Following Barack Obama’s inauguration last year, the newly-elected commander-in-chief sought to impose his vision of “change” on U.S. counter-terrorism policies. On his third day in office, the President signed an executive order directing that Guantanamo Bay prison be closed within a year. The decision was complemented by an additional order to ban enhanced interrogation techniques, effectively removing life-saving procedures from the intelligence gathering toolbox. While the President’s attempts to transform American counter-terror strategy were welcomed with open arms by his political allies in Congress, others were less enthusiastic. President Obama …
The recent CPAC conference showed us that the conservative movement is powered, in part, by the students and young leaders who keep important political issues front and center on their respective campuses. A majority of the people who attended the conference were young people, and it was clear they took home a great wealth of knowledge about our founding principles, our political system and our economy. While it is certain that these students are well versed in these subject matters, it may not be true for their peers back on …
The New York Times reports that the Obama Administration will probably change the United States’ nuclear policy in its upcoming Nuclear Posture Review. Specifically, President Obama would like to reduce the American nuclear arsenal by thousands of weapons but update the technology of the existing stockpile. The Nuclear Posture Review will outline important steps toward the new American policy on nuclear weapons, which is expected to further depart from a Cold War era posture. “The Heritage Foundation has proposed a ‘protect and defend’ strategic posture for the U.S. that is …
While China rings in 2010 as the year of the tiger, American families and taxpayers might soon be able to refer to 2010 as the year school choice became the norm. Five states in particular are worth watching: Illinois, Indiana, Florida, Virginia and New Jersey. Ironically perhaps, Illinois is home to the most notable opponents of school choice in D.C. – Senator Durbin, the chief architect of the plan to eliminate the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program, Education Secretary Arne Duncan who exercised school choice by purchasing a home in northern …
Liberals are up in arms because Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY) is blocking a bill that would extend unemployment benefits, extend health insurance subsidies (COBRA), extend highway funding, increase Medicare reimbursement rates for physicians (Doc Fix), extend a temporary “flood insurance” program and continue aid for small business programs. The bill, H.R. 4691, was introduced and passed the House on February 25th by a voice vote. When the bill came up in the Senate, Sen. Bunning objected and requested a vote to offset the estimated $10 billion cost of this bill …
On March 1, Spanish prosecuting judge Eloy Velasco issued indictments against 12 terrorist members of the ETA, the chief Basque separatist/terrorist organization, and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Both ETA and FARC are considered international terrorist organization in Europe and by the U.S. The Spanish judge charged the 12 with conspiring to murder Colombia’s President Alvaro Uribe, former president Andrés Pastrana, and other senior Colombian officials on Spanish soil. International arrest warrants were issued for all 12. Judge Velasco wrote in the indictment: “There is evidence in this …
With the dust settled on the health summit, it is clear that the president and his allies on Capitol Hill intend to plow forward with their sweeping proposal to overhaul the nation’s health sector. As the Los Angeles Times observed, it is also clear that “they will have to do it by themselves.” And there’s only one way they can “do it by themselves”: an arcane budgetary procedure known as “reconciliation.” Reconciliation lets lawmakers “expedite” consideration of proposals to reduce projected budget deficits, and it allows Senate leaders to circumvent …
The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency yesterday warned that he cannot confirm that all of Iran’s nuclear activities are for civilian purposes. IAEA chief Yukiya Amano told the IAEA Board of Governors, which is meeting in Geneva Switzerland, that “we cannot confirm that all nuclear material in Iran is in peaceful activities because Iran has not provided the agency with the necessary co-operation.” His statement is a slightly softer indictment of Iran’s nuclear defiance than a confidential IAEA report leaked last week that indicated that the U.N. …
After more than a year of $862 billion dollar deficit stimulus bills, national-debt-doubling federal budgets, and government takeovers of the auto industry, it is difficult to remember that President Barack Obama actually ran as a moderate in many ways. On his way to a 53% – 46% win over Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), then-Sen. Obama promised to “cut taxes for 95% of workers and their families,” expand the Army by 65,000 and the Marines by 27,000, and enact “a net spending cut” for the federal government. Obama promised lower taxes, …
This morning, the Supreme Court will hear oral argument in McDonald v. Chicago, a landmark case addressing whether states can deny the rights of their citizens to keep and bear arms. This question was left open by the Supreme Court’s groundbreaking yet common sense decision in Heller v. District of Columbia, in which the Court concluded, yes, the Second Amendment does actually protect an individual right to keep and bear arms. The successful lawyer for Heller, Alan Gura, will be the lead counsel in McDonald as well. Inevitably, all eyes …
