Social justice, the common good, and individual liberty—common terms, loosely used today. According to Michael Novak, “all three need, in every generation, to recover their often lost precision. Otherwise, the silent artillery of time steadily levels their carefully wrought strong points and leaves an entire people intellectually and morally defenseless.” Follow Novak’s three-part series “On the Square” (First Things) as he seeks “to find some precision in these three realities.” Watch Novak’s recent lecture at The Heritage Foundation, “Social Justice Is Not What You Think It Is.” To read more, …
When President George Bush made the case for the surge in Iraq in January 2007, he made it clear to the Iraqi people and our allies abroad that he would not bow to domestic political pressures by setting a date for troop withdrawal. President Barack Obama has chosen a different path, explicitly naming a July 2011 retreat date in the sentence immediately following his troop increase announcement. So how does Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spin this pre-retreat to our allies: It should be clear to everyone that — unlike …
House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA) delivers a major address at 2 p.m. ET today at Heritage explaining why creating jobs doesn’t have to cost money. Cantor’s speech — which has already generated coverage from ABC News, National Journal, The Atlantic and The Hill — comes a day before President Barack Obama’s Jobs Summit. Cantor’s speech will be followed by a panel discussion with Heritage experts. Both Cantor and the panel will field questions from Facebook users, who can watch the speech live on Heritage’s fan page or via the embedded video player …
Q: As we get closer to the United Nation’s conference on climate change in Copenhagen and nations begin setting their agendas, are their goals realistic? Last week, the U.S. and China each announced their emissions target goals. Are they big enough? Throughout the global warming debate, there have always been those willing to put on an extra-thick pair of rose-colored glasses when it comes to China. China is going green, we are repeatedly told, and thus America needs to catch up in committing to reductions in carbon dioxide and other …
Sens. John Barrasso (R-WY) and Tom Coburn (R-OK) recently hosted Center for American Progress blogger Igor Volsky on their Senate Doctors Show. Volsky challenged Sen. Barrasso to identify where in the Senate Health Bill it empowers the federal government to ration mammograms. And Sen. Barrasso does. Watch: Here is how we covered the issue last week:
Today, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano testified before the Senate Commerce Committee on the topic of transportation security. What she said about cargo security was something that everyone else in the homeland security community has been saying for the past two years. There are a number of serious challenges that stand in the way of the 100 percent scanning mandate. The private sector has known this for a while. These innovators understand that you can’t be perfect (aka scan 100 percent of cargo) without the right technology. And Napolitano …
Former President Dwight D. Eisenhower once said: “Morale is the greatest single factor in successful wars.” So why did President Obama choose last night’s address to further disintegrate what morale is left in the fight in Iraq? Choosing the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York was on first blush a wise decision. These are the young men and women who will put their lives on the line, or may have already, to defend the President’s decisions. This is not the “enemy camp” as MSNBC’s Chris Matthews described …
Last night, President Obama outlined his strategy for Afghanistan. Thankfully, he spoke of the fact that this war is not optional, that our efforts there are in America’s vital national interests, and that the strategic goals and objectives of the United States are largely unchanged from March. Now that the president has highlighted his plan, it is time for Congress to ask some serious questions. 1. Given that the president did not specifically outline victory or how the U.S. will win in Afghanistan, what metrics should Congress use to evaluate …
The U.S. House of Representatives will vote this week on a bill that would permanently extend the estate tax (known better as the death tax) at its current rate and exemption level. This extension would prevent the death tax from expiring as scheduled on January 1, 2010. As such it would be a significant tax increase. Before voting to extend the death tax, Congress should consider the devastating impact it has on family-owned businesses. Grande Harvest Wine, a family-owned wine retailer operating in Grand Central Terminal in New York City, …
Yesterday a coalition of 19 surgical organizations representing over 240,000 doctors nationwide sent a letter to Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), with copies to the entire U.S. Senate, explaining why they must oppose the Senate’s version of Obamacare. Read the whole letter here, or skip to their list of specific problems with the bill below the fold. You’ll see that almost all of their complaints have to do with the tremendous amount of authority this bill rips away from doctors and patients and transfers to bureaucrats in Washington DC. Heritage …
