Partisan Democrats in the Jewish community are attempting to politicize the security debate of the New START nuclear arms control treaty, the centerpiece of President Obama’s “reset” policy with Russia. According to a blog posted in The Jewish Telegraph Agency (JTA), the New START should be “a Jewish issue.” This is both preposterous and unwise, to say the least. The JTA blog parrots the National Jewish Democratic Council statement, which suggests that New START has forced Russians to cooperate on U.N. Security Council sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran’s …
Congressional sources say that the Obama Administration has pulled out all the stops in its lobbying campaign to secure Senate approval of the New START Treaty by warning Israel’s supporters in Congress that failure to approve the treaty will undermine Israeli security by causing Russia to reduce its support for measures to pressure Iran. The Administration has been aided by the National Jewish Democratic Council, which issued a statement on Thursday that resembled Chicken Little’s panic about the sky falling: “Can anyone deny that Russian cooperation is essential to ensuring …
“Don’t Touch My Junk.” The anthem of one furious airport passenger has become a rallying cry for airport passengers around the United States. Who can blame them? As Charles Krauthammer puts it in his recent piece in the Washington Post, at today’s airport screening line “[w]izened seniors strain to untie their shoes; beltless salesmen struggle comically to hold up their pants; 3-year-olds scream while being searched insanely for explosives…”. There must be something wrong when a 15 hour road trip with the entire family seems a more convenient way to …
According to British Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne, the United Kingdom will put into place “a radical new welfare state where it always pays to work.” Newly elected British Prime Minister David Cameron has set forth plans that, according to analysts, will result in the nation’s most dramatic welfare reform since World War II. Wracked with debt, the U.K. is attempting to whittle down their government’s largest expense—welfare—which today stands at approximately $350 billion, or 15 percent of the nation’s GDP. Currently, 5 million British citizens receive welfare, and …
In his last gasp effort to rush his New START agreement with Russia through the Senate, President Barack Obama again invoked the name of President Ronald Reagan from the White House yesterday. Three times President Obama cited Reagan as justification for ratification of New START. But while President Reagan did negotiate and sign the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty with the Soviet Union, does that mean he would sign any agreement that reduced U.S. nuclear weapons? No. Heritage Vice President of Foreign and Defense Policy Studies Kim Holmes explains: Many people, …
A recent New York Times article on microcredit in India may have missed the whole point. Their headline implies massive defaults in the microcredit industry, yet in the first paragraph they state, “borrowers in one of India’s largest states have stopped repaying their loans, egged on by politicians.” If borrowers are defaulting because their businesses are failing, or because the microcredit institute shouldn’t have given them a loan, then ok, perhaps there is a place to examine industry practices. In this case however, it sounds more like the politicians aren’t …
Following reports of an alleged blockage of shipments of rare earth minerals from China to the U.S. and Europe, Congressman Edward Markey (D–MA) turned to the Obama Administration for clarification and to express his concern. In a letter to the Departments of Defense, Energy, and Commerce, as well as the U.S. Trade Representative, Markey writes: I am troubled by this recent turn of events and concerned that the world’s reliance on Chinese rare earth materials, in combination with China’s apparent willingness to use this reliance for leverage in wider international …
The proponents of President Barack Obama’s New START agreement with Russia are getting more desperate the more votes they lose. The latest sad act comes from the office of Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) who catalogs the fantastic claims of his colleagues: “Delaying a vote on the New START Treaty into next year is a dangerous and unnecessary gamble with our nation’s security,” said U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH). … “We simply cannot afford to wait any longer to address the threats posed by a nuclear Iran and by terrorists around …
Typically the largest wealth distribution program that occurs in Cancun, Mexico, is college students spending their parents’ money. That could change at the upcoming United Nations climate summit if developing countries clamoring for money to cope with global warming get their wish. With each passing year, it’s clear that international climate change talks are less about climate and more about wealth redistribution. The latest case in point comes from United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) official Ottmar Edenhofer. In a recent interview with Germany’s NZZ Online, Edenhofer lays …
The NATO summit to be held in Lisbon on Nov. 19–20 has a hefty agenda in which Russia features prominently. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is defining its role in Afghanistan; is seeking agreement on joint missile defense; and is hosting Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. The Lisbon NATO summit is supposed to be attended by 27 state heads, plus Medvedev who will attend the separate NATO-Russia summit. Despite viewing NATO’s enlargement as a threat, Moscow still conducts a dialogue with the organization. This is understandable, as the real threats to …
