With the United States engaged in a debate over debt, the common consensus among Americans is that spending needs to be reduced. A recent poll commissioned by Generation Opportunity and the polling company, inc./WomanTrend found this was especially true among young Americans who are self-identified independents. They believe less federal spending and less government interference with job creators will lead to more economic opportunity and a more optimistic future for America. The poll indicated 79% would decrease federal spending from its current level and 59% believe the United States is …
Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) is a man on a mission. The freshman senator came to Washington after defeating an incumbent Republican, angering some in the GOP establishment but exciting Tea Party activists for his desire to end Washington’s reckless spending. He hasn’t disappointed. Lee wasted little time crusading for a Balanced Budget Amendment, bringing together different factions of the GOP earlier this year to coalesce around a single goal. Now that the country is engaged in a debate over the debt limit, Lee is seizing the moment to promote a …
Catching you up on clips, commentary and news of the day. Sign up for the daily email update from Scribe. House passes Boehner’s Budget Control Act – Amanda Carey It’s time for an American renaissance – Robert Moffitt After Oslo: Lessons For The United States – James Jay Carafano Voters receive questionable robocalls – M.D. Kittle The Budget Crisis and American Power – George Melloan Wrapped in red tape – Diane Katz A poor definition of poverty – Robert Rector Everyone’s a criminal in Uncle Sam’s eyes – Bob Barr TSA …
Be sure to tune in to Heritage Libertad Radio this Sunday at Noon ET, here. The first 30 minutes is in Spanish, covering President Obama’s speech to La Raza, answering Heritage member questions on air, and discussing the latest with the debt negotiations. The second 30 minutes is in English, also covering the President’s speech to La Raza, answering Heritage member question, and concluding with an interview featuring Heritage analyst Lindsey Burke discussing school choice.
Congress’ job approval ratings have sunk to around 20 percent, while their disapproval is up to an average of 73.4 percent. Yet for all of America’s dissatisfaction—and Congress’ failure to combat the nation’s fiscal crisis—Members of Congress are earning salaries and fringe benefits that far exceed those of the average American, according to a new report by Our Generation and the Taxpayers Protection Alliance. The report details how Members of Congress earn a salary of $174,000—that’s 3.4 times higher than the average full-time American worker, who earns $50,875 per year. Even if …
Fortunately for New York City’s pregnancy care centers, a politically motivated ordinance slated to take effect in mid-July was declared “unconstitutionally vague” by a federal district judge. The ruling is a victory for volunteer organizations and freedom of speech. The court order will keep the city from fining pregnancy centers that were singled out by the ordinance and required, oddly enough, to highlight the services they do not offer, particularly abortion and emergency contraception. The ordinance also required the centers to emphasize to potential clients whether they have licensed medical …
The U.S. Treasury Department yesterday announced sanctions on six al-Qaeda leaders who have used Iranian territory to funnel money and recruits to al-Qaeda’s core leadership in Pakistan and to its bases in Afghanistan and Iraq. Treasury officials say the al-Qaeda leaders have been operating in and through Iran with the acquiescence of that government since 2005. Iran had detained several senior al-Qaeda operatives who fled there after the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, keeping them under house arrest for several years. In 2009, however, Iran released Osama bin Laden’s …
Since the launch of Facebook in 2004, social media use has skyrocketed. Facebook has more than 750 million active users, and sites like Google+, Twitter, LinkedIn and Flickr are quickly following Facebook and growing into cultural phenomenons. It is hard to imagine a day without sending a few tweets or writing on someone’s wall. Social media has become a crucial part of how we interact with our friends, community and even run our cities. Governments are starting to take serious notice and incorporate social media into their own day-to-day actions. With …
Aspiring inventor Krister Evertson received a two-year sentence for allegedly abandoning materials that he had stored in sealed, stainless-steel containers, thus doing no harm to the environment. Indianapolis 500 champion Bobby Unser was prosecuted and convicted because federal prosecutors estimated that he and his snowmobiling companion wandered into a national wilderness area when they were fighting for their very lives, stranded for 2 days in a Rocky Mountain high-country blizzard. And federal officials prosecuted and convicted two arrowhead-collecting hobbyists, 66-year-old Eddie Leroy Anderson and his son, who unsuccessfully spent time …
Yesterday, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released its new projections of national health spending trends through 2020. The findings, which estimate health care spending to reach more than $4 trillion by 2020, come as no surprise: Runaway spending has overtaken the United States health care system and is on the rise. More notably, the study confirms Obamacare does not “bend the cost curve” but only increases government’s share of spending in the health care system instead. Already, the White House has tried to spin the report as …
