As we have been reporting, President Barack Obama is set to let tax rates increase at the end of this year. Obama’s tax hike will have devastating effects on an economy already on the ropes. There have been a lot of myths spread by the left about the supposed dangers of keeping taxes low and letting people keep more of their money, but the reality is that this is no time to raise taxes on all Americans. Along with the reinstatement of the death tax and the multitude of other …
Now that the congressional money tree has bloomed again, this time in the form of new stimulus money for the states, we are faced with the question of whether the federal government will ever learn self-control. Federal government spending has exploded over the last two years, causing unsustainable debt that is being compounded by pressing entitlements. In fact, in January 2009, total public debt outstanding was $10.6 trillion. Today it surpasses $13.2 trillion—despite the cries of the American public for the federal government to control its spending spree. The worry …
Pakistan is facing what may turn out to be its worst natural catastrophe ever. The U.S. must focus on providing maximum relief assistance over the coming weeks and plan to partner with Pakistan in leading an international effort to rehabilitate and reconstruct the flood-affected areas over the longer term. A robust U.S. response to the flood disaster would help shore up U.S.-Pakistan relations and maintain stability in a crisis-prone country vulnerable to the influence of anti-U.S. extremist groups. In addition to the floods, Pakistan has been wracked in recent weeks …
Next week, for the fifth time since July, the first family will board Air Force One for yet another luxury vacation, this time to an exclusive Martha’s Vineyard estate that rents for up to $50,000 a week. But before they head north, the Obamas will first grace Panama City, Fla., with their presence this weekend for what is being billed as a “solidarity vacation to the Gulf Coast.” While in Florida, the President is expected to meet with local business leaders to discuss the effects of the spill before departing …
As businesses along the Gulf Coast patiently await the expiration of President Obama’s offshore drilling moratorium, they’re faced with a new hardship: Neither BP nor the Gulf Coast Claims Facility will pay for lost income resulting from the ban. Last week BP announced it was deferring all moratorium-related claims to Ken Feinberg, the Obama-appointed administrator of the $20 billion claims fund. That news came as a surprise to Feinberg, however. He maintains the moratorium claims are BP’s responsibility. “Those claims are not under Feinberg’s jurisdiction with the GCCF,” spokeswoman Amy …
Judge Vaughn Walker’s decision to lift the stay on his ruling striking down California’s voter-approved Proposition 8 is, fortunately, not the last word on whether same-sex couples in the Golden State will be able to obtain marriage licenses while this case is under appeal. The appropriate panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has until August 18 to act on the request by attorneys defending this state constitutional amendment for a stay pending the conclusion of the Prop 8 appeal. In the interest of clarity and certainty about the …
The House of Representatives rushed back to Washington yesterday in the middle of their six-week vacation to pass yet another bailout. This latest one, $26 billion in total, temporarily saves state governments that have overspent for years from fixing their chronic budget problems. The newest bailout spends $10 billion for education funding in the states. This money is on top of the $100 billion in education funding the states got from the stimulus. The remaining $16 billion will bailout states’ bankrupt Medicaid programs. Claims that this newest round of bailouts …
For an Administration that started with the premise of improving relations with the “Muslim world,” as President Obama likes to put it, the results of the 2010 Arab Opinion Poll should be deeply disappointing. Having experienced soaring hopes for the dawning of a new era in U.S.-Arab relations, Arabs are now reacting with bitterness to the fact that no change has taken place. And not only that, but as opinions of the Obama presidency are plummeting across the Middle East, support for the Iranian nuclear program is growing. From a …
President Obama wishes everyone would stop talking about the oil spill. His federal government’s response has been incompetent at best, malevolent at worst. Yet, lacking any evidence of a credible response, Obama still sent Carol Browner to the Gulf on a victory lap last week after oil stopped appearing on beaches and the water’s surface. But while the Obama administration is doing victory laps, more news of their botched efforts are coming to light. Case in point: reports out today show that the government tried to silence scientists from the …
In recent weeks, WikiLeaks published tens of thousands of classified documents, giving Taliban fighters a virtual death list of Afghan “collaborators.” At the same time, critics of the New START pact with Russia argued that the Senate should give the arms control treaty more deliberate, careful scrutiny before voting on it. Guess who the Left criticized more. Leaving friends exposed to brutal retribution from sworn enemies is one thing. But in the eyes of the Left, New Start critics were guilty of something far more heinous: undermining presidential leadership. “A delayed …
