In the eternal scheme of things, it’s no coincidence that today’s National Day of Prayer dawned four days after intrepid U.S. Navy SEALs rid the world of Osama bin Laden. As Heritage’s Chuck Donovan writes this morning for NRO, the White House on Friday evening issued President Obama’s proclamation for today’s observance within hours of setting in motion the special forces raid of the al-Qaida leader’s secret compound in Pakistan. In hindsight, Donovan notes, Obama’s written words on the 60th annual observance resound with new meaning as the president headed …
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano surveyed the damage of the tornado-ravaged South this weekend, promising federal supplies and aid to help victims of one of the deadliest storm systems in U.S. history. But before FEMA or government leaders stood in the wreckage, local community groups and church congregations were on the streets, assessing victims’ needs and providing emergency supplies. From organizing donations to setting up makeshift shelters in church basements, faith-based organizations, churches, and community leaders became unofficial first responders in the days after the tornadoes wiped out …
Randall Stilley has witnessed firsthand the Obama administration’s job-killing agenda. As the president and chief executive of Seahawk Drilling, he had to lay off 632 employees before filing for bankruptcy — a direct result of President Barack Obama’s anti-energy policies. Stilley’s company owned and operated 20 shallow-water rigs in the Gulf of Mexico. The lack of energy production — a consequence of Obama’s drilling moratorium and subsequent “permitorium” — led to Seahawk’s demise. Now he’s speaking out, sharing Seahawk’s story in a new video from Heritage and the Institute for …
As gas prices continue to climb — reaching as high as $5.75 to $6.03 a gallon in some places — the Department of the Interior remains stingy with deepwater drilling permits. Since February 2011, the administration has issued an average of just 1.3 deepwater permits per month — a 78 percent monthly reduction from the historical monthly average of 5.8 permits a month, according to the latest Gulf Permit Index from Greater New Orleans Inc. The slow pace of permitting will likely eventually result in production declines — and that …
This week, the House Energy and Commerce Committee will consider solutions to Medicare’s flawed physician payment scheme. Physician payment is annually updated on the basis of the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR), a special economic formula which, as configured today, would result in deep annual payment cuts. This directly threatens seniors’ access to care as it becomes financially infeasible for doctors to continue to take new Medicare patients under progressively lower payments. The problem will only get worse in the future, and it represents one of the most poignant examples of …
Senator Max Baucus (D–MT) isn’t shy about picking winners and losers. Last December, he led the charge to keep in place a subsidy of $6 billion per year to the ethanol industry. Now he’s picking the oil and gas industry as losers by proposing to eliminate subsidies for big oil and using the increased revenue to subsidize a different set of political winners. Baucus would provide even more incentives for more fuel efficient vehicles and alternative energy fueling stations. But what Senator Baucus labels as an oil and gas subsidy …
#1. Honor matters. In Osama bin Laden’s part of the world, “honor” equals “power.” When the U.S. takes out the chief of the world’s most well-known terror network, that is a deep humiliation to al-Qaeda’s reputation. As with kicking it out of Afghanistan, crushing it in Iraq, and preventing another 9/11 (at least 38 plots foiled since 9/11), the U.S. has destroyed its global aspirations. Indeed, bin Laden’s death was widely hailed across the globe as cheerfully in the Islamic world as it was in the West. Getting bin Laden …
If countries were orphans and former presidents could adopt them, Jimmy Carter would have a foster home full of dysfunctional dictatorial states running amok under his care on a peach tree orchard in Georgia, all while he turns a blind eye to their terrifying antics. His latest foray into the depths of North Korea last week is yet another striking example of his flagrant ignorance of the world we live in, as The Heritage Foundation’s Bruce Klingner describes in his latest paper: During his self-appointed mission to North Korea this week, …
Rep. Tom Graves (R-Ga.) — a self-described “pro-life, pro-gun constitutional conservative” — never expected to serve on the House Appropriations Committee. As he puts it, he didn’t come to Washington to be “a part of spending money.” Now, even though he serves on Appropriations, he still makes spending cuts his focus. “I’m thankful leadership has allowed me to be who I am, to ask tough questions and to take a different approach in the committee process,” Graves said yesterday at Heritage during The Bloggers Briefing. “My hopes are that we …
While the Internet is emerging as an increasingly powerful tool for political activism—most recently demonstrated in the Middle East up-risings—so governments around the world are becoming more expert in the means and methods to control electronic communication. This is the conclusion reached by a new report by the respected human-rights organization Freedom House, “Freedom on the Net 2011: A Global Assessment of Internet and Digital Media.” The report complements Freedom House’s long standing annual “Freedom in the World” report, adding a new dimension to its treatment of freedom of expression. …
