Opinion and commentary on news, politics, culture, and policy impact.
The Student Success Act, currently under consideration in Congress, consolidates several dozen programs authorized under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (now known as No Child Left Behind) into what is being called a Local Academic Flexible Grant. Although some are championing the grant as an improvement on the status quo, it would only provide…
In one of his first actions as secretary of defense, Ashton Carter met over the weekend with top U.S. officials to determine a path forward in the fight against ISIS. While threats have clearly grown, the president has sought to shrink military capability. This radical Islamic group has increasingly shown the gruesome lengths it is…
President Obama’s recent visit to India spooked the government of Pakistan. Possibly to nip in the bud the blossoming diplomatic relations between the U.S. and India, Pakistan’s foreign office issued a statement expressing concern about a strengthened relationship between Washington and New Delhi. This concern focused on closer U.S.–India nuclear cooperation and the possibility that…
The political diatribe from actress Patricia Arquette about “equal pay” during the Oscars showed Hollywood’s talents for “story-telling” and “make believe” are alive and well. Sadly, instead of a passionate speech filled with facts, Arquette followed the same old left-wing script that just doesn’t measure up to the truth. Audiences deserve better. Interested in more…
As expected, the U.S. Department of Justice filed an appeal today with the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in Texas v. U.S. This is the lawsuit filed by 26 states against President Obama’s unilateral amnesty plan for illegal immigrants. The Justice Department will be asking the Fifth Circuit to overturn the Feb. 17 order of…
There’s a cost-cutting revolution going on in American health care. Anesthesiologist and co-founder of the Surgery Center of Oklahoma, a physician-owned ambulatory surgery center, Dr. Keith Smith is at the epicenter of that revolution. In a recent presentation to George Washington University medical students, Smith emphasized that health care costs are rising at unacceptable rates…
In a harried Oscar acceptance speech which culminated in a hackneyed call for wage equality, actress Patricia Arquette blamed the Founders for the so-called gender pay gap. “It’s inexcusable that we go around the world and we talk about equal rights for women in other countries when we don’t have equal rights for women in America,”…
Last week, leaders of 60 nations, including some Muslim countries, participated in President Obama’s “Summit on Countering Violent Extremism” in Washington. Unfortunately, regardless of the content of Obama’s speech and the purpose of the conference, the administration's lack of effective action over the last six years undercuts his credibility as a global leader on these…
Could this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference shape the agenda for the 2016 Republican primary? The conference, which usually attracts around 10,000 people, is known for its all-star lineup of Republican politicians delivering speeches. This year is no exception, with nearly every likely 2016 Republican presidential hopeful in attendance. Organizers have added a new twist:…
It’s good to be No. 1. But as any former champ will tell you, you have to avoid becoming complacent if you want to stay ahead of the pack. First-place finishes aren’t guaranteed, just ask Hong Kong. Every year since 1995, the Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal have measured the state of economic…
These days, every week seems to bring forth another new article by a liberal commentator expressing a powerful combination of fear and outrage that the Supreme Court might “gut” the Affordable Care Act in King v. Burwell. This case, as regular readers of Bench Memos know, holds out the possibility that the Court will find…
As someone who has studied and written about Ronald Reagan for more than four decades, I thought I knew the 40th president pretty well. But a new book, “Reagan Remembered”, edited by former Amb. Gilbert A. Robinson, offers the personal and in many cases never before revealed recollections of 80 individuals, high and low, who…
It’s not normal these days for a teen to live with their married mom and dad. Fifty-four percent of U.S. teens 15-to-17-years-old do not live in a home with their married mother and father, according to the Fifth Annual Index of Family Belonging and Rejection released this month by the Family Research Council. Over half…
Almost every activity that improves our quality of life requires energy. We don’t question how the lights stay on, or how groceries get to the stores where we need them. But it happens. Without a doubt, the adage, “You don’t know what ya got ’til it’s gone” applies to energy. We get upset when our…
Yet another cease-fire agreement on Ukraine has been signed in Minsk. It went into effect Sunday amid low expectations of success. This is the second such agreement to come out of Minsk. The previous deal was signed in September, it collapsed almost immediately. There is precious little confidence that Minsk II will pan out any…
From Heritage Action CEO Mike Needham's column earlier this week: Allow funding for the Department of Homeland Security to lapse or engage in the legislative process. Those are the only two options Senate Democrats have at this point. Everything else transcribed in the press or recited by television pundits is nothing more than a distraction….
It was not supposed to happen this fast. Earlier this week India’s Central Statistics Office (CSO) released figures showing economic growth of 7.5 percent year-on-year in the fourth quarter for 2014. This rate was a little faster than China’s year-end rate and is noteworthy since China has outgrown India in every year but one over…
State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf recently blamed “lack of opportunity for jobs” as a root cause of terrorism in the Middle East. Her assertion, made in an interview Monday, that “we cannot kill our way out of this war” is unlikely to replace “I have not yet begun to fight” on lists of famous military…
Federal dietary guidance may soon be based on the needs of the environment, not just nutrition. The federal Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee just released its report, with recommendations, to help inform the 2015 Dietary Guidelines. The United States Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health and Human Services will consider these recommendations in formulating…
The second Minsk agreement, which was supposed to establish a ceasefire in Ukraine and was announced last week, was met with a mixture of cautious hope and healthy skepticism. After all, the belligerents – Ukrainian security forces and pro-Russian separatists – had demonstrated a proclivity for breaking previous ceasefire agreements, leaving little reason to believe…