Many state lawmakers are concerned that if their states accept Obamacare grant funding, they will be implementing policies counter to the states’ best interests. In any battle, it is wise to pick targets strategically. Obamacare is a many-headed monster—its funding is not one block grant. Conservatives should focus on refusing federal funding for elements of Obamacare that are integral to the legislation’s design and have significant policy consequences—while giving lower priority to funding that doesn’t meet both of those tests. The Obamacare grant programs now attracting the most attention are …
You would think that any regulation that could affect a major part of the economy and cost industry and/or consumers millions of dollars to comply with would be based on rigorous and consistent economic analysis. After all, how else would regulators know the actual effect of their proposals and whether the proposed solution at least equals compliance costs? Unfortunately, this level of economic analysis is not required for most financial regulatory agencies, which have been swamped trying to issue all of the hundreds of rules required by the Dodd–Frank bill. …
The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) stole a march on the Obama Administration this morning by filing a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court appealing the 11th Circuit’s Obamacare decision. The Department of Justice (DOJ) had announced on Monday that it was not going to ask all 11 judges of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to review en banc the August 12 decision of a three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit that found the individual mandate unconstitutional. This opened up a path to an appeal by DOJ to …
Two experts in missile defense—Lieutenant General Henry A. Obering III (ret.), former director of the Missile Defense Agency (MDA), and Rebeccah Heinrichs, an adjunct fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies—wrote a letter countering Yousaf Butt’s claim that the ballistic missile defense testing program comprises of “essentially rigged tests, where the intercept team knew the precise timing and trajectory of the incoming missile.” Take an expert’s word for it: General Obering oversaw as many as six Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) tests during his tenure as a director of the …
The Office of Military Commissions quietly launched a new website this past Monday that was a year in the making. Located at www.mc.mil, it is an invaluable informational site loaded with court documents, historical information, Supreme Court cases dealing with military commissions, and other pertinent and helpful information. In a week when the buzz around Washington was that the case against al Nashiri (the USS Cole bomber held at Gitmo) would be referred to a military commission, the website is a long overdue and potent symbol of transparency in the …
Sunday marked the anniversary of an oppressive law that has resulted in almost 40 million “missing” women and some of the most egregious human rights violations in recent history. Thirty-one years ago, on September 25, 1980, the Chinese government instituted a population control policy that prohibits almost all Chinese couples from having more than one child and forbids unmarried women from giving birth. Enforcement of the law has subjected Chinese women to forced abortions and involuntary sterilizations and helped in tipping the country’s demography toward a dangerous gender imbalance. Last …
The Obama Administration is quickly trying to contain the damage in another potential foreign policy debacle, this time with nuclear-armed Pakistan. Last week, Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, dropped a bombshell that rocked U.S.-Pakistani relations. In testimony before Congress, Mullen declared that the military intelligence service of this supposed U.S. partner is directing the Haqqani network, a militant group responsible for attacks on Americans, including the 20-hour assault on the U.S. embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, that left 27 dead. The revelation causes immediate concern …
By the time Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) took to the floor Monday to berate Republicans for supposedly blocking emergency disaster aid, the Federal Emergency Management Agency had already announced it did not need the money Reid claimed was being blocked. FEMA’s disaster relief fund became a key issue in the continuing resolution the Senate passed Monday night, funding the federal government through Nov. 18. A record number of emergency declarations this year by President Obama stretched FEMA’s fund to the brink. Republicans offered an additional $1 billion in disaster aid, but coupled …
Congress keeps threatening to shut down over the budget, but there is at least one thing the two houses can agree on. Pending free trade agreements have bipartisan support in both the House and Senate; all that is needed is for President Obama to send them to Congress, so that they can be passed. Congressman Kevin Brady (R–TX), vice chairman and top Republican on the Joint Economic Committee and chairman of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Trade, spoke at the Heritage Bloggers Briefing on the pending free trade …
In last week’s Heritage Libertad Radio Show, our team covered a range of topics. Listen in Spanish or English. The English segment kicked off with a discussion of Obama’s recent jobs proposal, followed by an interview with Dr. Ray Walser on Venezuela and Hugo Chavez. The show closed with a discussion of how presidential candidates are reaching out to Hispanics. The Spanish segment also kicks off with a discussion about the president’s new jobs proposal, along with how he proposes to pay for it. After that we answer member questions, …
