Opinion and commentary on news, politics, culture, and policy impact.
The burden of federal regulation on the U.S. economy has often been compared to a tax. Unlike ordinary taxation, however, these regulatory burdens are not accounted for in the federal budget. Unfortunately, the vision is as unattainable as it is tempting. Some members of Congress would like to create a “regulatory budget” specifically to limit…
Maybe parallel universes really do exist. Maybe, as my husband and I hiked through the deep, dark forest a few years ago, we somehow crossed through a portal, a stargate into another dimension—a universe that, superficially at least, looks quite similar to the one I’d known most of my life. I almost hope that’s true….
Recent remarks by Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes to the New York Times shows us that the National Security Council (NSC) as an institution is urgently in need of an overhaul. Rhodes, who handles the president’s strategic communications, takes pride in how he sold the Iran nuclear deal to the American press. In the absence…
It’s almost summer, so that means that the United States Senate and House of Representatives will take up—again—more legislation related to the terrorist detention facility at Guantanamo Bay (Gitmo), Cuba. Gitmo legislation has been a favorite political football for both parties, regardless of which party is in the majority. And this year is no different….
Washington’s summer spending spree is off to a very bad start for taxpayers. Congress couldn’t agree on a budget deal earlier this spring, but that isn’t stopping them from passing spending bills at historic levels. And President Barack Obama is fully engaged in budget gimmickry as well. The good news is that the majority of…
For nations all around the world, as well as right here at home, lawmakers struggle with how to achieve economic and social progress. Data collected annually in the Index of Economic Freedom demonstrate that the principles of economic freedom have a strong positive impact on the global economy and poverty. As economic freedom has increased…
(Moderate spoilers involved.) Is winter actually never coming again? A new Vox video portrays a theory that the hit fantasy drama “Game of Thrones” is actually all about catastrophic manmade global warming. However, a more accurate connection is that both are simply science fiction. In “Game of Thrones,” White Walkers—terrifying humanoid/zombie ice men so fearsome that…
We’ve all had to awkwardly stand in line at airport security as the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) herds hundreds of passengers to departure gates. Long lines only add to the already stressful event of flying. Our current airport security process has become a running joke (along with long waits at the DMV or the “simplicity” of doing…
There is a lot going on in Southeast Asia. The United States has conducted another freedom of navigation operation in the area of several disputed islands. The American Aegis destroyer USS William P. Lawrence sailed within 12 nautical miles of the artificial Chinese island built atop Fiery Cross Reef. Because Fiery Cross Reef began as a…
On May 13th, the Obama administration issued “guidance” to school districts across the nation purporting to require them to allow biological boys unfettered access to girls’ lockers, showers, and bathrooms or risk losing federal education funds. On the same day it issued a new Obamacare regulation requiring federally-funded physicians, hospitals, and insurers to assist or…
The tide of red tape that threatens to drown U.S. consumers and businesses surged yet again in 2015, according to a Heritage Foundation study we released on Monday. More than $22 billion per year in new regulatory costs were imposed on Americans last year More than $22 billion per year in new regulatory costs were…
The federal regulatory state is out of control. It is out of control economically, costing Americans between $1 trillion and $2 trillion per year in artificially inflated prices. And it is out of control politically, as federal bureaucrats now write upwards of 95 percent of all new federal “laws” without winning a single vote in Congress or…
Last week, the Senate passed legislation to address and prevent the spread of the Zika virus. However, the Senate failed to pay for it, and instead approved a $1.1 billion “emergency” spending supplemental bill that is not subject to the budgetary caps that were agreed to last year. While congressional inattention to the budget crisis…
U.S. officials say they are confident that a drone strike carried out in Pakistan’s Baluchistan province on Saturday killed top Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansour. The strike is a bold move by the U.S. that represents a long overdue shift in strategy toward the Taliban. The strike is a bold move by the U.S….
The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), which is the government agency whose mission includes providing the president and Congress with independent analysis of international trade issues, recently released a 787-page report on the proposed Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement between the United States and a dozen other countries. The results were not surprising. According to the…
The Obama administration has proposed regulatory changes in payment for Medicare Part B drugs. They’re looking to impose a broad, multi-year change through a demonstration project. Medicare demonstrations routinely test payment or delivery models in pilot programs, make a report to Congress—and lawmakers then either enact or reject the model as a statutory basis for…
This election season has made many Americans even more cynical about our democratic system of government. There is clearly political upheaval underway in America and around the world. This massive disturbance of the status quo has been fueled in large part by more people getting better, faster information from many sources on the internet. Previously,…
On Thursday, the House of Representatives voted to reject the Maloney Amendment. The Maloney Amendment would have ratified President Barack Obama’s executive order barring federal contractors from what it describes as “discrimination” on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in their private employment policies. And, of course, “discrimination” on the basis of gender identity…
A House committee released the third draft of a bill aimed at helping Puerto Rico address its debt crisis. The Puerto Rico Oversight, Management and Economic Security Act (PROMESA) has drawn praise from Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., quite an achievement for a Republican speaker. However, bipartisanship does not guarantee good policy. Stay of Litigation The…
To say the bilateral relationship between the United States and the People’s Republic of China is ‘complex’ might just be the ultimate of understatements. Consider the facts: Beijing and Washington enjoy rich historic and cultural ties that date back generations. Over 300,000 Chinese students today attend American universities, only adding to the richness and cultural…