The National Basketball Association’s San Antonio Spurs are known for winning NBA championships in odd years, winning in 1999, 2005, 2005 and 2007. Bad energy bills are beginning to follow the same trend as Congress passed energy bills in 2005 and 2007 that focused on subsidies and mandates as opposed to a market-driven approach. 2009 is shaping up to be no better; in fact, the draft of new energy legislation suggests it will be much, much worse. Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) of the Energy and Commerce Committee and Chairman Edward …
North Korea’s launch of a long-range Taepo Dong 2 missile would be a direct challenge not just to the United States but to the international community’s resolve to confront threats to regional stability. Pyongyang’s willingness to escalate tensions shows that, despite the change in U.S. leadership, North Korea will not adopt a more accommodating stance. U.N. Resolutions 1695 and 1718 unambiguously prohibit Pyongyang from launching a missile or “satellite.”
Yesterday, the Heritage Foundation’s Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom hosted a panel on “The Implications of the G-20 Summit for the Political Sovereignty and Economic Freedom of the United States.” The panel, which was hosted by Dr. Ted R. Bromund and featured Dr. J.D. Foster (Heritage), Dr. Desmond Lachman (AEI), and Prof. Jeremy Rabkin (George Mason), was broadcast live by CSPAN. If you want a primer on the financial crisis and the Summit, you can watch the panel now, courtesy of CSPAN. The run-up to the Summit itself is now …
The United States Senate declared that any revenues generated from a carbon cap-and-trade scheme or carbon tax could not be used to fund government programs, including the initial stages of government-run health care. By adopting an amendment by Senator Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), policymakers stated that American consumers should be held harmless from any electricity or gas price increases caused by taxing carbon emissions. In other words, the Senate has rejected the notion advanced by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Budget Chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) that the so-called “climate …
All bankruptcies are not created equal. For months, Heritage and other conservatives have counseled that the proper course for an ailing automaker is the same medicine as for any other sick company: the bankruptcy process. All along, industry shills and union activists have pooh-poohed that idea, claiming that bankruptcy filings would be the end of the industry—an argument that’s never made much sense. So it was a welcome surprise to many conservatives to see President Obama, no foe of big-government bailouts, speak in favor of automotive bankruptcies yesterday. The President’s …
Jon Stewart wasn’t the only one to make fun of the Obama Administration for turning the White House into a car dealership. Jay Leno was on the case too: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0FJxC2DE_4&feature=channel_page[/youtube] Leno’s entire monologue should eventually be viewable here.
The past week saw a specter of a gas dispute between Russia and Ukraine rising again, reviving fears of dramatic economic and political consequences for both the two nations and Europe at large. These developments were caused by an agreement between the European Union and Kiev designed to overhaul its gas pipeline network. Under the Brussels accords, Ukraine is set to receive from big Europe over $2.5 billion to upgrade its gas grid. In return, Kiev guarantees gas transit transparency and equal access to the gas pipelines. This agreement drew …
George Mason University economics professor Russell Roberts has a line by line rebuttal of President Barack Obama’s auto sales pitch from yesterday. Read the whole thing, but we liked this paragraph the best: Therefore, to support demand for auto sales during this period, I’m directing my team to take several steps. First, we will ensure that Recovery Act funds to purchase government cars go out as quickly as possible and work through the budget process to accelerate other federal fleet purchases as well. [We will of course only be buying …
The debates that took place last week within the government agencies, the State Duma and parliamentary party leaderships have proved that none of them has a clear idea of how to achieve an economic recovery. Most of the parties that number themselves among the opposition, whether they are Communists or the ultranationalist Liberal Democratic Party, are confining themselves to a set of populist slogans, ill equipped to combat the economic crisis. The Russian Communist Party plenary meeting was most telling in that it kept harping that the present crisis proved …
Jon Stewart was awesome last night: The Daily Show With Jon Stewart M – Th 11p / 10c Carmageddon ’09 – Lemon Aid comedycentral.com Daily Show Full Episodes Economic Crisis Political Humor
