A District of Columbia city council member is calling on the city’s taxicab commission to allow competition to its “mediocre and unreliable” taxi services in the wake of a sting operation aimed at shutting down an innovative car service that officials say violates a number of city laws. If current law prohibits such competition, stated Mary M. Cheh (D-Ward 3), the law should be amended to allow for “improve[d] transportation options for residents and visitors alike.” Cheh’s statement comes days after city officials conducted a sting operation on Uber, an …
The violent crime rate in Washington, D.C., is up 13 percent since the Occupy D.C. protest began this fall as police officers have been pulled out of local neighborhoods and reassigned to the protest. The chairman of the local police union pinned the blame on the city’s redistribution of resources, noting that on some shifts between two and 18 neighborhood patrol officers have relocated to Occupy D.C. Those protesters are primarily based in McPherson Square and Freedom Plaza, two downtown locations near the White House. Fraternal Order of Police Chairman …
Peter Schweizer doesn’t have many friends on Capitol Hill these days. So few, in fact, that he was told not to even show his face at a congressional hearing on insider trading — even though that hearing was the direct result of his new book, “Throw Them All Out.” Schweizer, a fellow at the Hoover Institution, spoke at The Heritage Foundation this week about his research on the “permanent political class” in Washington, D.C., and the crony capitalism that has enraged so many across America. We caught up with him …
The Heritage Foundation will co-host a Republican presidential debate on foreign policy and national security with the American Enterprise Institute and CNN, officials of the two Washington-based think tanks and the worldwide cable news organization announced late tonight. The Republican candidates’ debate, scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 15, at 8 p.m. at a Washington location to be announced shortly, will air nationally on CNN and CNN en Español and worldwide on CNN International, CNN Radio and CNN.com. “Heritage is delighted to have this opportunity to increase public understanding of the candidates’ …
Today marks the anniversary of the first ever Presidential Inaugural Address under the Constitution. Let’s look at five that stand out. April 30, 1789, George Washington’s First Inaugural: Neither the Constitution nor Congress required Washington to deliver an inaugural. But Washington set the bar high for his successors. The only president to be unanimously elected, Washington admitted that he had hoped to retire to Mount Vernon, but, he declared, “I was summoned by my country, whose voice I can never hear but with veneration and love.” His presence was a …
Friday morning, a massive earthquake hit Japan and spawned a massive tsunami that is sweeping across the Pacific, requiring evacuation along the Hawaiian coast. This morning the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) issued an alert that “tsunami warnings and watches have been issued for the U.S. territories of Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands, as well as portions of coastal areas in Hawaii, Alaska, California, Oregon and Washington.” Damage and loss of life in Japan will be significant. We have to be concerned as well about the safety …
Earlier this month, liberals, leftists and unions staged a sparsely attended “march” in Washington called the “One Nation Rally.” After the event, Americans for Prosperity put together an excellent video that shows the great extent that socialists made up the audience. But now, Heritage has been sent video that shows Congressman John Conyers (D-MI) addressing the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) before the march. Conyers gives the crowd his thoughts on the Tea Party, the war in Afghanistan, President Obama and White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs. In the video, …
Each week, The Heritage Foundation features one of its more than 250,000 Facebook Fans on its “Featured Fan” page. This week’s fan is Michelle Creek, a college student in Spokane, Washington. Read her story, below, and be sure to become a fan on Facebook! Michelle Creek knew she had strong values while growing up on the banks of the Columbia River in Kennewick, Washington. She just wasn’t sure how to label them. “I was raised in a conservative Christian home, so that really framed a lot of the issues for …
Amid the partisan bickering and procedural conundrums of the health care bill last week, a small group of senators from both sides of the aisle found common ground in advocating for school choice in the District of Columbia. An amendment to reauthorize the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program for the next five years was brought to the floor Tuesday evening by Senator Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) and a bipartisan coalition of cosponsors including Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Susan Collins (R-ME), Robert Byrd (D-WV), and George Voinovich (R-OH). Although the Senate voted 42-55 …
This week Washington, D.C. became the second U.S. jurisdiction to lose the benefit of Catholic Charities’ adoption and foster care services over the issue of same-sex marriage. Early next month, barring Congressional or judicial intervention, the District of Columbia will become the sixth U.S. jurisdiction to authorize same-sex marriage. As the law developed last year, the Archdiocese of Washington, of which Catholic Charities is a part, endeavored to avoid a conflict between its social services and the new D.C. marriage law. The two major points of conflict involve the interaction …
