A former United States Ambassador to Thailand tells of being asked to contribute to a local university in Bangkok that wanted to set up an “America corner” in its library—nothing more than a computer station and a few shelves of informational material. When he arrived for the unveiling, however, he found that the modest corner endowed by the United States was dwarfed by the Chinese donation of a new building, fully staffed, to house one of its Confucius Institutes. While U.S. public diplomacy since September 11, 2001, has focused on …
The United States faces financial collapse due to out-of-control government spending, and entitlement programs have a lot to do with it. Washington has promised more than it could ever possibly deliver. Medicare in particular puts the government on the hook for $38 trillion in long-term unfunded liabilities, and reform to address this is sorely needed. Change must address not only spending but also the system by which the program operates, which currently encourages inefficient use of health services. This trend has penetrated the health care system at large. According to …
In its latest hidden camera video release, the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) shows the continuing porousness of America’s southern border. As CIS notes: The hidden camera footage, acquired from a variety of sources, indicates that there is an unfortunate lack of federal law enforcement presence on Arizona’s federal land on the border in Nogales, in the Coronado National Forest (15 miles inside the border), and the Casa Grande Sector (80 miles inside the border).
Senator Carl Levin (D–MI), Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, released an op-ed last week arguing that the new START Treaty is good for the U.S. and the world. This follows similar op-eds from Sen. John Kerry (D–MA) and Sen. Richard Lugar (R–IN). Given the number of such publications over the past couple of weeks, it is becoming clear that this treaty is finally getting the level of attention it deserves. It is also becoming increasingly evident that this Administration is worried the opposition voice is growing stronger. In …
With great solemnity and in the presence of several cabinet ministers, the tomb of Simon Bolivar (1783–1830), Latin America’s equivalent of George Washington, was opened in Caracas this past week. “Bolivar is alive. Let us not see him as a dead man and let us not see him as a skeleton. He is like lightning, like a sacred fire,” Venezuela’s President Hugo Chávez proclaimed. The first question to ask is why this zeal for a new forensic investigation? It is a situation akin to President Obama ordering President Lincoln’s remains …
Critics of free trade have used funny math to mislead Americans for decades. It may be time to send these critics back to grade school, so they can learn how to add and subtract. Consider the following interpretation of this May’s international trade statistics: “Oil and consumer goods from China account for nearly the entire trade deficit.” Don’t you believe it. Suppose your best friend spent $1,000 more than he made in May. Say he earned $2,000 and spent $1,000 on housing, $1,000 on clothing, and $1,000 on food. What …
The Left is desperately trying to convince us that Senate ratification of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) is inevitable, but, as Henry Sokolski points out, the real debate is only beginning. The Left has accused the treaty’s opponents of (among other things) suffering from a “bias problem,” implying that the perceived consensus in support of the treaty somehow overrides the value of an honest inquiry into its terms. Others say it is just a matter of the Right’s being politically contrarian, or just not liking arms control. In …
David Cameron’s visit to the United States this week offers the prime minister a major opportunity to assert a stronger British presence on the world stage after a period of notable decline under Gordon Brown. On both Afghanistan and Iran, two key issues likely to feature heavily in his White House meeting on Tuesday, his position should be clear: Britain will stand shoulder to shoulder with the United States in defeating the Taliban and standing up to the Iranian nuclear threat. The world needs robust U.S.-British leadership, which has been …
Throughout his presidential campaign, then-candidate Barack Obama promised the American people: “If you’re a family that’s making $250,000 a year or less, you will see no increase in your taxes.” After he became President, Barack Obama reiterated that pledge, promising the American people in his September 9th health care press conference: “The middle-class will realize greater security, not higher taxes.” But Obamacare does contain tax hikes. Tons of them. From taxes on tanning beds to taxes on employment and investments, Obamacare is a certified job-killing machine. None of these taxes …
Remember when Conservatism was supposed to be dead and America was primed for a New New Deal? Well, a funny thing has happened on the road to the latest iteration of progressive liberalism—The Tea Party Movement. The Tea Party Movement has been one of the most significant citizen efforts in our times to revive America’s founding principles. Across the country, people who had before never been engaged in politics—people like Billie Tucker of The First Coast Tea Party —began to attend rallies with homemade signs begging for fiscal common sense …
