Opinion and commentary on news, politics, culture, and policy impact.
In recent days, many Americans have reveled in the hypocrisy of a number of well-known people revealed as subscribers to the Ashley Madison pro-adultery website. But there is a far more important revelation from the hackings: the alarming number who signed up for the site—33 million people. That startling statistic reminds us that no one…
A lot of things can date an old movie or TV show: clothes, furniture, cars. And another thing: cigarettes. They’re all over the place in many films, markers of an era when smoking was far more common. It took a while—the surgeon general’s report came out five decades ago—but the percentage of smokers has declined,…
The Obama administration is perfecting the art of the “boondoggle”—a colorful term for a taxpayer-funded project characterized by wasteful spending, gross inefficiency, or political favoritism. William Safire, the late New York Times columnist, traced the word’s origins to 1935, when the New York City Council learned that Depression relief funds were being used for puppet…
Napoleon Bonaparte is credited with saying some 200 years ago that “China is a sleeping giant. Let him sleep, for when he wakes, he will shake the world.” Pretty spot on, don’t you think? China’s stock market and questions about the Middle Kingdom’s economic future have certainly shaken up world markets in recent weeks, but…
Recently, President Obama visited Alaska to scare up support for his climate agenda. But it’s becoming clear that this agenda is not, in fact, about climate. Instead, it’s the typical Washington story of power and money—other people’s money. Alaska provided the apparent novelty of ice that melts in the summer, which was used as a…
The modern conservative movement has lost one of its real heroes. John Von Kannon, “the Baron,” has passed to a better place after a long struggle with cancer. Someone wrote that John had been battling cancer for more than a year. That’s true, but as Bob Tyrrell, the longtime editor of The American Spectator and John’s first boss, reminds…
Next year, millions of Medicare enrollees will see their premiums jump from $104.90 to $159.30, a stunning 52-percent increase. Today’s bureaucratic premium setting is inherently defective. Real market-driven Medicare reform based on expanded patient choice, cost-cutting competition, and defined contribution financing would be much better for America’s seniors. What’s Happening? Medicare Part B, a voluntary…
In a letter to Department of Energy Secretary Ernie Moniz this week, the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology expressed concern over the use of $1 billion in new energy project loan guarantees promised by President Obama at last month’s National Clean Energy Summit. Just days after Obama’s announcement, the Department of Energy’s inspector…
It’s back to school time again, but before you start helping your kids out with their math homework, let’s look at some numbers that may be easier to digest—but difficult to believe: 53,000: Number of students in Seattle who did not go back to school on Wednesday as public school teachers voted to strike. This…
The findings of Puerto Rico’s Fiscal and Economic Recovery Working Group should serve as a warning sign to the U.S. Government that putting off economic and budgetary reforms will ultimately cause much deeper and more painful cuts that severely hinder economic growth. After accumulating $72 billion in debts that Puerto Rico’s governor declared unpayable in…
In Dothan, Ala., the verdict is in: it was election fraud. Last week, a jury convicted 66-year-old Olivia Reynolds on 24 felony counts of absentee ballot fraud in the contested 2013 election for the Dothan City Commission. Reynolds worked on the re-election campaign for District 2 incumbent Amos Newsome. During the tainted 2013 election, she…
Unsurprisingly there are more problems with the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) that await members of Congress coming back from their August recess. Topping the list of issues is a provision in Obamacare that changes the definition of “small employer” from “50 or fewer employees” to “100 or fewer employees,” starting January 1, 2016. While there…
Genevieve Wood wrote on why the Iran Deal is dangerous for Americans: It has been said that liberty and freedom require eternal vigilance. There are no permanent victories or defeats in Washington – only permanent battles. So despite what you may hear from the mainstream news media or the White House that this deal is done—it is…
Most political rhetoric dies a quick and deserved death, but a statement adopted on this date 55 years ago remains the most widely accepted definition of the Conservative Idea. I refer to the magisterial Sharon Statement, drafted by 26-year-old M. Stanton Evans and approved by Young Americans for Freedom (YAF) at its founding meeting in Sharon,…
On September 11, 2001, the first successful counterattack of our long war against Islamic jihad was launched not by the United States military, but by a small, spontaneously formed, self-governing group of American citizens who possessed the courage to fight back. As the years pass since 9/11, it’s vital that we not forget what occurred…
Friday is the 14th anniversary of 9/11, the deadliest terrorist attack in history. Four planes were hijacked by al-Qaeda terrorists, who flew a plane into both of New York City’s World Trade Center Towers and the Pentagon. On the fourth plane, the passengers fought back, and the plane crashed in a field in Pennsylvania on its…
A few years back, Congress decided that they wanted to know how many Guantanamo detainees went back to the fight after their release or transfer. So they passed Section 307 of the Fiscal Year 2012 Intelligence Authorization Act, which requires the director of national intelligence to publish an unclassified summary of the recidivism rate of…
The Heritage Foundation tracks Islamist terror plots and attacks since 9/11 and as the 14th anniversary of that fateful day approaches, it is important for Congress and the American people grasp the continuing threat of terrorism. To that end, Heritage has produced an interactive timeline for each Islamist terror plot against the U.S. homeland. As…
“[F]or every young person willing to work hard, I want two years of community college to be as free and universal as high school is today,” President Obama announced Wednesday in a speech at Macomb Community College in Warren, Mich. The president’s remarks came as part of a renewed effort to garner support for his…
It has been said that liberty and freedom require eternal vigilance. There are no permanent victories or defeats in Washington – only permanent battles. So despite what you may hear from the mainstream news media or the White House that this deal is done—it is not done, and this is a battle The Heritage Foundation and all…