New data out from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that some 44.9 million Americans of all ages were uninsured in the quarter of January through March. Roughly 63.5 percent of unemployed adults aged 18 to 64 and 21.5 percent of employed adults in the same age group had been uninsured at some point in the past year. The new report highlights a trend in Census data that private coverage is declining while coverage in public health programs is on the rise. The numbers also underscore what Stuart …
Recently, an advisory task force handed the Homeland Security Secretary a split recommendation over whether to scrap the color-coded terrorist alert system. I voted that for the public the system makes no sense. Now word comes that the authorities are on to a domestic terrorist plot that may have involved placing backpack bombs on subways and other public places. They did not raise the national level from “yellow” to “orange.” Instead they just published an alert telling people what they could, when they could…and this seem to work just fine. …
The United States elected 43 presidents before the current occupant graced the office with his presence. We fought, and won, two world wars, liberated millions of people worldwide from tyranny, and worked cooperatively with other sovereign nations to rebuild entire continents. Some might even say the character of our nation is well established considering we have been a democracy for just over 230 years now. Not President Barack Obama, who told the United Nations General Assembly yesterday, “For those who question the character and cause of my nation, I ask …
Heritage’s Ben Lieberman on climate policy
The American public…just like your teenage kids, aren’t acting in a way that they should act. The American public has to really understand in their core how important this issue is.” In case you haven’t heard, that was Secretary of Energy Steven Chu discussing your ability to curb greenhouse gas emissions. As long as we’re acting like teenagers, we might as well be treated like them. According to the Obama administration, we can’t understand what greenhouse gases are, so we’ll use the terms “carbon pollution” or “heat-trapping emissions” instead. From …
President Obama’s remarks on Afghanistan in today’s speech at the United Nations General Assembly reveal that he is beginning to second-guess U.S. strategy in the region. While he stated clearly that his administration would not allow al-Qaeda to find sanctuary in Afghanistan or “any other nation” (i.e. Pakistan), he did not so much as mention the Taliban insurgency that is threatening to engulf Afghanistan and the necessity of preventing such an outcome. His backtracking on Afghanistan also is evident in statements he made on this past Sunday’s morning talk shows …
The Committee on Finance has issued a press release that claims under Chairman Baucus’ health care plan, now being marked up and amended in full Committee session: “[e]very state would spend less on Medicaid compared to current spending levels over the next three years (2010-2012), equaling a total net decrease in state Medicaid spending of more than $2.6 billion.” The flaw in the official statement is that no one, especially the states, believes current state spending levels reflect reality. Current state spending levels are artificially low because of a temporary …
Earlier today, President Barack Obama addressed the General Assembly of the United Nations. You can read the full transcript here. Experts in foreign policy and international affairs at The Heritage Foundation watched the speech and had plenty of reaction. Here are some highlights: On Reaction at U.N.: “The other U.N. member states have to be beside themselves with glee. President Obama gave them virtually everything they could ask for without demanding anything in return that was not already on the agenda – and which they are prepared to twist to their …
Live from the Senate Finance Committee Mark-up During the Senate Finance Committee mark up of the Baucus health bill today Senator Bunning of Kentucky put forth an innovative amendment. This amendment stipulated that before voting on the measure in Committee, legislative language would have to be accessible to the public for 72 hours and that the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) would need to publish an official tally of how much this bill will cost the American people and what the real impact will be on health costs. There are …
President Barack Obama has promised Americans on multiple occasions that his health care plan would not cut benefits for Medicare enrollees. For example, on August 11th Obama promised: “I just want to be clear, again: Seniors who are listening here, this does not affect your benefits. This is not money going to you to pay for your benefits; this is money that is subsidizing folks who don’t need it.” We pointed out at the time that Obama’s statement is simply not true. Yesterday, Associated Press reported: The head of the …
