Typically when the government and business get together, it’s the consumer who ends up paying. So when Washington, D.C.’s Department of the Environment (DDOE) teamed up with Patuxent Environmental Group (PEG) and other contractors to provide “free” energy audits, of course it didn’t end well for the consumer. But most residents didn’t realize that PEG would place liens on their houses for not paying for the audit. Let’s start from the beginning. For the past two years, the D.C. government has been contracting out to inspectors to investigate where homeowners …
In a recent editorial somewhat misleadingly entitled “A Real Debate on Taxes,” The New York Times argues in favor of allowing the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts to expire for Americans of all income levels. Their argument presents a few fatal flaws. First, a real debate on taxes is also a real debate on the current and projected skyrocketing levels of federal spending. Instead, the Times asserts that “more Americans—and not just the rich—are going to have to pay more taxes” in order to address looming deficits. The Times may …
Yesterday, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced the round 2 Race to the Top (RttT) winners. Nine states, along with the District of Columbia, will divide $3.4 billion in federal grant money. The winners included D.C., Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, and Rhode Island. Delaware and Tennessee won grants in round 1 of the competition. Neal McCluskey, associate director of the Center for Educational Freedom at the Cato Institute, isn’t impressed:
In December 2009, President Barack Obama delivered his long-awaited decision on the way forward in the War in Afghanistan and pledged 30,000 additional troops for the effort under the condition that they would begin to come home in 18 months. While praising the President’s decision to send more troops, conservative lawmakers blasted the President’s announcement of a deadline for withdrawal, arguing that it would undermine our allies and embolden our enemies. Yesterday, the President’s policy met with another high profile critic, retiring U.S. Marine Gen. James Conway, who told reporters …
Heritage’s sister organization, Heritage Action for America, recently released a video asking this very question. It is a humorous video (starring veteran actor Clint Howard) that points to a more serious problem. Where are the congressmen in August? Are they holding townhall meetings to address constituent concerns? If not, what are they hiding? Are they ashamed that they did not pass a budget? Ashamed of the vote on Health Care? We have written about all this Congress has done in the last two years, and the August recess is a …
This morning, the U.S. State Department announced that the U.S. had submitted its “Report of the United States of America” to the United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Human Rights. This report was submitted as part of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) conducted by the UN Human Rights Council (HRC). In November, the U.S. Administration will formally present the findings of its report to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. Judging from the content of the U.S. report, that November presentation will consist of much wailing and gnashing of …
In early August, when the U.S. Senate earmarked $10 billion to recover lost jobs in education, supporters of the measure claimed the money would save thousands of teachers’ jobs. President Obama put the figure at 160,000 jobs across the country. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) said it would save the jobs of 16,500 teachers in her state. And Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO) claimed the funding would protect between 2,000 and 3,000 teaching jobs in Colorado. But nearly three weeks after the vote, Bennet, at least, appears to have exaggerated. According to …
When President Barack Obama’s own oil spill commission first met in July, they said that the President’s decision to ban oil drilling in the Gulf fell outside their mandate. But after a number of highly charged field hearing in the Gulf, the commission did a 180-degree reversal and promised to press the Obama administration about the ban. The commission sent a letter to Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement Michael Bromwich demanding to a detailed justification for the ban by August 23. Bromwich did respond. And his message …
Iran on Saturday began fueling its Bushehr nuclear power plant, a process that is likely to take many days. The reactor’s operations must then be tested before it starts producing electricity, which is expected in about two months. Russia’s Rosatom state nuclear power company, which built the reactor, has assigned Russian technicians to jointly operate the reactor for several years, as Iranian technicians gradually gain full control over the operations. The startup of the reactor is another sign of Iran’s steady progress across many nuclear fronts. Although the Bushehr reactor …
Approximately 90 percent of America’s infrastructure is privately owned and yet the primary focus of homeland security educational programs in the U.S. has been directed toward local, state, federal government, and military employees. In addition, most of the homeland security educational programs on college campuses are located within the criminal justice or security studies degree programs. The challenge we must now face is how to best develop a culture of critical infrastructure preparedness within the private sector—one that will allow us to effectively mitigate, prevent, prepare, respond to, and recover …
