There are an estimated 27 billion barrels of oil waiting to be tapped in the Arctic Ocean, off the coast of Alaska. But after spending five years and nearly $4 billion, Shell Oil Company has been forced to abandon its efforts to drill for oil in the region. With gas at $4 per gallon and higher, one might think that more oil would be a good thing. So what’s the road block? The Environmental Protection Agency. Fox News reports that the EPA is withholding necessary air permits because of a …
All across Western Europe—the land of platinum-plated social benefits, the 35-hour work week, tony retirement plans and government-funded health care—countries are coming to the realization that they can no longer afford these luxuries amid skyrocketing deficits. Yet here in the United States, as we face a $14.3 trillion deficit, some are calling for increasing our government’s ability to borrow even more money without any concern for spending reform. Congress can’t allow that to happen, lest we become the Europe of the West. The U.S. government is fast approaching its $14.294 trillion …
In a timely Heritage in Focus, Heritage expert Curtis Dubay discusses part of President Obama’s budget proposal to raise taxes on the wealthy – those earning over $250,000. The president’s budget this year is $3.6 trillion. Confiscating every single penny from every income earner making more than $114,000 – everyone in the top 10 percent of income earners – would still only generate $3.4 trillion. Not enough to cover the entirety of the 2011 budget. On top of that, Medicare alone, with its current unfunded liabilities, is anywhere between $45 …
Galvanized by the brutal slaying of his 24-year old son on March 28, Mexican poet and intellectual Javier Sicilia has become the loudest voice of discontent in the ongoing war against criminal organizations in Mexico. The murder of Juan Sicilia and six other youth is only a snapshot of the violence that has claimed more than 35,000 lives since 2006. Sicilia’s cries of frustration are justified, capable of awakening the Mexican people to the necessity of fighting crime at every level of society. Unfortunately, in his rage he has lost …
What is the “debt failsafe” trigger that the President rolled out in his speech on April 13? This is an idea that may be introduced into the debt limit increase debate next month, and it is a dangerous idea. If the Senate’s “Gang of Six” (a bipartisan group working to reduce the deficit) or the President’s bipartisan bicameral negotiating team lead by Vice President Joe Biden on reducing the debt adopt this idea, then conservative should object to it as a potentially unconstitutional delegation of power by the legislative branch. …
Good Friday, a holy day for Christians around the world, is turning out to be a bad day for Egyptian Christians. Thousands of Muslims gathered to protest the appointment of a Coptic Christian governor in the Qena province this week. This incident comes amid a campaign of discrimination and violence targeting Egypt’s Christian community, which makes up about 10 percent of Egypt’s population. Egypt has a long history of sectarian violence and discriminatory practices against religious minorities, especially Coptic Christians. This past year alone, dozens of Christians have been murdered, …
Virginia residents witnessed a significant victory for religious liberty this week. On Wednesday, Virginia’s State Board of Social Services voted 7–2 to reject a controversial policy that could have forced faith-based institutions to abandon their beliefs and cost Virginia many effective adoption agencies. Governor Bob McDonnell (R) is expected to approve the regulations. The proposed changes to the regulations would have added sexual orientation, family status, age, religion, and other characteristics to the state’s family services nondiscrimination policy, prohibiting any adoption agency in Virginia from considering those attributes in prospective …
On Thursday, the Indiana Senate approved what could become the nation’s largest school voucher program. If signed by Governor Mitch Daniels (R), the plan will allow Indiana children throughout the state to use a scholarship to attend a private school of their choice. The proposal, which has already made it through the Indiana House once, must now go back to the House of Representatives since the Senate enhanced the bill’s school choice options by adding a $1,000 tax deduction to the measure to help parents pay for private school or …
While the Chinese government is investing $7 billion in a new global media push and Chinese television is opening up new offices in Times Square in London, the decision of the British and American governments to make drastic cuts to their international broadcasting systems, including broadcasting to China, has caused dismay and consternation among Chinese audiences. On the other hand, it is no wonder that the Chinese People’s Congress has interpreted the Western media retreat as a major victory in the intense global competition for soft power influence. How else …
Maybe President Obama should start investigating John F. Kennedy’s shooting in his spare time, because he’s not going to find a satisfying conspiracy in gas prices. Better yet, he could pick up an economics textbook and turn to the chapter on Supply and Demand. His finger-pointing at speculators and formation of a gas task force to investigate prices at the pump ignore the real cause of rising gas prices. Further, President Obama’s blame of speculators is a costly barrier to fixing bad government policy that restricts oil and gas exploration …
