When Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) asked Attorney General Eric Holder to explain the letters concerning Fast and Furious that were withdrawn by DOJ because they were “inaccurate,” as well other misstatements by Holder’s Justice Department in the investigation of the gun-walking disaster, Holder was quick to his own defense, arguing that no one lied. “Tell me what’s the difference between lying and misleading Congress, in this context?” Sensenbrenner asked. “Well, if you want to have this legal conversation, it all has to do with your state of mind and whether …
House Cloakroom: December 12 – December 16 Analysis: This week the House will take up two large year end packages. The first will be the extension of the payroll tax cut, unemployment insurance, TANF and the “doc fix.” The cost of the bill is offset through a federal pay freeze, means testing of Medicare, flood insurance reform and increases in fees for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The bill also includes a provision to speed approval of the Keystone XL pipeline and stop the EPA’s Boiler MACT regulations. The House …
An attack on the British embassy in Tehran. A desperate pursuit of nuclear weapons. A plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador in Washington. Alone, any one of these actions by Iran’s regime would be cause for alarm, but taken together they make it undeniably clear that the Iranian threat cannot be ignored. Now, there is news of another effort by Iran to take aim at the United States, this time coming from Latin America. Heritage’s Israel Ortega and James Phillips explain: Iran is conducting anti-U.S. operations from Latin America, including …
President Obama and Republicans in Congress continue to wage war over an extension of the payroll tax cut. But missing from the debate is any discussion of comprehensive tax reform that would eliminate payroll taxes altogether. Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes are the second-largest source of federal revenue, surpassed only by personal income taxes. This week’s chart from Heritage’s 2011 Budget Chart Book depicts federal revenue by source. That chart would look quite different if Heritage’s tax-reform plan were enacted into law. That plan, part of the Saving the …
Peter Schweizer doesn’t have many friends on Capitol Hill these days. So few, in fact, that he was told not to even show his face at a congressional hearing on insider trading — even though that hearing was the direct result of his new book, “Throw Them All Out.” Schweizer, a fellow at the Hoover Institution, spoke at The Heritage Foundation this week about his research on the “permanent political class” in Washington, D.C., and the crony capitalism that has enraged so many across America. We caught up with him …
Rhetoric and material strength go hand-in-hand to form the core of any coherent foreign policy. Drawing on his vast wealth of experience as a career Foreign Service officer under President Ronald Reagan, Charles Hill recently discussed the importance of having a comprehensive grand strategy. According to Hill, “rhetoric is important, but it has to be backed up.” This is an area where America’s foreign policy currently falls short. Using Reagan’s Soviet policy as an example, Hill highlighted the importance of backing up any confrontational rhetoric with military, economic, and diplomatic …
Syria remains a holdout in the Middle East against the forces of popular discontent. The regime of Bashar al-Assad has so far stayed in power throughout the Arab uprisings where the autocrats of Egypt, Tunisia, and Libya have failed. Other regimes have been forced to make political changes. If you listen to Assad himself, in his recent—rather surreal—interview with Barbara Walters, the reason he is still in power is the great love the Syrian people have for him. Indeed, he told Walters, so secure is he in their affections that …
What explains such passionate philosophical disagreement between the Occupy Wall Street movement and the Tea Party? The seemingly insurmountable divide between left and right is perhaps most clearly understood by their respective concepts of human nature. As understood by our Founders, human nature is innate. In the words of the Declaration of Independence, individuals are “endowed by their creator” with “natural rights,” among which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Beyond that, individuals are born with different faculties and talents. Government should allow individuals to freely cultivate these …
In a rare scenario in Washington, common sense trumped politics this week as the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) prevented the controversial Plan B drug from being sold to girls younger than 17 without a prescription. On Wednesday, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius overruled a recommendation by the Food and Drug Administration to allow the over-the-counter sale of Plan B, enabling young girls to buy the drug without first consulting a doctor or parent. Agreeing with Secretary Sebelius’s decision, President Obama remarked yesterday: I think it is important for …
The United States Coast Guard is being left behind in the Arctic. While countries such as Russia are building up their icebreaker fleet and actively increasing their presence in the Arctic, the United States is losing its only form of sovereignty in the region. On December 1, Rear Admiral Jeffrey M. Garrett, U.S. Coast Guard, testified before Congress on protecting U.S. sovereignty in the Arctic. He stated in Second Line of Defense that “the Icebreaker fleet represents the main surface presence that the U.S. can exert in what is essentially …
