Maybe the Department of Energy (DOE) would lend me money to buy lottery tickets. For the tickets that win, I’ll pay them back their dollar (plus $0.001 for a week’s interest). For those that lose, well, that just happens in this sort of business. They have to expect losses. That’s the argument we now hear from the Solyndra apologists: “Hey, it’s a risky business.” But venture capitalists get equity positions so that they get the big rewards when a risky venture pays off. Nobody should be making loans to high-risk …
President Obama says he wants big corporations, including oil companies, to pay their “fair share” in taxes. His deficit reduction plan includes eliminating what he calls special loopholes and subsidies for oil and gas companies—despite the fact that they’re not specific to the oil and gas industry but the broader manufacturing sector. If the President wants to collect more money from the oil and gas industry, he should support increasing access to America’s energy resources. This would greatly increase the amount of revenue coming into the federal government, and it …
Piracy off the Horn of Africa increases every year due to constant instability in the region. In 2008, 111 vessels were attacked. Since the beginning of 2011, there have already been 188 attacks. Every year worldwide piracy costs the shipping industry billions of dollars in rerouting, ransoms, and many other related expenses. These costs are then passed on to the consumer. To curb piracy, the international community is working with regional partners to stabilize the region. Somalia’s U.N.-appointed Transitional Federal Government (TFG) has proven largely incapable of establishing law and …
Five years ago, Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez woke up the somnolent delegates to the United Nations General Assembly with his rude and undiplomatic President George W Bush is the Devil speech. This week, when the General Assembly meets in New York City and the focus falls upon President Obama and other world leaders, Chavez will be absent. He is forced to skip the U.N. event in order to undergo a fourth round of cancer chemotherapy in Havana. His presence will not be missed. At the General Assembly, world leaders hope to …
Catching you up on clips, commentary and news of the day. Sign up for the daily email update from Scribe FACT CHECK: Are rich taxed less than secretaries? – Stephen Ohlechmacher, Associated Press Billionaire Backer Disputes Charges That Company Sought White House Help to Influence Testimony – James Rosen, FoxNews.com Afghanistan: Lessons in War and Peace-building for US – David Arnold, Voice of America Political Scandals Heat Up In Russia – Ariel Cohen, The National Interest Look what we’ve ‘made in Taiwan’ – Ed Feulner, The Washington Times EPA grants …
According to a new poll issued by Generation Opportunity and The Polling Company, Inc./WomanTrend, America’s young adults are looking at a bleak future as the unemployment rate remains at 9.1 percent. The poll indicates that almost three-quarters of young Americans ages 18 to 29 will postpone important life events associated with the American Dream, such as purchasing a home, preparing for retirement, furthering education, marrying, and having children. These young adults have ideas about how to get out of this situation, however. The poll shows 76 percent advocating less federal …
Last week, the Senate Appropriations Committee decided to accept the Pentagon’s request for Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS) funding, which will allow the system to enter its “Proof of Concept” phase. The committee’s decision came because costs associated with the termination of the program are at least as high as permitting the continuation of the “Proof of Concept” phase. This is a step in the right direction, because it will allow the Army to harvest technologies for the modernization of its Patriot system or to procure MEADS if the …
Which comes first: supply or demand? This question has serious policy implications, especially as President Barack Obama proposes $447 billion in additional stimulus spending in order to try to spur job growth in America. “Demand-siders,” also known as Keynesians (after influential economist John Maynard Keynes), insist that short-run economic fluctuations are caused by shocks to the economy that leave aggregate demand—the total amount of money spent on goods and services in the economy—below full capacity. In their view, since less money is spent on goods and services, businesses must lay …
House Cloakroom: September 19 – September 23 Analysis: The two major items on the House floor this week with be the Continuing Resolution and the TRAIN Act. The Continuing Resolution would provide funding for the government through November 18th as Congress continues work on an appropriations package for the remainder of the fiscal year. Once work on that is completed during the middle of the week they move to the TRAIN Act which will create an interagency committee to complete cost-benefit analyses of EPA regulations. Major Floor Action: HJ Res …
Driving the conversation: No part of President Obama’s newly-unveiled deficit reduction plan has attracted more attention than the so-called “Buffett Rule” – mentioned in yesterday’s WIAF – which would bar individuals making more than a million dollars from paying a smaller share of their income in taxes than middle income Americans. There’s just one problem with the proposed law: it already exists, as Heritage’s Curtis Dubay pointed out yesterday. [T]he Congressional Budget Office shows that Buffett Rule is already in effect. The highest earners pay more than double the amount …
