It will be a long time before we know how much the oil spill is going to cost in terms of total economic damages, but it is certain to be higher than the $75 million liability cap set by the 1990 Oil Pollution Act and could even be higher than the additional $1 billion provided through the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund. BP has said it will pay all legitimate claims beyond the $75 million limit yet politicians are understandably skeptical, and so want their promise put in writing.. Some …
On February 4, 2010, pushing for passage of her pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) legislation, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said on the House floor: “When I became Speaker of the House, the very first day we passed legislation that made PAYGO the rule of the House. Today we will make it the law of the land. … So the time is long overdue for this to be taken for granted. The federal government will pay as it goes.” That was the promise. But here is the reality: in the three years that …
Love him or hate him, you’ve got to admit that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is not afraid to take a stand, speak his mind, or face the heat while doing it. He served up his latest dish of no-nonsense honesty at a townhall in Rutherford, New Jersey, on Tuesday in defense of his plan to reform the Garden State’s bloated budget through an overhaul of civil service, reform of public pensions, and a constitutional cap on property tax growth. And he’s taking flak for it. As you can see …
With Rep. Joe Sestak’s (D-PA) defeat of Sen. Specter (D-PA) in the Democratic Senate primary, the controversy over the alleged job offer made to Sestak last year by someone in the Obama White House is once again heating up. After essentially ignoring this potentially serious violation of federal law for months, some members of the mainstream media are finally asking questions. Sestak was asked about it by David Gregory on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday. Sestak used this job offer as a campaign issue to elicit support during his …
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is attempting this week to schedule a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives on a measure that would extend expiring tax breaks. But the “American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act of 2010” (H.R. 4213) would shut the door on the important success of welfare reform. That’s because the legislation includes is a one-year extension of the so-called “TANF Emergency Contingency Fund” with an additional $2.5 billion in spending. This fund was originally created as part of the 2009 Stimulus package and directly undermines the …
Every special interest in Washington is looking to hitch on to what was supposed to be an emergency spending bill to provide critical funds for military and emergency response activities. While some may be legitimate programs, most are not an emergency and therefore should not be part of any such bill. Take the renewable and nuclear energy loan guarantee programs for example. The administration is seeking $9 billion in additional loan guarantee authorization for nuclear projects and $1 billion for renewables. The bill would also appropriate $180 million to support …
Today, Attorney General Eric Holder held a pep rally for state and local law enforcement officials who object to the Arizona immigration law. Perhaps having not read the law himself he hoped to bring in some law enforcement officials who might have. More likely it is just another attempt by the administration to demonize Arizona. Holder is not helping. Playing politics with immigration and border security is never going to solve the problem of broken borders and a deeply-flawed immigration system. To address these issues we need real solutions. The …
This weekend, President Obama will skip Memorial Day services at Arlington National Cemetery, and instead he will take his family to Chicago for rest and relaxation. The gesture has rankled many on the right and caused the left to swing into full ‘defend Obama’ mode. However, the fact remains that during a time of war, it is extraordinary that the Commander in Chief of our Armed Forces would choose not to be at Arlington on this solemn occasion. First, it must be said that the president is not skipping out …
Today President Obama’s deficit commission met for the second time and the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the Congressional Accountability and Line-Item Veto Act of 2009, which would give the President greater authority to control federal spending. Heritage expert Alison Fraser testified before the Committee on the likely effectiveness of the proposal, which would allow the President to send spending reductions back to Congress for any legislation they passed. The President currently has this ability—what would change is that Congress would now be required to hold a yes …
What happens when a state is lucky enough to have one of their Senators ascend to one of the three most powerful committee chairmanships? According to a new study by three Harvard Business School the average state then experiences a 40 to 50 percent increase in earmark spending (the figure is a smaller 20% for powerful House committees). So this new government spending is then a boon to the state right? The public spending stimulates economic growth right? Wrong. Turns out, increased federal spending is connected with a decrease in …
