Timing is everything in life. And in death. America’s level of death taxes is a bouncing ball—a political football because Congress is fumbling around with legislation that makes a dramatic difference measured in jobs as well as in dollars. As the law is now, anyone who dies during 2010 will pay no estate tax. But die in 2009 and the rate is 45% of the taxable estate. Die in 2011 or later and it’s 55%. The amount exempted from tax also fluctuates from $3.5-million this year to immaterial next year …
Today, The Heritage Foundation will host an event with Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) discussing the constitutionality of the personal mandate to buy heath insurance. Also, Heritage will be releasing a paper authored by Randy Barnett, Nathan Stewart and Todd Gaziano arguing that this mandate is both unprecedented and unconstitutional. No where in the constitution is Congress granted the authority to mandate that individuals enter into a contract with a private party. The argument is that a mandate requiring all individuals to purchase health insurance would be an unprecedented form of …
If you are one of the few Americans who still subscribes, your morning newspaper probably has a headline like this: Democrats Reach Deal on Health Plan. Don’t believe it. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) is still light years away from producing the 60 votes necessary to pass Obamacare out of the Senate. And the few details that have leaked out about this new “broad agreement” only reveal just how desperate Reid is to get any bill on to President Obama’s desk by the New Year. Of course, there is no …
Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK), ranking Member on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee (EPW), spoke to bloggers at The Heritage Foundation’s weekly Bloggers Briefing today and focused his remarks on the controversial “Climategate” scandal — the series of leaked e-mails that have blown holes through the theory of man-made global warming. As Sen. Inhofe sat down to speak, he opined that he was just in the Senate trying to convince Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) to investigate the subject of the e-mails, instead of the people who uncovered the e-mails. …
It has become conventional wisdom that President Obama tries very hard to be all things to all people when he gives a speech these days. While it often makes for excellent oratory, it rarely inspires action or advocacy on his behalf. In fact, after his recent address on Afghanistan, given at West Point, there was widespread criticism from both sides of the aisle over some of the policy, and most of the substance. Simply put, the nation cannot be led through a war or a recession by simply filling in the …
In response to the December 7th through 18th Copenhagen Climate Change Conference, The Heritage Foundation is launching a video series to cover all the details and aspects of the climate summit. We’ll address all the angles (climate, energy, national security, sovereignty, trade, and more) and provide you with everything you need to know about Copenhagen. Yesterday, Heritage Foundation Senior Policy Analyst Ben Lieberman discussed how the Byrd-Hagel Resolution should guide U.S. criteria for an international climate treaty. Up next is Derek Scissors, Heritage Research Fellow in Asia Economic Policy in …
Details are diabolical. Very soon, the fine print of the latest Senate scheme on the government-run health plan will be unveiled. If the Senate leadership has its way, the newly hatched “compromise” on the “public plan” will move quickly by the fleeting light of day toward passage. In their relentless drive to overhaul one sixth of the American economy, Senators are obviously making it up as they go along. In the latest desperate search to find some form of government-run health plan to compete against private health plans that is …
A new report -The 2009 “State of our Unions”- out of the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia and the Institute for American Values, reports that divorce fell during the first full year of the Great Recession, the first annual dip since 2005. “Tough times foster real family solidarity and encourage many couples to stick together,” says UVA sociology professor W. Bradford Wilcox, director of the National Marriage Project. “Many couples are rediscovering the longstanding sociological truth that marriage is one of society’s best social insurance plans.”
Nothing of substance will come from the two-week UN climate summit taking place in Copenhagen which President Obama will attend at the end of next week. Nonetheless, this will not stop the relentless political machine pressing for growth-sapping measures. This was the conclusion of a roundtable discussion today hosted by The Heritage Foundation at the National Press Club in Washington D.C. Heritage Foundation Senior European policy analyst Sally McNamara moderated a panel of experts which surmised that no U.S. global warming bill is possible this year. This lowers the prospect …
Conservative Party leader David Cameron’s visit to British troops in Helmand is a timely reminder of the unyielding contribution the British armed forces have made to the NATO effort in Afghanistan. As President Obama announces the deployment of up to 30,000 additional U.S. troops for the mission, it is important to reflect on the magnitude of the British effort too: Britain is the second largest troop contributor to the mission, with 9,000 deployed servicemen and more to follow shortly; UK troops continue to operate without national caveats, largely in the …
