Congress is postponing huge issues until after the elections and there’s a danger in that. Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) sounded a warning in 2006 when the last big majority shift happened on Capitol Hill, but Congress then returned for a lame duck session: It would be a huge mistake to overlook the potential for damage in the lame duck session. A lame duck session doesn’t sound like anything to worry about, but this lame duck may be a lot more dangerous than people think. We can expect Republicans to try …
This week Congress, in its consideration of HR 4213 (American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act of 2010) is going to tap into taxpayers wallets once again to bailout Medicaid, a government health program administered by the states for the poor and the indigent. Many governors are feverishly lobbying for a six-month extension of the Medicaid bailout to their states. The first bailout was enacted in the so-called Stimulus Bill, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of February 2009. But if the Medicaid bailout is continued, Congress will add …
Five weeks ago Escambia County officials requested permission from the Mobile Unified Command Center to use a sand skimmer, a device pulled behind a tractor that removes oil and tar from the top three feet of sand, to help clean up Pensacola’s beaches. County officials still haven’t heard anything back. Santa Rosa Island Authority Buck Lee told The Daily Caller why: “Escambia County sends a request to the Mobile, Ala., Unified Command Center. Then, it’s reviewed by BP, the federal government, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Coast …
Today the United Nations Security Council voted to impose a fourth round of sanctions on Iran which modestly raise the costs to Tehran for its continued nuclear defiance, but fall far short of the “crippling sanctions” promised by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last year. The sanctions resolution marginally reinforced a previous set of economic, military and high-technology sanctions against Iran and added new bans on Iranian investment in sensitive nuclear activities abroad, the sale of eight categories of heavy weapons to Iran and the establishment in U.N. member states …
The Daily Caller explains how it works in the Gulf. “Escambia County sends a request to the Mobile, Ala., Unified Command Center…Then, it’s reviewed by BP, the federal government, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Coast Guard. If they don’t like it, they don’t tell us anything.” The frustration is palpable. Local officials are increasingly frustrated that rather than support from the federal government they are just getting red tape—which doesn’t soak up much oil. Messing-up the oil spill clean-up reflects a bigger problem, Washington has been playing …
In its ongoing search for solutions to U.S. public diplomacy challenges – some might call it a deficit – the State Department has launched yet another new Internet venture, a social website called Opinion Space. At a time when Internet censorship in countries like Iran, Cuba and China present a profound challenge to freedom of expression, the State Department is focusing its resources in the wrong direction. The Internet is a great public diplomacy tool, but only when used as part of a strategy support U.S. policy goals such as …
Testifying before the House Budget Committee today, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke noted: Even after economic and financial conditions have returned to normal, however, in the absence of further policy actions, the federal budget appears to be on an unsustainable path. A variety of projections that extrapolate current policies and make plausible assumptions about the future evolution of the economy show a structural budget gap that is both large relative to the size of the economy and increasing over time. Chairman Bernanke joins a large and growing chorus of voices …
Most Americans are growing frustrated with Washington’s out of control spending and inability to strengthen our economy. According to a recent Gallup poll, Americans identify federal government debt and terrorism as equal threats to our country. In a Pew Research Center poll, 38 percent of Americans believe that Obama’s economic policies have had no effect so far, while another 29 percent say his policies have made it worse. And according to Rasmussen Reports, a staggering 81 percent of Americans view the size of the national deficit as contributing to our …
In a front page article today, the New York Times has a story on the federal death tax and the impact its 2010 expiration has on a recently deceased billionaire. The article is riddled with errors, but the title of the article encapsulates perfectly the story’s biggest flaw: “Legacy for One Billionaire: Death, but No Taxes.” Billionaire Dan Duncan died in March of this year and left his family a considerable estate. Because the death tax does not apply for 2010, the New York Times wrongly claims that his heirs …
All presidential assurances to the contrary, you can’t keep what no longer exists—not even health coverage you like. Millions of people like Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) paired with high-deductible insurance plans. The approach is so popular, in fact, that it’s the fastest growing type of coverage in the country. But this coverage may not be able to survive Obamacare. Consider the case of nHealth, a relatively new insurance provider based in Richmond, Va. nHealth recently announced it will close its doors due to the combination of stringent new regulations and …
