The Heritage Foundation has consistently urged, and continues to urge, that the congressional Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, known as the Supercommittee, “go big” with its recommendations, to “drive federal spending down — including by fixing ever-expanding entitlement programs — toward a balanced budget, while preserving our capability to protect America, and without raising taxes.” Heritage provided a detailed plan by which the Supercommittee could accomplish that goal. Heritage President Edwin J. Feulner made clear that “[t]his battle is about both getting spending under control and limiting the size …
On November 2nd, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) completed a critical milestone in its young, yet ambitious, space program. China’s unmanned Shenzhou 8, which launched on October 31, successfully completed an automated rendezvous and docking with their prototype space station module, Tiangong 1. This docking exercise is a critical development in China’s quest to launch and operate its own manned space station in Low-Earth Orbit. As China moves ahead with enhancing their space capabilities, the U.S. shuttle program has ended with no successor in place and an unclear future. …
Last week’s Des Moines Register’s editorial page takes a sardonic view of the majority of Americans (51 percent as of last week) who are opposed to the health reform law. Saying they are trashing the law they call Obamacare—a word that supporters have openly embraced because of its widespread usage—the editorial charges “if you don’t agree with the law, then don’t use anything it offers.” Oh, if it was only that simple. While the editorial correctly notes that Obamacare is not a full government takeover of the private health sector, …
Scribe reported last week on the extensive damage to small businesses wrought by the “Occupy” protests being staged around the country. In lower Manhattan, business owners are fighting back. Having been forced to endure nearly half a million dollars in lost revenue, they are planning to stage a counter-protest. At 5 pm, they will gather on the steps of City Hall to speak out against the “Occupy Wall Street” tent city, which has remained in Zuccotti Park for nearly two months. A recent survey by the New York Post showed …
Last Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted on legislation that would repeal the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). All 10 Democrats on the committee voted against DOMA. DOMA was passed by wide congressional majorities and signed into law by President Clinton in 1996. DOMA defines marriage as one man and one woman in federal law and clarifies that no state is required to recognize a same-sex marriage from another state. Activists seeking to undermine marriage at the federal level must know that evidence shows significant political support for marriage …
The Supreme Court today granted review in related cases that raise the question whether Congress had the power to adopt the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act – known colloquially as ObamaCare – health regulatory scheme and, if not, what components of that law must fall and can survive. The Court granted the petitions for writs of certiorari in three separate cases – one filed by the National Federation of Independent Businesses (No. 11-393), one filed by the states No. 11-400), and one filed by the federal government (No. 11-398). …
Government programs cannot stop the decline in housing prices. The latest evidence of this comes from a study of first-time homebuyers who took advantage of an $8,000 tax credit available between 2009 and September 2010. According to a new study, housing prices in 110 of 157 studied cities have dropped more than the value of the $8,000 tax credit since June 2010. Home prices in six of the 157 cities increased. In short, not only did the $26 billion program fail to stabilize housing prices, but those who took advantage …
A new book by Hoover Institution fellow Peter Schweizer details the startling extent of the cronyism that has pervaded President Obama’s “green jobs” push. According to Schweizer, 4 out of every 5 renewable energy companies backed by the Energy Department was “run by or primarily owned by Obama financial backers.” Those companies’ “political largesse is probably the best investment they ever made in alternative energy,” Schweizer explains. “It brought them returns many times over.” Such is the inevitable consequence of large government interventions in private markets. Leaving aside the losses associated …
Cracks in the Budget Control Act’s (BCA) spending caps are growing more visible as negotiators near completion of the first three appropriations bills for fiscal year (FY) 2012. Unless the House changes course, appropriations could be sailing toward a breach of the BCA limits and a debilitating freeze on defense spending while still gushing “disaster” and “emergency” funds that escape the BCA boundaries entirely. Under the agreement taking shape, House negotiators have essentially conceded to higher spending levels than those in the House-passed versions of the three spending bills—Agriculture, Commerce–Justice–Science, …
If Americans needed any further proof that the Obama Administration is one of the most political on record, or that, for all the recent demagoguing, it really cares only about re-election, not about job creation, then you need look no further than its cynical Keystone XL oil pipeline decision last week. Over the last several months, radical environmentalists along with Hollywood celebrity activists descended on the White House in protest, urging President Barack Obama to block the construction of the $7 billion pipeline that would bring in more than 700,000 barrels …
