Opinion and commentary on news, politics, culture, and policy impact.
On May 18, the Obama administration issued a new rule on overtime pay for employees, which at a stroke effectively turned millions of salaried employees into hourly employees eligible for overtime pay. It was roundly (and rightly) condemned by employers and business groups nationwide, ranging from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to the National Council…
The U.S. House of Representatives recently took a first step to enact the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for the fiscal year 2017 into law. The bill is one of the major congressional vehicles to advance policies related to U.S. national security issues. The NDAA advances several important nuclear weapons and missile defense policy positions….
Is Memorial Day a vestigial holiday? Today, a plurality of Americans believe it was a mistake to drop the atomic bombs and many have little understanding of World War II, the Korean War, or the Civil War. It is our duty, not just to commemorate our fallen soldiers, but to understand the causes and principles…
America’s beloved 40th president, Ronald Reagan, spoke at Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day in 1986. His speech reminds us to be thankful for the valor of others and that Memorial Day is a time to remember the “splendor of America” and those who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.
President Barack Obama’s speech at Hiroshima was a poignant discourse on the horrors of war. He spoke eloquently of the death of innocent lives and the hope for a better tomorrow. But his trip is fraught with the potential for misinterpretation. As the end of his presidency approaches, Obama sought to resurrect his utopian vision…
Last summer, the editor of Science wrote a commentary on climate change where she said, “The time for debate has ended.” After appealing to policies based on economic knowledge she doesn’t have, she finished with speculation as to which ring of Dante’s Inferno would God designate for climate skeptics. All in all, it was an…
On Thursday, five U.S. senators sent a letter to Attorney General Loretta Lynch demanding that she stop using Justice Department “law enforcement resources to stifle private debate on one of the most controversial public issues of our time—climate change.” Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Mike Lee, R-Utah, Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., David Perdue, R-Ga., and David Vitter,…
During the mid-2000s, I attended my son’s graduation from the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia, in a ceremony where the commencement address was given by then-Secretary of Defense Bob Gates. Like many who attend graduations, I have no recall of what Gates said to the collective students, faculty, and families that day. I do…
On Wednesday, 42 Republican members of Congress joined the Democrats to vote for President Barack Obama’s transgender agenda. Now they’re trying to spin their vote. These 42 Republicans voted for the Maloney amendment, which ratified Obama’s 2014 executive order barring private businesses who do contract work for the government from engaging in what the government…
The Obama administration’s controversial efforts to sell the flawed Iran nuclear deal continue to reverberate, after Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes gave an ill-advised interview to The New York Times Magazine in which he bragged about the media “echo chamber” he built in collaboration with like-minded journalists and nongovernmental organizations. Even observers who agreed…
Back in March 2014, Stanford University’s Graduate Student Council revoked funding and demanded exorbitant security fees (over $5,000!) from the Student Anscombe Society related to its event on traditional marriage, which featured Heritage fellow Ryan T. Anderson. Selectively charging outrageous security fees in order to make student leaders “voluntarily” shut down events that college administrations…
The latest development in Congress’s ambition to achieve “regular order” is the push to reauthorize the water resources development programs last authorized in 2014. But one provision in the House’s bill would actually work against Congress’s ambition for order by moving a large portion of spending out of the regular appropriations process. Both the House…
European Union checklist for May 2016: 1) Greek Loans Rolled Over (again!)—Check! 2) Crisis Averted (again!)—Check! 3) Structural Problems in Greece Left Unsolved (again!)—Check! To an outsider, at least, that seems to be a good summary of how the European Union handled the most recent chapter in the Greek debt crisis. After the latest round…
Hollywood has always loved making films about the walking dead, but in Southern California it appears they have a real life problem with “zombie” voters. An investigation by CBSLA2 and KCAL9 found that hundreds of deceased persons are still on voter registration rolls in the area, and that many of these names have been voting…
As the United States continues to struggle with adequately funding its armed forces, other nations around the world are developing impressive military capabilities. Case in point: In a recent article published by The Guardian, China is set to deploy nuclear powered ballistic missile submarines, or what many in the naval community affectionately call “boomers,” armed…
A recent study by The Heritage Foundation revealed that President Barack Obama has created a whopping total of 20,642 regulations during his presidency. Now that he’s in his final year in office, we face an additional 2,000 proposed rules he intends to push through to complete his tarnished legacy. Businesses cannot be expected to thrive and…
On Wednesday, the Senate passed a joint resolution that will effectively put an end to one of the most egregious programs that exists today: the U.S. Department of Agriculture catfish inspection program. It’s actually disappointing that the vote was as close as it was—55-43. It may sound a bit silly, admittedly, but this program created…
On Wednesday night, 42 Republican members of Congress joined the Democrats to vote for President Barack Obama’s transgender agenda. Whereas last week Congress voted to reject this proposal—known as the Maloney amendment—last night they voted to ratify Obama’s 2014 executive order barring federal contractors from what it describes as “discrimination” on the basis of “sexual orientation and…
A back-hoe operator accidentally struck an oil pipeline in Alaska in 1994, and 1,000 to 5,000 gallons of oil spilled into the Skagway River. The Environmental Protection Agency had his supervisor—who was at home and off-duty at the time of the accident—criminally prosecuted for negligent discharge under the Clean Water Act. A district court sentenced…
Congress’s latest attempt to address the Puerto Rico debt crisis is winning applause in some conservative quarters. The Wall Street Journal editorialized favorably, claiming that PROMESA, the acronym for H.R. 5278, “applies market reform principles to an urgent problem.” Writing in Forbes, the Conservative Reform Network’s Ryan Ellis called the bill “a conservative win,” one…