The U.S. is a worldwide business leader. However, high corporate taxes increase the difficulty for businesses to compete internationally in this age of globalization. Private investment in the U.S. can be increased if the federal statutory corporate income tax rate is reduced. According to Heritage analysts, the federal corporate rate matters for U.S. economic growth because all corporations’ investment decisions are influenced by the tax rate’s effect on a project’s rate of return. Additionally, it influences where multinational businesses decide to invest in new productive capital. In order to spur economic …
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) claimed on Friday that the National Labor Relations Board had refused to comply with a subpoena the committee issued on Sunday. The subpoena asked for documents related to the NLRB’s action against Boeing, and requested they be sent by today at noon. “The National Labor Relations Board and Acting General Counsel Lafe Solomon have thus far failed to comply with a lawful subpoena,” Issa said in a statement Friday afternoon. “This refusal by NLRB to abide by the law further …
This afternoon, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta ruled that the individual mandate in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), more commonly known as Obamacare, is unconstitutional. The carefully worded and thorough (over 300 page) set of opinions may be a bit mind-numbing for the uninitiated, but they are a joy to read for those of us who think the words of the Constitution actually mean something beyond whatever an activist Congress, President, and pliant judge want them to mean. The …
Catching you up on clips, commentary and news of the day. Sign up for the daily email update from Scribe. It’s Now Obama’s Economy – Henry Miller Leave ‘No Child’ behind – The Detroit News Faster yuan rise on cards – Zhong Nan “We’re inches away from no longer having a free economy.” – St. Petersburg Times Health and defense lobby groups ready for super fight – Anna Yukhananov & Jim Wolf Obama Admin Decision Makes Obamacare Fund Abortions – Steven Ertelt White House photo sparks protest – Lolita Baldor Three-quarters …
Will the last one to leave the post office please turn out the lights? Things are looking pretty grim at the Postal Service. In a report made public today, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) proposed cutting 220,000 positions, leaving its workforce—which once ranked with Indian Railways and the People’s Liberation Army as among the world’s largest—at 425,000. Some 120,000 of these cutbacks would be through layoffs, which are barred under current union contracts. The reason for the cutbacks is clear: The Postal Service is running out of money. According to …
While American defense budgets are in a rapidly escalating free-fall, Chinese defense budgets have seen annual double-digit increases. China’s rapid military modernization is focusing on anti-access and area denial (A2/AD) technologies, which are designed to deny American naval and air forces access to the skies and waters off the Chinese coast. The problem is that much of the American force is unstealthy and consequently would not be able penetrate the Chinese A2/AD zone until later on in a conflict, when the A2/AD forces were neutralized. The dilemma for American strategists …
On Monday, the White House announced that it will start issuing waivers for states to avoid the onerous provisions of No Child Left Behind (NCLB). The White House is making states sign on to Obama education policies in order to receive a waiver, completely bypassing Congress and the normal legislative process. As Joy Pullman noted in the Weekly Standard this past Tuesday: The president has decided to take a tack on the largest federal education law…bypassing Congress and legislating through administrative agencies by offering states waivers in exchange for education …
In an atmosphere of deep defense cuts, many are questioning whether America really needs to maintain its position as the world’s only true superpower. Perhaps America can nation-build at home at the expense of our military posture abroad. However, American power underpins the most prosperous global order the world has ever seen. The American umbrella of protection allows other nations to remain secure while focusing on economic growth, driving global prosperity while minimizing the destabilizing impact of arms races. With 90 percent of global commerce crossing the open seas, American …
In the early morning of August 9, the sun released a massive solar flare—the largest in four years—sending huge blasts of radiation out into space. Thankfully, the solar eruption was facing away from the earth. Yet, if the site of the solar eruption had been slightly different, the outcome could have been very different. In 1859, British scientist Richard Carrington recorded the effects of a geomagnetic storm as it played out on earth in an event that is called the “Carrington Effect”—intense solar activity that can disrupt modern life dramatically. …
In the 1993 comedy Dave, a small-town presidential impersonator is called on to pretend to be the actual President of the United States when the commander in chief takes ill. Dave steps into the White House, takes his new role too far, and with wide-eyed innocence promises America, “I’m initiating a program to try to find a decent job for every American who wants one.” Yesterday in Holland, Michigan, President Barack Obama made a strikingly similar pledge: Over the coming weeks, I’m going to be putting out more proposals, week by week, …
