Nearly a year after the administration first halted oil drilling activity in the Gulf of Mexico, stories of economic hardship still surface, all with the same theme: The slow pace of permitting punishes all those whose livelihood depends on the oil and gas industry — even those who had nothing to do with the spill and whose safety records are impeccable. Fergus Hodgson of the Louisiana-based Pelican Institute for Public Policy reports just such a story today. Writing in The Pelican Post, Hodgson profiles Cliffe Laborde, who, as the owner …
Lest anyone tell you that the phase-out of (non-toxic) incandescent light bulbs will be hassle-free (other than hugely expensive), here is the directive from the Environmental Protection Agency for ridding your home of toxic vapor in the event you or a loved one (or relative) breaks the mercury-laden compact fluorescent (CFL) pushed by the government as superior: Have people and pets leave the room, and avoid the breakage area on the way out. Open a window or door to the outdoors and leave the room for 5 to 10 minutes. …
States are facing a whopping $1.26 trillion shortfall in funds to pay pension and health-care benefits for public sector employees, according to a new study by the Pew Center on the States. Wisconsin and Ohio, both of which made headlines for working to get pension costs under control, aren’t the only ones taking action. According to The Washington Post, “Concern about underfunded pensions has prompted at least 29 states to either reduce pension promises to new employees or require workers to contribute more toward their retirement benefits.” And in California, where …
In a recent piece for The Wall Street Journal, Daniel Kessler, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, describes how the new health care law’s subsidy program to help low- and middle-income Americans purchase health insurance will have severe economic consequences. These will include discouraging work for qualifying individuals and other taxpayers, disrupting America’s labor markets, and reducing economic activity. Beginning in 2014, when the new health insurance exchanges will open for individuals and small businesses, subsidies will become available for those whose income falls between 134 percent and 400 …
The City of Los Angeles is offering $2,000 rebates toward home chargers for electric cars. Once again, the government is actively choosing winners and losers and skewing the free market. If the electric car is viable, and it very well could be, the government would not need to offer rebates to buy the cars or the charging infrastructure. Charging infrastructure is a necessary market hurdle for electric vehicles to overcome, and the government has no role in overcoming that hurdle with other peoples’ money. Los Angeles is planning on handing out …
A dire prediction hit the news yesterday: A date has been set for the end of the “Age of America,” — i.e., when China’s economy will overtake the United States. The news comes by way of an International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecast that shows China’s economy surpassing America’s by 2016. Though there are reasons to question the IMF’s conclusions, it is true that if the U.S. does not get its fiscal house in order, the era of American leadership will be over. Columnist Brett Arends writes in MarketWatch that China’s evolution into …
On Sunday, April 24, the team at Heritage Libertad hosted their monthly talk show on WEBR Fairfax public radio covering topics including the economy, the debt ceiling, and Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) budget. It also featured an interview with Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, who gave an update on the status of the case against the federal government regarding the individual mandate in Obamacare. The bilingual show — with the first half broadcast in Spanish and the second half in English – also featured commentary on the one-year anniversary of the oil spill in the …
Former Solicitor General of the United States Paul D. Clement resigned his partnership at the King & Spalding law firm on April 25 in a selfless act of high honor and ethical principle. Americans should applaud his strong stand for the principle that lawyers must put the interests of their clients ahead of their own interests. The law firm had decided to accept as a client the Bipartisan Leadership Group of the House of Representatives in its defense of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)—the Act that makes clear that …
Andrew Breitbart is no stranger to controversy. Known by many on the left and the right for his work exposing ACORN and his network of popular conservative websites, Breitbart has seen firsthand the role media can have in influencing public opinion. This subject, along with many others, form the basis of his new book, Righteous Indignation. He traveled to The Heritage Foundation last week and sat down with us before his speech to discuss his new book, the power of media and the continued impact of the Tea Party.
WikiLeaks, which has been sitting on an enormous cache of classified U.S. government documents, released another batch of materials to U.S. and European news “partners” including The New York Times. According to press reports, the documents include “intelligence assessments of nearly every one of the 779 individuals who have been held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, since 2002. In them, analysts have created detailed portraits of detainees based on raw intelligence, including material gleaned from interrogations.” A Pentagon official stated, “[i]t is unfortunate that several news organizations have made the decision …
