This morning we admonished the House for using its time to pass meaningless contempt citations instead of debating essential FISA revisions that are set to expire at midnight Saturday. Now it turns out that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi adjourned Congress early to rush home for her daughter’s wedding. The Heritage …
Writing to President Bush regarding vital reforms to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), House Intelligence Committee Chair Silvestre Reyes (D-Tex.) noted that the Preamble to our Constitution states that one of the highest duties of public officials is to “provide for the common defense.” Reyes goes on to claim …
Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) has crafted a conservative agenda for the 2008 session consisting of 10 legislative ideas that he and his conservative allies in the Senate will force debate on this year. As chairman of the Senate Steering Committee, DeMint holds a unique role among Republicans. He will outline …
The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and New York Times all had major stories on congressional earmark spending today. But while the media are beginning to pay attention to the corruption of pork-barrel spending, the House leadership is still using earmarks as a political tool to reward loyal freshman members. …
In the wake of 9/11, our antiquated laws on enemy combatant detention and foreign surveillance were exposed. Designed to regulate state-on-state action, our laws did not adequately address the detention of the enemy during wartime. Not until the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005 did Congress adequately fill in the gaps …
According to the Los Angeles Times, “After Backlash, Berkeley Welcomes Marines,” and according to the Associated Press, “Berkeley Eases Anti-Marines Stance.” Nothing could be further from the truth. The San Jose Mercury News got it right: “Berkeley Council Becomes Home to Intolerance.” In order to arrive at their misleading headlines, …
Writing in Human Events, W. Thomas Smith, Jr. reminds us of Adam Smith’s first duty of government: “protecting the society from the violence and invasion of other independent societies.” To that end Republican lawmakers are pushing a proposal to set a floor on military spending at 4% of GDP. Congressional …
House Republicans scored a significant victory in their war on earmarks today when influential Democrat Rep. Henry Waxman, chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, broke with party leaders to call for an immediate moratorium on earmarks in 2009 spending bills. I think our best approach would be to …
