The nation’s outrage over the never ending Bush-Obama Bailout Parade is heating up fast. This week alone we’ve seen grassroots rallies in Seattle, Denver, Mesa, and Kansas. Then yesterday, CNBC editor Rick Santelli set off a virtual firestorm when his passionate critique of President Barack Obama’s mortgage bailout plan inspired traders on the floor of the Chicago Board Options Exchange to stop their pre-trading preparations to voice their support. The video of Santelli’s call for a “Chicago Tea Party” to protest the government’s constant intervention in the free market has …
On Wednesday, White House spokesman Ben LaBolt told FoxNews.com: “As the president stated during the campaign, he does not believe the Fairness Doctrine should be reinstated.” However, only three days earlier, President Obama’s Senior Advisor David Axelrod told Fox News Sunday, “I’m going to leave that issue to Julius Genachowski, our new head of the FCC … and the president to discuss. So I don’t have an answer for you now.” Certainly there is some confusion in the current White House. Where else is there confusion? Are former Presidents confused? Former President …
Last week, Moody’s Investors Service warned that the increase in U.S. debt caused by the ‘Economic Stimulus’ Act could hurt the country’s AAA credit rating. According to Moody’s the public debt as a percentage of the total economy (GDP) will jump 21.6 percent, up to 62.4 percent of GDP by 2010. That’s bad. But Britain’s even worse off. Its peril is a warning that the U.S. should heed. Yesterday, ratings agency Standard & Poor’s warned that it might have to review the top-notch score it gave to Britain’s credit only …
Like all international bodies, the European Union is concerned about public diplomacy. So in order to communicate its message more effectively, the European Parliament launched its own internet-based TV Channel this September – “Europarl-TV”. At a cost of €40 million (c. $50 million) over four years, the Parliament’s Vice-President for Information and Communication Policy predicted it would garner an audience of 20-40 million viewers for important debates. Sadly, Bruno Waterfield from the Telegraph has burst the EU’s bubble by revealing that Europarl-TV attracts less than 1,200 viewers per day. A …
On February 15, the Venezuelan electorate in a referendum gave President Hugo Chavez a green light to become what he longs to become: president for life. By mobilizing the weapons in his arsenal that includes influence over state employees and recipients of his largesse, with increased media control, and a stranglehold on the police, courts, and electoral tribunals, Chavez successfully mustered 54% of the popular vote. He reversed the “no” vote of 2007 and can run for the presidency in 2012. That the Chavez’s victory constitutes a setback to real …
The International Nuclear Safety Center has a map of the United States that displays the location of each reactor in the continental United States. The map shows operable, cancelled and permanently shutdown nuclear plants. Notice that none can be found in West Virginia with the reason being that there is a law against it, signaling to investors to look elsewhere. West Virginia State Senator Brooks McCabe says this needs to change: What I’m suggesting is we go out and try to educate and convince our colleagues regionally and nationally that …
Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D-KS) has emerged as a leading contender to become the next secretary of the Health and Human Services department. Flint Hills Center for Public Policy senior fellow Gregory Schneider previews what a Sebelius HHS might look like: For one thing, she is an able bureaucrat, presiding over the creation of the massive, yet ineffective, health reform agency, the Kansas Health Policy Authority (KHPA) which came into existence in 2006. KHPA has been an advocate of expanded government health care and more Medicaid … With a friend …
The past week saw a significant animation in the U.S.-Russian relationship. Moscow received Under Secretary of State William Burns, National Security Council Director of Russian Affairs Michael McFall, and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Patrick Moon. Presumably, the U.S.-Russian relationship agenda is multidimensional – nuclear disarmament, missile defense issues, cooperation on Afghanistan. It looks like the sides have decided to define the outlines of an anti-corruption agreement viewed as the first document to be signed by the Obama Administration and the Kremlin. All this …
State governments are facing fiscal emergencies with declining revenues and widening budget deficits. Now is a good time for policymakers to appreciate the growing homeschooling movement. Across the country, 1.5 million children are currently being educated at home. Just how much would it cost taxpayers if these students enrolled in their “free” public school? We conservatively estimate the cost to be between $4 and $10 billion annually. These savings will mount as the number of families choosing to teach their children at home grows. But instead of these families, policymakers …
Islamabad’s decision to allow the implementation of a parallel Islamic courts system in the Malakand Division of the Northwest Frontier Province demonstrates the weakness of the Pakistan government and military in the face of an onslaught by Taliban-backed extremists seeking to take over parts of the province. The government’s capitulation to the Tehrik Nifaz-i-Shariat Muhammadi (TNSM) in Swat Valley following its campaign of violence and intimidation, which included the shuttering of dozens of girls’ schools, murder of women who declined to stop work, and public beheadings of those accused of …
