On November 9th, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments challenging the constitutionality of juvenile life without parole (JLWOP) sentences. In preparation for oral arguments, JLWOP: Faces & Cases will be an on-going series on The Foundry that will tell real stories about juvenile offenders who are currently serving LWOP sentences. Defendant: Norman Willover (17) Victims: Priya Mathews, Jennifer Aninger, Frances Anne Olivo Crimes: Two counts, first degree murder & other charges Where: Monterey, California Crime date: January 31, 1998 Summary Norman Willover tried to rob two female students …
In his speech to the UN on climate change, President Obama warned that the “security and stability of each nation and all peoples—our prosperity, our health, our safety—are in jeopardy” and that “we must seize the opportunity to make Copenhagen a significant step forward in the global fight against climate change.” This message of fighting climate change in order to ensure national security has become a major element of mainstream environmental rhetoric, so much so that many have likened the battle to a full-scale “war.” While examples of this are …
Congress will take up debate on the dreaded Death Tax once again in the coming weeks. It will do so because the Death Tax expires for one year starting January 1, 2010. But like the villain in a horror movie, it will rise from the dead with its full power in tact on January 1, 2011. The one-year expiration will likely incite Congressional debate because some would like to keep it from expiring this year all together. The one year abolition of the tax is the end of a years-long …
There’s nothing like competition to get people to focus on a goal, whether that’s on the gridiron or in education. And on the eve of a match-up between one of college football’s biggest rivalries – the Georgia Bulldogs vs. the Florida Gators – Governor Jeb Bush decided to walk into rival territory and address a group of key legislators and business leaders in Atlanta, Georgia. The event, co-sponsored by The Heritage Foundation, the Foundation for Excellence in Education, and the Center for an Educated Georgia at the Georgia Family Council, …
Last week Heritage scholar James Carafano wrote: It is not hard to craft comparisons between Jimmy Carter and the current occupant of the Oval Office. Both entered office with high expectations; both vowed to change the tone in Washington and remake the world. Carter had a terrible sophomore slump. America’s enemies took stock of his foreign policy in his first year in office. The next year they exploited the weaknesses they found. His presidency never recovered. Obama may also be setting himself up for the fall. This week, the Associated …
Great catch by Frederick Hess at The Enterprise Blog: Was it just me, or did anyone else find it troubling to read the Washington Post story “Democrats round up health bill votes” on Saturday and stumble upon this sentence: “Rep. Jason Altmire, a second-term Democrat who represents a blue-collar district in suburban Pittsburgh, was the focus of an aggressive lobbying effort Friday, taking calls from Obama, Pelosi and White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, as well as Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Education Secretary Arne Duncan.” …
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2prVpI7m4tM[/youtube] Lee Edwards, Distinguished Fellow in Conservative Thought at Heritage’s B. Kenneth Simon Center for American Studies and Chairman of The Victim of Communism Memorial Foundation discusses the anniversary of the Berlin Wall, the fall of Communism and the Gulag painting collection, currently being exhibited at The Heritage Foundation with ReasonTV. Visit the new Global Museum on Communism here.
Proponents of the $787 billion economic stimulus package said it would be quick and effective. It’s turning out to be neither. And the transformation to a new green revolution is off to a shaky start. One of the largest chunks of money from the federal spending is the $25 billion allocated for energy-efficiency. The Washington Post’s Alec MacGillis wrote, “If the New Deal was focused on building new things — schools, courthouses, libraries — then the stimulus is to a great degree focused on retrofitting what’s already there. The $25 …
When President Barack Obama was pitching his $787 billion economic stimulus package, the White House produced a report claiming their plan would keep unemployment under a peak of 8%. Reality has not been kind to President Obama’s promises. On November 6, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released their Employment Situation Summary showing that the nation’s unemployment rate had soared from 9.8% to 10.2% in October. You can see how President Obama’s promises compare to reality to the right. Reading the BLS report more closely, Heritage fellows Rea Hederman and James Sherk …
Sometimes the best-known lines of famous speeches are only indicators of the rest of their content. “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall” may be the best known excerpt from President Reagan’s speech in Berlin, but the whole is well worth a read. Several paragraphs near the end especially highlight the significance of faith, love, and virtue to free society, and the totalitarian world’s self-destructive antipathy for these. Like that most famous quotation, these prophetic lines show too that successful statesmen must be sober realists about men’s ideals: In a word, …
