New York University economics professor Mario Rizzo full remarks from last week’s Club for Growth-Heritage Foundation “Economic Recovery: Free Markets vs. Big Government” conference are now available on line. Rizzo summarizes them here: My four key points are: 1. The central cause of the current economic state of affairs is bad monetary policy from 2002 through early 2006. 2. Stimulus should not stimulate or reinforce the misallocation of resources. 3. Stimulus should create economic value and not destroy it. 4. The best stimulus consists of incentive-relevant tax reductions.
“This is a presidency on steroids.” That’s not an assessment from a libertarian shocked by President Barack Obama’s first month in office. That is the first sentence of Eugene Robinson‘s latest column, which goes on to list many of the ways that the Obama Administration is “managing the big chunks of the private-sector economy that are now more accurately described as semi-private at best. … He may have to become an auto executive, a banker, mortgage broker and who knows what else before this crisis is done.” Who knows what …
When Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visits Japan this week, one of the main topics of conversation will be developments in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Japan has played an important role in contributing to efforts to stabilize and secure South Asia over the last seven years. Washington should welcome a more robust Japanese role in the region and strongly support Tokyo’s plan to hold an international donor’s meeting on Pakistan (possibly in March) to help raise funds for the cash-strapped economy. Japan has already played a helpful role in Afghanistan, despite …
There are certain dates that are seared into the memories of all Americans. Dates that altered the course of our union; sometimes in moments of glory, often in moments of tragedy. Today, Friday the 13th, is one of those days. Today, both the House and Senate passed what will historically be looked at as one of the biggest mistakes in the history of the U.S. Congress; a bill that will ultimately be the judge and jury of President Obama’s first term in office. There is no doubt that President Obama …
In delivering his speech on the Senate floor today, U.S. Senator Tom Udall, D-N.M is introducing a plan for even more green energy and more green jobs – on top of the stimulus package. The plan? According a release from U.S. Senator Tom Udall’s office, Tom continued his fight to enact a federal Renewable Electricity Standard (RES) into law by introducing legislation that would require utilities to generate 25 percent of their electricity from wind, solar and other renewable energy sources by 2025. The bill, Udall’s first since being elected …
The British Government’s decision to ban Dutch MP Geert Wilders from entering the country is another chapter in Britain’s story of shamefully appeasing radical Islamists. Mr. Wilders had been invited by Lord Pearson of Ranoch to show his film, Fitna, in the House of Lords. Fitna is a short, online film which discusses radical Islamist terrorism, and has resulted in a number of legal actions against Mr. Wilders. However, whilst certainly a controversial figure Mr. Wilders has never advocated violence, public disorder or the targeting of any particular religious faith. …
Despite Vice President Joe Biden’s visit to Europe last week, and Secretary of State Clinton’s meeting with the Czech Foreign Minister, Karel Schwarzenberg, this week, we still don’t know whether this Administration will honor U.S. agreements with Poland and the Czech Republic to deploy elements of a U.S. missile defense shield in Europe (known as the ‘third site’ deployment). Obama has successfully–and probably deliberately–provided enough ambiguity to make a decision either way. On the one hand, he has pledged to field defenses against WMD attacks but on the other he …
Reuters reports: The United States is ready to look at re-modeling its missile defense plans to include Moscow, a senior U.S. diplomat said on Friday in a concession to Russian opposition. … The Kremlin has been pressing Washington to give ground on the proposed missile shield in exchange for Russia helping supply the U.S.-led military campaign in Afghanistan — a priority for new President Barack Obama. … “(Washington is) open to the possibility of cooperation, both with Russia and NATO partners, in relation to a new configuration for missile defense …
For the first time in the history of The Heritage Foundation, the Foundation’s president Ed Feulner has written An Open Letter to the Congress and the President of the United States. It begins: For the last 35 years, educators and analysts at The Heritage Foundation have been intimately involved in the nation’s great public policy debates. In all that time, we have never encountered legislation with such far-reaching and revolutionary policy implications as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act currently before Congress. And never have we seen a bill more …
The Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee voted yesterday to send to the Senate floor unconstitutional legislation that would give the District of Columbia a full seat in the House of Representatives. Like the nearly identical proposal that died in the Senate two years ago, the District of Columbia Voting Rights Act of 2009 would give a House seat to the District and create another seat that would go to Utah. This seat would belong to Utah only temporarily, however, and would later be awarded to whichever state merits …
