Driving the conversation: President Obama released his deficit reduction plan on Monday, which would reduce the national debt by $3 trillion over ten years through a variety of tax hikes, superficial cuts to Medicare and Medicaid, and by incorporating savings gleaned from drawing down America’s military presence in the Middle East. Taxes: As he is wont to do, Obama called on Congress – specifically, the supercommittee – to reform the tax code. The only tax changes included in the president’s plan are – surprise! – tax hikes. Those will include …
Catching you up on clips, commentary and news of the day. Sign up for the daily email update from Scribe. Russian ‘reset’ malfunction – Ariel Cohen How Obama can get re-elected: Act like Reagan – Neil Reynolds After $65 billion, Fannie and Freddie want more of your money – Abby W. Schachter Federal Reserve to Markets: You’re On Your Own Now – Elizabeth MacDonald Obamacare Hides $50 Billion in Annual Costs – Tom O’Connell Sweden: Wealth Management In A “Social Democracy” – Max Skjönsberg Wisconsin GOP ‘Darling’ Deals Democrats a Blow …
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D–NV) introduced legislation to raise the debt ceiling this week. In evaluating his plans for future government spending, it becomes clear that budgeting for prudent defense is considered just another line item. While Americans intuitively know that national security is unlike any other category of federal spending, it is often treated with inherent bias through insider budgeting methods. Congress tends to selectively ignore what are called “baselines” used for comparing different spending proposals. This is convenient if a Member of Congress wants to generate more …
In his speech last week on the war in Afghanistan, President Barack Obama uttered some magic words that sent a few of America’s anti-war mayors into a big-spending tizzy. The Heritage Foundation’s President Ed Feulner explains in today’s Washington Times: “For most of us, it’s the season of sun, sand and backyard barbecues. But the U.S. Conference of Mayors seems to think it’s Christmas. And all because of one key sentence in President Obama’s recent address on withdrawing forces from Afghanistan more quickly: ‘America, it is time to focus on nation-building here …
President Obama’s announced plan for accelerated troop reductions in Afghanistan puts at risk the hard-earned battlefield gains made by the coalition forces over the last 10 months, but he rightly highlighted significant progress in training Afghan security forces: Afghan security forces have grown by over 100,000 troops, and in some provinces and municipalities we’ve already begun to transition responsibility for security to the Afghan people. In the face of violence and intimidation, Afghans are fighting and dying for their country, establishing local police forces…” Progress in preparing Afghan security forces …
The nation’s two highest-ranking military commanders have gone on record raising serious concerns about President Obama’s flawed plan to bring 33,000 troops home from Afghanistan by September 2012. The outgoing Commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, General David Petraeus, said during Senate hearings last week that the troop withdrawal was “a more aggressive formulation…than what we had recommended.” Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen echoed Petraeus when he noted the danger in moving U.S. troops out of Afghanistan too quickly, saying it will “incur …
In the face of an unpopular war and an upcoming re-election campaign, President Barack Obama addressed the American people last night from the East Room of the White House to inform them of his plans to rapidly withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan. The President’s decision, though politically expedient, jeopardizes the successes made in Afghanistan over the last 10 months and will signal to allies and enemies alike that the United States is more committed to extricating itself from the fight than it is to ensuring that stability in the region is achieved. The …
President Obama’s plan for a hasty withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan risks squandering the hard-won gains made on the battlefield in southern Afghanistan over the last ten months. U.S. military commanders on the ground in Afghanistan had reportedly requested a slower pace of withdrawal to afford them the opportunity to consolidate recent gains against Taliban insurgents. President Obama has denied his military commanders flexibility to determine the pace and scope of withdrawal based on conditions on the ground, and instead appears to have based his decision largely around the …
It’s a big day in Washington for domestic and foreign news. This morning the Congressional Budget Office releases its annual Long-Term Budget Outlook. Then in the evening President Obama outlines his Afghanistan withdrawal plan in a primetime address beginning at 8. There are two noteworthy events happening at Heritage today: Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) visits at 9 a.m. to talk about making REAL ID a reality. Then at 10:30 a.m. we’ll host Arun Jaitley, leader of the Indian opposition in the Rajya Sabha. Jaitley (center in photo) will discuss how …
Last week, Waad Ramadan Alwan and his cousin Mohanad Shareef Hammadi were arrested in Bowling Green, Kentucky. The men, both Iraqi refugees, had been allegedly picking up machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades from a nearby storage facility and delivering them to be shipped to al-Qaeda. It seems that the men never had any plans to attack targets in the United States, keeping them from being added to the ranks of the 39 publically known terrorist plots against the United States since 9/11. However, the incident does serve as a chilling …
