Yesterday, the Senate voted 66–32 to begin debate on the New START agreement with Russia. Only a simple majority (51) was required, but vote counters can use yesterday’s roll call as a benchmark for final ratification, which will need 67 votes to pass. With the seating of Senator Mark Kirk (R–IL), the White House needs nine Republicans to join the Senate’s 58 Democrats. They got those nine yesterday, including Senators Bob Bennett (UT), Scott Brown (MA), Susan Collins (ME), Lindsey Graham (SC), Dick Lugar (IN), John McCain (AZ), Lisa Murkowski …
At a time when the economy is slow, you might think government officials would be happy to see new businesses start up. Arlington County Virginia, however, isn’t as welcoming as it could be. Whatever you do, don’t start a business there and decorate the exterior of your establishment with artwork relating to your business. If you do, Arlington’s zoning officials will probably be along to harass you. Kim Houghton, owner of Wag More Dogs, can tell you all about Arlington’s zoning administrators. With the help of the Institute for Justice, …
Most of the time being number one is good. But when it comes to having the highest tax rate in the world, it is much better for a country to be bringing up the rear. Currently Japan holds the inauspicious distinction of having the highest corporate income tax rate in the world (39.5 percent). The United States is a close second, only a few tenths-of-percentage points behind. Japan will soon fall from the top spot because it has finally recognized what the rest of the industrialized world realized over a …
As Julian Assange avoids stepping foot in the United States and cuts off ties to U.S.-based servers for his website, WikiLeaks, what recourse is left for the United States to take? Further, what punishment will Private First Class Bradley Manning, the officer charged with leaking these documents to Assange, face? And could technology allow for more of these types of leaks in the future? Visiting legal fellow Paul Rosenzweig confronts these questions and more in a timely podcast on the legal side of WikiLeaks. For all of our weekly podcasts, be …
In sharp contrast to the pro-nuclear energy rhetoric of the Administration, some nuclear power plant owners are considering shutting down their facilities. Exelon, owner of the New Jersey Oyster Creek nuclear power plant, recently announced that it plans to close the plant 10 years early because of EPA regulations aimed at reducing the environmental impact of plants’ cooling water intake systems. Currently, Oyster Creek employs the accepted “best technology available”—based on a site-specific cost-benefit analysis—and uses water from nearby Barnegat Bay to cool the reactor. This is no longer good …
Sens. Jon Kyl (R-AZ), John Thune (R-SD), Kit Bond (R-MO), Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), Mike Johanns (R-NE), George Lemieux (R-FL), and Mark Kirk (R-IL) just announced at a joint press conference that none of them will be voting for New START in this lame duck session. This comes after Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) told The Hill it would be a “good idea” to wait until January to debate the treaty. This is a wise and prudent decision that is consistent with the tradition and precedent …
Any time Congress creates a health care entitlement, it “crowds out” (i.e., displaces) private coverage, replacing private sector spending with increased taxpayer spending. The end result: Private spending and coverage contract while government entitlements, dependency, and spending grow. Since the enactment of the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003, many conservatives in Congress and elsewhere have been impressed with Medicare Part D’s performance in delivering high-quality drug coverage through intense private competition. Private sector drug delivery is indeed a positive feature of the 2003 law. Nonetheless, the Bush Administration and the …
Amid the Administration’s full-court press to get the Senate to consent to ratify New START, a strategic offensive arms control treaty with the Russian Federation, Moscow is being described as a responsible, reliable, and cooperative international partner. However, these descriptions do not comport with reality, as Heritage’s “Top 10 Reasons Not to Trust Russia” fact sheet made clear. Russia’s domestic and international policies are often contrary to U.S. and allied interests and in breach of contractual obligations. There are even more reasons to reconsider signing such an important treaty with …
Deficit reduction is in vogue right now thanks to the recent efforts of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, but Representative Paul Ryan’s (R–WI) “Roadmap for America’s Future Act” started it all as the first proposal to offer comprehensive solutions to the nation’s pending fiscal crisis, balancing the budget and eliminating national debt while also fixing the health care system. It took a long time for lawmakers and pundits to get to the thoughtful conversation on deficit reduction that the Roadmap was intended to provoke. Instead, the proposal …
As recession-weary Americans continue to tighten their belts, not even trillion-dollar deficits can persuade Senate Democrats to stop their spending spree. In a single 1,924-page bill—which was crafted in secret and will be voted on before anyone has read it fully—Congress is set to spend a staggering $1.1 trillion on discretionary programs for fiscal year (FY) 2011, plus an additional $160 billion in emergency war spending. To put this in context, non-emergency discretionary spending has already surged by $217 billion (25 percent) in the past three years—plus an additional $311 …
