A few weeks ago, President Obama declared May to be National Foster Care Month, reminding Americans that “the best path to success we can give [foster children] is the chance to experience a loving home where they can feel secure and thrive.” Thanks to churches and other faith-based organizations, thousands more children are commemorating this year’s Foster Care Month in the comfort and stability of a permanent family. As the Washington Times recently reported, adoptions out of foster care rose to a record high of 57,000 in 2009, while the …
If you knew a dangerous virus was about to hit America and that you could beg the government for a vaccine, you’d probably do it, wouldn’t you? That’s just what states and businesses alike are doing right now in preparation for Obamacare. But rather than seeking a vaccine, they’re asking for waivers from the law’s onerous requirements. To date, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has approved 1,372 Obamacare waivers, covering 3.1 million Americans. Yesterday, The Daily Caller reported that among HHS’s most recent round of 204 Obamacare …
In a speech at the Economic Club of Chicago yesterday, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) laid out his “Path to Prosperity” 2012 budget proposal. Ryan also discussed how the U.S. government reached its big-spending tipping point: By the end of the decade, we will be spending 20 percent of our tax revenue simply paying interest on the debt – and that’s according to optimistic projections. If ratings agencies such as S&P move from downgrading our outlook to downgrading our credit, then interest rates will rise even higher, and debt service will …
Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke has delivered yet another ominous prediction about Dodd–Frank fallout, telling the Senate Banking Committee last week that government dictates on debit card fees “could result in some smaller banks being less profitable or even failing.” Although not the first to recognize the problem, the Fed chairman’s remarks certainly strengthen the case for eliminating the ill-conceived “swipe fee” regulations. The fees (a.k.a. “interchange fees”) refer to bank charges paid by retailers to process debit card transactions. At the urging of some of the nation’s biggest retailers, …
Earlier this year, the last veteran of World War I died at the age of 110. It’s hard to believe, but in the coming years, most of America’s World War II veterans will be gone as well. The Honor Flight Network exists to grant them one last wish and final honor before they go. The program transports World War II veterans to Washington, D.C., free of charge to see the National World War II Memorial for the first—and likely—last time. Earl Morse—a retired air force captain and pilot—got the idea …
Last week, the American Society of Magazine Editors’ awarded writer Scott Horton with their National Magazine Award for Reporting. The problem is, his story was a complete fiction and its flaws had been exposed from every conceivable quarter. It was June 2006 and the phone rang in the middle of the night. I knew it had to be something bad. My employee on the other end of the line said, “three detainees killed themselves at Gitmo.” As the head of detainee policy at the Pentagon, I ordered him to get …
The Berlin-based daily Die Welt published a news story on May 13 citing “Western security sources” who reported that Venezuela’s authoritarian strongman Hugo Chavez secretly met in February 2011 with the chief of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s Air Force, Amir al-Hadschisadeh. The pair, according to Die Welt, finalized the location for a missile base, said to be located on the Peninsula de Paraguana, a jut of land 120 kilometers from the Colombian border. Engineers from the Iranian state-owned construction agency Khatam al-Anbia, Die Welt added, have already begun preliminary work …
When Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said of Obamacare, “[W]e have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it,” apparently she meant that it would include pain and suffering for America’s businesses, except for those fortunate enough to get waivers, including a few high-class restaurants, night clubs and hotels that reside in her congressional district. Matthew Boyle at The Daily Caller reports: Of the 204 new Obamacare waivers President Barack Obama’s administration approved in April, 38 are for fancy eateries, hip nightclubs and decadent hotels in …
In this week’s Heritage in Focus, economic policy director Alison Fraser takes us through Heritage’s budget plan to save the American Dream. Make sure to listen to the full interview, here. To give an indication of the dire fiscal situation our three major entitlement programs present us, consider the state of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid – combined they consume 43 percent of all federal spending. Social Security is currently paying out about $700 billion per year. Starting last year, it began running a cash-flow deficit, meaning it was paying …
The United States is increasingly relying on the Russian Federation for supplying U.S. forces stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan. This is because the U.S. does not have enough C-17 military transport aircraft to address all of its logistical needs and meet its commitments around the world. Freedom is not free, and neither is the Russian help. In 2007, the United States paid $47,000 per hour to lease Russian Antonov AN-124 “Ruslan” strategic heavy lift jets. In fiscal year 2007–2008, the U.S. taxpayers paid more than $840 million total to the …
