The White House has some tough questions to answer about the Deepwater Horizon disaster in light of a new report from the Center for Public Integrity. In the critical first days after the explosion, the U.S. Coast Guard disregarded its own firefighting policy and might have caused the oil rig to sink — prompting the leak that resulted in the largest oil spill in U.S. history. New evidence unearthed by reporters Aaron Mehta and John Solomon reveals the cash-strapped Coast Guard broke its own rules and didn’t have a firefighting …
As everyone knows, Arizona, chafed by the Federal government’s inability to control the flow of illegal immigrants into the State, enacted Senate Bill 1070 (PDF) in an effort to do something about the resulting collateral damage to it and its citizens. Now, a federal judge appointed by President Clinton, Susan Bolton, has temporarily blocked enforcement of portions of S.B. 1070, reasoning that those portions interfere with the Federal government’s system of immigration laws. Significantly, Judge Bolton rejected the demand by the Obama Justice Department that the entire law be struck down. …
A drilling moratorium aimed at big oil is a drilling moratorium aimed at local oil as well. That’s the message being sent by the Greater Lafayette Chamber of Commerce in Lafayette, Louisiana as they revive the “Energy Division” from several years of dormancy. Why now? According to The Daily Advertiser, “challenges from the moratorium and other anti-industry legislation signaled a need for its return, said Chamber President and CEO Rob Guidry.” In short, they are fighting the federal government. The Chamber was amongst those who organized last week’s 11,000 strong …
As many predicted, Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D–NV) new energy bill contains neither a cap-and-trade program nor a renewable electricity standard (RES). But in a complete change of direction, the bill has made coal, the nemesis of the cap and trade/RES crowd, an alternative fuel. So now, to the list of politically correct alternatives such as wind and solar, we can now add coal. In addition to the bill’s plethora of subsidies, tax credits, and other “incentives” to increase the production of electric vehicles, the bill, according to a draft …
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in Hanoi, Vietnam, on July 22 to participate in Asia’s largest security conference. This past week’s Association of Southeast Asian Nations Regional Forum (ARF) and the 43rd ASEAN Plus Three Foreign Ministers Meeting was filled with diplomatic discussions on how to create a safer and more economically efficient East Asian community. At the ASEAN Plus and ARF dialogues, Clinton participated in several discussions, including ones on North Korea’s nuclear ambitions, their recent attack on a South Korean Naval Ship, Burma’s upcoming political elections and …
The public option has reared its head once again. Last week, H.R. 5808 was introduced in the House Ways and Means Committee to add a public option to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). The plan would be administered by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Payment rates for providers would be set at Medicare rates plus 5 percent and would grow according to increasing physicians’ costs. The plan would be required to maintain solvency, so premiums would have to cover benefits offered and administrative costs. Momentarily …
Research on the last seven recessions shows that small businesses generate about two out of every three new jobs during the recovery. But this time around the Obama administration has crippled the ability small businesses to lead the way in new hiring with their job killing Obamacare legislation. Not only does the bill slap small businesses with an employment tax, new tax reporting requirements, and tons of new regulations, but it is also an unconstitutional extension of federal government power.
During his otherwise ordinary remarks yesterday at the National Press Club, education secretary Arne Duncan said something quite extraordinary. It came as he was announcing the 19 finalists for the second round of the Obama administration’s Race to the Top grant competition: We arrived in Washington at a time when America was deeply divided over the proper federal role in educational policy.… We are a very long way from the classroom in Washington, and if we have learned one thing from [No Child Left Behind], it’s that one-size-fits-all remedies generally …
Abby Thernstrom is my friend and we usually agree on voting matters, but I have to say with due respect to her that her view of the New Black Panther Party voter intimidation case is wrong for a number of reasons, from her characterization of the evidence in the case to a misunderstanding of the applicable legal standards. On the other hand, Commissioner Thernstrom seems to have backed off somewhat on some issues in her latest posting at National Review. Whether or not this is because of the sharp criticism …
The Senate just released its proposed legislative response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Fortunately, earlier efforts to load the spill bill down with extremely costly and unrelated measures like cap and trade have given way to a more targeted approach. Nonetheless, the bill still contains a number of problematic provisions, and in any event comprehensive legislation is premature at this time as there is much more that needs to be learned about the causes of the spill. At the very least, Senators should refrain from the instinct to “do …
