It is gratifying to see President Barack Obama condemn the disgraceful storming of the British Embassy in Tehran by thugs acting at the behest of the Iranian regime. After all, Obama has been notoriously slow in the past to criticise the brutal actions of the Iranian government after initially extending the hand of friendship to it. But did he really need to make another embarrassing foreign policy gaffe while doing so? In a press conference this evening, the president referred in stumbling fashion to the “English Embassy” in Iran instead …
It is an old saying that “Businesses get the union they deserve.” Workers whose companies treat them poorly unionize; workers who are treated well do not. President Obama’s National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) wants to shorten this adage. His NLRB wants businesses to get unionized, period. This would hurt both workers and the economy. Only one in 10 nonunion workers say they want to unionize. Union membership has shrunk to just 7 percent in the private sector. It is easy to see why: In a competitive economy, unions have a …
American Airlines announced today that it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, making it the final large U.S. full-fare airline to seek court protection from creditors. One of the primary reasons? American is at a disadvantage because of high labor costs, proving that in a competitive economy, unions can’t do much for their members without sending companies into bankruptcy. American had struggled after 9/11 to avoid heading to bankruptcy as its rivals did in the hopes of securing favorable contract agreements with labor unions. The unions though, had other …
Last week, millions of Americans tuned in to CNN to watch eight presidential contenders debate foreign policy and national security issues live from Washington D.C.’s Constitution Hall. Questions were asked by policy experts from The Heritage Foundation and the American Enterprise Institute, the co-hosts of debate. Critics agree that it was the “most substantive” debate of the season. Here are a few of those reactions. What did you think? Let us know in the comments below! … a substantive debate that brought to the fore differences among candidates on a …
The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) is a well-meaning law that is hopelessly overbroad. It starts from an unobjectionable premise—there ought to be a law that makes it a crime to hack into someone else’s computer without their permission—but it has gone off the rails. The policy prescriptions to fix it offered by the trio of Senators Chuck Grassley (R–IA), Al Franken (D–MN), and Mike Lee (R–UT) are far superior to the competing effort being advanced by Senator Patrick Leahy (D–VT), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The problem …
Following last week’s GOP presidential debate, the phrase “red card” has been thrown around quite a bit. No, we’re not talking about soccer penalties or black Friday shopping at Target. We’re talking about the Krieble Foundation’s “Red Card Solution” for U.S. immigration and border security. Since the concept was raised in last week’s debate, critics have dismissed the proposal, claiming it is nothing more than a back-door amnesty and would serve only to make the problem of illegal immigration worse. Hellen E. Krieble, founder and president of the Krieble Foundation, …
A beleaguered Indian federal government tried last week to break out of its rut and boost what is finally recognized as a struggling Indian economy. It did so with a bold and valuable decision to expand foreign participation in retail. Foreign companies will be able to wholly own single-brand stores and majority-own multi-brand stores. There are a number of qualifiers to this long-awaited liberalization, including the right for Indian states to say no, which several have already exercised loudly. These state governments are making an error, as are the national …
Iranian protesters illegally broke into two British Embassy compounds in Tehran today as police stood by idly, and the attack was broadcast live on Iranian television. It is unclear as yet whether British diplomatic personnel were harmed or taken hostage. Iran’s semi-official Mehr news agency reported that six British officials had been taken hostage but withdrew the story from its website minutes later without explanation. Iran’s rogue regime once again has exhibited a flagrant defiance of international law by failing to protect the embassy compounds, and it undoubtedly orchestrated the …
The Grumpy Troll Restaurant and Brewpub is one of over 22,000 companies that received $16,000 cash grants from the federal government to install solar panels on their roofs as part of the 1603 Treasury grant program, a 2009 stimulus bill provision that provides cash grants to help foot the bill of renewable energy projects, mostly wind and solar but also biomass, landfill gas, fuel cells and geothermal heat projects. The 1603 program was set to expire at the end of 2010 but was extended another year. The government has doled …
The Heritage Foundation and the State Government Leadership Foundation are hosting an exciting event on December 7 at Heritage on the Electoral College and the proposed “National Popular Vote” (NPV) plan. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (KY) and the chief election officials of five states, Secretaries of State Beth Chapman (Alabama), Tre Hargett (Tennessee), Delbert Hosemann (Mississippi), Kris Kobach (Kansas), and Matt Schultz (Iowa), will discuss the advantages of the Electoral College and the political, practical, and constitutional problems with the NPV. As our Heritage Legal Memorandum explains, the NPV …
