The clock is ticking as the Senate prepares to vote on a one-year earmark moratorium. With appropriators and lobbyists mounting a last-ditch effort to save their pork-barrel projects, earmark warriors took the Senate floor to deliver passionate pleas for a temporary timeout. Sen. Claire McCaskill, a freshman from Missouri, was …
Since the President’s window for submitting the Colombia Free Trade Agreement to Congress in time to trigger a vote is rapidly shrinking, today’s Free Trade Fact of the Day will focus on the consequences of what will happen if protectionist forces win in Congress. From CATO’s Center for Trade Policy …
Tomorrow the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global warming will hold a hearing to discuss the Bush administration’s response to the Supreme Court’s Massachusetts v. EPA decision. The Court’s 5-4 decision held that the Clean Air Act’s (CAA) broad definition of “air pollutant” gave the EPA the authority …
Appropriators and other opponents of a one-year earmark moratorium ratcheted up their defense of pork-barrel spending today, signaling that many in Congress were not ready to take a timeout from the corrupting practice of earmarking. With most of the attacks directed at Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), sponsor of the one-year …
Intelligence and National Security Alliance chairman and former National Counterterrorism Center director and current foreign policy adviser to Barack Obama John Brennan told National Journal last week: I do believe strongly that [telecoms] should be granted that immunity. They were told to [cooperate] by the appropriate authorities that were operating …
The House budget that passed earlier this month increases discretionary spending by 8% (otherwise known as $74 billion) over this year’s level. Federal spending already tops out at near $25,000 per household and discretionary spending has expanded 45% since 2001. While increased defense spending for Iraq and Afghanistan do account …
Vice President Cheney commemorated the 25th anniversary of President Ronald Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative in a speech tonight to The Heritage Foundation (video below). Reagan’s nationally televised address from the Oval Office on March 23, 1983, changed the course of history, challenging scientists to build a missile defense system to …
A bipartisan effort to put a one-year freeze on earmarks has attracted the support of at least 14 senators, including each party’s presidential contenders, setting the stage for a showdown Thursday over wasteful government spending. Despite the surge in support over the past 24 hours, however, Senate Democrat leaders are …
The Senate budget resolution, which will be voted on later this week, is quite similar to the House budget resolution, which the Heritage Foundation analyzed yesterday. Heritage Foundation Senior Policy Analyst Brian Riedl notes: “While the House budget would raise taxes by $1.265 trillion over five years, and $3.911 trillion …
The American Legislative Exchange Council has released its 2007 Report Card on American Education. The comprehensive report examines the performance of schools in each state and draws conclusions about major trends in American education. The Report Card could serve as a wake up call for policymakers who believe we can …
