While there is much in today’s address by President Obama to the US Chamber of Commerce to unpack, one issue that deserves response were his remarks about addressing unnecessary regulation. The President again promoted his government-wide search for “outdated and unnecessary regulations,” stating that “if there are rules on the books that are needlessly stifling job creation and economic growth, we will fix them.” But as Heritage’s regulatory expert James Gattuso explained last month, while those are encouraging words, it seems likely there isn’t much substance behind them: Rather than require agencies to …
National Marriage Week is underway! Beginning today and culminating on Valentine’s Day, hundreds of organizations, community groups, and religious institutions will spend a week celebrating the benefits of marriage and encouraging married couples across the country to remain committed to lifelong love. With national campaign ads outlining the social and economic benefits of marriage, counseling and group study resources for couples and churches, and creative ideas to keep love alive, National Marriage Week seeks to strengthen marriage and promote the institution’s advantages to the next generation. The week isn’t just …
Forget the War on Business. That’s so 2010. Say hello to the War on Regulation. At least that’s the message coming from the White House. The administration’s regulatory offensive began Jan. 18 with an opinion piece by the president in the Wall Street Journal. The op-ed coincided with a new executive order which, the president wrote, not only ensures that regulators will consider the economic consequences of new rules, but also launched a 120-day government-wide review of regulations already on the books. The promised review even got a mention in …
Democracy, stability, and moderation are in the balance not just in Egypt but closer to home in Haiti. On Thursday, Haiti’s electoral board decided that the presidential run-off on March 20 will pit Mirlande Manigat, a former first lady and law professor, against Michel Martelly, known as “Sweet Micky,” a carnival performer and kompa music singer of raunchy chart toppers. Removed from the run-off race was Jude Celestin of the INITE party, who was assigned third place after a technical review of the elections. Celestin’s removal was a blow for …
The spread of economic freedom, reinforced by innovative ideas and entrepreneurial activities, has created forceful dynamics that generate greater economic opportunity and prosperity on an unprecedented scale in many parts of the globe. Unfortunately, the revolution has largely left the Middle East and North Africa behind. In the absence of economic dynamism, people in the region have long been confined to extreme concentrations of wealth and poverty, which have set time bombs of political and social instability. Too many people in the region, particularly the young, have been denied economic …
The economic harms of carbon cap-and-trade policies are so well established that even a state as reliably leftist as California has never been able to pass a plan through their legislature. Instead, environmentalists in the Golden State have relied on the California Air Resources Board (CARB), whose appointed governing board is democratically unaccountable, to develop and impose carbon regulations by bureaucratic fiat. And this past December, much to the delight of many environmentalists, CARB passed the first carbon cap-and-trade scheme in the United States. Everything looked ready to go … …
Analysis provided by Heritage Action for America House Cloakroom Report: February 7th - 11th Analysis: The House returns from their district work period week to discuss a variety of issues. Deliberations will begin on the Continuing Resolution package under the guidelines that the House Budget Committeeunveiled last week and what spending cuts will need to be made. Full and subcommittee hearing action will heat up through the middle of the week on issues such as unrest in Egypt and Lebanon, regulatory impact on jobs, Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac reform, US trade policy, and the general dismal …
What happens when the Florida legislature eliminates the centuries-old requirement that the government must prove that an accused person acted with criminal intent before he may be punished as a criminal? It risks making almost anyone a criminal – both those who intend to commit a crime and those who do so by accident. And that’s wrong. It’s wrong as a matter of policy, and it’s wrong as a matter of history. In high school civics class, and from law-and-order television shows and films, every American has learned that in …
Democracy is the best way we know to choose leaders. Where individuals offering alternative visions or policies compete fairly and honestly for leadership, governments are regularly refreshed and cleansed of corruption. And of course, true democracy is about much more than elections. It involves the rule of law, political pluralism, and respect for civil rights. The lack of democracy in the Middle East, and the problems that causes, are well-documented. Hereditary monarchs and military dictators dominate governments throughout the region. Their non-democratic governments tend to abuse human rights and suppress …
“Confronting Egypt is a festering economic crisis that threatens to shatter that nation’s [already] fragile social peace and alter political orientation. For too many years Cairo has postponed sorely needed structural economic reforms.” These words are a somber assessment given to Egypt’s lack of institutional reform by The Heritage Foundation 25 years ago. Echoing a similar message, Hernando De Soto, one of the furthermost authorities on analyzing the critical linkage between property rights and economic development, has compellingly articulated in his powerful op-ed: Bringing the majority of Egypt’s people into …
