Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) made a $900,000,000 mistake on a measure to fund the federal government past this Friday. The government runs out of money on September 30. The House and Senate are engaged in public negotiations on competing measures to fund the government to November 18. The Senate version of the CR contains two drafting errors that cut $900 million from FEMA and the Army Corps of Engineers for the purposes of disaster relief. The Senate defeated the House Republican Continuing Resolution (CR) on Friday, because liberals …
As President Mahmoud Abbas presented his bid for a Palestinian state after his address to the U.N. General Assembly last Friday, members of the Palestinian Authority warned that “US President Barack Obama will be held responsible for the failure of the Middle East peace process.” Of the 15 member states of the Security Council, Abbas would need to garner nine. The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported September 20 that Abbas had secured six to seven votes. The repercussions of a U.S. veto would negatively affect the Obama Administration—not only in the …
Supporters of the Common Core national standards push are becoming increasingly wary of Washington’s entanglement with what the Obama Administration has been trying to sell as “voluntary.” Writing in National Review Online last week, Checker Finn, president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, expressed his concern that the Administration’s No Child Left Behind (NCLB) waivers, which require states to have adopted “college- and career-ready” standards to be eligible, are lending more credibility to the argument that the effort behind Common Core is in fact an effort to implement national standards …
Although the Court’s last term was generally regarded as pretty boring, the upcoming term that begins on Oct. 3 has the potential to be the term of the decade, or as some hope, the term of the century. Yet the story of the Court’s 2011 term really began months, or even years, ago. For example, the Obamacare legislation that passed in early 2010 led to a series of cases that have already resulted in one petition for certiorari that is currently pending before the justices, with several more Obamacare petitions …
Driving the conversation: The Senate will vote today on a continuing resolution that would fund the federal government through Nov. 18 and provide $3.65 billion in disaster aid funding for the Federal Emergency Management Agency. If Congress does not act, the government will partially shut down at the end of the week, and FEMA’s disaster aid coffers will dry up by Wednesday. Last week, the Senate rejected a House-passed CR due to budget offsets for the increase in disaster aid in the form of cuts to Energy Department loan programs. …
For the past few decades, the federal government has continuously increased its power over local schools, through funding with strings attached, with depressing results. Since the 1970′s federal spending on education has nearly tripled, yet student achievement has remained flat and graduation rates have not improved. However, that increased spending has had a major impact on the amount of red tape, paperwork and administrative costs imposed on local schools and teachers, taking valuable time away from their core mission – educating children. While federal policymakers are busy spending billions to …
Republicans and Democrats on the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction this week finally agreed on something substantive: The U.S. corporate tax rate is too high. It’s a point we’ve been making for years at Heritage. High federal and state corporate tax rates — a whopping 39.2 percent when combined — make it difficult for U.S. businesses to compete internationally. Over the past decade, other countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development have reduced their corporate tax rates. As a result, the United States now rivals Japan for …
House Cloakroom: September 26 – September 30 Analysis: The House was scheduled to be in recess this week. However, given the fight over the Continuing Resolution they may have to return at the beginning of the week to vote on an amended CR from the Senate. Major Floor Action: HR 2608 – Continuing Appropriations Act Senate Cloakroom: September 26 – September 30 Analysis: The Senate was also scheduled to be in recess this week, but will return to continue work on the Continuing Resolution. The Senate will vote to take …
The United States is scrambling to avoid a diplomatic crisis at the U.N. over a Palestinian statehood vote and a promised U.S. veto. As other countries try to find a way to defuse the crisis, Palestinian officials asked for U.N. recognition of Palestinian statehood yesterday. How did it come to this? Heritage’s Kim Holmes contends that this is what happens when a U.S. President makes American leadership secondary to international consensus. President Obama and his Administration have sent out confusing messages about U.S. policy in the Middle East. In his …
Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX) visited Heritage earlier this week for The Bloggers Briefing and stuck around to chat in our Robert H. Bruce Radio Studio. On this week’s Scribecast, we cover tax reform, Brady’s MAP ACT, free-trade agreements and what Texas can teach the rest of America. Listen to our interview with Rep. Kevin Brady on Scribecast Brady is the vice chairman and top Republican on the Joint Economic Committee and serves as chairman of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Trade. He was the point man for the White …
