Opinion and commentary on news, politics, culture, and policy impact.
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO), in response to a request from a number of Members of Congress, has concluded that the American taxpayers could save $55 billion over the next 10 years by delaying purchase of a new dual-capable conventional and nuclear strategic bomber and simultaneously retiring early—and not replacing—four nuclear-armed ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs)….
Kim Jong Il, the former leader of North Korea, once made 11 holes-in-one in a round of golf. On a well-publicized scuba dive, Vladimir Putin, Russia's president, happened to find two ancient artifacts. Iran's Supreme Leader claims the United States, Britain, and Israel created the Islamist rebels in Syria. Dictators say a lot of crazy…
The momentum for right-to-work measures at the local level across the country might be gaining steam. Kentucky’s Warren County, which includes the city of Bowling Green, just passed a local right-to-work ordinance. A 5–1 bipartisan majority of the county legislature voted to make union dues voluntary for private-sector workers. The measure comes up for a second and final reading…
The Constitution of the United States has endured for over two centuries. It remains the object of reverence for nearly all Americans and an object of admiration by peoples around the world. William Gladstone was right in 1878 when he described the U.S. Constitution as “the most wonderful work ever struck off at a given…
BRUSSELS, Belgium—At The Konrad Adenauer Foundation's December 2014 dinner event hosted by Dr. Stefan Gehrold, director of the organization’s office in Brussels, Becky Norton Dunlop, vice president of external relations at The Heritage Foundation and former director of the White House Cabinet office for President Reagan, delivered the keynote address communicating the importance of strengthening…
Contrary to what President Obama has asserted, U.S. sanctions have worked. Communist Cuba is so economically weak it cannot export Marxism-Leninism as in the past, and pro-democracy advocates have become emboldened. For more than five decades, presidents, Democratic and Republican, politically isolated and economically sanctioned Communist Cuba for the best of reasons. Here are four…
What if on Sept. 13, 2001, the U.S. had granted bail to a terrorist leader known for directing gruesome attacks that left 166 innocents dead six years before? Would the rest of the world have remained in solidarity with the U.S. during its time of mourning over the 9/11 attacks? Doubtful. Pakistanis might want to ponder…
Opponents of reforms intended to improve the security and integrity of the election process are constantly peddling the narrative that election fraud is a nonexistent problem. But they should turn their attention to Benton Harbor, Mich., where the Rev. Edward Pinkney, a local liberal activist, has just been convicted of election fraud—again. Pinkney was convicted on…
Yesterday afternoon, President Obama announced a series of drastic policy changes toward Cuba. What many may now view as concessions to the Castro regime following a prisoner swap was in fact the White House ending the U.S.’s long tradition of supporting human rights and democratic reforms on the island. The new policy approach follows the…
In the his most recent "negotiation" with a foreign nemesis, President Obama has once again given away more and gotten less. Unfortunately for the United States, in the long run, this fairy tale is not likely to have a happy ending. >>> Obama Can’t Unilaterally Lift Economic Freedom for Cubans
Gasoline prices continue to drop across the country with the national average falling to $2.50 per gallon. Are low prices good or bad for the prospects for lifting the ban to export crude oil? The reality is it shouldn’t matter because energy free trade will benefit the United States in both the near term and…
Freedom took a beating yesterday. America rolled over in the face of two of its longest standing adversaries, and we didn’t even get anything in return. North Korean despot Kim Jong Un and Cuba’s Raul Castro are probably exchanging celebratory emails as we speak after the one-two punch they landed on Obama’s America. First, the…
According to a recent Justice Department study, 80 percent of sexual assaults against college students are never reported. The report also found slightly higher rates of sexual assault among 18- to 24-year-old women who were not in college. Non-students were more likely to report the assaults but the vast majority of students and non-students said…
Your taxes are costing you a lot more than you think. In addition to the direct burden imposed by the taxes themselves, Americans face compliance costs, as well as costs in the form of revenue loss during the IRS’ tax collection process. Pete Sepp, president of the National Taxpayers Union; Jason Fichtner, a senior research…
President Barack Obama’s unilateral decision to normalize relations with Cuba and lift the U.S. embargo without the approval of Congress may play well on the international left and help the Castro regime to maintain control of the country, the economy, and all levers of power for years to come, but it will do nothing to…
There are reportedly new threats that if “The Interview,” a Sony comedy about two journalists assigned to assassinate Kim Jong-Un, is shown, the theaters will be used for 9/11-style attacks. Sony is now facing pressure to halt plans for a Christmas Day release. Some are wondering if the warnings should be heeded, or if this…
Cuba’s release of American hostage Alan Gross is to be welcome. Gross has vegetated in a Cuban jail for five years for the crime of bringing computers to Jews on the island. But exchanging three hardened Cuban spies for him establishes a wrong moral and legal equivalency. Worse, extending recognition to Cuba’s dictatorial regime harms…
Today, the Council of the District of Columbia passed a bill that could force employers in the nation’s capital to cover elective abortions in their health plans and require even pro-life organizations to hire individuals who oppose their views on abortion. The bill will now go to Mayor Vincent Gray for approval. This latest attempt…
On Tuesday, in United States v. Juarez-Escobar, a federal district court in Pennsylvania held that President Obama’s Nov. 20 executive action on immigration, which affects millions of illegal aliens currently in the United States, violates the U.S. Constitution’s separation of powers. This is the first time a court has ruled on the constitutional status of…
I had promised myself I wasn’t going to write about 2016 until at least Jan. 1, 2015. So much for that. Jeb Bush announced today via Facebook that he has “decided to actively explore” a presidential run and will launch a leadership PAC early next year to help him “facilitate conversations with citizens across America.” >>>…