Last week, Solyndra became the third solar company in recent weeks to go belly-up, but the Fremont-based solar manufacturer made the most noise—because it lost more than a half a billion dollars in taxpayer money. Solyndra received one of the first stimulus loan guarantees, a $535 million loan. During a visit to the plant last year, President Obama said, “Companies like Solyndra are leading the way toward a brighter and more prosperous future.” In 2010, Solyndra closed one of its facilities and canceled its initial public offering, and last week …
It’s been a very busy week in Washington. Obama unveiled his jobs plan, Rep. Gohmert’s (R-TX) introduced a jobs bill of his own, many education bills were introduced in the Senate, The Super Committee held meetings, and there is the possibility of another bailout on the horizon. Click here to join us right now. We are joined by Heritage’s Senior Fellow in Government Studies Brian Darling and he is taking your questions about the different jobs plans, the Education bill, the Super Committee meeting, and what is next on list …
The counterterrorism strategy published by the Obama Administration in June was not exactly a hard-hitting document, turning counterterrorism into a law enforcement issue and generally containing few details and little new thinking. When Secretary of State Hillary Clinton addressed the subject on September 9, the subject took on more life. As a Senator from New York, she had spent time at Ground Zero and met with the victims and their families, which made her grasp of the subject at least instinctive and immediate. Yet the great and unacknowledged irony in …
Doublethink, the official magazine of America’s Future Foundation, carries my report on the role of nonprofit journalism outfits, specifically those based at think tanks. It’s a concept we’ve embraced at Heritage’s Center for Media and Public Policy, working with our policy experts to report on stories that are often ignored by other media outlets. My piece focuses on several shining examples of think-tank journalism, beginning with the solid work of the MacIver Institute and Wisconsin Reporter in the Badger State: Bill Osmulski stepped outside his office into a boisterous crowd …
In its yearly survey of health insurance coverage, the U.S. Census Bureau published figures that underscore the trend toward greater dependence on government for coverage. The percentage of Americans on government health programs continues to grow, while employer-based coverage continues to decline. According to the latest Census report, 31 percent of the population received coverage through the government in 2010 compared to 23 percent in 1987. In contrast, 64 percent of the population had private coverage in 2010, compared to 75.5 percent in 1987. Employer-based coverage declined from 62.1 percent …
As Friday draws near, two contenders are neck-and-neck for the title of Nanny of the Week. A dark horse may yet emerge, what with so much Big Government on the loose. But leading the pack at present are Michigan Governor Rick Snyder (R) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). First Snyder. The self-styled “nerd” gained nanny status on Wednesday by announcing plans for a state registry of fat kids. Under his proposal, pediatricians will report the height and weight measurements of their patients to the Michigan Department of Community …
Catching you up on clips, commentary and news of the day. Sign up for the daily email update from Scribe. Inmates collect unemployment – Part of growing fraud problem – M.D. Kittle, Watchdog.org UTT: Infrastructure ‘bank’ doomed to fail – Ronald D. Utt, The Washington Times Census Numbers: The Trend Toward Government Coverage Continues – Nina Owcharenko, Health Affairs Iran’s ayatollahs soon to be atomic – Peter Brookes, Boston Herald Obama: “If you love me, pass this bill!” – Erick Erickson, RedState.com Solyndra employee to Mark Levin: “Everyone knew that …
Senator Marco Rubio (R–FL) urged Education Secretary Arne Duncan to remember the constitutional limitations placed on the executive branch in a letter to the Department of Education Tuesday. What prompted Rubio to express his concerns is the Obama Administration’s intention to, on the one hand, grant waivers to states for the onerous provisions of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) while, on the other hand, tying them to even more onerous centralized policy: Our principal concern is that the Executive branch does not possess the authority to force states into compliance …
Last week, California passed a law that penalizes organizations that refuse to provide benefits to employees’ same-sex domestic partners or spouses on the same terms they provide benefits to employees’ opposite-sex domestic partners or spouses. Known as SB 117, the law excludes those organizations from competing for state contracts worth $100,000 or more. SB 117 further illustrates how nondiscrimination laws factor in to debates regarding same-sex marriage and other legal statuses for homosexual relationships. Same-sex marriage, domestic partnerships, and civil unions confer state recognition on same-sex relationships. Nondiscrimination laws force …
About $60 billion more federal education dollars. That’s President Obama’s latest proposal to fix schools—this time in the form of his $447 billion jobs bill. Despite tens of billions in education bailouts in the last two years, not to mention ever increasing federal education budgets, Obama somehow believes that this next round of government dollars is just the answer to the nation’s education woes. Speaking yesterday at Fort Hayes High School in Columbus, Ohio—in another rendition of his “pass this bill speech”—Obama decried the poor condition of the nation’s schools …
