North Korea has notified the appropriate international civilian maritime and aviation authorities to warn that Pyongyang will launch a satellite between 4 and 8 April. In the 2006 UN resolutions, the UN cited NK’s lack of a similar notification as dangerous and provocative. Pyongyang is trying to follow the rules this time to minimize negative fallout and to give China and Russia some grounds for pushing back against strong UN Security Council action. The launch itself, as well as the continued existence of the missile program, is a violation of …
Global warming alarmists link every natural disaster to global warming. Most recently, they blamed the Australian wildfires on global warming and, of course, one cannot forget their efforts to connect global warming with Hurricane Katrina. But is this really the case. The short answer is no. In fact, new findings from Florida State University that global and northern hemisphere tropical cyclone activity is still the lowest in thirty years and will likely continue down that path: Tropical cyclone (TC) activity worldwide has completely and utterly collapsed during the past 2 …
The USA Today cites an independent report that questions the effectiveness of the ground-based missile defense interceptors the United States plans to deploy in Europe to counter a potential long-range Iranian nuclear-tipped ballistic missile threat. The report comes from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), an auditing and investigative arm of the Congress. While GAO reports may be “independent,” that does not mean they provide a fair and credible assessment of Pentagon programs. Last week, Army leaders held a press conference after a GAO report claimed to have identified a $21 …
Following a premeditated White House campaign to demonize Rush Limbaugh, Newsweek aided the left’s “Hush Rush” campaign with a cover story pushing for Rush to be silenced. Now Rush can handle criticism from the White House and Newsweek just fine. But there was also a little noticed vote in the Senate late last month that could enable the left to accomplish by government regulation what they could never accomplish with actual debate. During the debate over the unconstitutional bill that would give the District of Columbia a vote in the …
This week, the White House signaled that it would prevent Congress from ending the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship program, at least for participating children. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters on Wednesday: “It wouldn’t make sense to disrupt the education of those that are in that system,” Gibbs said in discussing the president’s thinking. “And I think we’ll work with Congress to ensure that a disruption like that doesn’t take place.” This follows a similar statement from Education Secretary Arne Duncan last week. Reading between the lines, it’s becoming …
Speaking at his annual press conference, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao expressed concern about the outlook for U.S. government debt: “We have made a huge amount of loans to the United States. Of course we are concerned about the safety of our assets. To be honest, I’m a little bit worried. I would like to call on the United States to honor its words, stay a credible nation and ensure the safety of Chinese assets.” China does hold $1.946 trillion in foreign-exchange reserves, two-thirds of which is believed to be held …
In a first of its kind, a report from The Heritage Foundation provides a fresh look at the billions of dollars in homeland security grants handed out to state and local governments. The report details the federal, state, and local spending from 2000 to 2007 in 26 states, the District of Columbia, and 85 cities and counties that make up Urban Areas Security Initiative jurisdictions. Among the key findings:–States and localities spend a lot more every year then the federal government. The billions of federal dollars distributed have had a …
Breaking news: President Obama is a strong believer in free markets. Yesterday, in an address to the Business Roundtable, Obama mounted a vigorous defense of the free market and private enterprise, explaining his basic approach to economics and regulation. In his own words, Obama has “always been a strong believer in the power of the free market. It has been and will remain the very engine of America’s progress – the source of a prosperity that has gone unmatched in human history. I believe that jobs are best created not by government, but …
In his piece “International Cooperation is the Way Out of the Financial Crisis” Wall Street Journal, March 13, 2009, U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling makes three recommendations, the first two of which are wrong-headed and the third threatens much the same. Mr. Darling observes correctly that we are in the midst of a deep, global, synchronized contraction. His first two prescriptions for the recession are the dual follies of fiscal stimulus (read: more spending) married to monetary stimulus, and increased funding for two of the least useful institutions …
NAME: Rep. Adrian Smith OCCUPATION: Member of Congress HOMETOWN: Gering, Nebraska Congressman Smith currently sits on the House Agriculture Committee, House Natural Resources Committee, and the House Science and Technology Committee, where he serves as the top Republican on the Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation. Through these committees – and his work with Members of Congress from across the political spectrum – Congressman Smith has tackled issues ranging from biofuels and other forms of domestic energy to transportation research and development to fashioning legislation strengthening rural America. Congressman Smith, in …
