If the standoff over continued Israeli settlements in the West Bank continues, the Palestinian Authority has threatened to abandon negotiations with Israel and appeal to the United Nations to recognize a Palestinian State within the territory that Israel occupied in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. Such a unilateral move by the Palestinians would deal a coup de grace to the comatose Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations. Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Daniel Ayalon, dismissed the threat as a bluff intended to pressure Israel into capitulating to Palestinian demands to permanently halt all construction of …
They are called Leathernecks, Devil Dogs, Gyrenes, Jarheads, and more. The 235-year legacy forged in tradition and sacrifice inspires every warrior who has earned the right to be a United States Marine. November 10 is etched in the hearts and souls of this famous brotherhood, and The Heritage Foundation is honored to commemorate the birthday of the United States Marine Corps. Born in Tun Tavern in Philadelphia and solidified by a resolution of the Continental Congress in 1775, the traditions of this service run deep. Differing from the Army and …
Remember when Rep. Phil Hare (D-IL) was asked to identify what part of the Constitution empowers the federal government to force Americans to buy health insurance, and he replied: “I don’t worry about the Constitution on this to be honest.” Remember when Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA) told his Hayward, Calif., constituents that “The Federal government can, yes, do most anything in this country.” And remember when Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), famously said of Obamacare: “We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it.” …
In a statement that is as unseemly as the example of judicial activism that gave rise to their removal from office, three former Iowa Supreme Court justices are blaming “out-of-state interests” for their loss on Election Day. The evidence seems clear that the three judges who were not retained by Iowa voters lost their offices because of the unsupportable ruling they joined in April 2009 that invented a state constitutional right to same-sex marriage. Of the 74 Iowa judges statewide who were subject to retention votes last week, only Marsha …
Because of Obamacare, states are considering dropping out of Medicaid, the federal-state health program for the poor, rather than deal with the additional fiscal strain resulting from the health law. One of the main drivers behind health care reform was to reduce the nation’s number of uninsured. Under the new law, this will be partially achieved by adding 18 million Americans to the Medicaid program. This expansion will strain already hurting state budgets. By expanding a program for which states share the cost, the federal government is able to hide …
The Kaiser Family Foundation polled 1,502 adults ages 18 and older, including 1,017 adults who say they voted, in the days after last Tuesday’s election. KFF allowed respondents to name, in their own words, the biggest factors influencing their vote for Congress. The top response was economy/jobs (29%), followed by voting for or against a specific party (25%), and then voting for a specific candidate (21%). Health care came in fourth at 17%. But among those voters who said health care was the top factor influencing their vote, repealing all …
Forty years ago, The Heritage Foundation was just an idea – a vision in the minds of a handful of individuals hoping to fill the conservative void on Capitol Hill. In 1973, their vision became a reality, with a tiny staff and a giant mission: to build an America where freedom, opportunity, prosperity and civil society flourish. Fast forward to today. The Heritage Foundation is the most influential and broadly-supported public policy think tank in Washington, with more than 270 staffers and a membership base of over 700,000 active members. …
Last week we reported on numbers showing that despite supposedly lifting his offshore oil drilling moratorium, the Obama administration is maintaining a de facto drilling ban by slowing and sometimes stopping permit issuance all together. GNO Inc., an economic development agency serving the 10-parish New Orleans region, found that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement is issuing 3.8 fewer shallow-water drilling permits per month since August than it was the year leading up to the oil spill. Worse, no new deepwater permits have been issued since May. …
President Barack Obama made waves during his trip to India by telling the Indian parliament that “in the years ahead, I look forward to a reformed United Nations Security Council that includes India as a permanent member.” This simple, vague statement has become the headline for his entire visit with U.S. and Indian media declaring that “Obama supports adding India as a permanent member of U.N. Security Council” and “Obama Backs India Bid for UN Security Council Seat” and “Obama backs UNSC bid, slams Pakistan.” The statement made news because …
“I believe that the primary Constitutional function of the federal government is national defense, bar none,” reads the very first sentence of Sen.-elect Rand Paul’s (R-KY) issue page on national defense. Sen.-elect Paul is right. It is right there in the Preamble to the United States Constitution: “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and …
