If President Obama is intent on listening to military commanders, as he promised during the campaign, why is he now ignoring the military’s own requirement for additional F-22s? Why would the President want to compromise America’s half-century dominance in the air that has led to one powerful result: There has not been a single soldier or Marine who lost his life in combat due to a threat from the air in over 56 years. As legacy aircraft retire at ever-increasing rates, however, maintaining that superiority is not guaranteed. Sufficient numbers …
Household appliances use a lot of energy, which is why for the past several years policymakers have tried to mandate energy efficient standards on washing machines, refrigerators and other products. Energy efficiency can be beneficial for consumers, but rarely when the government tries to force it on the public. Energy-efficient appliances and mechanisms will not painlessly lower electricity bills. These measures also impose costs, and consumers benefit only if the energy savings outweigh the costs. For one thing, mandatory improvements in efficiency usually raise the purchase price of appliances; sometimes …
We’re in one of the worst economic downturns our nation has ever faced, and policymakers have rightly expressed their concerns about losing more jobs. Fearing that we’re losing too many jobs overseas through trade pacts, 106 Members of Congress are seeking to revamp U.S. trade policy: Many Democrats on Capitol Hill, however, are unhappy about manufacturing job losses that they blame on trade pacts such as NAFTA and say they do not want to approve any more agreements without some safeguards.” So, politicians want to protect manufacturing jobs, yet they are hastily …
Everyone knows someone who works in construction. It’s one of those unwritten facts of life. If policymakers in Washington have their way, you’ll soon be able to say you used to know someone who worked in construction. That’s because the current cap and trade plan, proposed in the U.S. House of Representatives by Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Ed Markey (D-MA), will dramatically raise the cost of using energy. And construction is, well, energy intensive. Even without cap and trade, The Energy Information Agency projects industrial sector growth in construction will …
In today’s edition of “Outside the Beltway,” where we semi-regularly post state and local stories of either conservatism at its best, or liberalism at its worst, we find conservatism at its best. Dennis Lennox recently ran and was elected as the Cheboygan, Michigan, Drain Commissioner. His platform? Eliminating the job altogether. See, it turns out that Michigan law mandates that counties, such as Cheboygan, that have over 12,000 people must have a drain commissioner. The problem? Cheboygan doesn’t have any drains to regulate. So Dennis Lennox, realizing the absurdity of …
The York, Pennsylvania, school district has decided to eliminate the practice of honoring the top-achieving students as “valedictorian” or “salutatorian.” According to school board officials, this practice may promote unhealthy competition. Students, however, appear to have a different view of such honorifics. Caroline Klidonas, a 17-year-old rising senior asked in an interview on Tuesday with the York Daily Record, “How would anybody succeed at anything if there’s not competition? You get what you work for and that’s all there is to it … Why wouldn’t the school want us to …
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPPVDOpFCIA&fmt=18[/youtube] For all the latest research and commentary from Heritage visit the Cap and Trade Rapid Response page
Last night, ABC News aired ‘Questions for the President: Prescription for America‘ designed to be a town hall for doctors, patients and health care experts to ask President Obama challenging questions on his health care proposals. Many Americans protested before the program aired, in self-described “waiting rooms,” to challenge a perceived notion that ABC was simply giving the President one hour of prime time television to sell his program without an opposing view. Conservative Members of Congress gathered on Capitol Hill during the hour to showcase their health reform plans at an …
Congress is, once again, confronted with the reality that when someone can spend someone else’s money, the cost goes up. The Congressional Budget Office estimates of spending and enrollment are not really surprising. So Congress is trying to shoehorn policies to meet the budget score. As a result, decisions are made for budget reasons – which does not necessarily mean they make good or consistent policy. Everyone knows the cost of expanding insurance coverage is high, yet few are asking the right questions as to why. What does the CBO …
The front page of the business section of the New York Times today notes recent Chinese state intervention in trade. The Times is right to make this observation, if six… or eight… months late. But recent Chinese moves are neither new nor particularly important. The intervention in trade is long-standing; recent steps are minor extensions of previous policy. The announcement that government departments must buy local goods and services whenever available is just a restatement, the third or fourth one, of existing practices. Unfortunately, it also follows on our own “Buy …
