Opinion and commentary on news, politics, culture, and policy impact.
Whether it's not following through, underestimating the enemy or simply making a bad deal, President Obama doesn't have the best track record when it comes to navigating foreign policy matters. It is no wonder there is bipartisan concern about any nuclear deal his administration might strike with Iran. In a column earlier this week, Heritage…
Alcoa is a company with a market capitalization rate of $15.7 billion, $23 billion in sales in 2013 and a CEO making $18.2 million. One would think it wouldn’t be too difficult to attract private financing or self-finance with that kind of stature in the market. Yet, the Department of Energy conditionally approved a $259…
Senator Sherrod Brown (D–OH) offered a budget amendment today that he claims will “end ‘too big to fail’ bailouts.” But the change could ultimately give federal banking regulators more power to break up large banks without really protecting taxpayers. Section 165 of the Dodd–Frank Act already gives regulators the authority to break up certain banks…
In late February, the Student Success Act, a rewrite of No Child Left Behind (NCLB), was pulled from consideration on the House floor. Conservatives had voiced thoughtful concerns that the policies contained within the rewrite fell short of truly empowering state and local leaders, and as such, represented a missed opportunity. Conservatives weren’t confused about…
Yemen has been engulfed in an intensifying civil war that has weakened U.S. counterterrorism efforts, created a vacuum of power in which al-Qaeda’s regional franchise can flourish and boosted Iranian influence in a strategic corner of the Arabian Peninsula. Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, an American ally, has fled the country. The Houthi rebel…
Education savings accounts (ESAs) have become the way forward for states wishing to adopt innovative school choice measures. ESAs enable parents to completely customize their child’s education to his individual needs. According to the Foundation for Excellence in Education, 22 state legislatures are considering ESAs for the 2015 school year. That is serious traction for…
Ministers from European Union countries decided last week to work strategically to counter Russian’s propaganda offensive in Ukraine and other former Soviet states. EU countries intend to collaborate on broadcasting to give citizens in the target countries, e.g. the Baltics, an alternative to the relentless bombardment of Russian media, which produces a highly distorted version…
The following are Jim DeMint’s prepared remarks delivered to the William F. Buckley Jr. Program at Yale University. I’d like to start out by telling you the story of a young guy named Omar Mahmood. He was in the news a couple months back. He’s a junior at the University of Michigan, and writes for…
Vote-a-rama has started. This is a marathon voting session in the U.S. Senate budget process of addressing amendments that were not dealt with during the previous 50 hours of debate on the budget resolution. See what Heritage experts and others are tweeting about the hundreds of amendments that are being filed that could eventually have…
This morning the Senate concluded debate on the budget resolution and started off on an unofficial procedure known as “vote-a-rama,” a fast-track budget process of addressing amendments that were not disposed of during the previous 50 hours of debate on the budget resolution. The role of the budget resolution is to provide an important framework…
In a victory for religious freedom, earlier today Gov. Mike Pence, R-Ind., signed into law the state’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act. This is good policy that protects the fundamental freedom of Indiana citizens from unnecessary and unreasonable government coercion. The Indiana law is based on the 1993 federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act—a law that has served…
Last night, Dr. Ryan T. Anderson, the William E. Simon fellow at The Heritage Foundation, was on “EWTN News Nightly” to discuss his new report, “Always Care, Never Kill: How Physician-Assisted Suicide Endangers the Weak, Corrupts Medicine, Compromises the Family, and Violates Human Dignity and Equality.” During the interview, Anderson explained the many policy problems…
The Department of Interior missed an opportunity for real reform recently when it released new regulations on hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, on federal lands. Since the onset of the Obama administration, the U.S. has undergone both an energy boom that was the bright spot in the great recession and a heated political battle over the…
Terrorists are continuously probing for any weakness in our security systems that could be used against us. Protecting the homeland is especially complex regarding aviation security. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) tries to provide effective aviation security that is also efficient. To achieve that goal, it is vital that TSA’s PreCheck and other risk-based security…
Yesterday, the Army announced its intention to charge Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl with desertion and misbehavior before the enemy and has served him with those two charges. As I explained here last June, the military had at least five options on what to do with Sgt. Bergdahl given the fact that he left his appointed place…
In 2012, the Environmental Protection Agency published its final Mercury and Air Toxics Standards that regulate the emissions of hazardous air pollutants from power plants. There was one “slight” problem. By EPA’s own estimates, the economic costs would be $9.6 billion annually, making this one of the costliest rules ever issued by the EPA. This…
This week Congress is considering the Medicare Access and Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act (H.R. 2). Although correct in its ultimate goal, the bill fails significantly as a lasting solution to the problem of how physicians are paid under Medicare. It will make seniors, physicians and taxpayers worse off. As a result, Docs 4…
The Boehner-Pelosi “Doc Fix” legislation doesn’t fix the problems with Medicare. It simply tinkers with pseudo-reforms, kicks the can down the road and passes the buck to taxpayers and future generations.
After several years of treading water, there has been significant movement on nuclear waste management, though when it comes to the Obama Administration’s plans, the movement isn’t in the right direction. Speaking at the Bipartisan Policy Center, Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Ernest Moniz again confirmed the Administration’s commitment to its “Strategy for the Management…
Washington is exhibiting symptoms of schizophrenia. At the same time that lawmakers are debating their budget blueprints to eliminate deficits before the end of the decade, the Boehner-Pelosi deal to address the looming Medicare physician payment cuts proposes to add $141 billion to the deficit over the same period. The deal in question would replace…