Opinion and commentary on news, politics, culture, and policy impact.
On August 5, a crew from the Environmental Protection Agency caused a spill of 3 million gallons of water laden with mercury, arsenic, and other toxic metals from the Gold King mine into a river that supplies drinking water for three states. While the EPA initially promised to hold itself accountable in the same manner…
“To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history, but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.” These stirring words came in President Barack Obama’s first inaugural address. It’s taken seven years to…
Last week, the Seattle City Council voted unanimously to extend collective bargaining powers to drivers for services like Uber and Lyft. It is the latest action by union groups and their political allies to stave off disaster for big labor, which has seen its membership roles dwindle to record lows as younger workers realize they…
Last week, a drone and a California Highway Patrol helicopter nearly collided 700 feet above the California city of Martinez. Shortly thereafter, the reckless drone pilot was apprehended by police. The man, a Chinese exchange student, was questioned but ultimately not arrested. This is exactly the sort of situation the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is…
Good government should always take account of human nature: one aspect of human nature is that you are more careful about conserving resources when you are dealing with your own property. Any child knows that if he breaks his toy by being reckless, he had better not be reckless. But what if the parent always…
How many people are dependent on the federal government? That’s a hard nut to crack. Counting people who rely on the government to sustain their lifestyles is more complicated than simply counting up the number of dependency program enrollees. If you did that, people on the rolls of more than one program at a time…
To coincide with the release of the much-anticipated film “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”, Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., has released a new waste book highlighting “100 examples of egregious, outrageous and unnecessary government spending” with a Star Wars theme. Wastebook: The Farce Awakens – has complied examples of wasteful government spending totaling over $100 billion. Here…
Last week in Paris, I had the pleasure of speaking at an event hosted by the Heartland Institute, the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) and Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT). The conference, entitled “A Day of Examining the Data” brought climatologists to talk about the state of climate science and economists to talk about the…
Several Heritage Foundation researchers gave their reaction to the spending bill that was announced this week: Early Wednesday morning, the House Rules Committee posted text for the Consolidated Appropriations Act of the 2016 fiscal year (FY). This $1.1 trillion spending package, known as the omnibus, shows Washington at its worst. Lawmakers are being asked to…
In Haiti, the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere, the wheels of economic progress grind forward slowly. In the case of a newly-rehabilitated flour mill in Port-au-Prince, however, those grinding gears can actually be seen and heard. For a nation struggling with hungry citizens the reopening of the Moulins d’Haiti (LMH) flour mill isn’t small…
It was one year ago this week that the Obama administration announced the United States would normalize relations with Cuba, saying the new policy would lay the foundation for democratic reform and human rights. But over the past year, violent beatings against pro-democracy activists have escalated, and the number of political dissidents being detained—over 7,000—is…
President Barack Obama traveled to the Pentagon on Monday in a highly choreographed public relations exercise designed to reassure Americans about his administration’s efforts to defeat the Islamic State (also known as ISIS or ISIL) and protect against terrorist attacks at home and abroad. Speaking for eight minutes, surrounded by a phalanx of Pentagon officials…
Wheaton College is a private college in the suburbs of Chicago with the following mission statement: Wheaton College serves Jesus Christ and advances His Kingdom through excellence in liberal arts and graduate programs that educate the whole person to build the church and benefit society worldwide. When a professor wore a hijab to show solidarity…
Federal agencies are probably celebrating today. They just learned there’s pretty much nothing they can do, including allegedly breaking the law, that will earn the wrath of Congress. The Government Accountability Office, the federal government’s arbitrator on the use of appropriated funds, issued a legal opinion finding that the Environmental Protection Agency broke the law when…
The omnibus spending bill soon to come before us is chock-full of controversial policies that never would have passed had they been exposed to the light of day. Not only does this bill spend an additional half-billion dollars on an unreformed and failing Head Start program, and not only does this bill air-drop an entire…
A favorite budget gimmick of congressional appropriators has reared its ugly head once again in this week’s omnibus appropriations bill, which was released on Wednesday. Commonly referred to as CHIMPs, Changes in Mandatory Programs are changes to mandatory spending and entitlement programs that affect current-year budget authority. Reductions in mandatory program authority are treated as…
With several high-profile terrorist attacks around the world including Paris and San Bernardino, Calif., many have raised serious concerns about how well individuals entering the U.S. are screened. In particular, a lot of focus has been paid to the refugee process. Americans are understandably worried that terrorists might use any and all opportunities to enter the…
In June of 2015, North Korea was reported to be suffering its “worst drought in 100 years.” Indeed, the country has suffered widespread food shortage since the early 1990s, when an estimated 5 percent of its population died of starvation and related diseases. The situation remains dire. According to the World Development Indicators, 15.2 percent…
Thirty-three years before there was “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” there was a real Stars Wars program that changed the course of history. Here’s the remarkable and true story. In March 1982, Heritage Foundation President Ed Feulner and retired Lt. Gen. Daniel O. Graham, former director of the Pentagon’s Defense Intelligence Agency, outlined the results…
Early Wednesday morning, the House Rules Committee posted text for the Consolidated Appropriations Act of the 2016 fiscal year (FY). This $1.1 trillion spending package, known as the omnibus, shows Washington at its worst. Lawmakers are being asked to sign off on 2,200 pages (with an additional 1,000 pages of explanatory materials), at the 11th…