All this month Congress has been holding hearings supposedly looking into the causes of the financial crisis. As Heritage fellow Brian Walsh explains, the hearings have been less about identifying causes, and more about finding villians: As in past economic crises, some criminal conduct associated with the subprime market has already been unearthed. More is likely to surface as investigations proceed. But to date there is precious little evidence that criminal conduct actually caused the meltdown. As in previous market-wide crises, including the savings-and-loan crisis of the 1980s and 1990s, …
The Detroit News’ Henry Payne is always a must read but he really hit a home run last week with this cartoon on Fannie and Freddie: (posted with permission from Henry Payne)
Great editorial by the Wall Street Journal today noting the Department of Justice’s suspiciously selective criteria when it comes to investigating voting issues: Justice has also failed to enter the fray in Ohio. As many as 200,000 new voter registrations in that state are suspect, yet Democratic Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner is refusing to follow the 2002 Help America Vote Act that requires her to verify these registrations. The Ohio Republican Party sued Mrs. Brunner, but the Supreme Court said the GOP lacked standing. Justice does have standing — …
Kermit the Frog poured his heart out when he sang, “It’s Not Easy Being Green.” I couldn’t have said it better myself. In fact, it’s quite costly to be green. But policymakers and environmentalists alike are purporting the ‘Green Revolution’ as the solution to both our financial woes and our environmental concerns. And it’s not just the United States. The United Nations is proposing an environmental ‘New Deal’ that would “be similar to Franklin D Roosevelt’s New Deal which helped the US recover from the Great Depression of the 1930s.” …
On Sunday, Oct. 12, Joe Wurzelbacher was playing football in his front yard with his son Joey when Barack Obama made an unscheduled stop to ask voters for their support in his neighborhood. Wurzelbacher took the opportunity to be a good citizen, and questioned the candidate about his tax policies. Three nights later during a presidential debate, John McCain echoed Joe’s concern about Obama’s “spread the wealth” comment and mentioned Wurzelbacher (dubbed “Joe the Plumber”) by name. The blow back was swift and furious. MSNBC, Washington Post and New York …
The Wall Street Journal is reporting this afternoon that the Treasury Department is mulling the expansion of its bank equity purchase program to cover insurance firms. And other firms in other industries, including non-financial companies, are also asking be included. It should just say no to these ill-considered ideas. The program, begun by the Treasury Department two weeks ago when it purchased major stakes in the nine largest U.S. banks, was from the beginning touted as an exceptional response to an exceptional situation. Not only did bank failures threaten a …
1082 pages. $3 billion in earmarks. At least 8.8 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 300 million barrels of oil off limits. Congress is at it again. In an attempt to squeeze an omnibus package during the lame-duck session, Senator Majority Leader Harry Reid said that beginning November 17th a debate over a public lands bill that includes 160 pieces of legislation will take place. The bill contains ridiculous earmarks such as $3.5 million to celebrate the 450th birthday of St. Augustine Florida in 2015 and $5 million on …
It looks more and more like Joe the Plumber was on to something about taxes, though you wouldn’t know if from most of the polls and media. The Heritage Foundation has the details in our new study: If a President McCain got his way on tax reform, Americans could expect to see jobs, the economy and their own disposable income grow much faster than if a President Obama were to push through his proposals. As this chart shows, the economy would grow by $320 billion more in 10 years under …
There’s a lot going in the nuclear world. Let’s take a look. The news: France, not U.S. likely to get contract with India. “France is expected to get first-mover advantage with Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) exploring commercial contracts for setting up a cluster of European Pressurised Reactors (EPRs) and sourcing uranium from French companies for fuel-starved Indian civil nuclear reactors.” The takeaway: “Unlike their American counterparts such as General Electric or Westinghouse, the French companies do not require India to enact nuclear liability protection in order to …
Update: I have just learned that there was a conference call today between DOJ personnel and Congressional staff. The Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General of the Civil Rights Division, which is responsible for enforcing the Help America Vote Act, was asked whether the Division was planning to pursue the Ohio Secretary of State for her violation of the verification requirements of HAVA. Her answer (unbelievably) was that DOJ shouldn’t involve itself in election litigation just before an election. This is an absolutely astonishing assertion by the no. 2 official in …
