When President Barack Obama included $1.1 billion for comparative effectiveness research in his economic stimulus bill, we warned that such funding would set the stage for government rationing of your health care: The House and Senate bills would establish a framework and funding for comparative effectiveness research and health information technology. While the Senate’s language is broad and vague, the House language provides further clarity. The House committee report states that “those [items] that are found to be less effective and in some cases, more expensive, will no longer be …
This Sunday, April 5 at 9 p.m. EST, the National Geographic Channel is premiering a new documentary as part of their award winning Explorer series entitled “Inside Guantanamo.” Charles “Cully” Stimson, Senior Legal Fellow in the Center for Legal and Judicial Studies at the Heritage Foundation was instrumental in granting National Geographic the access they needed to produce this one-of-a-kind documentary when he was Deputy Assistant Defense Secretary for Detainee Affairs prior to joining Heritage. He told The Foundry how this project came about: On my first day heading the …
The G-20 summit has finally begun. For the security forces in London, it can hardly end soon enough. Protests on Wednesday resulted in 88 arrests, the trashing of a branch of the Royal Bank of Scotland by activists, and the death by heart attack of a man on his way home from work. The protesters were almost as diverse as the interests represented at the summit itself, ranging from the Stop the War Coalition, to the British Muslim Initiative, to Ogaden separatists protesting the participation of the Ethiopian Prime Minister …
In testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee yesterday, head of U.S. Central Command Gen. David H. Petraeus disclosed that American commanders have requested the deployment of an additional 10,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan next year, but he said the request awaits a final decision by President Obama this fall. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) moved to question why President Barack Obama did not reveal this when he unveiled his Afghanistan strategy this past weekend: “To dribble out these decisions, I think, can create the impression of incrementalism,” he said. “Incrementalism” …
Dr. Lee Edwards, a Distinguished Fellow in Conservative Thought, gave a lecture at the Heritage Foundation that asked the question: Is Conservatism dead? One could make a strong case that it is. Conservatives suffered a crushing defeat in the 2006 elections and, more recently, the 2008 elections. However, things have been worse. Much worse. The 1964 election of Lyndon Johnson by a landslide caused critics to ring out that Conservatism was dead. Liberals had a 2-1 margin in the House and Senate. A greater margin than even today. Yet, the …
The Iran Policy Committee (IPC) launched its fourth book in a series at the National Press Club today looking at the situation in Iraq, titled President Obama and Iraq: Toward a Responsible Troop Drawdown. The book was written by Prof. Raymond Tanter, Georgetown University and President of the Iran Policy Committee, and presents the findings from a fact-finding delegation that traveled to Iraq to interview Sunni Awakening members, Iraqi Shiites, Iraqi and American officials, and the Iranian opposition based in Iraq.
America is facing a shortage of qualified health care professionals, including doctors and nurses. The Health Services and Resources Administration (HRSA) has identified over 6,000 Primary Care Health Professional Shortage Areas across the country, with 64 million Americans living in them. According to HRSA, it would take over 16,000 new primary care doctors in these shortage areas to meet the need. The problem is even more acute in crucial specialties such as obstetrics and gynecology. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists reports that almost one third of women in …
The President’s Budget The Actual Cost: The $634 billion in the President’s budget is only a “down payment” on health care reform. Experts believe that the actual cost of Obama’s health care plan could reach $1.6 trillion over 10 years. This is in addition to the trillions of dollars Obama has already spent on health care this year through the stimulus and SCHIP. Details, Please: On such an important piece of the President’s budget and agenda, there is little detail on what the Administration expects to spend with the $634 …
The Fifth Summit of the Americas kicks off in Trinidad and Tobago on April 17. President Obama will attend. U.S. diplomats are hard at work to make it the starting point for a “New Day” in Latin American partnership. Several Latin American leaders, however, are working hard to create difficulties and force U.S.-Latin America splits. On his way to Iran this week, Venezuela’s President Hugo Chávez stopped off in Qatar. He wants Arab leaders to join him in creating a “petro-currency” to replace the U.S. dollar as a reserve currency …
There are now two ten-year budget plans being offered in Washington. One budget dumps a staggering $9.6 trillion in new debt onto the American people; the other borrows $3.6 trillion less. One budget creates $63,000 in debt per household; the other creates $23,000 less. One budget raises taxes by $1.4 trillion; the other avoids all tax increases and even simplifies the tax code. One budget does nothing to address the unsustainable costs of Social Security and Medicaid; the other begins to reform these programs. One budget permanently raises federal spending …
