We can see the t-shirt slogan already: I paid $58,000 for solar panels and all I got was a $21 carbon credit that bought me this t-shirt. It’s not very catchy, but that’s the story of a Harrisburg couple, Tami and Randy Wilson, who installed solar panels in their home to reduce their electricity bill: The Pennsylvania couple has sold the world’s first carbon credit awarded for a reduction in personal carbon emissions. About 1,800 others have signed up to follow suit – underlining the US public’s readiness to press …
Earlier this weekend, former Alaska governor Sarah Palin told Chris Wallace in a Fox News interview that the Obama administration’s position on dissent is that detractors should “sit down and shut up.” The Huffington Post crowd immediately jumped on the statement, saying it couldn’t be supported. Well, 24 hours later, White House homeland-security adviser John Brennan put this argument to rest by publishing a blog in USA Today that not only tells Americans to sit down and shut up but also accuses them of “serv[ing] the goals of al-Qaeda” if …
In USA Today this morning, Obama’s top counter-terrorism advisor lashes out at those criticizing the administration’s bungling of the Christmas Day bomber interrogation. Brennan accuses critics of “[p]olitically motivated criticism and unfounded fear-mongering” which he declares “only serve the goals of al-Qaeda.” My goodness. Only one problem for Brennan. The criticism to which he refers is not from Dick Cheney and commentators on the right. His op-ed was a reply to an editorial from USA Today, published side by side with his own, which is entitled: “Our view on war …
The Washington Post reports that The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has proposed to create a new climate service and website that would provide the public with information and predictions about the impact of global warming. If this turns out to be yet one more source of apocalyptic government press releases and other such hype, it’s the last thing we need. Just look at the cover of NOAA’s already-existing National Climate Data Center report showing a photoshopped house under water to get a sense of how much are tax …
One common assertion among the left is that other industrialized nations, such as Canada, achieved great success in health care within their collectivist framework. This, then, begs the question: why is the head of an east coast Canadian province coming to the United States for medical treatment? Newfoundland Premier Danny Williams is seeking heart surgery in the United States, drawing criticism from “local bloggers and people calling in to the province’s immensely popular open-line radio shows.” Yet his actions are hardly unusual for world leaders. Saudi Arabian King Abdullah bin …
On February 25th, the White House has proposed a bipartisan, half-day televised summit on health care. It is unclear as to whether this is a publicity stunt by the Obama Administration or a good faith effort to negotiate with Republicans to come up with a bipartisan health care reform bill. The Washington Post reports today many Republicans are pushing back and urging the White House to scrap Obamacare as a precondition to any negotiation. House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) and Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA) sent a letter to White …
A recent Washington Post article reports that several faith leaders are sensing a new tone from President Barack Obama’s office on faith-based initiatives. According to Stanley Carlson-Thies, who has worked closely with the office under both Presidents Bush and Obama, rather than creating a fair playing field for the good works of faith-based groups, the attitude now is: “We’re the government, doing wonderful things, YOU can come join US.” Attitudes and expectations about government are important. They shape how citizens respond to poverty and injustice. That’s why we’d propose a …
Yesterday’s Rasmussen poll reveals what anyone who has been watching the news for the past year already knows — Americans are angry. They are angry at their government and its failures to provide solutions to the current problems. According to today’s poll, 75% of likely voters are “at least somewhat angry at the government’s current policies”. The poll also found that a whopping 45% of respondents were in the “Very Angry” category a nine percent increase from earlier this fall. What the poll didn’t show was that many Americans are …
At the annual Munich Security Conference, German foreign minister Guido Westerwelle has called for the creation of a European army. Following the introduction of the Lisbon Treaty, the EU thinks that it is ready for the big time, ready to assume the burdens of international leadership. Last February, they sent a six-page letter to President Obama, seeking to play a greater role on the international stage. But the United States should be in no hurry to relinquish its transatlantic leadership role to the European Union. Lady Thatcher described the creation …
The snowstorms that have already dumped over two feet of snow on the nation’s Capitol and that are threatening to dump another 12 to 16 inches, have ground the legislative process to a halt. But that might not be such a bad thing. Senate Democrats had hoped they could pass President Barack Obama’s second stimulus today, but with only three of the Senate’s 100 lawmakers able to make it to the chamber, that vote has been postponed indefinitely. And the more we learn about what might be in President Obama’s second …
