LAFITTE, LA — Residents of this community south of New Orleans haven’t had much good news since the oil started spewing on April 20 in the Gulf of Mexico. Fishing is a way of life here and that’s come to a standstill. So when Washington sent Ken Feinberg to town, it could’ve turned ugly. Instead, the attorney with a deep Boston accent brightened the spirits of the standing-room-only crowd. Feinberg, tapped by President Obama to oversee the $20 billion compensation fund for victims of the spill, had the audience laughing …
One of the reasons that John Stossel’s face, voice, and trademark “Give Me a Break” tagline are so familiar to conservatives is that he has mastered the art of illustrating the absurdity of arbitrary, overreaching decisions by bureaucrats, lawmakers, and other government officials. Tonight, his show on Fox Business focuses on “Attacks on Freedom”, including the (often hidden) dangers that legislators and prosecutors have created through overcriminalization. Overcriminalization endangers average Americans who have no idea that they have become federal criminals by – for example – mixing two types of …
Despite decades of union gridlock, the Washington, D.C., school board, with the help of school Chancellor Michelle Rhee’s leadership, has successfully contracted with teachers unions to implement performance pay. The contract with the Washington Teachers’ Union is a huge triumph for Rhee in her fight for education reform in our nation’s capital. Rhee has battled with teachers unions for nearly two years over the new contract. The agreement offers teachers more compensation in return for greater accountability in their students’ academic achievement. The contract will provide significant bonuses to teachers …
In May 2009 the District of Columbia City Council passed legislation to recognize same-sex marriages performed outside the city. When Councilmember Marion Barry opposed that legislation, fellow councilmember David Catania called Barry’s position “bigoted.” Today the D.C. Court of Appeals, which is the District’s version of a state supreme court, endorsed the idea that support for marriage as the union of husband and wife is a form of bigotry and discrimination. In an opinion issued this morning, the D.C. Court of appeals rejected an appeal brought by Bishop Harry Jackson …
You know things must be going really badly for Barack Obama when even his most ardent supporters across the Atlantic are turning against him. In an interview with The Times, European Commission President and arch eurofederalist Jose Manuel Barroso is openly disappointed about the current state of the transatlantic relationship, describing it as a “missed opportunity” for Europe: The transatlantic relationship is not living up to its potential. I think we should do much more together. We have conditions like we have never had before and it would be a …
Compiled below are comments made by various experts regarding the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START). Be sure to follow our continuing coverage of the New START and the impact it will have on America’s security. GENERAL CONCERNS: Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ): “First, it’s not clear that the treaty’s verification provisions are adequate. Second, the treaty’s failure to take into account Russia’s enormous tactical nuclear weapons arsenal (more than 10 times larger than that of the U.S.) and the limitations it places on U.S. conventional global strike capabilities are serious …
Tucker Carlson takes it to the teachers unions and the administration for phasing-out the highly successful and popular D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program. “D.C. Public Schools aren’t bad, they’re the worst.” Carlson notes that the D.C. voucher program is “a direct challenge to the teachers’ unions. Here are kids who aren’t going to government schools who are succeeding. And that makes the government-run schools, the union-controlled schools in this city look bad.” You can read Heritage’s research documenting the overwhelming success of this free market approach to education here. And for …
Having canceled nearly 50 major programs in last year’s defense budget, the secretary of defense is making another run at finishing off the C-17 and Joint Strike Fighter alternate engine. Congress spared these programs last year, but may be willing to go along with Secretary Gates this time around. Certainly President Obama has changed his tune. During the presidential campaign, he singled out the C-17 as a must-have priority, saying America needed it to “preserve global reach in the air.” Now, however, the Pentagon says it has enough “lift” without …
Shahram Amiri, an Iranian nuclear scientist who defected last year to the United States, headed back to Iran this week, after apparently deciding to re-defect. Amiri, who disappeared last year during a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia, surfaced Monday night at the Iranian interest section of the Pakistani Embassy in Washington. Before flying back to Iran, Amiri told state-run Iranian television that “my kidnapping was a disgraceful act for America…. I was under enormous psychological pressure and supervision of armed agents in the past 14 months.” U.S. officials strongly deny Amiri’s …
On July 12, agents of the Bolivarian Intelligence Service raided the Caracas home of Venezuela opposition figure Alejandro Peña Esclusa. According Pena’s wife, Indira de Peña, the intelligence operatives blatantly planted evidence including explosives about the apartment and hauled her husband off to jail on treason and terror charges. The justification for Pena’s arrest is an alleged connection to a shadowy Salvadoran with a criminal past. The Venezuelan’s say Francisco Chavez Abarca attempted to enter Venezuela on a false passport with the intent of violently disrupting the September 26 legislative …
