In what was billed as doctors trekking across the country to enthusiastically support President Barrack Obama’s health care agenda, his press conference at the White House on Monday was in need of serious resuscitation. From a lackluster response among the 150 doctors (outfitted in their “spiffy-looking” white coats lest we forgot who they were) at the event to Obama’s same go-to talking points to justify massive federal spending and Washington control of health care, it’s hard to understand how this conference added any value or differentiation from the dozens of …
One year ago today, a bipartisan Congress voted to lift the ban on oil and gas drilling off America’s coasts and cleared the way for our Nation to responsibly develop more of our own energy resources, reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and create new jobs. Next, the Bush Administration put forward a robust plan that would open up additional areas to drilling on the United States Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). However, immediately after taking office, the Obama Administration threw up a giant roadblock on the path to new American …
Newly-anointed American Enterprise Institute President Arthur Brooks spoke at Heritage’s weekly Blogger Briefing today (listen here). He addressed the fact that conservatives must establish new language and new messages to remind Americans of the moral necessity of a culture of free enterprise. “Overwhelming majorities of Americans prefer the free market system,” he said, in an animated 50-minute discussion. “Entrepreneurship and local communities are the single best ways to lift people out of poverty…We have the goods to do what [liberals] say they want to do. We have the data and …
Today’s Wall Street Journal reports that investment in renewable energies, and the green jobs that go with it, is being stifled by the stimulus. How? No one knows where, when, or if the stimulus money from Washington will arrive, sowing uncertainty among investors and businesses alike: New incentive programs haven’t yet been defined, and uncertainty about program rules has deterred investors from backing companies that also may get government money. At the same time, companies are holding off from accepting private capital because of the possibility of getting it more …
“We’ll Need To Raise Taxes Soon” opines Roger Altman, a former Deputy Treasury Secretary under President Clinton, in a Wall Street Journal editorial today. Of course, he comes to this conclusion because deficits are high, excessive entitlement spending continues to darken the budget outlook, and, well, that’s the solution he most desires. Of course, he’s wrong, again. President Obama and his congressional allies have accomplished a remarkable bait-and-switch. Remember the Obama directive to his cabinet to hunt down budget savings? Nothing. Remember going through the budget line by line? Nothing. …
On a blogger conference call this morning, Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) discussed a bill he introduced last week that would distribute the Federal government’s recently acquired GM and Chrysler stock to taxpaying Americans. “Instead of the Treasury owning 60 percent of shares in the new GM and 8 percent of Chrysler, you would own them, if you were one of about 120 million individuals who paid taxes on April 15,” Alexander explained. “This is the fastest way to get the stock out of the hands of Washington and back into …
From June 4th’s Wall Street Journal: Like a magician who artfully controls his audience’s attention, the government’s General Motors investment is all about financial diversion. Here’s the fancy trick: It won’t be very hard for a revamped GM to succeed at making a buck. Its debts will be cut from about $73 billion to about $17 billion. Its labor costs will be reduced by as much as $2 billion a year. On Wednesday, GM got even more help. GMAC, which funds dealers and car buyers, began issuing $3.5 billion in …
Writing in the Wall Street Journal this morning, Education Secretary Arne Duncan argued that the focus of school reform efforts should be doing what’s best for kids: “We must close the achievement gap by pursuing what works best for kids, regardless of ideology. In the path to a better education system, that’s the only test that really matters.” That’s refreshing to hear, since politics too often gets in the way of reforms that work best for children. But at this point, how can anyone take Secretary Duncan at his word?
The Wall Street Journal printed an article today on the high costs of new nuclear power in the United States. But guess what? Energy prices are escalating across the board. And much of the price increase is because commodity prices for products like cement, steel and copper are rising. Then there are the labor costs. No new nuclear plants have been built in decades and those with the experience and skill to build new plants can command top pay. Many of these problems, however, are not unique to the nuclear …
