In the run-up to his proposed health care summit, President Barack Obama this morning unveiled an 11-page outline of his health care proposal. Within the outline, there are 33 specific policy changes. Of course, there is no legislative text yet, so the full impact of what the President is proposing will not be known for some time. The President’s revisions are based on the Senate bill, as amended by Senate majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), and passed last Christmas Eve. According to the February 22, 2010, edition of Congress Daily, on …
The President promised that under health reform taxpayers would not be forced to fund abortion. Not true. The new health care outline posted by the White House this morning appears to aggravate concerns about a new abortion funding scheme that is not covered by any limitation, including the traditional Hyde amendment governing annual appropriations to the Department of Health and Human Services and the Stupak-Pitts amendment adopted by the House of Representative last November in its version of health reform. Instead, the White House plan would invest $11 billion in …
At 8:44 p.m. PST Feb. 11, 2010 … for just a second … man made night into day. A short-range ballistic missile launched from a sea-based platform off California’s Point Mugu Naval Air Warfare Center. Moments later, the Airborne Laser carried aloft in a specially modified 747 detected it. Then it cranked up the high-energy laser. That beam struck home, burning a small hole in the missile. A split-second later, its structural integrity destroyed, the missile vaporized in a tumbling corkscrew. Within two minutes of launch time, it was all …
While Blackbeard may be long dead, the days of piracy and the threats posed by it did not end in the 17th century. Today, piracy proves an ever growing threat to global commerce and the freedom of the seas, as pirates continue to take commercial ships hostage in hope of receiving large ransom sums for the exchange of cargo and individuals held hostage. Headlines in 2009 highlighting the capture of the Maersk Alabama and Liberty Sun off the coast of Somalia brought the threat posed by pirates in the region …
In July of last year, the American people were mostly undecided about Obamacare: equal numbers opposed and supported the health care bills that the White House was shepherding through Congress. But then August happened and informed Americans turned out at townhalls across the country to express their strong disapproval of Obamacare. The larger American public noticed and pluralities of the American people began to oppose Obamacare. The White House concluded they had a “communications problem” so they scheduled a prime time speech in front of a rare Joint Session of …
House Cloakroom: February 22 – 26 Analysis: The House will be back in session this week after two weeks off because of the snow and the scheduled President’s day recess. The biggest event this week will actually be off the Hill and over at the White House Health Care Summit, an effort to push forward a deal to get health care reform passed this year. Back on the Hill, the House expects to take up several pieces of legislation including the controversial Native Hawaiians bill which would set up a race-based …
Yesterday the International Atomic Energy Agency released a report that warned that it has evidence that Iran may be working on a nuclear warhead. This is the first time the IAEA has suggested that Tehran had either resumed such work or in fact had never stopped, as U.S. intelligence agencies had concluded in a controversial 2007 National Intelligence Estimate. The draft report (pdf) cited undisclosed evidence that “raises concerns about the possible existence in Iran of past or current undisclosed activities related to the development of a nuclear payload for …
The following Q&A with The Heritage Foundation’s Ben Lieberman is cross-posted from The Washington Post’s Planet Panel: Q: As the controversy swirling around the IPCC deepens at the same time some are questioning the significance of global warming now that large portions of the U.S. are buried under record-breaking snow, what kind of information do policymakers need to make decisions about climate change? Any risks of global warming need to be weighed against the risks of global warming policies. Policymakers must have accurate information on both sides of the equation …
Yesterday, the European Commission published a paper which looked at the U.S. mandate requiring scanning of 100 percent of the U.S. bound cargo containers. The July 1, 2012, deadline for implementation is drawing nearer, and U.S. trading partners are beginning to get engaged. The conclusion of the report – that the 100 percent mandate is the wrong course for the global supply chain – is dead-on in its assessment. The European Commission is nervous of this mandate for the same reasons Americans should be. It’s costly-and even more so because …
