Opinion and commentary on news, politics, culture, and policy impact.
Do more with less. That is the theme of the 2015 National Security Strategy President Obama released last Friday. The president’s vision for American diplomatic and military engagement naively envisages an America capable of responding to a growing list of threats with shrinking forces. The Obama administration consistently has argued this approach is realistic. But…
“Those who marry are more satisfied than those who remain single,” claims a new study by the National Bureau of Economic Research. But does marriage itself influence happiness? Or is it just that happier people are more likely to wed? This study gives support to the idea that marriage itself contributes to happiness. (In other…
An examination of Obamacare data reveals the president’s signature law has mostly been an expansion of the failing Medicaid program. In fact, the coverage numbers are far worse than the Congressional Budget Office projected in the summer of 2012. According to recent analysis by The Heritage Foundation, Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion is responsible for almost all of…
The recent arrest of six individuals living in the United States, accused of attempting to aid and support the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), underscores the continuing threat posed by radicalized individuals operating within the respective borders of the United States and her Western allies. The group, hailing from Missouri, Illinois and New…
The Obama administration has announced its intention to create a new fusion center to bring together all sources of intelligence and law enforcement information to combat cyber intrusions. The new center will be known as the Cyber Threat Intelligence Integration Center (or CTIIC). What would this new center do? The mission of CTIIC will be…
Barack Obama is a Washington, D.C., resident–and one with a high income. As he likes to openly admit, he’s one of the privileged one percent that he thinks can afford to pay more taxes. As one of the “privileged,” Barack Obama enjoys all sorts of choices unavailable to many middle class Americans and to nearly all…
Are Senate Republicans caving? House Republicans successfully passed a bill that funds the Department of Homeland Security, but ensures President Obama’s amnesty, engineered in an executive action in November, won’t be funded. Senate Republicans have tried three times to bring the bill up for consideration and yes, each time Senate Democrats have filibustered and not…
President Barack Obama’s interview with VOX media, an Internet publication, this week is yet another example of his determination to deny reality and downplay the rise of international instability and violence on his watch. It comes on the heels of the 2015 National Security Strategy, which declared “strategic patience” to be its operative principle, an…
Bureaucratic stonewalling erects barriers to the public’s right to know. It also undermines our system of checks and balances and weakens the public’s trust in our institutions of government. Let’s remember the genesis of our republic. The government works for the people, not the other way around. Foot-dragging subverts transparency and creates a credibility gap….
A government agency wants to roll back penalties on banks that make errors when providing mortgages backed by government. If a loan is backed by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), that means if the borrower defaults, the government will cover some of the original loan the bank made to the borrower. So it makes sense…
In his recent testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Gary Haugen, President and CEO of International Justice Mission, shared practical steps that Congress could take to end human trafficking. Haugen emphasized that local law enforcement and a fair judicial system are the keys to defeating this global scourge. Without ending impunity, he says, human…
Go big or go home. That must be newly elected Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner’s motto. A week ago the Republican governor announced his support for local right-to-work zones. Then on Monday, he signed an executive order making union dues voluntary for state government employees. He also filed a preemptive legal challenge that could make it…
President Obama’s proposed $4 trillion budget got a taste of late-night television. Comedian Jimmy Fallon joked: “Speaking of Obama, [Monday] he presented a $4 trillion budget that he says would help the middle class. And then the middle class said, ‘You know what, how about just giving us $4 trillion? That will help us. We…
ISIS’ effectiveness at using the Internet to spread terror and attract foreign recruits is now well documented. The terrorist group has taken psychological warfare to dimensions Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels would have admired. In-depth analysis of ISIS propaganda is a necessity for understanding how to combat violent Islamic extremism online. A program at The Heritage…
America’s doctors, already struggling with the Affordable Care Act’s regulatory burdens, could face another round of red tape—which means higher costs for ordinary Americans. The new round of red tape is the government-mandated implementation of the International Classification of Diseases tenth revision (ICD-10). The new system, delayed last year, goes into effect Oct. 1, 2015….
We have heard this story before: A funding deadline is approaching and Congress must act quickly to pass a bill to address the issue. In a twist, the chamber continuously labeled by the left as filled with “obstructionists,” passes a bill that simply funds the program in question. All should be in agreement that this…
The role of the military on U.S. soil is frequently misunderstood when it comes to the question: Who is in charge? This generally stems from confusion over the different homeland oriented missions: homeland security, homeland defense, and defense support of civil authorities. The lack of guidance in this area prompted Bert Tussing, professor of national…
In a decision with serious international ramifications, Canada’s highest court has overturned an absolute ban on assisted suicide/euthanasia and has given Parliament one year to create a “stringently limited, carefully monitored system of exceptions.” The decision was unanimous, 9-0, and it should be viewed as a victory for advocates of assisted suicide and euthanasia. The…
The age old question in economics is this: how does a nation or state create economic growth and rising living standards for its citizens? Once upon a time superstitious economists believed that growth was a function of the constellation of the stars. That kind of belief in astrology as a predictor of growth was no…
President Obama’s proposed changes to inheritance and capital gains taxes could raise the estate tax rate in the U.S. to the highest in the industrialized world. The plan, announced during the State of the Union address, would eliminate what is called “step-up basis at death” on capital gains taxation. And the top capital gains rate…