for expanding the G-7 to include more market-based democracies and downgrading the G-20.

China will host the summit in the city of Hangzhou.

White House press secretary Josh Earnest has said Obama will discuss many key issues—particularly with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Earnest cited climate change as an issue on which Obama has worked well with his Chinese counterpart, and said more work is needed on cybersecurity.

“The United States welcomes that peaceful rise, and we welcome the kind of corresponding investment in international institutions and international norms that have presented a hospitable environment for China’s rise,” Earnest told reporters Tuesday, adding:
That will be the nature of a lot of the kinds of discussions that President Obama will have, not just with President Xi but with other countries in the Asia Pacific that are a little uneasy right now about the questions that have been raised about China’s commitment to those kinds of international norms, international institutions.

Chief among those concerns has been the South China Sea.

Last month, a judicial panel in The Hague ruled that China had no legal claim to most of the South China Sea, which carries about $5 trillion in annual trade. The panel also faulted China for building artificial islands for military purposes. The Chinese government hasn’t accepted The Hague’s decision.

The South China Sea poses a significant security and economic issue for the United States, Amos said.

“A balance or lack of it in China would mean enormous amounts of money for U.S. trade, so this is a significant issue for U.S. business,” Amos said.

Meanwhile, China has agreed to international standards on cyberespionage, even as questions remain about the country’s behavior.
Obama is scheduled to have a bilateral meeting Saturday with Xi, then participate in the G-20 summit Sunday and Monday.
The G-20 was established after the 1997 Asian financial crisis for finance ministers and central bank governors, but not for heads of state. Heads of state began attending the annual meeting after the global financial crisis in 2008.

Heritage’s “2017 Global Agenda for Economic Freedom” suggests downgrading the G-20 meetings by returning to this original intent. For the U.S., this would mean sending the Treasury secretary and Federal Reserve chairman, but not the president.

The Heritage report also argues that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s policies on the economy and military fronts are enough reason to downgrade the G-20.

Further, it says, the G-20 promotes heavy taxation and spending policies as a means to stimulate individual economies.

“Yet rather than concentrating on reducing the need for more taxation by cutting government spending, G-20 leaders usually seem to concentrate on policies to fight tax avoidance, ‘base erosion and profit shifting,’” Roberts writes in the report. “In other words, G-20 leaders think about creative new ways to tax so they can continue spending.”

Organizations within the G-20 show their political leanings, such as the G-20 Green Finance Working Group and the G-20 Employment Working Group, the report argues.

G-20 organizers also decide which companies, labor unions, and other private entities participate in the meetings—giving them special access to world leaders.

“That is practically a definition of cronyism,” the Heritage report says. “It is all the more ironic since one of the many subjects covered in the G-20 process is corruption.”

by Fred Lucas

As federal courts wrestle with voter ID laws in several states just months before a national election, there is considerably less attention being brought to other constitutional rights that require ID.

Proponents of voter ID have argued that retailers require ID to buy liquor, M-rated video games, prescriptions, or even nail polish.
But these arguments aren’t really applicable to voter ID, said J. Christian Adams, general counsel for the Public Interest Legal Foundation, and a former Justice Department attorney, who supports voter ID and other election integrity laws.

“Tell me where in the Constitution does it talk about the right to buy liquor or rent a car?” Adams told The Daily Signal in a phone interview. “The Constitution does guarantee the right to use firearms, and ID is always required to purchase a firearm. If you talk about buying liquor, the left will shred that argument. If you talk about ID when buying a gun, it boxes them in.”
Here are seven common situations that require an ID.

1. Welfare Benefits

While there is no constitutional right to welfare benefits, the Supreme Court held in the case of Goldberg v. Kelly that welfare recipients are entitled to due process with a hearing before benefits can be terminated.

Nevertheless, several states require some type of proof of identity to collect welfare. The states of Massachusetts and Missouri require a photo ID on the electronic benefit cards used for purchases under food stamps or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families expenditures. The EBT cards in Kansas include a photo if a participant agrees, but isn’t required, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

New York City has a  municipal ID program. The city’s website says residents will need an ID to “get a job,” “cash a check,” “open a bank account,” “enter a government building,” and, further, says, “To be eligible for some public benefits you need to prove your identity, age and residence.”

2. Registration for Buying Guns

Laws vary by state and even by municipality on buying a firearm.

The District of Columbia, the point of dispute in the landmark Heller Supreme Court decision that determined every American has the right to bear arms, still has very strict gun control laws.

It requires residents to register those guns. Gun owners must also obtain a gun license for any shotgun, rifle, or handgun. The District of Columbia city government prohibits the sale of handguns, but allows restricted sales on rifles and shotguns.

In another example, New York City allows the selling of handguns, but with stricter rules than New York state. To buy a gun in the city, an individual must appear in person to fill out a 17-page handgun purchase authorization form to qualify for a purchase license. The form costs $340 and $89.75 for fingerprinting. The New York Times wrote that applicants “must provide an original Social Security card, birth certificate, two recent color photographs and other documents.”

The application also requires individuals to explain employment dismissal and health history in addition to the background check that all gun buyers go through.

3. Petition Your Government

It isn’t just the Second Amendment that is subject to ID scrutiny. First Amendment freedoms sometimes require some identification, said Hans von Spakovsky, a senior legal fellow at The Heritage Foundation, and a former Justice Department attorney.

“The First Amendment guarantees the right to petition your government, but anyone who wants to meet with a Department of Justice official has to show a government-issued photo ID to get into the Department of Justice building for the meeting,” von Spakovsky told The Daily Signal.

The right to peacefully petition on Capitol Hill—beyond writing or calling a congressional office—generally requires becoming a registered lobbyist. States have various requirements for registered lobbyists as well.

4. Right of Assembly

Further, many municipalities require permits to hold protests or rallies in a public space under certain circumstances. This process varies based on the city, but requires some paperwork by the organizers.

5. Right to Marry

Official ID for obtaining a marriage license is nearly universal across states, said von Spakovsky. He noted that under the 1967 Loving v. Virginia ruling by the Supreme Court, marriage is a fundamental right.

Today, the state at the center of that case requires photo ID. Fairfax County, Virginia, near the District of Columbia, states that requirements to get a marriage license include a “valid photo identification (a valid driver’s license with picture, passport, or military identification).”

And, New York City’s website states, “You and your prospective spouse must have one form of proper identification in order to apply for a Marriage License.” The options include a driver’s license, active military ID card, passport, or permanent resident card.

6. Freedom of Movement

While the right to board an airplane isn’t spelled out in the Constitution, von Spakovsky said the right to travel could be broadly considered a basic public accommodation and a freedom of movement issue, even though the Transportation Security Administration requires photo ID for everyone boarding a plane.

Freedom of movement is recognized under the privileges and immunities clause of the Constitution. The Supreme Court held in 1869 that this protected the rights of citizens, the “right of free ingress into other states, and egress from them.”

“The 1960s civil rights movement was in part about the fundamental right to travel on trains and public buses,” von Spakovsky said.

7. Public Accommodations

Opponents of voter ID laws contend that it’s difficult for minorities to obtain ID for voting. This could reasonably extend to public accommodations, von Spakovsky said.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits businesses such as restaurants and hotels from denying service on the grounds of race, color, religion, or national origin.

“I can’t remember when I checked into a hotel and they didn’t ask me for photo ID,” von Spakovsky said.

The American Civil Liberties Union, which is involved in current litigation against voter ID laws in states such as North Carolina, Kansas, and Texas, told The Daily Signal Wednesday that no one is available to comment regarding these other civil liberties that require some type of ID. (Daily Mail).