The funniest thing on television is not Betty White on Saturday Night Live. It’s the Iranian President. “Live from Tehran. It’s Nuclear Summit Too!” That’s how Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad should have opened his own 60 country nuclear summit last month. Ahmadinejad’s two-day forum convened the week after President Obama’s star-studded nuclear security summit in Washington. The Iran conference was a perfect parody of Obama’s nuclear security summit — Ahmadinejad’s version of a “Saturday Night Live” spoof. Well, he did it again. Ahmadinejad rained on Obama’s parade showing up at …
The economic effects of prolonged unemployment insurance (UI) have become a controversial topic recently. Conservatives have pointed to a raft of economic studies to demonstrate that, in addition to the benefits they provide, extended UI benefits also come with an economic cost – lengthening the amount of time that those without jobs stay unemployed. Many liberals ridicule conservatives for suggesting this could happen. Speaker Nancy Pelosi recently called the notion “an insult to these millions of people who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own.” If liberals …
The Treasury Department announced yesterday that the federal deficit for April soared to $82.69 billion, more than twice the $40 billion deficit that Wall Street economists had predicted. An April deficit is rare for the federal government (there has been a surplus in 43 out of the past 56 years) and the announcement marked a record 19th consecutive month that the Treasury has posted a shortfall. Like those who said there was no housing bubble, some on the left who crave an ever larger federal government are still saying that …
Last year Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and Barbara Boxer (D-CA) rolled out a companion cap and trade bill to the Waxman-Markey version that passed in the House of Representatives. Boxer-Kerry was essentially dead on arrival so Senator Kerry went back to work, this time with Senators Joe Lieberman (D-CT) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC). Although Senator Graham is urging his colleagues to slow down, Senators Kerry and Lieberman are trudging forward and have introduced the American Power Act – the latest big climate change bill. Subtitled, “A New Start for Clean …
Elena Kagan is an enigma as a Supreme Court Justice nominee: her practice record is slender, and her publications are few and far between. In the latest Heritage in Focus podcast, senior legal fellow Robert Alt discusses what we know about Kagan, and how her views could shape constitutional litigation if her nomination is approved. Alt also describes the nomination and Senate approval process, and how Kagan’s nomination in particular should be considered. Given the controversies surrounding her recorded views, and her overall lack of experience, Alt advises a thorough …
Last month Politico reported that the alternative energy sector had upped its lobbying efforts from $2.4 million in 1998 to $30 million in 2009. So what is the renewable power industry getting for its investment? Studies like this one by Navigant Consulting, Inc. for the Renewable Electricity Standard-Alliance for Jobs. The RES Alliance study found that “that a 25% by 2025 national RES would result in 274,000 more renewable energy jobs over no-national RES policy.” Which is great news if you own a renewable electricity business. But what if you’re …
Major players in Washington cheered the latest version of an energy bill, which tries to buy votes with “something for almost everyone.” But beleaguered consumers will get stuck with skyrocketing bills after others feast on new government benefits. We can expect any new “green jobs” to be offset by a larger loss of existing jobs, possibly up to 3-million, depending on details of how the bill’s cap-and-trade system is implemented to tax carbon dioxide emissions.
The administrative state is one of the biggest threats to our liberty and it is operating without consent of the people and under the radar of most people. This is a huge cause for concern and it is something that should be brought out into the open. The administrative state acts without consent of the governed and has little public accountability giving them power to interpret and enforce laws however it sees fit. This is causing a decline in our constitutional government. The administrative state are government bureaucracies that create …
The negative effects of Obamacare will impact every American. However, it is those who are the very backbone of the United States’ high-quality health care system who will be most severely affected: physicians. In a recent paper, Heritage’s health policy expert Robert Moffit, Ph.D., details the changes American doctors can expect to see in the way they practice medicine as a result of the recently-passed law. Moffit outlines the following as being most detrimental to the practice of medicine: Medicaid Expansion and Payment. As it is, doctors receive heavily reduced …
From his sprawling new $9 million ocean-view villa in Montecito, California, with its high ceilings, wine cellar, terraces, six fireplaces, five bedrooms, nine bathrooms, pool and 6,500 square feet of living space, former Vice President Al Gore is asking a favor of the American people. He’d like you to tighten your belt and shell out big time for higher electric bills, all in the name of fighting global warming. In a renewable electricity standard (RES) proposal now before Congress, those costs would be huge. A new Heritage Foundation study modeled …
