Last week, the state of Wisconsin released a report summarizing the effects of Obamacare on the Badger State’s health care system. The study, which was conducted by Gorman Actuarial and MIT Economist Jonathan Gruber—an Obamacare supporter—and commissioned by former Governor Jim Doyle (D), provides further proof that Obamacare is on track to break the promises President Obama made to the American people regarding his plan for health care reform: “It will provide more security and stability to those who have health insurance. It will provide insurance for those who don’t.” …
President Obama is accustomed to having his way—like trying to dictate the date and time when Congress would assemble for him to address a special joint session. But that’s small stuff. The big stuff is the dictatorial flood of regulations that Obama is imposing. He can’t get his big-government agenda through Congress anymore, so now he does it through the executive branch. A regulation is a law made by the executive branch—permitted only because Congress over decades passed a multitude of vague laws that empowered bureaucrats. Obama is taking advantage …
With the resignation this week of Dennis K. Burke, the Obama-appointed U.S. Attorney in Phoenix, we have the first high-level casualty in the burgeoning scandal known as Operation Fast and Furious. Assistant U.S. Attorney Emory Hurley is also being transferred from the criminal division to the civil division, although the Department of Justice (DOJ) claims that it was at Hurley’s own request. They join other key individuals—such as Kenneth E. Melson, who has been relieved as the Acting Director of the ATF and moved to the DOJ’s Office of Legal …
The latest horror of August 25 has shaken Mexico. In a brazen and senseless assault, reportedly part of an extortion plot, members of the deadly Zetas criminal organization firebombed a casino in Monterrey, Mexico. In the ensuing inferno, 52 Mexicans—mainly middle-class women with no drug connections—died. Mexican President Felipe Calderon denounced the casino outrage as an unprecedented “abhorrent act of terror and barbarism.” He appealed forcefully to the U.S. and the Obama Administration to do something about drug consumption and the southward flow of guns into Mexico. On August 26, …
When in November 1942 the British Army broke and routed Rommel, and sent him fleeing through Libya, Winston Churchill recognized that it was not the end of the war. But it was, he said, the end of the beginning. We are at the same place in Libya today – not at the end, merely at the end of the beginning. If Libya comes to be dominated by Islamists, or falls into chaos, the destruction of Gaddafi’s tyranny will evoke less satisfaction. But as Churchill said in another connection, the chains …
In this week’s Heritage in Focus, Research Fellow Ryan Messmore discusses the role of religion in politics. Tune in here. Are younger generations moving more toward secularism or religiosity? How do religious believers approach the national dialogue when they want to instill the importance of religion but respect the separation of church and state? Listen to the podcast to here answers to those questions and more! To get regular updates on Heritage in Focus podcasts, visit our RSS feed or subscribe on iTunes. To listen to more Heritage in Focus …
Sixty years ago today, in San Francisco, the foreign ministers of Australia and New Zealand met with Dean Acheson, President Harry Truman’s Secretary of State, to sign a tripartite mutual defense treaty—the Australia, New Zealand, United States Security Treaty, or ANZUS, which solidified America’s longstanding friendship with its two Pacific partners into a formal alliance structure. At that time, Asia had exploded into a hotbed of Communist activity, insurgency, and all-out war, a mere six years after U.S., Australia, and New Zealand fought together to force Japan’s surrender in World …
South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley blasted the National Labor Relations Board’s “un-American” lawsuit against Boeing in a conference call Thursday. Haley maintained that President Obama’s reluctance to weigh in on the merits of the suit is “the most cowardly thing I think any leader could do.” The White House has sent mixed signals on the board’s suit against the airline manufacturer, Haley noted. On the one hand, she stated, the president has been “carrying the unions’ water” through various policy proposals. But Obama’s chief of staff and his nominee for …
The Bipartisan Policy Center’s National Security Preparedness Group (NSPG) was an outgrowth of the 9/11 Commission tasked with monitoring the implementation of the broad policy recommendations issued by the 9/11 Commission. Among the commission’s original findings were: Emergency response agencies nationwide should adopt the Incident Command System (ICS). When multiple agencies or multiple jurisdictions are involved, they should adopt a unified command. Both are proven frameworks for emergency response. Regular joint training at all levels is…essential to ensuring close coordination during an actual incident. The NSPG now finds that this …
First Lady Michelle Obama’s obsession with “childhood obesity” has bothered many since it began two years ago, especially those who think that White House nagging of parents should be reserved for more pressing issues. Now it is getting more serious, with food regulators starting to infringe on the free speech rights of advertisers. In the latest upset, four federal agencies known as the Interagency Working Group (IWG) have delivered a plan to drastically censor food advertisers with products deemed to be “too high” in sodium, sugar, or fat that cater …
