Upon taking control of the U.S. House in January, Republicans implemented sweeping reforms to make the People’s House more transparent and accessible. Now they’ll have a chance to bolster their good-government credentials with the newly created Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction. Twelve lawmakers from the House and Senate will serve on the joint committee, according to language in the Budget Control Act. Its goal is to make recommendations to reduce the deficit by $1.5 trillion. The Sunlight Foundation, an organization that advocates for greater government openness and transparency, earlier …
The House Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs recently adopted a budget blueprint that provides a $30 million voluntary contribution to the Vienna-based Prep aratory Commission for the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) Organization. At a time of fiscal constraint, this expenditure is unnecessary. There are better ways for the United States to spend these resources, such as modernization of its obsolete nuclear weapons complex.
A man with “big ideas.” That’s Alan Gross, a 62-year-old Maryland resident who had the best of intentions when he brought communication devices to the small Jewish community in Cuba. But those good intentions went horribly wrong when he was detained and placed in Villa Marista, the Cuban state prison, in 2009. When Gross, a subcontractor for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), went to Cuba as a tourist, he had no idea that it would end in a 15-year prison sentence. Two years later, he remains in prison, …
In recent Heritage research, Boston University law professor Gary Lawson describes the shortcomings of the current informal rulemaking process, in which bureaucrats use power delegated to them by law with little oversight or accountability. Using Obamacare as his prime example, Lawson writes: [Obamacare] will not emerge from the constitutional process for lawmaking, in which the House and Senate vote on bills and then present them to the President for signature or veto. Rather, the operational law of [Obamacare] will emerge from administrative rulemakings by unelected—and in many instances largely unknown—agency …
Catching you up on clips, commentary and news of the day. Sign up for the daily email update from Scribe. A Dangerous Debt Ceiling Deal – Kim R. Holmes, Ph.D. Who To Blame for Defense Cuts? – John Guardiano Obama and McConnell: Debt Ceiling Gives GOP’s Great Dismantler His Moment – Howard Fineman Super Congress? Better be Super Transparent. – John Wonderlich Why there is no left-populist movement – Moe Lane Liberal overpopulation alarmists are exactly wrong – Charles A. Donovan Will DOJ Shoot Down South Carolina’s New Voter ID Law? …
Attempts to eradicate religious symbols from the public square were in full force last week as a group of New York City atheists filed a lawsuit demanding that a building fragment known as the World Trade Center cross be removed from the 9/11 Museum and Memorial at Ground Zero. American Atheists, Inc., claims that the cross, which was moved to a permanent position at the 9/11 tribute last week, is not only “offensive and repugnant” to non-believers but an apparent source of physical discomfort to atheists. Two days after the …
According to a recent global survey, opinion of the United States continues to be generally favorable in most regions of the world, but it appears that America may be on its way to lose its status as the dominant global superpower. The American image now faces several new and worrisome challenges: doubts about its superpower status, a decline in favorability among some of the closest allies, and giving more and more consideration to the People’s Republic of China as superpower.
Yesterday, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) added new preventive care measures specific to women’s health to the long list of provisions that will drive up premiums under Obamacare. Not only will the new regulations infringe upon Americans’ freedom to choose a health plan in keeping with their values, as we explained here, but they serve as a precursor to more pricey regulations to come. HHS issued regulations last July on the preventive measures that insurers must cover with no cost-sharing, but as part of the new law, …
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) announced yesterday that the Budget Control Act of 2011 would lead to $2.1 trillion in deficit reductions. But the CBO’s letter to congressional leaders is somewhat misleading. Table 3 of the document shows how much in discretionary and mandatory deficit reduction the CBO estimates would be produced by the legislation from fiscal years 2012 through 2021. They found about $918 billion cuts. The remaining $1.2 trillion in cuts is not predicted by year, because, as CBO notes, “The composition of the other $1.2 trillion in …
Yesterday, the House of Representatives voted to increase the nation’s debt ceiling, restrict federal spending, and reduce the deficit in a bill called “the Budget Control Act of 2011.” This legislation would increase the debt ceiling by at least $2.1 trillion and would impose initial caps on discretionary spending from fiscal year (FY) 2012 through FY 2021 of just under $1 trillion. Third, it would establish a congressional joint committee to draft legislation with a goal of reducing the federal deficit by an additional $1.5 trillion. If the committee’s recommendations …
