As the People’s Republic of China (PRC) convenes its National People’s Congress, much attention has been focused on the announcement that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has returned to the long-term trend of double-digit increases in its budget. Where China officially spent 533.5 billion renminbi ($81.2 billion) in 2010, it will now officially spend 601.1 billion renminbi ($91.5 billion) in 2011. This 12.7 percent increase is seen as indicative of China’s growing military capabilities, including anti-ship ballistic missiles, new stealth fighters, an expanding submarine fleet, and improved command-and-control capabilities. Yet …
Today former Congressman Ernest Istook testified before the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee about the $105 billion slush fund in advance appropriations liberals tucked inside Obamacare. The $105 billion bypasses the traditional yearly budgeting process and is spread throughout the 2,700 page legislation. It took the Congressional Research Service (CRS) seven months to identify all the disparate funds and it was not until February (11 months after the bill passed) that all of the funds could be totaled up. Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) has been beating the drum to …
Food prices are on the rise across the globe, fueling much of the political unrest that continues to rage in parts of the Middle East. Unexpectedly severe weather and soaring demand have pushed food prices to “dangerous levels and threaten tens of millions of poor people,” said World Bank President Robert Zoellick earlier this month. “Global food prices are approaching an all-time high,” agreed Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in her testimony before the Senate last week. If food shortages caused by the rise in prices continue, Latin America could see …
Sen. Harry Reid’s (D–NV) comments yesterday about cowboy poetry may have received the most attention on the Senate floor yesterday morning, but his pleas for the failed Head Start preschool program were just as preposterous. Arguing against the omnibus spending bill under consideration, the Senator said: Here are some of the consequences. … It will kick 200,000 Head Start students, the poorest of the poor—little boys and girls trying to get started in life—it will kick them off their ability to learn to read and do elementary math. Hundreds in …
In the ongoing debate about U.S. policy choices regarding Libya, one of the elephants in the room has been American aircraft carriers. Or, more precisely, where are American carriers, which could provide aircraft for enforcing a no-fly zone as well as protection for any non-combatant evacuation operation? The reality is that, when the Libyan crisis struck, there was no American aircraft carrier with the U.S. Sixth Fleet, which is centered on the Mediterranean. The closest, the USS Enterprise (CVN-65), was in the Red Sea. At this point, a week after …
Yesterday we highlighted two recent Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports (October 14, 2010 and February 10, 2011) that detail how Obamacare bypassed the traditional yearly budgeting process and created a $105 billion slush fund for implementation. As we explained yesterday, if conservatives are serious about stopping Obamacare, they must proactively defund this money program by program. Today former Congressmen and Heritage Foundation Distinguished Fellow Ernest Istook will testify on this subject before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health. The hearing started at 10 AM and is titled Setting …
As gas prices hit $4 per gallon, White House spokesman Jay Carney assured Americans on Monday that the administration is well aware of the toll high fuel costs are taking on American families. So what’s President Obama’s solution to America’s pain? According to White House chief of staff Bill Daley, the administration may tap into the nation’s oil safety net – the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) – in order to bring down the cost of fuel. Big mistake. While most folks want to pay less at the pump, dipping into …
As the standoff in Wisconsin drags on with no end in sight, Republican Gov. Scott Walker continues to make his case about the fiscal implications of collective bargaining. His office highlighted some of the most outrageous benefits and behavior that public-sector unions have institutionalized through collective bargaining. The case of Milwaukee teacher Megan Sampson is a classic example. Less than a week after the Wisconsin Council of English Teachers named Sampson its “Outstanding First Year Teacher,” she lost her job. The cause? Sampson got the pink slip because she lacked …
After weeks of delay, the Obama Administration finally went ahead and did it. Early Tuesday night, the Department of Justice filed a notice of appeal in Florida v. HHS, the multi-state lawsuit that has the best chance of striking down Obamacare. This is a routine filing with the district court, but it is a necessary step in the march to the Supreme Court. But there’s a small nugget of news buried in the filing for those who have been following the case closely: the filing is two days early! That …
On a variety of fronts—Medicaid mandates, individual health insurance mandates, national education standards—state governments are vigorously pushing back against an overweening federal establishment. This resistance to federal power includes a number of folks who are promoting a constitutional remedy that has never yet been employed in our nation’s history—a convention for considering constitutional amendments. As provided for in Article V of the U.S. Constitution, states have the power to call on Congress for a constitutional convention when two-thirds of them agree to do so. We asked Matthew Spalding, Director of the B. …
