As we mentioned earlier today, Judge Andrew Napolitano, author and Fox News analyst, sat down with us this week to discuss a number of issues. In addition to the tea party and Obamacare, we also talked about what it would mean for Justice Stevens to retire and what type of nominee we could expect from President Obama. In light of today’s announcement that Justice Stevens is indeed stepping down, we are posting that full exchange for you here. In the interview, Judge Napolitano was candid in his analysis: “[Stevens'] views …
Anyone who doubts the value of money spent on competition in the world of ideas – a key aspect of public diplomacy – needs to take a look at what the Chinese are doing in this field. Aspiring to promote their own model of governance, in opposition to that of the United States and the West, the Chinese are investing heavily in making friends overseas. Indeed, there is a real danger of the United States being out-done, for reasons of limited resources and a lack of strategy. The Chinese have …
If you’re not willing to make significant sacrifices in your life to save the environment, don’t worry, you’re not alone. A new Rasmussen survey “shows that only 17% of adults believe most Americans would be willing to make major cutbacks in their lifestyle in order to help save the environment. Most (65%) say that’s not the case.” But that’s the name of the game for radical environmental agendas and even government regulations geared towards forcing Americans to use less energy. Environmentalists want people to dramatically change their behavior. Of the …
These are historic and exciting times. Yesterday, The Heritage Foundation took a bold and forward-looking step. Our Board of Trustees approved launching a grassroots advocacy organization to help press the conservative cause with our nation’s lawmakers. The independent organization will be called “Heritage Action for America.” Over the last two years, Heritage membership has skyrocketed. Over 633,000 Americans now proudly call themselves a Member of The Heritage Foundation. That staggering number, more than double our 2008 total, testifies to the quality and appeal of our original research and principled policy …
Yesterday, the same day news leaked that the Obama administration intends to abandon references to Islamist ideology in its review of U.S. national security strategy, the other team received a major boost. Tariq Ramadan, European Islamist superstar, arrived in New Jersey for a tour of the United States. Heritage Foundation friend and inspiration for the title of this post, the American Islamic Forum for Democracy, has tracked Ramadan’s career and upcoming visit in vigorous detail. The following press release and links concerning his trip are well worth a read for …
The Obama Administration, while acknowledging that there would be language in the preamble of New START alluding to a link between strategic offensive arms and missile defenses, asserted flatly that it would not impose any restrictions on U.S. missile defense options. The assertions have turned out to be misrepresentations. The language in the preamble is much more substantive than just an allusion to an undefined link between offensive strategic arms and missile defenses. Basically, the language asserts that missile defense capabilities must come down as the numbers of strategic nuclear …
On April 5, in a speech at Harvard University Secretary of State Clinton’s lead diplomat for Africa Johnnie Carson outlined policy guidelines for sub-Saharan Africa. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Carson is a seasoned, three-time ambassador to Africa with an illustrious career as a diplomat and an analyst of African affairs. His speech stressed the importance of strengthening African governments and institutions, promoting economic progress, addressing health challenges, preventing and resolving conflicts, and meeting transnational challenges from climate change to drug trafficking. In short, Carson followed the familiar, …
The New York Department of Environmental Conservation is guaranteeing that New Yorkers will soon have to pay even more for electricity — when they can get it. The department just rejected Indian Point’s request for a water-quality certificate, which the plant needs to keep operating one reactor running after 2013, and the other after 2015. (The plant also needs its license renewed by the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission, but that’s a different battle.) A court fight is expected, but if this holds up, New York City in particular is in …
The Kyrgyz Republic, host to a strategic U.S. airbase at the Manas airport, is in political turmoil triggered, at least on the surface, by government-mandated price hikes in fuel, electricity, and mobile phone rates. The landlocked economy is one of the poorest of the former Soviet Union, and the economy’s transition to economic freedom has lagged far behind the more Western –oriented former Soviet republics like Georgia or the states along the Baltic Sea. Over the years, the Kyrgyz Republic has implemented some positive economic reforms, notably introducing a more …
