Four years ago this week The Heritage Foundation co-founded a weekly policy discussion for bloggers, online journalists and digital strategists. It started as an off-the-record discussion among a dozen conservatives in a conference room at Human Events in 2006. At the time, the conventional wisdom in Washington was that conservatives were far behind their liberal counterparts in both adapting to technological changes and embracing them as a new communications outlets. And while the left still dominates online—Tucker Carlson said at our President’s Club event this week that Huffington Post is …
The proposed €110 billion ($140 billion) Greek rescue package announced on Sunday may well not survive the week. Watching public sector workers storming the Acropolis in protest at proposed government spending cuts and tax increases, raises the question of whether the Greek Government itself can survive. Eurozone countries have agreed to provide €80 billion in emergency loans over the next three years for Greece, with the rest coming from the IMF. In exchange for avoiding bankruptcy (at least for the next couple of months), Greece has agreed to pass a …
In today’s Washington Post, columnist David Ignatius seems to suggests that somehow Saturday’s attempted bomb plot represents the advent of a “new generation of terrorists.” However, the facts of the Times Square plot actually demonstrate quite the opposite—that al Qaeda’s tactics remain largely identical to previously foiled attacks against the U.S. In many ways, this foiled attack feels like a replay of the attempted Christmas Day bombing of a plane landing in Detroit. Let’s look at a few of the similarities:
U.S. officials are reportedly making progress in investigations of the plot to bomb Times Square through questioning of suspected attacker Faisal Shahzad and with help from Pakistani authorities who have rounded up several of Shahzad’s contacts in Pakistan. Despite initially telling U.S. investigators that he acted alone, Shahzad later said he received explosives training at a terrorist camp in the tribal border areas of Pakistan. This information does not fully comport, however, with other reporting that his bomb making skills were amateurish. He apparently made the simple mistake of using …
During his successful presidential campaign against Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan introduced the American electorate and the broader international community to a new doctrine that would contribute greatly to defeating the Soviet Union. His idea of achieving “peace through strength” still resonates in today’s world and President Obama should welcome it as cornerstone of his Administration’s strategy to protect America. Recent decisions by the President and several high-ranking officials within his Administration suggest the Commander-in-Chief is intent on following a different approach. As Congress crafts the defense authorization bill in the …
It is on the basis of unconvincing justifications that the Obama Administration on May 3rd de-classified and released to the public a comprehensive listing of the number of nuclear weapons in the U.S. stockpile. The newly released data covers the period from fiscal 1962 through 2009 and shows that as of the end of fiscal year 2009 the U.S. had 5,113 nuclear weapons in its stockpile. The Administration is providing two justifications. The first is that the release is important to pursuing non-proliferation goals. The second is that it will …
This week The House of Representatives is set to vote on a, $6.6 billion home energy efficiency bill commonly referred to as “cash for caulkers.” The plan would give rebates to homeowners willing to green their homes by installing new windows and retrofitting homes energy efficient upgrades. The legislation, H.R. 5019, is being sold as a win for the economy, the planet and consumers. Its supporters of say it will create jobs and lower both greenhouse gas emissions and electric bills through less energy usage. But the old “If it’s …
If Congress drafts a law and no one can understand it, can individuals be punished for breaking it? Increasingly, to the detriment of all Americans, the answer is yes. Since our nation’s founding, a core principle of our system of justice has been that no citizen should be subjected to criminal punishment for conduct that he did not know was illegal or otherwise wrongful. This principle is embodied in the requirement that the government must prove a defendant acted with intent, or at least knowledge, before subjecting him to criminal …
Well into the second year of the Obama administration, U.S. international broadcasting services remain in a leaderless state of vacuum. Nor are these important public diplomacy assets of the government likely to emerge from limbo anytime soon, which is deeply unfortunate given the intensifying global competition for information dominance. At a time when China’s Xinhua news agency announced the launching of a global English-language channel, China Network Corp., or CNC, and the Russian government’s English language Russia Today channel is building up capacity with 40 staffers right here in Washington, …
UK Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg, increasingly a darling of American liberals, has come under heavy fire today from three leading former defence, intelligence and counter-terror chiefs. The attack in The Times of London on Clegg’s left-wing national security policies comes just two days before the British General Election on Thursday, and highlights the glaring weaknesses of his foreign and defence policies. Here’s an excerpt: We are concerned that the Liberal Democrats make no mention of Nato in their manifesto. Almost every reference to the United States is accompanied by …
