As if further evidence actually is needed, Bank of America on Thursday demonstrated yet again how government price controls inevitably harm consumers—and low-income consumers the most. In this instance, the nation’s largest bank (by assets) announced on Thursday a new $5 monthly fee for use of a debit card. Several other banks are likewise imposing a slew of new fees as a direct result of the deeply flawed Dodd–Frank financial regulation statute. Among the more detrimental of the law’s provisions is the so-called Durbin Amendment (a la Senator Dick Durbin …
Relations between the United States and the Philippines remain strong, said former President Fidel Ramos of the Republic of the Philippines at Heritage on Wednesday. He referred to the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) between the two countries, saying the people of the Philippines consider the U.S. a “strong ally,” “valuable partner,” and a part of the “extended Filipino family.” Ramos stressed the importance of the MDT during a time when China currently claims the South China Sea. The MDT calls on the U.S. to join the Philippines against “common …
Catching you up on clips, commentary and news of the day. Sign up for the daily email update from Scribe. Leave Google Alone – Bob Barr, The Daily Caller Obama jobs plan: More bureacrats – The Washington Times Warren Buffett Does Not Endorse White House’s “Buffett Rule” – Real Clear Politics Al-Awlaki Is Dead, But Terrorists’ Unholy War Is Far From Over – James Jay Carafano, FoxNews.com China’s Space Lab Launch Closes Gap With U.S. Dependent on Russian Rockets – Ben Richardson and Simone Baribeau The green jobs fallacy – …
According to media reports, Anwar al-Awlaki, the Yemeni-American Islamist radical who played an increasingly influential role in the al-Qaeda network, was killed in a CIA drone strike earlier today in Yemen. Awlaki was reported to have been killed at least twice before, and one of his brothers reportedly already has denied today’s report of his death, but U.S. government officials and Yemeni officials appear to be certain of his death this time. An ultra-radical Islamist ideologue, Awlaki had played an important role in promulgating al-Qaeda’s violent ideology, recruiting young Muslims, …
We understand that the White House is experiencing some difficulties of late across many fronts—the Solyndra scandal and Operation Fast and Furious are two issues that come to mind. That, however, does not give spokesman Jay Carney license to misrepresent what The Heritage Foundation supports or does not. Yesterday Mr. Carney once again defended Obamacare, this time by strongly implying that we think the health care law is wise and Constitutional. Specifically, the spokesman said: We note that not only have lower courts upheld its constitutionality, but the fact of the individual mandate …
Of the countries that present the greatest foreign policy challenges to the U.S. and will do so in the decades to come, China has to be close to the top of the list, if not number one. Every day brings a new gantlet thrown down by China to American leadership. Thursday, it was of China’s launch of a rocket containing elements of its new space laboratory, images that will be exploited to their full potential in the service of Chinese public diplomacy. This is why the decision of the Broadcasting …
A pair of years-old anecdotes, recently revisited, show that top economists in the White House and Obama’s cabinet expressed serious doubts about the White House’s emphasis on and approach to green jobs. Three top economic advisers, on at least two occasions, have sounded alarms about that agenda. In October 2010, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and then-director of the National Economic Council Larry Summers warned that the oversight of the Energy Department’s loan guarantee programs – one of which financed defunct solar company Solyndra – was too lax, the Los Angeles …
House investigators have initiated a probe into allegations that the White House or one of its surrogates pressured the Ford Motor Co. to drop an advertisement critical of the administration’s automotive bailouts. A number of reports have alleged at least indirect pressure to take the spot off the air. “I am deeply concerned about undue political pressure exerted by the White House on public companies,” House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) stated in a letter to Ford on Thursday. Issa requested an explanation of Ford’s position on …
“We might be a healthier democracy if we were a slightly less democratic one.” Really? Writing for the New Republic, Peter Orszag, Obama’s former head of the Office of Management and Budget, suggested that Americans need to transfer much of the operation of government out of the hands of Congress and into the hands of unelected bureaucrats. As a remedy to supposedly systemic gridlock, Orzsag proposes creating automatic boards of unelected administrators and “trigger” mechanisms that automatically set policy unless Congress specifically proposes an alternative. Orszag is not alone in …
The recent arrest of Rezwan Ferdaus marked yet another turn in the ever-shifting struggle to protect the American homeland from Islamist-inspired acts of terrorism. The 26-year-old from Ashland, Massachusetts, is accused of plotting to fly explosives-laden remote-controlled airplanes into the Pentagon and the U.S. Capitol. His arrest came after a lengthy investigation by the FBI in which Ferdaus had attempted to purchase and transmit weapons to individuals he believed to have been members of al-Qaeda but were in fact undercover agents with the FBI. According to a federal affidavit, between …
