This is a guest post by Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) for our special blog series on 9/11. A decade has passed, but the memories of those lost remains strong today. It also is a time to remember the many Americans who showed extraordinary bravery in the face of adversity: the firefighters, police officers, emergency responders, and everyday citizens who stepped forward and risked their lives for others. Many of us know someone affected directly by the cowardly terrorist attacks ten years ago, and my thoughts and prayers go out to …
“No Child Left Behind [NCLB] and the Race to the Top [RTTT] grants are likely to be the high water mark of federal involvement in schools,” says Jay Mathews in a Washington Post editorial this week on why the Obama Administration’s further overreach into national standards will fail. His argument? Washington simply can’t afford to get any more deeply involved in local schools. On that point, Mathews is absolutely right. We also hope he’s right about the collapse of the national standards project, but it will take some effort to …
Learning about U.S. government is a basic, essential lesson for American children, but finding a way to make it stick isn’t always easy. Luckily, a new book is out to help solve that problem. One Nation Under God: A Book for Little Patriots is a delightfully poetic read to help kids understand the history of America’s government and how it works today. Even adults can brush up on basic knowledge with the straightforward facts presented in each chapter. In a tone that is simple and reminiscent of the Schoolhouse Rocks …
By most accounts, President Obama’s $800 billion “stimulus” bill that was passed in February 2009 with the promise of keeping unemployment below 8 percent was an absolute failure. However, last night in a speech to a joint session of Congress, the President demanded that it spend another $450 billion on more of the same “stimulus” that has left America with zero job growth and continued economic stagnation. But don’t worry. His top economic adviser Gene Sperling told NBC that this one would likely get us down to 8 percent. Despite …
President Obama tonight pitched Stimulus 2.0 to a reluctant Congress and an angry electorate. The President rolled out his “American Jobs Act” and demanded repeatedly for Congress to “pass right away.” The President’s plan is very similar to his original Stimulus plan that has proven to be a total failure in allowing private enterprise to create jobs. It is difficult to see a scenario where Congress will pass another Obama stimulus plan. The President demanded support for this new stimulus plan without providing legislative language to the American people nor Congress. The …
Today the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected two challenges to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA)—better known as ObamaCare—on procedural grounds. Because the court found procedural problems in both cases, it did not reach the constitutional question of whether the individual mandate is constitutional. Importantly, the procedural problems identified in these cases either don’t exist, or will be unpersuasive to the Supreme Court, which already has a petition before it to hear another challenge to ObamaCare. Accordingly, today’s decisions add nothing to the discussion over the constitutionality …
Heritage’s experts watched President Barack Obama’s jobs speech delivered to a joint session of Congress. Here are some of their immediate reactions: Jobs for Teachers? In his remarks tonight, President Obama argued that his jobs proposal would create more jobs for teachers. He went as far as to say laying off teachers…”has to stop”. But since 1970, student enrollment in public elementary and secondary schools has increased just 7 percent, while public elementary and secondary staff hires have increased 83 percent. Moreover, in the 1950′s, there were approximately 2.36 teachers for …
The Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (also known as the “super committee”) met for the first time today. This bipartisan, bicameral committee was created in the law increasing the debt limit and is tasked to find between $1.2 and $1.5 trillion in savings over the next 10 years. Membership on the committee includes Senators Jon Kyl (R–AZ), Pat Toomey (R–PA), Rob Portman (R–OH), John Kerry (D–MA), Patty Murray (D–WA), and Max Baucus (D–MT) and Representatives Dave Camp (R–MI), Fred Upton (R–MI), Jeb Hensarling (R–TX), James Clyburn (D–SC), Chris Van …
Click here to join us right now for our “Lunch with Heritage” online chat. We are joined by Senior Policy Analyst Curtis Dubay. He is taking your questions on what should be done about jobs, how tax rates effect job growth, and what the Super Committee should focus on. Lunch with Heritage feat. Curtis Dubay
Incidents of union violence rarely reach the level they did in Seattle, WA, Thursday morning. Upset the Port of Longview had hired contractors from a different union, 500 members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, brandishing baseball bats and crowbars, stormed the port and held six security guards hostage. [Longview police chief Jim] Duscha said tensions between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and EGT Terminal have run hot for the past few months after contract negotiations broke down. The ILWU believes it has the right to work at …
