Pork producers are speaking out against legislation that would give federal regulators the authority to mandate cage sizes for egg-laying hens. They’re worried it could lead to a slippery slope that increases red tape for farmers on a range of issues. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-OR), would impose costs between $4 billion and $10 billion on farm production, according to industry estimates. The legislation requires conventional cages to be replaced with new colony housing for hens — about double their normal size. Among the bill’s other requirements: …
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its Budget and Economic Outlook for years 2012 to 2022 yesterday, and as Heritage’s Patrick Knudsen shows, the numbers add up to a dismal fiscal future. As the government continues its fiscal irresponsibility, 2012 will be the fourth straight year of trillion-dollar deficits. This trend is on track to continue as a result of increasing federal spending on health care, which will more than double between 2012 and 2022. The CBO estimates that by 2022, the government will spend $1.8 trillion on health care, …
Tuesday’s deadline for retailers to dispose of any unsold cribs has come and gone, but won’t soon be forgotten. Americans are speaking out about the unintended consequences of the government’s regulatory efforts. Commissioner Anne Northup of the Consumer Product Safety Commission posted reactions on her blog. Northup and Nancy Nord, a fellow Republican commissioner, sought to extend Tuesday’s deadline when they learned more than 100,000 cribs would need to be trashed. None of the cribs have been deemed unsafe or a hazard to children. Despite their pleas, the CPSC’s three …
One of the more controversial – and unconstitutional – components of health care reform President Barack Obama signed into law yesterday is Congress’ mandate that individuals purchase health insurance or face a fine. The Heritage Foundation has documented that there is no provision in the Constitution empowering Congress to force Americans to buy a good or service. What’s more, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office agrees the mandate is entirely unprecedented. So where does Congress get the authority to justify that provision? On Friday, CNSNews.com went to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. John …
Yesterday, the European Commission published a paper which looked at the U.S. mandate requiring scanning of 100 percent of the U.S. bound cargo containers. The July 1, 2012, deadline for implementation is drawing nearer, and U.S. trading partners are beginning to get engaged. The conclusion of the report – that the 100 percent mandate is the wrong course for the global supply chain – is dead-on in its assessment. The European Commission is nervous of this mandate for the same reasons Americans should be. It’s costly-and even more so because …
The Senate voted this evening by a 60-39 majority to commence debate on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s bill that would radically expand government control over private health care decisions. The bill is over 2000 pages long, costs an estimated $2.5 trillion over the first ten years of implementation and carries a half trillion dollars in new taxes. Many Americans have to be thinking right now — they have heard from their dissenting constituents at Town Hall meetings and have seen the poll numbers for Obama’s health care bill dropping …
This Morning Bell is the third in a five-part week-long series on how Obamacare will affect you. The scariest part about yesterday’s Senate Finance Committee vote passing its version of Obamacare, is not what is in their bill (to the extent that it even exists), but that the Finance Committee bill promises to be the high water mark for “bipartisanship” in health care reform. Now all of the other bills will be merged together behind the closed doors. All the bills are fundamentally flawed and will only get worse as …
Nothing New Here Same Objectionable Features: A public plan disguised as a co-op, individual and employer mandates, massive federal regulation over insurance and benefits, and massive Medicaid expansion—the Baucus bill has them all. These are the same features plaguing the other bills in Congress and that Americans have routinely dismissed for months. Seven Fatal Flaws Middle Class Tax Hike: The Baucus bill would impose a new sales tax on drugs and medical devices and a new federal excise tax on insurance plans that exceed $8,000 for an individual and $21,000 …
Yesterday the Center for American Progress boldly proclaimed that Barack Obama’s 6-point popular voter victory represented “A Progressive Mandate.” Really? How many millions of dollars did the Obama campaign spend on TV commercials in the closing weeks to convince Americans that Obama would enact policies the Center for American Progress supported? Zero. Meanwhile, Obama did blanket the airwaves with an ad claiming The Heritage Foundation, a well-established conservative think tank, supported his tax policies. Obama’s claims were clearly false. But his campaign’s insistence on airing the ads after our continued …
