U.C. Berkeley Economics professor Brad DeLong has made it his mission to label any economist who says anything bad about Barack Obama’s deficit spending plan as “ethics-free Republican hacks.” To this end he has compiled a list Republican former members of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers who have either endorsed, or not yet expressed skepticism about, deficit spending stimulus plans. One prominent name on that list, former chair of Ronald Reagan’s Council of Economic Advisers, Maerin Feldstein, has even gone as far as testifying before Congress in favor of …
According to the Pentagon only about 60 of the 250 detainees at Guantanamo could be released relatively safely, and that only 80 of the rest could face trial by “military commissions.” The New York Times reported this week that President-elect Barack Obama appears “to have rejected a proposal to seek a new law authorizing indefinite detention inside the United States.” National Journal‘s Stuart Taylor the connects some dots: This seems to imply that Obama will either continue to rely on Bush’s legal arguments for continued detention without charges — arguments …
As the sun sets on the Bush presidency, it is important to honor the man who answered the call to public service, provided us leadership in a time of great consequence, and held his office with dignity and courage. The Heritage Foundation sometimes disagreed with President George W. Bush on policy, but never on our love for our nation. President Bush strove for innovative solutions to America’s dilemmas, just as we do. He looked across this nation and saw the answers to most problems were in the hearts of great Americans, …
If the tide on global warming is beginning to shift, and climate scientists who believe global warming is a serious threat are looking for a job, look no further: An economic stimulus plan released by House Democrats yesterday would pump more than $1 billion into climate science at federal agencies, including long-ailing environmental satellite programs. The $825 billion proposal would also provide tens of billions of dollars for the programs to encourage energy efficiency and develop renewable and alternative fuels and technology to capture and sequester carbon dioxide emitted by …
Anyone who has ever entered the United States after traveling abroad knows that the federal government does not always need a warrant to conduct a reasonable search of a person’s belongings. The federal government has a myriad of interests, including national security, that outweigh a person’s right to privacy at the border (which if you’re flying from Cancun to St.Louis, includes the St. Louis airport). Following that same logic, the government also has an interest in monitoring international communications between persons inside the United States and persons abroad. For the …
Heritage’s Bill Beach testified at yesterday’s Economic Recovery Working Group hearing on Capitol Hill about an alternative to the misguided Keynesian stimulus package liberals in Congress are advocating. The hearing came a week after President-elect Barack Obama invited alternative suggestions for promoting economic growth. Obama’s openness to alternatives prompted Republican Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA) to do something a bit unusual: open the hearing to American citizens, four of whom submitted questions via YouTube for the witnesses. Two of those witnesses were former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former eBay chief …
Before President Bush took office, the federal government took in $2 trillion in revenue in 2000. As Bush leaves office, the federal government is expected to take in $2.4 trillion in 2009. In other words, after eight years under President Bush, the federal government is taking in $400 billion more a year in revenue. So why did Congressional Budget Office project a $1.4 trillion deficit for the 2009 budget? Massive spending increases. In 2000, the federal government spent just $1.8 trillion. Now the CBO estimates that the feds will spend …
California Rep. Henry Waxman, chair of the Energy and Commerce Committee, has a New Year’s resolution. For the good of the economy, let’s all hope he can’t keep it. AP reports, The chairman of a key House committee said Thursday he will move “quickly and decisively” to push legislation curbing greenhouse gases with a goal of passing climate legislation out of his committee before Memorial Day.” And straight from the horse’s mouth: Our environment and our economy depend on congressional action to confront the threat of climate change and secure …
The left’s big search for ‘shovel ready‘ projects continues. The White House Bulletin reports that New Mexico Sen. Jeff Bingaman, Chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources committee, “expressed concern that the economic stimulus package lacks sufficient funding for backlogged national park and water projects.” Actually, Bingaman went beyond “concern,” to offer a $17.5 billion shopping list including: $9.5 billion for “deferred maintenance” in national parks; $5 billion for backlogged “road and trail maintenance in the national forests;” and, $3 billion for “aging water infrastructure.” National Parks may be …
Committed to the belief that bigger government is always better, Media Matters and Campaign for America’s Future are pushing back data showing that the New Deal never solved unemployment. Cutting through their rhetoric, both leftist organizations make the same narrow objection: that the data we use does not count make work government programs like the Civil Conservation Corps as employed. Now we will always maintain that not counting government work programs as employment is the more accurate measure. It is the way the government counted the numbers back then, it …
