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 …
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 …
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 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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
