Nevada’s attorney general Catherine Cortez Masto penned an op-ed in the Las Vegas Sun over the weekend, calling the geologic repository Yucca Mountain “unworkable” as a long-term solution to store our nation’s nuclear waste. She claims the administration has scientific and technological reasons to permanently shut down Yucca. But instead supporting the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s responsibility to determine if that’s the case, she focuses on questionable arguments to instill fear in Nevadans. The first claim is that Yucca is unstable, a hotbed for seismic activity that could disrupt the safe …
Last Thursday was Tax Day, a day when many Americans pause to consider the impact that rising taxes have on their life and what they could have done with all that money they sent to the government. To memorialize the day, Heritage released a video “Tax Day By the Numbers” to help illustrate the burden that our out-of-control fiscal policy places on Americans. Additionally, we joined Americans around the country who attended local tea party protests. During the D.C. protest, organized by FreedomWorks, we went around and chatted with many …
The Obama administration’s game plan for passing their financial regulatory reform plan is clear: ignore the details of their bill, demonize Wall Street, and cast conservatives as the pawns of big bankers. But as Politico reports today, there’s a complication in their battle plan: “The Democratic Party is closer to corporate America — and to Wall Street in particular — than many Democrats would care to admit.” Politico should be commended for acknowledging the left’s cozy ties with corporate America, but then they go on to write: “Some Democrats acknowledge …
Ambassador John Bolton’s encyclopedic knowledge of the history of arms control deserves the respect of all senators, who in all likelihood will be asked to consider granting consent to the ratification of the NEW START arms control agreement with Russia later this year. By paying close attention to the details of this long and complex arms control treaty with Russia for reducing strategic nuclear launchers, delivery systems and warheads, Bolton is raising very important and disturbing questions about NEW START and its negative implications for U.S. national security in a …
Until last Friday, I did not realize that the Obama administration is apparently using Frank Morgan’s performance as the Wizard of Oz as training material for its judicial nominees. What else can one make of Ninth Circuit nominee Goodwin Liu’s testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee? Liu said, in reference to his past legal writings, “whatever I may have written in the books and the articles would have no bearing on my action as a judge.” Obviously, his handlers must think that Morgan’s line when Toto pulls back the curtain on the …
Reporters covering a “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” protest at the White House today were forced out of Lafayette Square by police. The scene, captured on video, is remarkable given the historical importance of the park as a protest spot across the street from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. President Obama, who boasts of the most transparent administration in history, is facing increasingly angry rhetoric on the issue. But the more important matter facing the administration today involves freedom of the press. Why would Secret Service officers, charged with protecting the White House, …
Obamacare requires all individuals to carry health insurance for themselves and their families. Those who don’t will have to pay a penalty. And the IRS is the agency charged with making sure the uninsured pony up. Just how will the IRS do that? It’s not something lawmakers got around to actually, you know, writing down in any detail in that big bill. That’s even harder to do than reading that monster. But now that they’ve made Obamacare the law of the land, they’re starting to take an interest in the …
Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) announced during a Senate appropriations subcommittee hearing last Wednesday that he will sponsor a $23 billion emergency jobs bill in response to the country’s education employment situation. During the hearing Education Secretary Arne Duncan described the education job situation as “brutal” and Ramon C. Cortines, Superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District, warned of decreased academic achievement as communities “continue to hemorrhage teachers and other essential employees.” Although state and federal education leaders worry about any decreases in employment, increases in education labor over the …
Last Friday, The Heritage Foundation hosted three experts on international monetary policy for a lecture titled, “The Dollar, The Euro, and the International Monetary Order: What is the U.S. to Do?“. The panel consisted of Dr. Judy Shelton of the Atlas Economic Research Foundation, Dr. Robert Mundell, winner of a Nobel Prize in Economics, and Johns Hopkins University Professor Steve H. Hanke. Before their panel, they sat down for a short interview to discuss the Euro and the crisis in Greece, the prospects for inflation in the coming years, and …
Flights in Europe are grounded as people wait for the ash from the recent eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano to settle out of the air. Europeans are being warned that they may face shortages in fruits and vegetables, as shipments, brought in by air, have not been able to arrive. These shortages should serve as a wake-up call for the U.S. as it moves forward with 100% percent air cargo screening mandates this summer. Much like Europe, the U.S. relies heavily on a “just in time” supply chain to receive …
