It is the sad plight of the proud Cuban people to live under the yoke of the Cuban Communist regime. May 20, 2010 marks the 108th year of Cuba’s independence. This year is also the 51st year of the Castro dictatorship. The people of Cuban – vibrant, ethnically-diverse and enterprising – are shackled hand and foot by a system conceived in the 19th century utopian musings of Marx but actually forged and perfected by the great totalitarians of the 20th century. In History’s light, Havana’s aging dictators – Fidel and …
The Obama Administration unfortunately has been outmaneuvered by Iran and hoisted on its own petard. By trumpeting the supposed benefits of diplomatic engagement and ignoring its own deadlines for Iran to meaningfully engage, it left the door open for Tehran to engage the leaders of Turkey and Brazil, who share a common interest with Iran in undermining American leadership. Iran resurrected an even more flawed version of the October deal hatched by the Obama Administration to exchange part of Iran’s stockpile of low enriched uranium for more highly enriched fuel …
This Tuesday, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton addressed The Heritage Foundation’s Chicago Community Committee on American Sovereignty Under a Post-American Presidency as part of out Protect America Month. You can read Chicago Committee Chairman Vince Kolber’s introduction below, and watch Bolton’s speech in the video embedded: It is noteworthy that we have come here today in the Land of Lincoln, when on this very day 150 years ago Lincoln received his party’s nomination a few short blocks from here. We also are in the birth state …
“Fraud,” “deceit,” and “exploitation.” Those words were used this week at a hearing about the Head Start program–the federal government’s long-standing preschool program for low-income children. An investigation carried out by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), revealed several cases of underreporting of income and the falsification of addresses by Head Start employees in order to “qualify” children for the program. Head Start grantees receive money based on the number of children they serve. As reported in an Education and Labor committee hearing on May 18, reports of two fraudulent cases …
The Senate Committee on Foreign Relations met on May 18 to hold a hearing with Secretaries Clinton and Gates and Admiral Mullen on the new U.S.-Russia Strategic Arms Reduction (New START) Treaty. The three officials gave testimony and urged ratification saying the treaty will enhance U.S. security and aid nuclear non-proliferation efforts. In a near-herculean effort, the witnesses, over and over, sought to persuade lawmakers that divergent views with Russia on the key issues of missile defense should not be an obstacle to ratification, reiterating that nothing in New START …
Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) failed to end debate on Sen. Chris Dodd’s (D-CT) financial regulation bill yesterday when two Democrats broke ranks to vote with conservatives. The Dodd bill is already a big government monstrosity, expanding powers for existing Washington regulators as well as creating and empowering new ones. But frightened by the defeat of Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA) and the near defeat of Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Russ Feingold (D-WI) issued statements following their “no” voted demanding that the bill further increase the …
Indur Goklany was involved with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change as an author, U.S. delegate and reviewer since before its inception. His focuses are climate change and economic development, among others, and his presentation at Heartland’s 4th International Climate Change Conference on global warming and mortality was one of the standout presentations in the entire conference. His talk establishes the long-standing fact that cold kills more than warmth and that global warming policies cost more lives than global warming itself.
Mexican President, Felipe Calderon, is set to address a joint session of Congress today to address issues of mutual interest on both sides of our almost two thousand mile border. Among the issues that will likely dominate Calderon’s prepared remarks will include the ongoing drug violence engulfing Mexico and threatening to spill over to our border states even more. But beyond this critical issue of mutual concern, rest assured that Mr. Calderon will use this opportunity to speak about immigration. Mr. Calderon will likely talk about the thousands of men, …
Trade critics charge that free trade damages U.S. firms and workers. It’s true that individuals can experience trade-related job loss. Balanced against that, however, must be the overall gains in U.S. employment and productivity that stem from an open trading environment. Indeed, free trade fosters economic efficiency, which is the basis for dynamic growth and job creation. In a recent report entitled “Opening Markets, Creating Jobs: Estimated U.S. Employment Effects of Trade with FTA Partners,” the U.S. Chamber of Commerce points out that more than 17 million American jobs depend …
Undeterred by the lack of success so far of the Obama Doctrine (apologize for America to foreign leaders, and if that doesn’t work, bow), President Obama today took the unprecedented step of publicly siding with Mexico against the state of Arizona. President Obama did this while standing next to the visiting President of Mexico, Felipe Calderon, and while addressing Mexican journalists in the Rose Garden of the White House. President Obama repudiated Arizona’s anti-illegal immigration law in this public act, and by doing so he waved away not just centuries …
