As the U.N. General Assembly meets this week, arms control and disarmament are likely to be hot topics on the agenda. It is important for the United States not to pursue any means of multilateralism that would damage U.S. national interests, including any agreement to reduce arms. The Obama Administration should not cede any authority to an intensely bureaucratic forum that seeks to limit U.S. capabilities. In his chapter in ConUNdrum, Heritage Senior Research Fellow Baker Spring, argues that any effort to disarm the United States constrains America’s ability to …
Tell me if you’ve heard this one. The United Nations champions many good ideas and efforts afoot that would vastly benefit people around the world if only it had the resources to pursue them. Standing in the way of all of this “good” are stubborn, stingy nations (like the U.S.) that do not give the U.N. enough resources to pursue their goals. If only the U.N. could circumvent the pesky issue of national sovereignty and tax individuals directly the U.N. could do wonders. Although this may sound reasonable to those …
Washington is reveling this week in one of its oldest traditions – dissecting a Bob Woodward book that analyzes the sitting president. While much focus will be given to what one senior official said about another senior official, there is real news that deserves the bulk of the attention. Specifically, President Barack Obama’s shocking statement to Woodward that “we [America] can absorb another terrorist attack.” He goes on to say: “We’ll do everything we can to prevent it, but even a 9/11, even the biggest attack ever…we absorbed it and …
At the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Summit in New York this week, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Spain’s Prime Minister José Luis Zapatero both called for a global financial transaction tax to fund foreign aid projects to lift the world’s poor out of poverty. Sounding more like a populist politician than an international civil servant, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon chimed in supportively, warning developed countries not to “balance budgets on the backs of the poor.” Trouble is, there is little evidence that the vast sums of tax dollars …
Coverdell Education Savings Accounts were created in 2001 to provide parents with more options to pay for their children’s elementary, secondary, and college education. Unless Congress quickly takes action, those accounts will no longer be allowed to fund secondary and elementary school expenses. President Obama often talks of helping Main Street instead of rewarding Wall Street, and Coverdell accounts are a unique asset for Main Street investors. Parents can squirrel away $2,000 per year per child in Coverdell accounts. They can then invest that money however they like in stocks, …
Nearly two years into his first term, President Obama has sought a foreign policy that has restrained America’s role on the world stage. Emphasizing a greater commitment to international institutions in handling security concerns, the Administration has relied on multilateral means for achieving this aim, primarily through the United Nations. When attending the U.N. General Assembly, President Obama should keep in mind that multilateralism is only one of many tools in the diplomatic toolbox. This point is emphasized in former Assistant Secretary of State Kim Holmes’s chapter in ConUNdrum, “Smart …
For the second time in a week, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D–MT) has called for the suspension of pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) budget rules to pass necessary and vital tax policies. First, Baucus suggested waiving PAYGO as it pertains to the death tax. Now he’s calling for the Senate to rightly ignore PAYGO so it can keep the tax rate on dividends from skyrocketing to almost 40 percent from its current 15 percent level. The 2001 and 2003 tax relief packages expire at the end of this year. That means …
Dealing a defeat to liberal activists, the U.S. Senate voted Tuesday not to shut off debate and proceed to consideration of the 2011 defense authorization bill. Three Democrats joined 40 Republicans in refusing to invoke cloture on the bill, inflicting a rare loss on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and his strategy to limit opportunities for amending a measure laden with social issues. The social issues all emanated from Democratic-sponsored amendments on such controversial topics as elective abortion policy, immigration reform, and the military policy on service by homosexual persons, …
Today, The Washington Post is reporting an exchange between President Obama and journalist/author Bob Woodward. The President is quoted as saying that “we can absorb a terrorist attack.” The President’s job is first and foremost to protect national security and American lives. Saying that we could “absorb” an attack does not mean that we want to absorb one. Americans want to be successful in the war on terror. Setting us up for defeat is far from a winning strategy. This statement—which embodies the President’s handling of terrorism as a law …
How much does federal regulation cost Americans each year? The question is not an easy one. While the revenues and expenditures of the government are budgeted and accounted for each year, the costs of regulation are largely hidden from view, paid for indirectly via higher prices, fewer choices, and less innovation. The best estimates of the total cost, however, have come from a series of reports commissioned by the Small Business Administration (SBA). The latest such report was released today by the SBA’s Office of Advocacy, and the results are …
