Analysis provided by Heritage Action for America House Cloakroom: January 30 – February 5, 2011 Next week the House will not be in session in order for Members to spend the week working in their respective districts. Senate Cloakroom: January 30 – February 5, 2011 Analysis The Senate wrapped up last Thursday after a week that was largely spent on changing procedural rules of the Senate (the other vote taken last week was to honor the victims and first responders involved in the Tucson shooting tragedy). Senator Reid indicated the …
The Middle East was meant to be the crowning achievement of the Obama Doctrine. Once in the White House, President Obama focused laser-like on a “charm offensive” with Iran. When voices rose against the regime in Tehran in the wake of a disputed national election, Obama offered virtually no support for the cries for freedom. Nevertheless, the “playing nice initiative” with Tehran fell flat. Today, the regime is more aggressive than ever—backing a terrorist take-over of the government in Lebanon, snubbing Western nuclear negotiators, and promoting an Islamist agenda across …
Egypt remains convulsed by massive popular protests after President Hosni Mubarak sought in vain to appease the opposition. The police have melted into crowds or holed up at risk for their lives and the once-feared Interior Ministry is under siege. Army troops on the streets of Cairo reportedly have bonded with the massive crowds and appear to be respected, in contrast to the thuggish police. President Mubarak, who dismissed his cabinet yesterday, today appointed a vice president for the first time in his 30-year rule, Intelligence chief Omar Suleiman. The army, which always has …
In his State of the Union address to Congress, President Obama acknowledged the problems of massive deficit spending and mounting debt and offered a general plan that he said would restore fiscal health. It includes cuts to the defense budget. With two ongoing wars, numerous asymmetrical threats to our security, and the depleted state of our military, it’s appropriate for Defense Secretary Robert Gates and the new Congress to ask if this is prudent. In yesterday’s Washington Times, Heritage Vice President Kim Holmes considers what Ronald Reagan would do about …
Like high school or college graduation, the end of National School Choice Week marks the commencement of a nationwide push for parental control over education. All across America, parents and state and local leaders are pushing to increase the number of quality educational options available to children. In Indiana, Governor Mitch Daniels is supporting a drive to provide vouchers to low-income children to attend a private school of their choice. Similarly, in Pennsylvania, there is bipartisan support for a plan to provide scholarships of up to $9,000 for low-income children …
The final version of the Interim Report by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights on the investigation of the New Black Panther Party voter intimidation case was released yesterday and is available on the commission’s website. Get it while it’s hot. With the expiration of the terms of several commissioners, new appointees by President Obama and others doing the administration’s bidding will soon control a majority of the commission seats. It seems unlikely the new majority will continue the investigation into the real reason for the dismissal of the NBBP …
The President has been co-opted by the tea party!” declared Senator Paul Rand (R-KY) to a boisterous crowd of tea party activists that braved the snow to attend the Senate’s public first meeting of the new Tea Party Caucus yesterday. Senator Paul kicked off the event on a humorous note, joking about speculation before the election that he and other Tea Party-backed candidates would be “co-opted” by Washington. With a wry smile, he joked that it seems that the Tea Party has been the one co-opting Washington: Some said that people who …
Speaking before a new Congress in his State of the Union address, President Obama gave an alternative suggestion for Congress now that cap and trade is out of the picture. He pitched an aggressive clean energy standard, saying he wants 80 percent of our electricity to come from carbon-free sources of energy by 2035. For reference, the Energy Information Administration shows that carbon-free sources generated 31 percent of our total electricity in 2009 (20 percent nuclear, 7 percent hydroelectric, and 4 percent other renewables). As Kim Strassel points out in …
Today, America marks the 25th anniversary of the space shuttle Challenger tragedy. On January 28, 1986, America lost seven brave explorers – Dick Scobee, Michael Smith, Ellison Onizuka, Judith Resnik, Ronald McNair, Gregory Jarvis and Christa McAuliffe – when NASA suffered its first-ever in-flight loss. The loss of the Challenger marked one of those vivid moments in our nation’s history that are unforgettable, including where you watched it, heard of it or how you grieved. For millions of Generation Xers, they were in their school rooms, cafeterias and libraries set …
The House of Representatives is not merely a larger Senate. The Constitution divided the legislative branch into two Houses, with different constituencies, term lengths, sizes, and functions for each house. For example, only the Senate offers advice and consent on treaties and appointments of judges and executive officials. And as Erik M. Jensen explains in his Constitutional Guidance for Lawmakers essay, only the House of Representatives holds the power to raise revenue – an essential element of the power of the purse. Federalist No. 58 described the House’s power over …
