The Heritage Foundation and The Mackinac Center for Public Policy are hosting a Michigan Pre-Republican Presidential Debate Reception and Townhall on Wednesday, November 9, 2011, from 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at The Red Ox Tavern in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The townhall will explore issues important to conservative voters in advance of the CNBC | Michigan Republican Party presidential debate at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan. The townhall will feature the following speakers: Mike Brownfield, Assistant Director of Strategic Communications at The Heritage Foundation Jack Spencer, Capitol affairs specialist for Michigan Capitol Confidential, a news …
Imagine a high-speed train zooming down hundreds of miles of glistening train track stretching across sunny California, connecting Anaheim to San Francisco. It’s a bullet train dream, and it’s a prime example of President Barack Obama’s latest plan to create jobs in America. The trouble is that this dream is far from reality. The Los Angeles Times reported this week that the California high-speed train–which is funded in part by $3 billion in federal grants from President Obama’s stimulus–is now expected to cost $98 billion, twice what was expected, and will …
Bowing to competitive pressures, Bank of America yesterday scrapped plans to impose a monthly debit card fee. The proposed charge antagonized customers and provoked vitriol from politicians all too eager to deflect blame for the dumb regulations that prompted the fee in the first place. But as much as one might wish for an end to this whole sordid affair, this isn’t it. Nor will there be a satisfactory resolution until lawmakers reverse the policy blunder. The debit card fees are a direct consequence of the so-called Durbin Amendment, a …
FamilyFacts.org has increasingly become a trusted hub for policymakers and researchers searching out the latest charts and social science research on family, religion, and community issues. One factor spurring this growth is an informative short feature now airing on more than 370 radio stations nationwide, also called Family Facts. Marriage and Poverty As Heritage’s Family & Religion Initiative has revealed through original research, strong marriages and intact families are connected to thriving communities in endless ways. These facts are reliable. As on the popular website FamilyFacts.org, the radio feature cites …
Make sure to listen to a recent radio interview with Nicholas Wapshott, author of the new book, “Keynes Hayek: The Clash That Defined Modern Economics.” What was the relationship between Keynes and Hayek really like? Why did Keynesian thought dominate from WWII until 1980? Why did Hayekian thought dominate from 1980 until the recent crisis? Which thought will utlimately win? What’s an important lesson economists and policymakers can take away from this book today? Be sure to listen to answers to these questions and more by listening to the link above!
Tomorrow, the Senate Judiciary Committee will begin debate on legislation that would repeal the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). In 1996, Congress passed DOMA by wide margins, and President Clinton signed the bill into law. DOMA defines marriage as one man and one woman for purposes of federal law and makes clear that no state is required to recognize a same-sex marriage from another state. In July, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on legislation that would repeal DOMA. Austin Nimocks, senior legal counsel with the Alliance Defense …
Moscow has shown yet again that it is determined to protect Iran’s controversial nuclear program. Russia and China have asked Yukiya Amano, the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) director general, to stall U.S.-backed plans to publicize information on Iran’s nuclear program. This information is available in a diplomatic note acquired by the Associated Press. As the leaked IAEA document suggests, Moscow and Beijing should not provide international cover to Tehran’s burgeoning nuclear program. Even the Soviets knew better than that. The “reset” policy paradigm between U.S. and Russia continues to …
After President Barack Obama entered the White House in 2009, U.S. embassies around the world apparently felt that foreigners still did not know enough about him, despite the unprecedented blaze of global publicity surrounding his election. As has been remarked, U.S. public diplomacy in the age of Obama often amounts to the same thing as publicity for the President himself, with American institutions serving as megaphones for his political message. Embassies in countries from France to Indonesia decided that the American taxpayer would like to give away copies of Obama’s …
Two years ago, then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D–CA) shocked many Americans by dismissing a question about Obamacare’s constitutionality with the flippant retort: “Are you serious? Are you serious?” So much for the oath she swore to “support and defend” the Constitution. By comparison, the current Speaker of House, John Boehner (R–OH) demonstrates that he takes his oath far more seriously. Raising concerns about Obama’s recent decision to bypass Congress and unilaterally change student loan and mortgage policy, Speaker Boehner pledged that the House will keep “a very close eye on …
In the 2008 election, Senator Barack Obama reached out to young Americans with a fresh message that appealed to their dissatisfaction with the nation’s political process. He called it hope and change, and he connected with their hearts and minds with such success that he captured 66 percent of the vote of those under 30. Now, three years later, some of those young Americans have taken to the streets not in joy and exuberance but in anger and frustration. President Obama has heard their call, and he’s now appealing once again to …
