House Cloakroom: May 9 – May 13 Analysis: Congress will return to Washington Tuesday and begin legislative business at 2:00 pm. Putting the Gulf of Mexico Back to Work Act (which seeks to amend the outer continental shelf lands) leads off with “Assessing Progress in Haiti Act” on deck soon after. Wednesday will focus on the elephant fin the room as Congress is set to take up H.R. 1231 (Reversing President Obama’s Offshore Moratorium Act). This bill will lift the Presidents ban on new offshore drilling and establish a domestic …
The Kentucky Derby may be known as the “the most exciting two minutes in sports,” but developments in school choice over the past few months have been the most exciting since Milton Friedman first proposed the idea in 1955. Indeed, this is the new normal: we are now taken aback by the states that haven’t implemented some sort of school choice option for families, whether its tuition tax credits, vouchers or online learning. And with every state vying to outpace the next in providing educational opportunities for children, it’s hard …
In the opening address of Heritage’s Protect America Month, Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon (R-CA) praised the two companies for putting their own money on the line and embracing free-market principles. Even without additional funding from the Pentagon, GE and Rolls-Royce will continue to develop an alternative Joint Strike Fighter engine, the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee announced in a speech at The Heritage Foundation this week. “Instead of lobbying for the final 20 percent needed to finish the engine, the GE team has committed to funding the engine …
Yesterday, Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels (R) signed into law legislation to implement the nation’s largest school voucher program. And this week, the Governor visited Washington, D.C., to highlight his education reform agenda, which is rooted in the belief that those closest to students know them best—a fact which should drive education policy. In his speech at the American Enterprise Institute May 4, Daniels outlined the four major elements of the state’s education reforms: expanding school choice, increasing school accountability, improving teacher quality, and limiting the stranglehold collective bargaining has had …
The United States and the People’s Republic of China will hold the 2011 version of the Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED) this coming Monday and Tuesday in Washington. Many distinguished people will participate, many well-crafted speeches will be given, many valuable topics will be discussed, and little of long-term economic value is likely to be achieved. Again. This is especially unfortunate because next year could be very difficult for Sino-American relations. By far the most important economic issue for America and China is the related imbalances in our economies. The …
Which country has the most Internet users? No, it is not the United States, as cyber connected as we are in this country. The correct answer is China, with 446 million users by the end of 2010, according to “Freedom on the Net: A Global Assessment of Internet and Digital Media,” recently published by Freedom House. At the same time, China also has the highest number of imprisoned cyber dissidents of any country in the world and one of the most restrictive Internet environments, “characterized by a sophisticated, multilayered control …
If a Hollywood villain wanted the thrill of hundreds of millions of dollars at his fingertips, he wouldn’t have to stage a high-stakes heist. He’d just have to become a bureaucrat. In the 1988 movie Die Hard, villain Hans Gruber and his crack team of code-breaking and martial arts experts take the guests of a Christmas party at the Nakatomi Plaza building hostage. Their objective: to steal $640 million from the company’s vaults while distracting the cops with elaborate demands. Their problem: John McClane, the tough and resourceful New York …
If you’re an average American, your monthly gasoline bill is a humongous $368.09. That comes to nine percent of a household’s total income, more than double what it was just two years ago, according to a CNNMoney report. And as a percentage of income, the poor are getting hit the hardest. In parts of the country where mass transit isn’t an option, driving is the only way to go. So while higher gasoline prices might not matter as much to someone living in New York City where subways are king, …
There is quite a lot of debate over America’s proper role in the world at the moment. Some believe that America should return to an earlier, simpler, and more isolationist foreign policy. Perhaps this frame of mind makes it easier to advocate for significant cuts to military spending. To advance this position, some national figures claim that the Founding Fathers embraced an isolationist, or non-interventionist, foreign policy approach. But as is often the case, things aren’t quite so simple.
In California, there’s never been a tougher time to be in the business of taking private property from one person and giving it to another. First, Governor Jerry Brown proposed eliminating the state’s 400 some redevelopment agencies. Now, the agencies have been told by the courts that declaring blight just won’t do: They actually have to prove it before they can use eminent domain. The Supreme Court’s 2005 decision in Kelo v. New London said that economic development was a valid use of eminent domain, as long as the government is following …
