At The Heritage Foundation’s October 25 conference dedicated to the Obama Administration’s failing “Reset” policy toward Russia, House Speaker John Boehner (R–OH) and Members of Congress hailed freedom and democracy as the guiding principles of American foreign policy. They also asserted that Russia’s occupation of Georgian territory is going to be a sticking point in the effort to normalize trade relations between Russia and the United States and accept Russia into the World Trade Organization. Congressional Quarterly (CQ) highlighted opposing viewpoints on the issue in an article entitled “House GOP …
President Obama’s “blame conservatives” rhetoric was on full display yesterday as he described his plan to provide relief to students overburdened by loan debt that they voluntarily assumed. “We can’t wait for Congress to do its job, so where they won’t act, I will,” Obama told a crowd of Denver college students yesterday afternoon. The President’s plan includes limiting to 10 percent of discretionary annual income the amount of money lenders can require students to pay. It would also reduce from 25 to 20 the number of years students have to …
It came as no surprise when Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner swept the election on Sunday, earning herself a second term. After all, polls had projected her win for weeks beforehand, predicting that she would take anywhere from 52 percent to 57 percent of the votes. In the end, exit polls report that she emerged victorious with 53 percent of the votes. However, her popularity has not translated so well everywhere. Relations between the U.S. and Argentina have long been tense. Most recently, the two governments butted heads when …
In recent months, the U.S. government has dispatched heavily armed federal law enforcement officers to raid Gibson Guitar factories—American guitar factories!—in Tennessee for violations of the Lacey Act, a federal statute that makes it a crime to import some tropical hardwoods in violation of foreign laws. Condemning this “overreach” by the feds, Gibson chairman and CEO Henry Juszkiewicz, reported that “armed people came in our factory…evacuated our employees, then seized half a million dollars of our goods without any charges having been filed.” In total, U.S. government agents have seized …
Remember the Great Depression of the 1920s? If not, that’s because it didn’t happen. The recession of the early ‘20s quickly ended after spending and taxes were cut dramatically. It provides a clear lesson in “austerity” that President Obama should heed. In 1920, newly elected President Warren Harding inherited a very sharp downturn from his predecessor, Woodrow Wilson. According to Cato economist Jim Powell, the downturn was “almost as severe, from peak to trough, as the Great Contraction from 1929 to 1933 that FDR would later inherit. The estimated gross …
What is the American idea? That all depends on whom you ask. According to President Barack Obama, it’s the notion that the federal government is the answer to America’s problems, and that through its intervention–by sheer force of spending–it can create a brighter future for all Americans. There’s a different view, though, that has again found its voice in the past year. It’s the idea that America is at its best when its people are allowed to be free and produce, not thanks to the government or even in spite …
In this week’s Heritage in Focus, foreign policy expert James Carafano fills us in on the latest news throughout the Middle East. Click here to listen. Now that Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi is gone, what’s next? President Obama has announced the withdrawal of all troops from Iraq by the end of the year. What does the future hold there? Will any troops remain? How does this affect other countries in the region? Listen to answers to these questions and more! To get regular updates on Heritage in Focus podcasts, visit …
In a speech today at The Heritage Foundation, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) spoke about Saving the American Idea. The full text transcript of his remarks as prepared for delivery are below: “Saving the American Idea: Rejecting Fear, Envy and the Politics of Division” Thank you so much, Ed, for that kind introduction. We’re here today to explore the American Idea, and I can’t think of a better venue for this topic. The mission of the Heritage Foundation is to promote the principles of free enterprise, limited government, …
The Obama administration is approving only 37 percent of the deepwater drilling plans submitted this year — a figure that falls below even last year’s low approval rate. It’s also taking federal bureaucrats an average of 115 days to approve the plans, nearly double the historical average. Greater New Orleans Inc. reported the numbers as part of its Gulf Permit Index, a measure of permit issuance. The data was provided by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement, which oversees shallow-water and deepwater permits. Last year’s numbers were …
A recent New York Times online report suggested that Americans should quit buying products made by poor people—because when people in the United States buy coffee, sugar, t-shirts, or tomatoes, they are guilty of exploiting impoverished workers. The story quoted the executive director of a group called Art Works Projects: “Most people don’t look at their shirt and realize if they got a good deal on it, someone down the line has been seriously abused.” She later added, “If you purchased something, you’re part of the problem, but you’re immediately …
