President Obama was true to his advance publicity today as he addressed an audience at the U.S. State Department. The almost hour-long speech had been built up, in classic Obama Administration style, through interviews, social media, tweets, and advance releases as post–Osama bin Laden outreach to the peoples of the Arab world and Middle East. The speech was intended to capture the hope and change of the Arab Spring. The speech was perfectly timed with prime time in the Middle East and Europe—its target audiences—and once again the Obama publicity …
Now that the U.S. hit its $14.3 trillion debt ceiling on May 16 and the doomsday predictions of the financial apocalypse that was going to tank the economy failed to materialize, the question remains: How should Congress respond? Congress has until August 2 to respond. It could raise the debt ceiling without any other policy changes or keep the existing debt limit and force the Treasury Department to make substantial reductions in non-interest spending. It could also raise the debt limit but make substantial, immediate spending reductions accompanied by tough …
President Obama’s major Middle East speech offers an opportunity to provide substance to a policy so far heavy on rhetoric and light on action. It also offers the opportunity for Obama to use Voice of America (VOA) to help deliver the message of support to the Arab peoples, who are in an unprecedented struggle for peaceful political change. Yet, for the second time in the space of a year, it will not be VOA but the BBC that will get the coveted interview with President Obama (according to the White …
In November 2009, a dozen protesters triggered a traffic jam in an intersection of Chicago’s financial sector by laying down in a circle in the middle of the road, locking their arms together inside pieces of pipe. They were protesting the city’s climate exchange, part of a scheme to regulate CO2 emissions through permits. Ironically, it was a case of a left-leaning plan being attacked by the far left. After a few hours, the activists were arrested, including among their ranks members of groups like the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization (LVEJO). …
Earlier this week, former National Security Adviser Jim Jones was promoting “a type of Marshall Plan for emerging democratic states like Egypt.” The White House has now stated that in his speech on the Middle East this morning, President Obama will announce a new foreign aid package for Egypt. Egypt’s financial situation is undeniably dire. As David P. Goldman noted two weeks ago in the Asia Times, “Egypt is running out of food and, more gradually, running out of money with which to buy it. . . Egypt imports half …
It’s hard to imagine Uncle Sam telling Walt Disney where to make movies or McDonald’s how many hamburgers to make, but if you take a look at the case of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) versus Boeing, you’ll see that the federal government is trying to do just that: dictate where and how private industry may do business. And it’s doing so to bolster one of President Barack Obama’s favorite special interests—labor unions. To catch you up on the story, Boeing Corporation decided to build a new assembly plant …
In this week’s Heritage in Focus podcast, Heritage Middle East expert Jim Phillips reflects on the current unrest between Israel and Syria. To listen to the full interview, click here. A few days ago marked the anniversary of “nakba,” or “the day of catastrophe,” for Palestinians and their Arab allies. That day is May 15, 1948: The day Israel gained its independence. Israel’s foremost enemies, Syria, Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah, mobilized Palestinian militants recruited from refugee camps in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza to demonstrate against Israel by marching up to the border to …
Last week, Members of Congress called big oil executives to the stand to defend the high profits their companies are making. Some in Congress are using high oil profits as a reason to propose eliminating what they label “oil subsidies,” despite the fact that what they call subsidies are broadly available tax breaks. You can get a breakdown in this paper: “What’s an Oil Subsidy?” President Obama did the same in his weekly address. Even actor Leonardo DiCaprio is getting into the action, recently tweeting, “Big oil is making huge …
Last week, more than 100 education leaders signed a manifesto against the federally supported national education standards and tests backed by the Obama Administration. And in recent weeks, two states—Minnesota and South Carolina—have proposed legislation to prohibit implementation of the standards. While Minnesota has already adopted the English/language arts standards, the state has not adopted the math standards. The proposed legislation would “bar the state’s education commissioner from adopting the…standards during upcoming revisions of those documents,” Education Week reports. Additionally, South Carolina’s law would prohibit that state from implementing the …
When considering Representative Paul Ryan’s (R–WI) budget plan, it goes without saying that if one disagrees with Ryan’s vision, then of course he or she won’t like his plan, regardless of whether it fixes our budget problems. It is important, then, to consider his vision: Is smaller government a worthy goal? In the words of Dennis Prager, “the bigger the government, the smaller the individual.” Government depends on its citizens for revenue in order to provide services. The more government grows, the more revenue it must generate and the less …
