The fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, and all its attendant devastation, is a good reminder that the federalization of natural disasters by the Federal Emergency Management Agency continues uninterrupted. From January 20, 2010 to today, FEMA has issued 78 declarations, including for Hurricane Alex—a storm that never actually hit Texas (a little rain doesn’t count). That figure puts FEMA on pace to issue 141 declarations by January 19, 2011, which would be the fifth most in FEMA history. With the 108 declarations issued in his first year, President Barack Obama …
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs did not give the White House daily press briefing yesterday. The stated excuse was a bad cough. But there was no mention of any flu-like symptoms when The Hill reported yesterday that Gibbs believes the “professional left” should be “drug tested” since they will only be satisfied “when we have Canadian health care and we’ve eliminated the Pentagon.” After an outpouring of leftist protests over the article, including a call from Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) that he resign, Gibbs walked back his criticism, releasing …
Take heed, America. The next time you visit Washington, D.C., feel free to stand in awe of the monuments to our greatest leaders, but do not — DO NOT — sing the National Anthem at the Lincoln Memorial. It turns out that doing so is a violation of federal law. A group of high school students from around the country learned that lesson the hard way on June 25 when they sang the “Star Spangled Banner” at the Lincoln Memorial. A United States Park Police officer told them to pipe …
The mainstream media is having a field day with House Minority Leader John Boehner’s (R–OH) less-than-stellar handling of a simple “when did you stop beating your wife” question posed by NBC’s David Gregory on Sunday’s Meet the Press. Gregory repeatedly badgered Boehner about how he could square the Republicans’ newfound concern over the budget deficit with an unwillingness to pay for “tax cuts,” at one point asking, “How can you be for cutting the deficit and also cutting taxes, as well, when they’re not paid for?” Boehner responded, “You can’t …
Next January, tax rates will increase—even though the country remains in a recession—unless Congress takes action. The Obama Administration’s solution is to extend the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts except for families earning $250,000 and individuals earning $200,000. But is this the right move from an economic perspective, and the right choice to promote deficit reduction? In both cases, the right answer is to extend the tax cuts for all Americans—including top earners. In a recent article in The New York Times, Robert H. Frank claims that proponents of keeping …
The President’s National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling has called on the Obama Administration to consider lifting the ban on drilling for certain rigs. It will be interesting to see if the President listens to his own commission. These concerns were memorialized in a letter from Richard Lazarus, Executive Director of the Commission to Michael Bromwich, Director of OEM at Interior. Business Week reports: The presidential commission investigating BP Plc’s Gulf of Mexico oil spill has asked the Obama administration if a temporary ban …
One of the persistent disappointments of the government’s response to the Gulf oil spill has been their refusal to immediately rescind the drilling moratorium. The tragedy of the initial spill and the resulting damage has only been magnified by the President’s decision. The moratorium has had a devastating ripple effect across the local Gulf economy with suppliers, service industry and port personnel joining their neighbors in the oil and gas field in the unemployment lines. Rigs have already left the Gulf as a result. Several weeks ago, we reported that the President sent the …
Always impulsively anti-American, Venezuela’s authoritarian populist President Hugo Chavez is once more attempting to cast himself as the victim of campaign of lies and calumnies conducted by the Obama Administration. In another act of bullhorn diplomacy, Chavez announced on August 8 that Larry Palmer, U.S. ambassador- designate to Venezuela, “disqualified himself as ambassador. He disqualified himself by breaking all the norms of diplomacy by attacking us, and even the Armed Forces.” Chavez continued: “The best thing that the U.S. government can do is to seek another nominee to be considered, …
President Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan want the United States to lead the world in the percentage of people who graduate college by 2020, which will mean increasing by at least 8 million the number of students completing college over the next 10 years. President Obama noted in a speech yesterday that by “making college affordable … we’ll reach our goal of once again leading the world in college graduation rates by the end of this decade.” But new proposals for regulating the for-profit higher education industry outlined by …
In thinking about India’s internal security woes, several pressing issues come to mind: poverty, social fragmentation, disgruntled laborers, and overpopulation. But which is the most important? In fact, none of the above. According to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, reiterating his comments from a 2006 Chief Minister’s Conference, left-wing terrorism—namely, the Naxalite-Maoist insurgency—sits atop the list. Surprised? Well, don’t be. Naxalites, or Naxals, who operate along India’s eastern coast (known as the “Red Corridor”) make up India’s most destructive and terrifying left-wing (Maoist) insurgency. Fighting for land reform and increased federal …
