The surprise return of radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr to Iraq on Wednesday is a sign of rising Iranian influence and diminishing American political clout in Iraq. The triumphant homecoming of the fiery anti-American leader, who incited two bloody uprisings against U.S. forces after the 2003 invasion, could also foreshadow growing Iraqi political instability. The sad fact is that the rabble-rousing Islamist, who fled to Iran after his Mahdi militia was crushed, has now returned to Iraq more powerful than ever. His followers won 39 seats in last year’s parliamentary …
Fact: President Barack Obama’s Energy Secretary Steven Chu wants to “figure out how to boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe.” At the time he made the statement, gas cost $7 – $8 a gallon in Europe. Fact: Since taking office, President Obama’s entire energy agenda has made a gallon of gas more expensive: Immediately after taking office in 2009, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, canceled 77 leases for oil and gas drilling in Utah. The EPA announced new rules mandating the use of 36 billion gallons worth …
Watch the latest video at video.foxnews.com National Public Radio has come as close as it can possibly get to admitting that it’s a biased news organization and that it must take steps to remedy this situation. It’s a welcome acknowledgment, one we must charitably accept even if NPR made it under duress after coming under withering criticism for firing veteran journalist Juan Williams. Hopefully, NPR did not take this step to stave off congressional attempts to withdraw its public funding. Its mea culpa does not change one iota the need …
Last November, President Obama made Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir an offer: Allow southern Sudan to secede peacefully in the upcoming referendum and the United States will remove Sudan from the list of state sponsors of terror. Ironically enough, President Obama admonished President Bush when he made a similar offer two years ago. The Obama Administration gave Bashir, a man responsible for mass genocide, an opportunity to save face. While this offer will be rescinded should Bashir fail to live up to his promise, the label “state sponsor of terror” should …
Today the Bureau of Labor and Statistics released its monthly jobs report showing that the U.S. economy added only 103,000 jobs this December. With the unemployment rate now at 9.4%, this marks the 20th month in a row that the unemployment has been over 9 percent, a post–World War II record. You are going to hear a lot of noise from the White House about how this drop from a 9.8% unemployment rate to 9.4% means the economy is in a strong recovery. This is false. The reality is that …
We are joined by Director of Government Relations at Heritage, Brian Darling. Brian will take your questions about conservative challenges in the new Congress and what the proposed rule changes, specifically the change in the Filibuster, mean, not only for Congress, but for American citizens. Lunch With Heritage feat. Brian Darling
The sublime irony of having Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) not only participate in a reading of the Constitution, but be assigned Article I, Section 1, seems to have been lost on those who attended the first-ever reading of the august text in the House of Representatives this morning. This, after all, is the same Nancy Pelosi who gave us gave us the now infamous “Are you serious? Are you serious?” in response to a reporter who had the nerve to ask her which part of the Constitution authorized Congress to compel …
Next week, the House of Representatives will vote on H.R. 2, a measure to repeal Obamacare in its entirety. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) today released a report stating that repealing the health care law would increase the deficit by $145 billion between 2012 and 2019. This report is based on the findings of the CBO’s March 2010 report that predicted that Obamacare would reduce the deficit. CBO does respectable work, but their analysts have their hands tied by assumptions they are required to make. The reality is that, in …
While overall health care spending slowed in 2009, it is the underlying trend that is more troubling: the continuing decline in private coverage and the steady increase in government health care. These trends will only accelerate under Obamacare. According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), total health care spending grew by 4 percent in 2009 to reach $2.5 trillion. This represents a slower rate of growth from 2008, but the slower increase still outpaced spending as an overall percentage of GDP. The 3.2 percent decline in private …
Watch out Virginia. You’re next. According to TBD.com, Virginia House of Delegates member Joseph Morrissey will introduce legislation next week to tax residents 20 cents for every plastic bag they receive at a grocery store or retailer. Following the lead of Washington, D.C., Delegate Morrissey sees an opportunity to punish shoppers and low-income earners in order to “chang[e] people’s attitudes.” This is just the latest effort by the radical environmental left to punish their fellow citizens who are merely trying to make ends meet on a day-to-day basis. In D.C., …
