The Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee meets today in the face of tremendous economic uncertainty. In light of last week’s dismal jobs report and related evidence of a faltering recovery, markets are looking for signs as to what the Fed might say and do. It’s widely expected that the Fed will downgrade its near-term outlook for the economy and will suggest some actions it might take if a severe downturn materialized. While the attention given to the jobs picture is understandable, some disturbing issues surrounding monetary conditions deserve equal attention. …
One week ago, Members of the House of Representatives stopped spending taxpayer money and began a six-week vacation. Unfortunately, they came back five weeks early. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has summoned Members back to Washington to debate an extension of Medicaid and education bailouts. The House will vote today to extend these bailouts enacted in the stimulus bill last year. If passed, the bill—which overcame a filibuster in the Senate last week—will then go to the President for his signature.
Carol Browner, President Obama’s top climate and energy adviser, joined David Gregory on NBC’s Meet the Press over the weekend and expressed disappointment over the Senate’s inability to pass cap-and-trade legislation. She mentioned “potentially” moving forward with a cap-and-trade bill during the lame duck session. The probability of passing energy tax legislation that would kill more than 2 million jobs may be low, but it’s Browner’s thought process that is particularly troublesome. She said, There’s a tremendous opportunity for our country to lead the global clean energy revolution. But that …
Today the House of Representatives is expected to approve yet another bailout for those states that have proved incapable of controlling their spending on government worker pay, benefits and pensions. The $26.1 billion price tag will be funded in part by $11 billion in tax hikes on U.S. companies that compete internationally. From his trillion dollar economic stimulus to his $3 trillion tax hike it has become clear that President Barack Obama views the private sector the same way the Huns viewed a city – as something to be sacked …
Last Friday, the United Arab Emirates acknowledged that damage sustained by a Japanese supertanker on July 28, 2010, in the Persian Gulf, was the result of terrorism——not a “huge wave” as was announced earlier. The attack demonstrated the increasing danger of maritime terrorism against critical energy infrastructure. Prior to this , both UAE and Iran discounted the possibility of a terrorist attack. However, the Abdulla Azzam Brigades, an Islamist terrorist organization connected to al- Qaeda, claimed responsibility for the explosion aboard the oil supertanker last Monday, showing the picture of …
There are many reasons tax reform remains a distant dream. Not “tax reform” disguising a tax hike as the Obama Administration envisions, but tax reform that would make U.S. companies and workers world-class competitors, ferret out tax cheats, and make paying taxes a little less onerous to taxpayers. Perhaps the most frustrating reason real tax reform cannot gain traction was on display in The Washington Post over the weekend. In the Post’s business section there appeared an article on why businesses in America are so enamored of debt. The article …
Do as I say, don’t do as I do. This is the message the Obama Administration and Congress are sending to fellow democracy India. While correctly pressing India to liberalize trade and investment, President Obama continues to hector India on outsourcing, and Congress has now transformed the talk into ugly action. Last week, the President continued his portrayal of India as trying to take American jobs. A few days later, the Senate passed legislation requiring companies that hire a large number of high-skilled foreign workers to pay thousands more in …
Not satisfied by the billions in federal bailouts already passed, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi recently announced that she intendeds to bring the House back from the August recess to pass yet another multi-billion-dollar federal bailout. This version—costing taxpayers $26.1 billion—is touted as aid “to save teachers’ jobs, help seniors and children.” Perhaps anticipating a backlash against additional billion-dollar bailouts (the national debt recently polled on par with terrorism as threats to the United States), congressional Democrats were quick to claim that this would all be “paid for.” Unfortunately, even a …
This Congress has broken a lot of ground, but for all the wrong reasons. Now it has another ridiculous notch to add to its belt: Congress is poised to pass a major piece of legislation without bothering to give it a name. To recap, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) told us that health care reform would have to pass before we could find out what’s in it. Then, for the first time since the modern budgetary process was enacted, the House decided not to pass a budget (avoiding one of its …
The death of a Catholic nun and the serious injury of two elderly nuns in Virginia is more than just a tragedy. It’s the inevitable outcome of the Obama administration’s immigration policy — offering selective amnesty for many illegal aliens while spending tax money on pampering those who break our laws with relative impunity. Carlos Montano, the drunken driver who crossed the center line and slammed head-on into the nuns’ car, already had two convictions for DUI. He had also been arrested or cited for reckless driving, speeding, and public …
