Opinion and commentary on news, politics, culture, and policy impact.
March 17 is St. Patrick’s Day, when all things Irish get celebrated. Before we make another toast with a pint of smooth Guinness or whatever drinks you prefer, it’s worth taking a look at the state of the Irish economy to see how impressively the Celtic Tiger has made its roaring comeback. According to the…
Economics is one field of study that, for the most part, has not been driven off the railroad tracks by politically correct leftists steering college coursework toward progressive ends. The wasted time spent breeding resentment toward America and teaching students how to feel offended has yet to seep into most economics curricula. Perhaps preventing that…
The newly released House budget proposal would increase defense spending in future years, but for the 2017 fiscal year it goes in the wrong direction. First, the good: In the 2018 fiscal year and beyond, the budget proposal would increase defense above current levels (although still below the Heritage Blueprint for Balance). Congress must increase…
After a troubled start to the year, the D.C. region’s Metrorail system has had to take a drastic step. Following a fire that snarled service for thousands of commuters, the entire rail system is shutting down for 29 hours so that the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA)—which operates the system—can run emergency inspections. Though a…
Three out of every four Americans say Congress should not increase spending. That’s not 73 percent of the Tea Party, or 73 percent of the Republican Party. That’s 73 percent of all Americans who say Congress should not increase federal spending. Republicans seem to have missed that message. Since 2013, the GOP has consistently proposed…
To watch the recent happenings on Capitol Hill, you would think this was just another typical presidential election year—a few bumps here and there, but no sign of a major shake-up, no indication voters were in revolt, nothing to suggest business as usual in Washington was perhaps falling out of fashion among the American public….
President Barack Obama is misusing our most elite forces. Since the onset of the fight against the Islamic State (ISIS), The Heritage Foundation has called for a greater use of American Special Operations Forces (SOF). This includes Navy SEALs and Army Rangers. Special Operations Forces are designed to conduct high-end politically charged warfare, and to…
Over the next decade, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) expects total spending (outlays) to rise by almost 5 percent annually, with spending totaling nearly $51.4 trillion over the entire period. At this rate, spending growth would significantly outpace revenue growth, resulting in more than $9 trillion in cumulative deficits, which would drive debt to devastating…
Developing effective treatments for cancer involves a lot more than just the science—it’s economics, too. March 6 marked the one-year anniversary of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)’s approval of Zarxio, a revolutionary 21st-century medicine used to save cancer patients from lethal infections. Unfortunately, we may be seeing less and less progress on this front…
New data suggests that countries that rank higher in economic freedom are better at preventing human trafficking. A new report released by The Heritage Foundation found that when core tenets of economic freedom, such as rule of law, are practically applied to fight trafficking, the results are positive. The report used data from The Heritage Foundation’s 2016…
Last year, the House passed a bill to pre-empt states from imposing mandatory labeling of genetically engineered food, also known as GMOs. While it looked like the Senate was going to follow suit, in the last minute, the new Senate bill would actually effectively mandate the labeling of genetically engineered food. In the Senate bill,…
This week President Barack Obama’s Department of Health and Human Services reached the startling conclusion that if massive welfare programs such as food stamps and the refundable earned income credit are counted as income, poverty is reduced. Not even incompetent government bureaucracies can spend a trillion dollars per year and have no effect on living…
One of the keys to defeating the Islamic State (ISIS) is acquiring intelligence on it. So when a Syrian ISIS defector passed over a memory stick of names, telephone numbers and addresses of ISIS fighters to the United Kingdom broadcaster Sky News, it was a potentially significant moment. The registration forms are taken from border…
The free-for-all boxing match among the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC), the League of Women Voters, the NAACP, Kansas, and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) resumed on Wednesday, March 9. They’re tussling over the right of states to require proof of citizenship from people using the federal voter registration form. Federal Voter Registration In Courtroom…
AMMAN, Jordan—Russia announced its withdrawal from Syria as peace talks among all sides to the Syrian war commenced in Geneva, one day before the fifth anniversary of the first protests against the Assad regime. The talks come some two weeks after the cessation of hostilities brokered by the U.S. and Russia continues to hold despite…
The federal government and its allies are choosing dubious environmental prescriptions to effectively impose a new tax on electricity, increasing the costs of energy on all Americans and businesses. These added costs will especially impact middle- and low-income families and those seniors on fixed incomes. When running for office in 2008, President Barack Obama famously remarked,…
Between 2006 and 2009, the Department of Defense participated in some 20 instances where its various unmanned aerial systems (drones) were used to provide reconnaissance over domestic territory in support of other government agencies, according to a recent USA Today story. This story was prompted by the release of a new Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)…
Alexander Hamilton is often credited with being the most far-sighted of the founders, since he, more than anyone else, saw America’s potential to become a manufacturing and commercial powerhouse among the nations. Not even a man of Hamilton’s vision, however, could have foreseen that he would one day be the subject of a hit stage…
A broad coalition of anti-government parties in Venezuela announced a plan this month to oust President Nicolás Maduro. The plan includes constitutionally legal mechanisms to shorten the president’s term, a recall referendum, and public protests demanding Maduro’s resignation. Hand-picked by Hugo Chávez, Maduro is now the face of executive branch corruption in Venezuela. Now recent…
For the past two days, I’ve been speaking at the Freedom Festival, an annual gathering of conservative and libertarian activists organized by the Freedom Association in Bournemouth, on the south coast of England. The mood at the Festival is a lot like that in the United States: No one has a good word for the…