This is not a parody. The “Alliance for A Better Minnesota” (a coalition of leftist organizations including “the Blue-Green Alliance” and “SEIU Healthcare Minnesota”) is promoting a Thank You Taxes campaign urging Minnesotans to “Take a moment to share with us why you appreciate all the government services you use every day.” We’re sure “Thank You” is exactly the thought millions of Americans are thinking right now as they scramble to file their taxes in time for April 15. But if you do want to take a moment to give …
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates budget proposal includes a $1.4 billion cut to missile defense. In The American Legion Magazine Heritage analyst James Carafano outlines just one reason such cuts will leave America more vulnerable: Today, the nature of a nuclear threat is different. The United States is less concerned about massive retaliation from another nuclear-armed state and far more worried about a rogue nation or transnational terrorist group that might try to land a sucker-punch, especially if they think they can deliver the blow without leaving a return address. …
On March 9, 2009, the Obama Administration proposed to rescind a regulation that protects the conscience rights of health care professionals such as doctors, nurses, and medical students. Today, Freedom2Care released a polling company poll showing that 63% of all Americans, and even 56% of adults who said they voted for President Barack Obama, say they support the old conscience protection rule. Next respondents were asked: Earlier this month, officials from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services introduced a rule change that would effectively eliminate the two-month-old conscience …
The Congressional Black Caucus visited Cuba yesterday in an effort to convince Congress that they should loosen restrictions on access to and financial aid for the Communist nation. After the propaganda machine was well lubricated on both sides, some interesting quotes emerged: “A fourth member of the Caucus said that despite Obama’s electoral victory, the American society continues to be racist.” – Statement by Fidel Castro, April 6, 2009 “[Another lawmaker] added that his government should apologize to Cuba for all these years of hostility and for the blockade policy, because …
This past Monday, the White House co-hosted an invitation only health care forum with California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles Times the event “was clearly programmed to showcase the broad goals” President Barack Obama has on health care, but “was light on details” with “no discussion of how to achieve those goals.” Meanwhile, the New York Times reports that back in Washington, Democrats Agree on a Health Plan that includes “a public health insurance plan as an alternative to private insurance.” Considering the cost …
President Obama has been touting green energy investment and green jobs since his campaign trail, but he really kicked it into another gear once the economy tanked, calling the green stimulus a cure to the recession and to climate change. During his push for stimulus bill support, President Obama said the following at a windmill plant in Ohio: If we don’t act now, because of the economic downturn, half of the wind projects difficult because of the capital intensive nature of these projects for them to move forward if they …
Amid a severe economic crisis Russia, along with many other nations, is facing grave difficulties in replenishing the federal budget. With the government continuing to task the government agencies in charge of the budget with ensuring maximum revenues, Federal Tax Service, the Economics Development Ministry and the Finance Ministry are coming out with various proposals for covering the budget deficit. Federal Tax Service has been extremely anti-market in its proposals. One of the most odious is to impose a levy on all financial transactions at a fixed rate of 0.5 …
On the plus side, the New York Times chose to write a story about the opposition former Clinton administration official Harold Koh is facing from conservatives over his appointment as State Department legal adviser. Unfortunately the NYT then completely ignored Koh’s most controversial legal beliefs in support of legal transnationalism. As National Review’s Ed Whelan explains, transnationalism is not an epithet created by conservatives, it is how Koh describes his own beliefs. Also at National Review, Andy McCarthy explains why the fight over Koh’s nomination matters: This is an argument …
Employment took another hit in march, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, with job losses climbing another 0.4 of a percentage point to 8.5 percent, the highest level since 1983. What should we do? Heritage scholars James Sherk and J.D. Foster have an idea: These discouraging numbers underscore that Congress should not embark on an anti-growth taxing and spending frenzy. Unfortunately President Obama’s budget currently before Congress would do just that, increasing spending by more than $1,000,000,000,000–one trillion dollars–over the next decade. This is precisely the wrong time to …
Over the past 25 plus years, the Federalist Society has helped establish a conservative legal establishment that has successfully pushed back against the liberal ideas entrenched in law schools and government. Tonight in New York City, the Benjamin Rush Society will host its inaugural under the leadership of Sally C. Pipes, president and CEO of the Pacific Research Institute. Pipes recently discussed her project with National Review’s John J. Miller: MILLER: Why do medical students need to think about public policy? Isn’t that just time spent away from lessons on …
