As attention focuses on the Middle East and North Africa, where protesters have taken to the streets to demand political change, some wonder whether Cuba will follow suit. A closer look at the island, where freedom fighters wage a nonviolent struggle against a regime desperate to conceal the effectiveness such methods have met during the “Arab Spring,” reveals good news: a big story that cuts through the bleak reality of 52 years of totalitarian rule and the media noise fueled by pro-regime talking points. The island’s growing pro-freedom Resistance, a …
Sometime next week—we don’t quite know when—President Barack Obama is due to announce his latest jobs plan designed to lift America out of its unemployment doldrums. And though we also don’t know the exact details of the plan, there’s a pretty good chance it will include several key components we’ve heard before, one of which is the extension of unemployment benefits. Much like the President’s other likely initiatives, this idea isn’t a new one, and the White House has made the argument before that unemployment benefits are the best thing since …
A top advisor to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius recently compared opposition to the administration’s new health care law to opposition to the 1960s civil rights movement, Politico Pro reported: Jay Angoff, special adviser to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, drew parallels between the two contentious efforts during a panel presentation in Baltimore. He said pushback from state governors over implementation of the law mirrors the acrimony held by many state lawmakers decades earlier when they had to adopt the civil rights package. “The states fought the civil rights …
The left is in an uproar over new voter-ID laws passed by states including Texas, Alabama, Kansas, South Carolina, Tennessee, Wisconsin, and Rhode Island. Their complaint? That requiring someone to authenticate his or her identity at the polling place amounts to racial discrimination. The Heritage Foundation’s Hans Von Spakovsky writes in this week’s National Review that, in truth, the vast majority of Americans of all racial and ethnic backgrounds support voter-ID laws. And he breaks apart liberals’ arguments against the requirements: Once you get past the race-baiting, you will find that opponents of voter ID …
It’s back to school time. And this year, students across the nation have more educational opportunity than in any previous year. 2011 has been named “The Year of School Choice,” and for good reason. Forty-two states introduced over 150 pieces of school choice legislation, and 12 states and the District of Columbia enacted plans to broaden school choice. As of this year, 18 states plus D.C. offer some form of private school choice: Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, …
President Obama’s pick as chairman of the White House Council on Economic Advisors co-authored a paper that showed that extending unemployment benefits will likely exacerbate joblessness. The paper’s findings run counter to the president’s economic argument for an unemployment benefit extension, which is expected to be a major part of the jobs plan he will unveil early next month. Princeton University economist Alan Krueger, who will replace Austan Goolsbee as the White House’s chief economic advisor, “is likely to provide a voice inside the administration for more-aggressive government action to …
On Friday, a suicide bomber launched an attack against the U.N. headquarters in Nigeria’s capital city of Abuja. The Islamist sect Boko Haram (translated: “education is sinful”) has taken responsibility for the attack, which killed at least 18 people and wounded dozens. While Boko Haram’s attacks have escalated in recent months, Friday’s bombing was its boldest operation to date. Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has said that Boko Haram is a “local problem.” However, by attacking an international organization, the once-obscure sect has caught the attention of the foreign public. With …
In another major blow to al-Qaeda, a U.S. drone strike last Monday in the North Waziristan tribal area of Pakistan killed the organization’s new number two commander, Atiyah Abd al-Rahman. The successful strike demonstrates the importance of continuing the drone missile campaign along Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan as a cornerstone of the mission to degrade and eventually defeat al-Qaeda. Pakistani officials and media outlets regularly criticize the drone missile strikes as a violation of Pakistani sovereignty. But the U.S. is highly unlikely to relent in its drone campaign since the …
The Path to 9/11 is a docudrama sprawling across eight-and-a-half years, four continents, and multiple terrorist attacks. The film generated great controversy when it originally aired in 2006. It achieved phenomenal rating numbers, drawing 28 million viewers. Written and produced by Cyrus Nowrasteh, (who also wrote the screenplay for Stoning of Soraya M.) it remains the single most comprehensive film on the origins of the global war against terrorists. If you missed the film and try to order a copy on Amazon, all you will find is a notice that …
In last week’s Heritage Libertad Radio program, we covered topics ranging from Libya and the earthquake, to Heritage member questions. For the Spanish segment, click here. For the English segment, click here. You’ll hear Heritage’s position on Libya moving forward and hear answers to questions such as: is the War Powers Act unconstitutional? How much are we spending on defense? Is there a Social Security Trust Fund, and where does that money go? The Spanish segment also includes an interview with Fidelia Friedman, vice president of Pocono Republican Hispanic Association. …
