[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbCI68eSNsA[/youtube] To celebrate Earth Day, here is Kermit the Frog singing his standard “It’s Not Easy Being Green.” Sing along with the updated 2009 lyrics below. It’s so expensive being green, Having to pay for all the things big government needs, When I think it could be nicer not being taxed, for energy, or my car, or my home’s heating, things like that. It’s so expensive being green, It seems the taxes blend in with so many ordinary policies these days, And people tend to pass them over, because they’re not standing out …
Deep in southern Siberia not far from Russia’s border with Mongolia is the “Blue Eye of Siberia” … the deepest and largest (by volume) fresh water lake in the world. Formed in an ancient rift valley, Lake Baikal is home to more than 1,700 species of plant and animals, two thirds of which can be found nowhere else in the world. Despite its 25 million year age, Baikal’s life sustaining beauty almost did not survive communist rule. Russian scientists believed that Baikal’s pure water would help produce better rayon cord …
Although Miss North Carolina Kristen Dalton was crowned Miss USA on Sunday, it was not this portion of the nationally-broadcasted segment that emerged as the most “sparkling” moment. Instead, the buzz was sparked by a question posed by Perez Hilton, an openly gay celebrity gossip blogger and one of thirteen telecast judges on the panel. When asked by Hilton whether she thought every state should follow the example of Vermont and legalize same-sex marriage, Carrie Prejean, beauty queen and Miss USA 2009 representative from San Diego, California (that’s right—the Prop …
This week, beginning today, Waxman and Markey are holding Congressional hearings to discuss the draft of a massive energy bill that includes clean energy investment, energy efficiency mandates, a cap-and-trade program, and protectionist policies that will supposedly help the consumer cope with higher energy prices. The logic behind the hearing process is to gather experts to help inform legislators about the impact of their efforts. This is a worthwhile and laudable goal, to be sure, but the reality is often very different. Unfortunately, the hearing process is often hijacked by …
Geneva – Earlier today, the Durban Review Conference outcome document was adopted by consensus. This is highly unusual for U.N. conferences. Generally, they are designed to culminate with the adoption of the outcome document on the last day. Implausibly, the Durban II president declared that this was a triumph of engagement and chastised the countries that boycotted the conference.
The Administration’s nominee for Legal Adviser to the State Department, Harold Koh, has explained – in his 1998 Frankel Lecture, later published in the Houston Law Review – that one of the Adviser’s roles is to “help maintain . . . habitual compliance with internalized international norms.” He has also praised what he describes as “sympathetic people from within government,” who take it upon themselves not only to ensure compliance with previous norms, but to promote new ones. It is therefore relevant to examine Koh’s views on the origin and …
D.C. STUDENTS: SAVE OUR SCHOOLS Blocking Children’s Path to a Better Future Congress Blocks Opportunity: Congress recently approved action that threatens to immediately phase out the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program (DCOSP), a federal initiative that currently helps 1,715 disadvantaged children attend private schools in the nation’s capital. Safe and Effective Learning Environments: Studies of scholarship families show higher parent satisfaction with their children’s school safety and learning environment. Test scores showed that students offered scholarships were performing approximately 3.1 months ahead in reading of students not offered vouchers and an …
Remember that scene in Austin Powers when Dr. Evil decides to hold the world ransom for “One million dollars!” and #2 looks around with his one good eye all confused? The Vice President wasn’t in this video, but we think even he might have raised an eyebrow over President Obama’s grand proposal to trim $100 million from the budgets of his cabinet secretaries. As Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said yesterday: Cutting $100 million in waste is good. But let’s put it in context. We’ll spend about that much every single …
New York Times Columnist Paul Krugman reacts to President Barack Obama’s $100 million spending cut: “pretty soon, even here in Washington, it adds up to real money,” says the president. Except, you know, really it doesn’t. Let’s say the administration finds $100 million in efficiencies every working day for the rest of the Obama administration’s first term. That’s still around $80 billion, or around 2% of one year’s federal spending. OK, politics is theater. But you could argue that the president shouldn’t feed the bogus claim that we can close …
Yesterday President Barack Obama asked his cabinet to make a total of $100 million in cuts among their departments. That was “fiscally responsible” President Obama. We like him. We just wish we got to see him more often. Today, “reckless spending” President Obama is back at work, following through on his G20 summit pledge to loan $100 billion for world wide stimulus. Heritage fellow Terry Miller explains why such stimulus is a bad bet: It is a spectacularly bad and high risk idea to pour vast new sums through failed …
