Speaking at Heritage this morning, former Speaker Newt Gingrich called on House Republicans to put politics aside and pass a new proposal from two Democratic senators that would expand offshore drilling off Virginia’s coast. Gingrich suggested it should be one of the top priorities for the House GOP when lawmakers return in September. The plan would create jobs and add revenue to federal coffers — two points Gingrich made repeatedly throughout his speech on deficit reduction. “One of the proposals I have,” Gingrich said, “is a proposal that the House …
This week’s Heritage Libertad Radio program – half in English, half in Spanish – covered the recent S & P downgrade, including a discussion with economist JD Foster; a discussion on the recent report on poverty with expert Robert Rector; and a segment answering member questions. Among them: How does the Federal Reserve print money? What makes Obamacare unconstitutional? And how does the amendment process work? Listen to our show to find out answers to those questions and more!
It’s being billed as a listening tour—a three-state journey across the Midwest where President Barack Obama will hear directly from Americans about the economy and talk about his ideas for job growth. Instead, though, it has the characteristics of a political campaign swing, and the rhetoric the President has brought along for the ride is marked by a desperate effort to blame someone other than himself for America’s economic woes. The President’s tour began yesterday in Cannon Falls, Minnesota, where in one breath he pointed his finger at Washington’s broken politics and …
Think the economy is getting better? See brighter skies ahead? If so, then you’re in the minority. Well, that is, unless you live in Washington, D.C. According to a new Gallup poll, the District of Columbia is the only place in the country where a majority of people think the economy is improving (60 percent, in fact). In every state in the union, most people say the economy is getting worse. What is it about being inside the beltway that makes people so optimistic? Is it the glistening waters of the …
U.S. media commentators acted with surprise about reports that Pakistani officials may have given the Chinese access to the downed helicopter left behind in Pakistan following the May 2 Osama bin Laden raid. What is more surprising is that some media outlets still refer to Pakistan as a U.S. “ally” in the fight against terrorism. Pakistan is neither an ally nor an enemy to the U.S.—rather, Pakistan has entirely different security objectives from the U.S. in Afghanistan and in fighting terrorists more broadly. The sooner U.S. policymakers come to grips …
Newt Gingrich knows a thing or two about how Congress operates. The former lawmaker represented a Georgia district for 20 years and spent four of them leading the U.S. House as speaker. So when Congress approved the Budget Control Act, creating the 12-member Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, Gingrich didn’t hold back his criticism. “I think this super committee is about as dumb an idea as Washington has come up with in my lifetime,” Gingrich said last week. “I used to run the House of Representatives. I have some …
For several days in London, hoodlums have been razing cars, breaking windows, robbing stores, and threatening the safety of passers-by. These riots are on a scale unseen in modern England. The itinerant, often hooded lawbreakers have made good use of social media in efforts to evade police and strike in poorly policed neighborhoods. As street violence elsewhere in Europe has become more frequent in the midst of economic crises, it is crucial to properly understand the nature of the riots. Unfortunately, voices on the left have already seized the opportunity …
Medicare continues to be a looming problem in the fiscal crisis. In an effort to lower the program’s cost and improve quality of care for the seniors it serves, Obamacare creates accountable care organizations (ACOs), which are supposed to encourage health care providers to band together and create savings through better coordinated care. In a new Heritage research paper, health policy expert John Hoff writes: The ACO scheme is a microcosm of the PPACA (Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act) and, like it, will not deliver on its rhetorical promises. …
Eric Lichtblau begins his 2,700-word story in the New York Times about Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) with this vivid description: “Here on the third floor of a gleaming office building overlooking a golf course in the rugged foothills north of San Diego, Darrell Issa, the entrepreneur, oversees the hub of a growing financial empire worth hundreds of millions of dollars.” There’s just one problem with the first sentence of Lichtblau’s story. It’s wrong. And we have the photos to prove it. (See below.) As I reported earlier today, Issa’s office …
Reports are now emerging that the Administration has decided to reject the sale of F–16 C/Ds to Taiwan, in advance of the Vice President’s trip to China. Instead, as a sop, the Administration has decided to go forward with upgrades of the F–16 A/Bs currently in Taiwan’s air force. What the Administration doesn’t address is how this package—upgrades but not new aircraft—meets Taiwan’s actual defense needs. The growth of the PLA Air Force (PLAAF), not only in advanced combat aircraft but in electronic warfare and support capabilities, as well as …
