The Special Relationship between the U.S. and Britain has many facets, but at its core is close cooperation in the military and intelligence realms. And at the heart of our military cooperation is the U.S.–U.K. Mutual Defence Agreement. Signed in 1958, and renewed every 10 years—most recently in 2004—the agreement provides for Anglo–American collaboration in nuclear technology. It provides the legal basis for the transfer to Britain of U.S.-made Trident II missiles—the launch platform for Britain’s nuclear deterrent—and for the much broader sharing of nuclear information between the two countries. …
The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) endangerment finding gives the agency justification to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, most notably carbon dioxide (CO2), under the Clean Air Act (CAA). The EPA already began targeting motor vehicles last year and will start regulating emissions from new power plants and major expansions of large greenhouse-gas-emitting plants (more than 25,000 tons of CO2 per year) this year. Several Members of Congress released or plan to release bills to either delay or prohibit the EPA’s ability to regulate greenhouse gases. Some ideas are better than others; …
After years of deficit spending and overreaching promises made by Congress, the time has come to pay the piper. As Congress searches for areas to reduce the burgeoning national budget, there are those who clamor for cuts to defense, the largest slice of the discretionary spending pie. While inefficiencies certainly exist in the Department of Defense which should be trimmed, let’s examine just how the DoD budget stacks up against the rest of the nation’s spending before we decide to close a ring of the Pentagon. The current defense budget …
Two years of President Barak Obama’s Middle Eastern foreign policy, and especially its handling of the Egyptian revolution, earned poor marks at Israel’s flagship national security event, the Herzliya Conference. The prestigious conference attracted NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, U.K. Defense Minister Liam Fox, U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense Alexander Vershbow, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, and many others. Israel is concerned that the the Obama Administration demonstrated inconsistency, first declaring the Mubarak regime stable, then hastening to ease out an octogerian President who for a long time was America’s …
According to Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathy Sebelius, the design of the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS) program has basic flaws, but the bureaucracy will fix those flaws with hard work and deep thinking. Sebelius spoke on the CLASS program on Monday at a Kaiser Family Foundation briefing, and she outlined the Obama Administration’s updated technocratic thinking on this new government-run, long-term care entitlement created under Obamacare. Sebelius was in part responding to the recent assault on CLASS from a wide breadth of experts. According to …
The ballots have been tallied and the results are in: Southern Sudanese voted overwhelmingly for independence from the government in Khartoum. With a total turnout of 97 percent and 99 percent of voters casing their ballot in favor of secession, southern Sudan is on its way to becoming the world’s newest country. Yesterday, President Obama congratulated the southern Sudanese on “a successful and inspiring” referendum. The symbolism of the event is remarkable: After decades of war and marginalization by the north, southern Sudanese have finally achieved self-determination. Furthermore, the referendum …
Last night, despite a strong majority vote in favor of the bill, the House of Representatives fell seven votes short of the two-thirds they needed to suspend the rules and pass three key counterterrorism amendments to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). Many of the headlines you will read today will say things like “Patriot Act Extension Fails in House,” but the reality is that much of the PATRIOT Act was already permanently enacted. Of the three amendments to FISA at issue in last night’s vote, two were part of …
For all the talk about job creation and deficit reduction, the Obama administration continues to ignore one solution to accomplish both: offshore oil drilling. As the de facto drilling moratorium continues to shackle the Gulf coast region, Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) is determined to hold the administration accountable for what is more than just a regional issue. The day after President Obama’s Interior Department was held in contempt of court for refusing to lift the moratorium, Vitter wrote to David Hayes, deputy secretary at the Interior Department, demanding that he …
The Washington Post reports today on a new study highlighting the effects of the “Great Recession” on marriage. The report from the University of Virginia’s National Marriage Project suggests that while the recent economic downturn has placed financial stress on a majority of married couples, lifelong relationships continue to thrive. According to the report, more than half of all married Americans experience at least one type of financial stressor, including worrying about paying the bills, struggling to pay the mortgage, or having income reduced through job loss or a reduction …
President Obama’s proposed $53-billion more for “high-speed rail” (on top of a previous $10-billion) is a testimony to the power of adjectives. If it were labeled “plain old rail travel” it would lack the pizazz but would be far more accurate. Understating costs, overstating benefits, and lots of supersonic rhetoric are the selling points for high-speed rail. The “high speed” adjective invokes thoughts of bullet trains speeding at 150 mph, 200 mph or more. The reality of Obama’s plan is—at best—the 85 mph that is the average speed of America’s …
