Faced with increasing electricity prices (as well as brownouts in some areas) and higher prices at the pump, Americans are calling for solutions that would result in affordable electricity and gas prices. The easiest way to do that is to increase supply to offset rising demand. The federal government’s role should be not to pick winners and losers among energy technologies but set the rules in place to allow companies to produce energy if it’s in their interest to do so. Rep. Devin Nunes (R–CA) released new legislation that provides …
Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA) recently asserted that there is a “potential alliance” forming between Progressive and Tea Party lawmakers on the issue of defense spending cuts. Others have also noted this opportunity: “Arguably, the new Tea Party push on defense spending merely echoes long-standing progressive attacks on the Pentagon budget as the nation’s number one ‘entitlement’ program.” But defense is no entitlement program. It is one of the core responsibilities of the federal government, and a necessity for sustained security and an independent American foreign policy. The issue of defense …
Last week, when the National Center for Health Statistics released the latest results from the National Survey of Family Growth, The Washington Post reported that one finding “may surprise those bewailing a permissive and eros-soaked popular culture: More than one-quarter of people interviewed in their late teens and early 20s had never had sex.” Many conservatives do rightly criticize our current “eros-soaked popular culture.” But those conservatives who follow The Heritage Foundation also know that abstinence has been on the rise for some time now and that stable family relationships …
House Cloakroom: March 7 – March 11 Analysis: The House returns on Tuesday this week to consider legislation involving the Federal Housing Administration refinancing program as well as a bill regarding the emergency mortgage relief program and its potential termination. On Wednesday, the House will host a joint meeting with the Senate for the purpose of receiving the Honorable Julia Gillard, Prime Minister of Australia. Members will stay busy with more than sixty committee and subcommittee hearings involving everything from job restricting regulations, the mounting US debt, the situation in …
On Thursday, The Washington Post heralded the findings of a new survey reporting on sexual activity in the United States. While the study pronounced such positive findings as an increase in abstinence among teens and college-age adults and a decrease in teen pregnancy, there is bleaker story that cannot be ignored: the ever-increasing rate of unwed childbearing in the United States. On Thursday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released its seventh round of the National Survey of Family Growth. The Post notes:
As the People’s Republic of China (PRC) prepares for the opening of the National People’s Congress and the unveiling of the Twelfth Five-Year Plan, the budget for the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) was announced. Military spending in 2011 would increase from 532.1 billion renminbi ($81 billion) in 2010 to 601.1 billion renminbi ($91.5 billion). This would represent a 12.7 percent increase from 2010 to 2011, compared with the 7.5 percent increase from 2009 to 2010, clearly suggesting that last year’s lower increase (single-digit rather than the annual double-digit increase of …
Supporting America’s armed forces in times of war and peace is a fundamental obligation of government as part of its responsibility to provide for the common defense and protect the nation. A decade of combat operations and two decades of underinvestment have left the U.S. military too small and inadequately equipped to meet all of the growing demands placed upon men and women in uniform. Last summer, a bipartisan commission warned of a coming “train wreck” if Congress does not act quickly to rebuild and modernize the U.S. military. To …
On Tuesday, the House Education and the Workforce Committee held a full committee hearing on the impact of the federal government’s role in education; the mandates handed down from Washington, the associated paperwork burden, and the hurdles created for teachers and schools as a result. (If that sounds like a handful, it is.) The hearing’s $64,000 question was whether these regulations have led to improvements in academic achievement. The answer, not surprisingly, seems to be no. Congressman John Kline (R–MN), chairman of the committee, stated during the hearing:
Yesterday, Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius testified before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on the President’s fiscal year 2012 budget and implementation of Obamacare. The Secretary’s remarks highlighted the need for fiscal responsibility and health care reform that gives greater power to individuals and more flexibility to the states. Unfortunately, none of these goals can be achieved under Obamacare. Sebelius told the committee, “We can’t build lasting prosperity on a mountain of debt. And we can’t win the future if we pass on massive debts to …
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) may cause a government shutdown. Senator Reid is employing a procedural strategy to deal with the House-passed long-term Continuing Resolution (CR), H.R. 1, that may make it more likely that the federal government will shut down when the government runs out of money on March 18. Remember this when we get closer to March 18 and both parties blame each other for failing to pass an appropriations bill to fund the government through September 30 of this year (the end of Fiscal Year 2011). …
