The White House is spinning the U.S.–China summit as “quite unique and important meetings” between Presidents Obama and Xi, which resulted in “quite a bit of alignment” on North Korea. Harvard Professor Joseph Nye gushed, “This was the most important meeting between an American president and a Chinese leader in …
How much are we spending on education? Actually, far more than we know—because as it turns out, states are hiding some of the teachers’ benefits. In a new paper, Heritage expert Jason Richwine reveals that “Proper accounting would reveal tens of billions of dollars in extra teacher pension costs, equivalent …
What pain has sequester wrought at the federal Department of Education? Apparently, not much. The 4,200-person agency has just hired a new “executive director of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans.” Fox News reports that the position apparently commands a six-figure salary, as the new director—a …
In a globally competitive world, competition is key. Fundamental for competition is the rule of law, according to Myron Brilliant, Senior Vice President for International Affairs of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, who spoke at a recent Heritage Foundation event. In his remarks, which elaborated on a chapter he contributed …
One of the little known costs that taxpayers unwittingly pay is the Judgment Fund administered by the Treasury Department. This fund is used to pay “judicially and administratively ordered monetary awards against the United States” when it loses lawsuits, as well as settlements by the government of threatened or actual …
Author Christopher Horner joined the Bloggers Briefing this week to discuss his new book, The Liberal War on Transparency, and how citizen journalists can use the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to hold the government accountable. “You’ve got Issa oversight, and you’ve got you oversight—FOIA and state open records laws,” …
Transparency in government took a huge step forward on January 3. On that day, President Obama signed into law the Smith–Mundt Modernization Act as an amendment to the 2013 Defense Authorization Bill. With the new revision, State Department foreign programming may be broadcast in the United States, though it may …
Bipartisan outrage is a rarity in Washington these days, but the Obama Administration’s lack of transparency over Benghazi has provoked it. This $64,000 question occupied Congress in open and closed hearings last week as well as the Sunday talk shows: Who altered the Administration’s talking points on the Benghazi terrorist …
Followers of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have long joked that the fund’s acronym stands for “It’s Mostly Fiscal.” For a long time it has helped bail out basket-case economies with severe fiscal deficiencies, such as Greece, Russia, and Argentina. But a recent report shows that the IMF is now …
After three years of hyper-regulation, the Obama Administration has noticeably slowed its rulemaking in recent months. A variety of major rules have been parked in prolonged “review” by the White House, while the regulatory agenda required by statute has failed to materialize—twice. This flouting of the law is disturbing enough, …
