The economy is recovering at an unusually slow pace. Typically, employment grows strongly after a severe recession. Not this time. Unemployment remains stuck above 9 percent more than two years after the recession officially ended. What is going on? Initially, the economy appeared on track for a steady recovery. The economy went from losing 841,000 jobs in January 2009—the recession’s low point—to gaining 229,000 jobs in April 2010. By the spring of 2010, the Administration confidently predicted a “Recovery Summer.” But that spring, Congress also passed President Obama’s health care …
The full Senate Judiciary Committee met today to consider a proposal to repeal the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). DOMA was passed by both houses of Congress by overwhelming margins—with majority support from both major political parties—and was signed into law by President Clinton, whose Department of Justice repeatedly argued that the legislation was fully constitutional. However, the new proposal—known as the Respect for Marriage Act of 2011—would not restore the law to its condition pre-DOMA; rather, it would affirmatively require the federal government to recognize the validity of, …
Catching you up on clips, commentary and news of the day. Sign up for the daily email update from Scribe. Ten Oil Rigs Have Exited Gulf Since Obama Moratorium Went Into Effect – Kevin Mooney Save Your Tears for Borders – Mike Brownfield Labor Unions Stop the Music – F. Vincent Vernuccio & Adam Michel Juan Williams’ Wife: NPR Liberals Are Hypocrites – Ronald Kessler The Gang of Six Disaster: The Worst Plan So Far – James C. Capretta Poll: Majority of Young Hispanics Say Cut Spending, Liberate Private Sector – …
This is the grim state of our military’s readiness: An Air Force F-15C that broke in half during flight, two F-18s that have caught fire aboard ships, every single cruiser with cracks in its hull, A-10C Warthogs with fuselage cracks, the UH-1N Twin Huey helicopter fleet that is regularly grounded, and over half the navy’s deployed aircraft not ready for combat. That is the picture of the U.S. military in disrepair—what The Heritage Foundation’s Mackenzie Eaglen calls a “readiness crisis” among all U.S. military services, including the National Guard and …
The Postmaster General is warning that a postal budget crisis could cause mail delivery to be consolidated to just three days a week. Meanwhile, the American Postal Workers Union (APWU) is trying to convince lawmakers—and taxpayers—to keep all its union jobs. The APWU’s new radio ad airing in Washington, D.C., says the pounds of mail handled by workers don’t cost you “a single cent.” “The United States Postal Service doesn’t run on your tax dollars. It’s funded solely by stamps and postage,” the 30-second ad says. That’s technically true (unless …
[Klein responded in a post Wednesday afternoon. See below for our reply.] Ezra Klein, the Washington Post’s liberal political blogger, has been pushing a pair of questionable assertions in his posts on congressional Republicans’ plan to, as they say, “cut, cap, and balance” the federal budget. Klein has claimed, falsely, that the plan would cap federal spending at 18 percent of GDP. In fact, the Cut, Cap and Balance Act passed by the House on Tuesday brings spending down to 22.5 percent of GDP in 2012, then gradually reduces it …
The presidential proclamations commemorating National Captive Nations Week—the third week of every July–are a revealing reflection of U.S. foreign policy over the past 50 years and America’s sometimes hard, sometimes soft attitude toward those who suppress the basic human rights of peoples and nations. The first proclamation, issued by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on July 17, 1959, crackles with phrases like “the imperialistic and aggressive policies of Soviet communism.” It urges the American people to study “the plight of the Soviet-dominated nations” and recommit themselves to the support of the …
Rep. Dave Schweikert (R-AZ) attempted on Tuesday to explain the debt debate — how the budget gap should be closed — in terms everyone can understand. Schweikert noted on the House floor that proposals to deal with the deficit from President Obama and other liberals — such as ending tax breaks for corporate jets (though not the ones included in the stimulus), letting existing tax rates for higher income Americans expire, and exempting five oil companies from the domestic production tax credit — would get us about half an hour …
Big Brother of George Orwell’s 1984 still lives, and he’s right in our backyard. Yoani Sanchez has documented how Big Brother works through her depiction of the Cuban government in her new book Havana Real. Cuban repression often takes the form of a group of thugs rather than the organized police. It targets people who are outspoken and harbor anti-regime opinions. Even Sanchez and her friends were kidnapped and beaten because of their blogging and their opposition to the Castro regime. Sanchez wrote, “How can I describe the despotic faces …
Desperate to sell the American people on a yet-to-be-determined plan to raise the debt ceiling, increase taxes, and avoid necessary reforms to rein in government, liberals are turning to an unlikely ally to make their case—former President Ronald Reagan. Their utterly transparent tactic reveals a larger truth: Despite all the rhetoric, liberals have failed to convince America that their way is the best way to move Washington forward. The offending invocation of Reagan’s legacy comes from the House Democrats in the form of a 54-second video featuring audio from a September 1987 …
