In the national effort to overcome dependence on government, Michigan has just moved one step forward toward ensuring that welfare promotes self-reliance. On Tuesday, Governor Rick Snyder (R) signed legislation to place a four-year time limit on cash assistance benefits for welfare recipients. In 2006, Michigan passed similar legislation under then-Governor Jennifer Granholm (D). But, according to Jack McHugh of Michigan’s Mackinac Center, that particular legislation included so many loopholes that it rendered the time limits practically meaningless. The legislation signed this week attempts strengthen the time limits and thus …
This is a guest post by Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) for our special blog series on 9/11. Like every American, I will never forget where I was on the morning of September 11, 2001. As a Member of Congress from Indiana, that day my duties took me to Capitol Hill and to sights and sounds I will never forget. I witnessed the U.S. Capitol literally hemorrhaging with people running in every direction. I heard the deafening sounds of sirens all around and thunderous booms of military aircraft going supersonic at …
As America approaches the 10-year anniversary of 9/11 this weekend, it is unreal to think that the U.S. now has the smallest Navy since 1916. The House Armed Services Committee has a new video detailing the downsizing of the American military and many more unbelievable facts about the state it is in today. Republican Chairman Buck McKeon (CA) narrates the video, which explores the Founders’ intent to “provide for the common defense.” It is important to honor our heroes, provide for our military, and avoid complacency in the long and …
Earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, and now blackouts? One might say Mother Nature is on a rampage. On Thursday around 3:45 p.m., 1.5 million people lost power. A mass blackout occurred spanning California, Arizona, and parts of Mexico. Affecting major cities throughout the region, the high-voltage power line outage between Arizona and California left millions without power. Sweltering heat and massive traffic pileups activated emergency operations in areas like San Diego. Blackouts continued throughout the evening, leaving small hope that any relief would come prior to late Friday. Blackouts can come from …
I did not experience the 9/11 attack personally, and very fortunately did not lose anyone I know in that vicious act of terrorism. But it did mark a significant change in my life, since it marked my move to Washington. In fact, I was upstairs in our bedroom in Atlanta the morning of the attack packing my bags. I was supposed to head to the airport to fly to Washington—I had an interview scheduled for September 12 for a possible job at the Department of Justice. My wife called upstairs …
It was just after 6 a.m. in Los Angeles. “Daddy, wake up. Watch the TV.” Like so many others, this is how I began my day on September 11, 2001. My eight year-old standing there, pointing to the television, before my wife ran into the bedroom. “Two planes hit the World Trade Center! They think it’s terrorists.” All morning I was glued to that television set. Another plane had struck the Pentagon. And another had crashed into a field in Pennsylvania. My heart sank as I watched the South Tower …
Barely a week after returning from his relations-repairing state visit to Beijing, which he dubbed a success, President Benigno Aquino of the Philippines has directed the release of $118 million in order to “enhance the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ capability to secure the territory of the Philippines…including providing a strong security perimeter for the Malampaya Natural Gas and Power Project (MNGPP),” a gas-extraction field that provides half of the principal island of Luzon’s energy. Significantly, the money has been charged against revenues from the MNGPP; in other words, the …
During the president’s Thursday speech on his new jobs proposal (which, as of yet, does not actually exist on paper), Rep. Jeff Landry, a Republican freshman from Louisiana, staged a bit of silent activism. Photos of the congressman show him holding a sign displaying a simply message: “Drilling = jobs”. The point, of course, is that expanding domestic energy production through increased oil drilling – most notably in the Gulf of Mexico, on which the congressman’s district sits – would significantly boost employment. Indeed, a study released on Wednesday by …
This weekend will be filled with somber memorial services and poignant tributes as the nation commemorates the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. The annual memorial service in New York City will have a decidedly non-religious tone, a move that has drawn the ire of many faith leaders. Even former Mayor Rudy Giuliani criticized the exclusion of clergy-led prayer at the service. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s administration is defending the decision to exclude formal participation by religious leaders at Ground Zero this Sunday, arguing …
What’s wrong with this picture? Last night, President Obama told Congress that the nation desperately needs to spend more on infrastructure in order to create jobs and to get the economy moving again. But only last month, his regulators aggressively moved to thwart private-sector plans to invest tens of billions on new infrastructure and create hundreds of thousands of new jobs. The issue is AT&T and its plan to acquire T-Mobile (now a subsidiary of the German telephone company Deutsche Telekom). The wireless industry has been one the most dazzling …
