Government spending is increasing at an alarmingly quick rate. This is especially true when it comes to entitlement programs. In fact, entitlement spending will consume all tax revenue by 2052. But Congress is already spending at a breakneck pace accumulating unprecedented debt. Sen. George LeMieux noticed this and had a very interesting observation when he tweeted: Today the debt hit 13 trillion. The debt increased a trillion in less than a year. It took 191 years to amass the first trillion in debt.less than a minute ago via webSen. George …
With the Korean Peninsula on the brink of war, a major U.S. Military surge in Afghanistan, and a nuclear treaty that undermines the United States’ ability to defend itself, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is concerning herself with… America’s taxes? That’s right. Diplomat-in-Chief Clinton yesterday said that the U.S. tax rate isn’t high enough and that we should strive to become more like Brazil: The rich are not paying their fair share in any nation that is facing the kind of employment issues (the United States is), whether it’s individual, …
Robert Bauer, the White House Counsel, has released a two-page memorandum in response to the controversy involving Rep. Joe Sestak (D-PA) and the promise by President Obama at his news conference yesterday that there would be “an official response shortly” from the White House. The administration has been stalling for months about giving a full explanation of what happened and who was involved in potentially violating federal law ever since Sestak first claimed he had been offered a position in the administration in exchange for withdrawing his primary challenge to …
The roll out of the administration’s first National Security Strategy this week has been a classic exercise in strategic communication, Obama style – a highly coordinated, choreographed exercise involving the highest levels of government. First, the President himself laid the groundwork at the West Point graduation last weekend. Then, Deputy National Security advisor John Brennan handled the counterterrorism part of the strategy at CSIS on Wednesday, promulgating some depressingly sophistical approaches to terrorism, jihadism and Islamism. And Thursday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke at the Brooking Institution, presenting a …
In the weeks since President Obama signed his health care plan into law, Republicans have done more to repeal and replace their own rhetoric than to repeal and replace Obamacare, Rep. Steve King (R-IA) said at The Heritage Foundation Bloggers Briefing Tuesday. Yet, repeal is still possible, he said—and should be priority No. 1. Two days after the health care bill passed, Republicans said they would work to rescind the legislation entirely. Now, some say they’d like to revoke only its most egregious aspects. “They’re trying to redefine what ‘repeal’ …
Amnesty International has a new slogan designed to drum up support for the U.N.’s Arms Trade Treaty: it’s calling on its supporters to demand a “bullet-proof” treaty. That’s cute. Unfortunately, what’s cute is not necessarily good policy, as Amnesty’s slogan illustrates all too clearly. It explicitly demands a treaty that “control[s] all arms and ammunition and their parts.” Leaving aside any Second Amendment considerations, this is insane. Controlling the “parts” of “all arms,” ranging from bullets to battleships, would mean controlling every substantial part and industrial process in the world. …
Americans believe in fair play. They believe in equal opportunity, equal treatment under the law, a level playing field. We have so many expressions for this principle in part because it is so important to the American view of right and wrong. When it comes to taxing and spending in Washington, however, there’s a longstanding and substantial tilt to the field. With the introduction of House Concurrent Resolution 281, a complete budget plan for fiscal year 2011 introduced by Reps. Jim Jordan (R-OH) and Tom Price (R-GA) on behalf of …
RICHMOND — Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli said he will file a formal response as early as next week to the federal government’s attempt to dismiss Virginia’s legal challenge to Obamacare. In an exclusive interview with Heritage, Cuccinelli said the federal government’s motion to dismiss, released on Monday, was mostly predictable. He said the attorney general’s office had already anticipated the government’s arguments and will have its response ready on or before June 7. “What they filed on Monday was very much what we expected,” Cuccinelli said in an interview …
In his May 24 address to the nation, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak outlined an appropriately firm response to North Korea’s vicious attack on the Cheonan naval ship. President Lee’s policy decisions largely mirrored those recommended earlier by Heritage analyst Bruce Klingner, including a decision that “[t]rade and exchanges between the Republic of Korea and North Korea will be suspended.” The South Korean president also called for a more assertive yet still defensive military posture to deter further North Korean attacks and UN Security Council punishment of North Korea. Lee …
A little over a month into the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the American public wants answers– from the Obama administration, from Congress and from BP. While there are still many more questions than currently available answers, President Obama answered a few and dodged others in his speech today. He made a resounding push for clean energy legislation and referenced the House cap and trade bill passed last year and the one recently introduced in the Senate. He also suspended or canceled a number of lease sales off the coasts …
