Opinion and commentary on news, politics, culture, and policy impact.
On Wednesday, foreign ministers extended an invitation of NATO membership to Montenegro, a small nation in the Balkans. The decision to offer Montenegro membership will strengthen the NATO alliance, improve regional security in the Balkans, and most importantly send a clear signal that NATO remains committed to its open door policy. It also shows other countries…
The terrible events in California once again show the need for proper counterterrorism policies in this era of heightened threat. There is still much to be investigated, and much to learn, so it is important that we avoid drawing conclusions too quickly, or use this event to push a political agenda (as President Barack Obama has…
On Wednesday, the House of Commons voted to expand Britain’s air war into Syria. Expanding the British air campaign into Syria should have been an easy decision to make, since much of the territory ISIS controls is in Syria, with its capital in Raqqa, but Prime Minister David Cameron has had a hard fight winning…
Last August, while Congress was out of session and most people were on vacation, the Environmental Protection Agency issued a proposal for a new rule that would drive up the cost of natural gas and hobble one of the great modern energy success stories. The rule assigns a non-market cost to methane emissions (the social…
The New York Daily News’ cover in the aftermath of the tragic San Bernardino, Calif., shootings is being heralded as provocative and challenging. “God Isn’t Fixing This,” blares the cover, which features tweets from Republicans urging prayer after the shooting and then launches into a lecture: “As the latest batch of innocent Americans are left…
Following a lengthy conference meant to reconcile the differences between the House and Senate highway bills, the conference committee released Tuesday its 5-year, $305-billion transportation bill: the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST). Fittingly, Congress is in overdrive for FAST and has already scheduled a vote in the House for today, a mere two days after it…
On Dec. 9, the Supreme Court will hear oral argument in a case involving the University of Texas at Austin’s use of racial preferences in admissions. Though the Court has long accepted the practice of state-run schools factoring race and ethnicity into their decisions about whether to admit students, the justices should consider one of…
The Senate will vote this week on a reconciliation bill that repeals the budgetary heart of Obamacare and restricts funding for Planned Parenthood. This is a vast improvement over the House-passed bill, which restricts Medicaid funding for abortion providers but neglects to repeal the core provisions in Obamacare. The Senate bill repeals most of the…
Refugees continue to flood out of Syria at a breathtaking pace. According to the United Nations, parts of Europe are now facing the worst migration crisis since World War II. President Barack Obama recently requested that Congress double the funding to house refugees here in the United States. However, given the threat that ISIS poses…
For millions of American families, Christmas morning is a time for children to marvel at the magic of Santa, for families to come together around the spirit of giving, and for adults to admit they are not too old for toys. But if you are one of the hundreds of thousands of Americans who receive…
The Visa Waiver Program (VWP) is currently under fire by some who view the program as a security liability. Heritage Foundation research shows that the VWP is a tremendous boon to U.S. security and while any program can and should be improved, doing away with the VWP would harm U.S. security. The VWP provides citizens…
The Visa Waiver Program (VWP) is a program that expedites travel between the U.S. and 38 countries. Policymakers such as Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Representative Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) have attacked the VWP, with special attention to the expedited nature of the program. What the critics of the VWP fail to realize is that it…
The Senate will vote this week on a reconciliation bill (a fast-track budget process) that repeals the budgetary heart of Obamacare and restricts funding for Planned Parenthood. This is a vast improvement over the House-passed bill. The Senate bill repeals most of the new spending programs of Obamacare, including the premium subsidies and Medicaid expansion,…
The 1,061 pages of the Every Student Succeeds Act, which would reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (currently known as No Child Left Behind) would reconstitute or create entirely new programs. Here are the top six major new codified initiatives: The Student Support and Academic Enrichment Program. Part A of Title IV of ESSA…
The Department of Justice has a practice that robs taxpayers of money that should be paid into the federal treasury. As part of the settlement of a criminal or civil case, the department will require a defendant to pay money over to a third party, rather than write a check to the federal government. The…
Hey, Paris Climate Conference, 1997 called, and it wants its failed climate discussions back. Eighteen years ago, the Kyoto climate protocol was debated in Congress, and back then many members questioned the science and the high price Americans would pay for little, if any, benefit from the climate agreement. As leaders from around the world…
In a decision on Monday that preserves the thanks of a nation for the sacrifice of Americans who died in World War I, Maryland federal judge Deborah Chasanow (a Clinton appointee) threw out a lawsuit filed by the American Humanist Association over a forty-foot-tall war memorial that is almost 100 years old. The monument, built…
U.S. and Chinese officials meet today in Washington to discuss ongoing challenges to cyber-security. Behind closed doors, there’s bound to be finger-pointing. After all, China is a leading source of cyber-attacks on U.S. corporate and government facilities. Expectations for the meeting have already been lowered. A recent state visit by Chinese President Xi produced nothing…
In the wake of a violent tragedy, Planned Parenthood has redoubled its efforts to silence its critics. The Colorado Springs shooter, who waged the terrible attack, appears to have no connection to society at large, much less to the pro-life movement. But Planned Parenthood is using him as a tool in its new censorship campaign, which…
On Nov. 13, Cambodia’s dictatorial prime minister Hun Sen ousted opposition leader Sam Rainsy, stripping him of his seat in parliament and calling for his arrest. These latest actions against Rainsy are representative of Cambodia’s long muddle through a sort of unfree democracy. Cambodia’s latest actions should remind the international community of the commitments it…