Iran’s launch of a two-stage ballistic missile today, a dramatic demonstration of its growing missile capabilities, was timed to send a message of defiance to Iran’s external adversaries and to boost President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s re-election prospects in Iran’s upcoming elections. It is yet another reminder, if any is required, that the United States urgently must invest in missile defense to blunt Iran’s growing missile threat. The launch came shortly after President Barack Obama met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and announced a common commitment to halting Iran’s drive for …
Time for practice. Time to pile into the…Toyota Prius? Maybe the Yaris. Or surely the Smart Car will do. Those are three of eleven cars that meet President Obama’s new emissions standards that include “nothing larger than a midsize sedan, even when you include hybrids.” We’ve pointed out how bad of an idea this is. Megan McCardle summarizes what the new emission standards will do: • It will raise the prices of cars, and make them less safe • It will reduce our carbon emissions, but not by as much …
Policymakers made it quite clear consumers will be hurt by a cap and trade bill. They also made it clear that this isn’t an environmental issue. It’s strictly politics. Representatives Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Ed Markey (D-MA) modified their global warming cap and trade proposal to win support from skeptical congressmen, but when any policymakers introduced modifications to protect the consumer and American businesses, Members promptly voted the amendments down. The first was an amendment that would void the legislation within a year without a deal with India and China. …
The Oldsmobile is gone, but the Obamobile is coming soon. The Obama Administration’s control over the auto industry has extended to designing our cars, as he announced harsh new mileage and emission requirements. Obama’s claim that costs of a new car will “only” rise by $1,300 is attracting skepticism. If costs are higher, his claim that drivers will recoup the price through fuel savings will also prove false. Meeting the new standards also means less capacity and less safety, possibly thousands more traffic deaths. A simple errand like a trip …
KILLS MORE JOBS AND KILLS THE ECONOMY Cap and Tax Top Ten List Cap and Trade Is a Massive Energy Tax It Will Not Make a Substantive Impact on the Environment It Will Kill Jobs It Will Cause Electricity Bills and Gas Prices to Sharply Increase It Will Outsource Manufacturing Jobs and Hurt Free Trade It Will Make You Choose Between Energy, Groceries, Clothing, and Haircuts It Will Be Highly Susceptible to Fraud and Corruption It Will Hurt Senior Citizens, the Poor, and the Unemployed the Worst It Will Cost …
Warning from Dr. Enno Harders, a lead official from German Emissions Trading Authority, who experienced troubled initiating a German cap and trade system: Early cap and trade [proposals] receive enormous lobby.” Businesses rightfully have an interest in ensuring that they protect their bottom lines. Many of them have calculated that some sort of carbon capping is inevitable and that their interests will therefore be best served by trying to influence how such a cap is implemented. And the best way to do that will be to position themselves as supporters …
The Washington Post recently ran a piece by Chester Finn, asking to “slow the preschool bandwagon”, which currently consists of a $10 billion pledge by President Obama for his “zero to five” program, numerous bills in Congress to promote states’ efforts in implementing universal preschool, and a chorus of governors, unions, and preschool advocacy groups across the country pushing for an increased federal role in early education. Finn notes: For all its surface appeal, universal preschool is an unwise use of tax dollars…It fails to overhaul expensive but woefully ineffectual …
Like the more infamous ACORN, the Neighborhood Assistance Corp. of America is another leftist group waging war on free enterprise while filling its own coffers by using shakedown tactics. NACA variously accuses banks of engaging in predatory subprime lending or ignoring the needs of low-income communities. And the group likes to get nasty. A profile of the group in today’s Wall Street Journal notes that the group … salts its Web site with photos of executives it accuses of standing in the way of helping homeowners – emblazoning “Predator” across …
Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom director Nile Gardiner on Iran’s missile test today: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0DU7_DwO3Q[/youtube]
After making changes to draft legislation of the Waxman-Markey cap and trade climate legislation, the economic impact of the new draft (the Son of Waxman-Markey) varies from that of the original draft in several major ways: • Compared to no cap and trade, real GDP losses increase an additional $2 trillion, from $7.4 trillion under the original draft to $9.4 trillion under the new draft; • Compared to no cap and trade, average unemployment increases to 1,145,000 lost jobs under the new draft; and • Peak-year unemployment losses rise by …
