When Members of the 112th Congress took the oath of office just over a month ago, the leaders of the House brought new meaning to their duty to “support and defend the Constitution.” As promised in their “Pledge to America,” they passed a rule requiring members to cite the specific constitutional authority in each bill they propose. In passing the Constitutional Authority rule, they intended to reign in unconstitutional legislation and to spark debate about what is constitutional—and indeed the reform has begun, bringing out both the best and worst …
President Obama has received praise for including a two-year Medicare “doc fix” in his FY 2012 budget proposal, but hold the applause. Every year, physician reimbursement for treating Medicare patients is scheduled to decrease according to the “sustainable growth rate” formula. This complex and unworkable policy is intended to create savings, but Congress has delayed the cuts for years, since allowing such dramatic cuts would cause many physicians to drop Medicare patients altogether, resulting in severely reduced access to care for seniors. Physicians and patients need a permanent solution to …
House Republicans are attempting to live up to their pledge to cut $100 billion from the federal government’s current fiscal year 2011 budget. One of the proposed programs placed on the chopping block is the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). Congress created the CPB under the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 to fill an apparent need for additional sources of high-quality informational, educational, and entertainment-oriented television and radio programming. This mission became obsolete long ago. Back in 1999 then-CPB CEO Robert Coonrod defended taxpayer funding for CPB arguing: Cable’s spending …
Last Thursday, experts on ballistic missile defense gathered to discuss this issue at The Heritage Foundation’s conference “Rethinking Comprehensive Missile Defense.” It is clear that the United States needs capable ballistic missile defense (BMD) systems to protect the U.S. citizens, its homeland, and allies in Europe and the Pacific from the growing ballistic missile threat. The missile defense industry needs a clear guidance and sustained support from the leadership in the government in order to meet these tasks. Lieutenant General Henry Obering emphasized that missile defense and arms control are …
According to George Will, some Republicans in both the Senate and the House are unhappy with financial controls at the Defense Department. No question: The Defense Department should produce auditable financial statements. In fact, it deserves credit for how far it has come toward that goal since 2001. But a look at Britain’s experience reveals the problem with making decisions about freezing or cutting defense spending on the basis of allegations about inadequate financial controls. In 2009, British politics were rocked by a series of leaks and then an exhaustive …
You could be forgiven for thinking that an organization called the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) would provide the public with accurate statistics from the states. But the group has put its credibility at risk by relying on bogus statistics on juvenile life without parole (JLWOP) sentences from a group, Human Rights Watch, whose work in the area has been thoroughly discredited. First, some background: As the co-author of “Adult Time for Adult Crimes: Life Without Parole for Juvenile Killers,” I have been studying the issue of JLWOP for …
Of the $100 billion in spending cuts in H.R. 1, the Continuing Resolution (CR), some are big, others are small, but all are vital reductions that help our nation regain its financial footing. In some cases, the bill simply seeks to eliminate entire programs or blocks of funding. In others, the bill takes a more complex approach and prohibits agencies from spending taxpayer dollars to carry out certain policies. We find a great example of the simple cut in section 1529, which eliminates funding for the President’s “Unanticipated Needs” fund. …
Last Friday, the House Appropriations Committee unveiled its revised spending plan for the remainder of fiscal year (FY) 2011. This continuing resolution would reduce discretionary spending by more than $100 billion compared to the spending levels requested in President Obama’s FY 2011 budget proposal. Though enacting serious spending reductions is the only fiscally responsible way to put the nation’s fiscal house on sound footing, liberals have responded to cuts by calling them “unworkable,” “dire,” and “disturbing.” But a closer look reveals that the opposite is true. One program that the …
Last night, on a purely partisan 47–51 vote, the Senate rejected an amendment that would have stopped government unions from organizing Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees. The vote was made possible by an announcement two Fridays ago by President Barack Obama political appointee and TSA Administrator John Pistole. Pistole rejected TSA’s original policy that collective bargaining’s inherently adversarial process would impair TSA’s ability to protect American air travelers. Pistole’s decision, coupled with Democratic control of the Senate, will net the labor movement—a majority of whom already work for the government—45,000 …
Many of the freshmen serving in the 112th Congress were elected last November riding a wave of Tea Party activism, fueled in part by frustration over out-of-control government spending. This week they’ll have an opportunity to show the American people they’re living up to their promises as the House of Representatives debates a continuing resolution to fund the government for the remainder of the fiscal year. We visited Capitol Hill this week to chat with some of them about why government spending must be cut now. Lawmakers are considering cuts …
