While the Libyan rebels continue their search for deposed dictator Muammar Qadhafi, rumors abound as to where the former despot could be hiding. Some believe he fled to Niger, others suspect that Zimbabwe or Burkina Faso have granted him asylum, and some are certain he’s still in Libya. As Qadhafi’s family and closest allies seek refuge in Algeria and Niger, it has become apparent that Qadhafi’s neighbors could be his saviors. When Qadhafi issued a brutal crackdown on opposition forces last spring, African leaders called for an end to the …
In his address to the joint session of Congress last week, President Barack Obama called for $477 billion in new federal spending, which he said would give hundreds of thousands of disadvantaged young people hope and dignity while giving their low-income parents “ladders out of poverty.” And today, the U.S. Census released its annual poverty report, which declared that 46.2 million persons, or roughly one in seven Americans, were poor in 2010. What President Obama didn’t tell America as he was pleading for more spending–and what the Census Bureau didn’t …
The recent op-ed by James Woolsey and Keith Payne “Reconsidering the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty” (CTBT) describes the treaty as “an ineffectual gesture that could do more harm than good.” It is hard to disagree with this conclusion. There are many persistent problems with the treaty, which the U.S. Senate wisely rejected in 1999. Nevertheless, the Obama Administration chose to rejuvenate the treaty and try to get the Senate to ratify it—unchanged. The Administration hopes that the U.S. ratification of the treaty would prevent proliferation and bring about a change …
The House of Representatives’ lead investigator into federal loans given to bankrupt solar company Solyndra will preview his hearing on the issue in a discussion at the Heritage Foundation on Tuesday at noon. Speaking at the weekly Bloggers Briefing, Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL), who chairs the Energy and Commerce Committee’s oversight panel, will discuss Solyndra, the loan programs that propped it up at taxpayers’ expense, and the larger issue of federal intervention in private industry. You can watch the Bloggers Briefing live here. Stearns and full committee chairman Fred Upton …
It was sadly ironic that Texas energy company Luminant announced it would lay off 500 employees on the same morning that President Obama unveiled legislation designed to promote job growth. The company said that a new rule from the Environmental Protection Agency will force it to cease operations at two electricity generating plants, and close three coal mines. “We have hundreds of employees who have spent their entire professional careers at Luminant and its predecessor companies,” Luminant CEO David Campbell said in a news release. “At every step of this …
Roll Call carries op-eds today from the Ripon Society and Heritage debating the merits of Super Committee transparency. Ripon’s Lou Zickar thinks the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction would benefit from privacy. I argue that’s exactly the wrong approach for the most powerful committee in congressional history. As the Joint Committee prepares for its first hearing tomorrow with Congressional Budget Office Director Doug Elmendorf, they should ensure the American people are part of the conservation. After all, this debate and discourse is exactly what lawmakers need to hear to make an …
Last week, Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York City made headlines when he expressly excluded clergy-led prayer from the planned 10th anniversary 9/11 Memorial Service at Ground Zero. It troubled many Americans that a prominent public official would ignore the profound role the faith community played in the aftermath of 9/11. Yet, thanks to the intervention of two American Presidents who were invited, the memorial service ultimately did reflect our nation’s religious heritage. Following remarks by Mayor Bloomberg, President Obama stood to offer solace to the families of 9/11 victims …
Total, Europe’s third largest oil company, announced last Friday that they have made a major gas discovery in the Caspian Sea. The discovery, made in the Absheron block off the coast of Azerbaijan, is thought to have large pockets of gas spread over a 270-square-kilometer field and holds about 350 billion cubic meters of natural gas and 45 million metric tons of gas condensate, according to SOCAR, the state oil company of Azerbaijan. It is likely that additional reserves will be discovered as the exploration of the field advances. Participants …
After 9/11, an event that Americans and their allies will never forget, the United States focused on a war on terrorism. There is, however, a threat that has been largely ignored—the threat of an electromagnetic pulse (EMP), noted by Investor’s Business Daily. In 2004 and 2008, the Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse Attack (also known as the EMP Commission) released its reports on how to protect the United States from an EMP. Despite its recommendations, little progress has been made in protecting the …
With the 10th anniversary of 9/11, some touching remembrances have been written, but also an increasing number of op-eds, editorials and blog posts, the theme of which are “let’s stop looking back at 9/11 and start moving forward.” The second response is bad advice for several reasons. While I appreciate the need to move ever forward, we must not forget the vicious attacks of ten years ago. We must not forget that it was a calculated attack on Americans and a strike at our way of life. We must not …
