The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, a division of the Interior Department, is considering loosening regulations on the killing of bald eagles, the national bird of the United States, to accommodate the development of wind energy sources. A draft regulation first filed in April would allow businesses to apply for 30-year permits allowing them to kill bald eagles in the course of other legal activities. The length of those permits would be a six-fold increase over the five-year window allowed under current law. The USFWS explains at FederalRegister.gov: We have reviewed applications …
House leaders have reportedly struck a deal to vote on reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank next week despite strident opposition from conservatives. Heritage’s Bryan Riley has called it the “Fannie Mae for exporters.” The Export-Import Bank provides taxpayer-subsidized loans to U.S. exporters. The bank’s charter will expire at the end of May. President Obama supports a four-year extension and, further, wants to increase the bank’s $100 billion loan limit by an additional $40 billion. Speaking last week at Heritage, Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI) said the bank should be completely abolished. …
This is the last of our four-part series on Occupy Wall Street, transcribed from a recent Heritage Foundation event on the movement. In part four, Eric Teetsel, executive director of the Manhattan Declaration, explains why he’s hopeful about the Occupy movement. Teetsel believes some Occupiers, particularly young members of the movement, are headed in the right direction but need a helping hand on issues such as free enterprise, individual liberty, the rule of law and moral realism. Part 4: Capitalist Evangelism I was talking to my friend about this event …
A top activist for human rights in China warned on Thursday that if the United States wants to maintain its image as a global human rights leader, dissident Chen Gaungcheng and his family must join Secretary of State Hillary Clinton when she returns from China this week. Chen has become the center of a diplomatic firestorm after he was reportedly pressured by U.S. officials to leave the American embassy in Beijing. He may now face reprisal from the Chinese government, which has also imprisoned and tortured his wife since Chen …
This is the third of our four-part series on Occupy Wall Street, transcribed from a recent Heritage Foundation event on the movement. In part three, Ben Domenech, research fellow at the Heartland Institute and editor of The Transom, reflects on his own interaction with Occupiers and explains why he’s not ready to write them off. He argues that supporters of capitalism need to find a way to reach those who have become disillusioned. Part 3: The Untrained Grasshopper I wanted to talk about the response from the right to Occupy …
There are very real consequences to the Environmental Protection Agency’s continued efforts to undermine America’s coal industry. Those consequences were recently spotlighted in an industry-produced video, embedded above. Maria Tworek owns a sports bar in Omaha, Nebraska. “Our energy bills are sky-high,” Tworek explains. The bar has to keep its cooling facilities running 24/7 to keep all of its beer cold. If “we can’t cool our product, we don’t make money,” Tworek says. “It’s as simple as that.” The bar is Tworek’s livelihood. “This is how we live,” she says. …
This is the second part of our four-part series on Occupy Wall Street, transcribed from a recent Heritage Foundation event on the movement. In part two, Anne Sorock, partner and research director at the Frontier Lab, examines the protesters’ psychological motivations. In her research, Sorock found two distinct groups: the communitarians and the professionals. Read on for more details on her fascinating findings. Part 2: Communitarians vs. Professionals I’m getting somewhat known for my Manwich metaphors because one of my first jobs in marketing was brand management for Manwich. And …
Rebuilding Iraq during the raging insurgency was no easy task. It required ingenuity, courage and innovative ways to get the job done—sometimes with equipment that offered little protection from the car bombs and rocket attacks launched by America’s enemies. For veterans of the Iraq war like Col. Kerry Kachejian, it was a life-changing experience to work on the unprecedented reconstruction project. As an Army Reserve engineer, Kachejian was tasked with restoring some of the most basic services for the Iraqi people as well as building schools, hospitals and police stations. …
Public Comments Overwhelmingly Oppose HHS Anti-Conscience Mandate
Lachlan Markay
May 3, 2012 at 9:00 am
19 Comments
The federal website Regulations.gov released the first round of public comments on the administration’s proposed anti-conscience mandate on Wednesday. The comments were overwhelmingly opposed to the measure: out of 211 comments submitted, only six, less than 3%, offered support for the mandate. The mandate would require all organizations that offer health insurance to facilitate coverage of contraceptives and abortion-inducing drugs, even if such drugs violate those organizations’ religious or moral beliefs. The vast majority of the comments submitted focus on the mandate’s violation of Americans’ right of conscience, while a … More