Opinion and commentary on news, politics, culture, and policy impact.
One way to prevent the government from violating your rights is to stop bad legislation in its tracks. Citizens in Fayetteville, Ark., did just that Tuesday. After the city council of the college town passed a “civil rights” ordinance that undermined basic civil liberties back in August, voters took to the polls to repeal the…
The CRomnibus released late last night is fraught with the same bloated spending that has propelled the nation further into debt. In addition to serious fiscal concerns with the massive spending bill—not to mention the problems inherent in dropping a 1000-plus-page bill at the eleventh hour—the CRomnibus has some concerning provisions on life and conscience….
The FBI declared on December 9 that there is “no attribution to North Korea at this point” of the massive cyber attack on Sony Pictures for its planned release of a parody film of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Sources close to the ongoing investigations disclosed that Pyongyang remains the principal suspect. Cyber experts concluded…
One of the most controversial power grabs ever by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Army Corps of the Engineers (Corps) isn’t addressed in the CRomnibus. Earlier this year, the EPA and the Corps proposed their “Waters of the United States” rule, defining what waters the agencies can regulate under the Clean Water Act. A…
Today, Human Rights Day, countless individuals in Asia are facing immense religious persecution. The Pew Forum for Religion and Public Life found that religious hostilities in 2014 are at a six-year high. Pew estimates that one-third of the world’s worst oppressors of religious freedom are in Asia. And almost half of the worst social hostilities…
There is an old joke that a patient seeing his family doctor says, “Doc, when I do this, it hurts.” The doctor replies, “Stop doing that.” Only if Congress could entertain such simple logic. In the recently released budget it includes $372 million for Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) funds. Additional funding for PILT is…
The House gave no additional funds for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC) work to finish the review of the Yucca Mountain license in its massive omnibus appropriations bill. While it did find room to spend taxpayer money to fight international poaching of rhinos, Congress did not see fit to ensure that adequate funding is available…
The CRomnibus funding bill introduced last night makes a few small changes to parts of Obamacare but the major aspects of the law remain unchanged. These changes do not go far enough and should not be a distraction from the larger spending provisions that are operating on autopilot: the Medicaid expansion and the government exchanges…
In addition to the massive spending bill now before Congress, lawmakers are preparing to vote on a third renewal of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA), originally adopted as a temporary subsidy in the aftermath of 9/11. Although the program may have had a justifiable purpose following the terrorist attacks, the insurance industry today is…
Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) is leading an effort to gradually double the state’s 19-cent per gallon gas tax. Doing so would boost the state’s transportation coffers by over $1 billion new tax dollars. But Snyder isn’t sure that’s enough, saying, “The money I’m talking about is to get us to fair to good roads….
The omnibus bill was released Tuesday night. Here are some key details about what it does regarding education spending. Maintains historically high levels of federal education spending. At all levels, the spending measure maintains elevated levels of federal spending and intervention in education. Maintains high levels of funding for Head Start. The spending bill increases…
There are plenty of reasons to shout and pout about what’s happening in Washington this week. The congressional elves who had all year to craft, debate and pass legislation to fund the government have failed to do so. Now it’s crunch time, and they are throwing everything into Santa’s bag all at once. It’s called…
At more than 1,600 pages, Congress’s $1.1 trillion behemoth spending bill funding almost all government agencies through September 2015 has arrived. For those keeping track, Congress had ample time to debate its 12 spending bills and give lawmakers a real opportunity to address out-of-control federal spending. But it was not to be. The “CRomnibus” spending bill…
Eighteen-year-old Saira Blair recently made history as the youngest person elected to the West Virginia legislature. She may make history again as a lawmaker by securing passage of a right-to-work law. Currently, 24 states have such laws making union dues voluntary. After the conservative sweep in November, a majority of states may be poised to put them on…
Who needs another stimulus bill or legislation handing out taxpayer dollars for energy efficiency when they can be stuffed into the Cromnibus like a Christmas stocking at the end of the year? The Department of Energy’s budget is much of the same: bureaucrats will be spending money they shouldn’t on activities the private sector should…
Many of Obamacare’s beneficiaries have already discovered or will eventually discover that there’s a big difference between insurance coverage and access to health care services. Today, the New York Times highlighted a report by the Department of Health and Human Services that shows access to care in the Medicaid program is very limited. The study,…
New banking rules set to take effect January 1, 2015, are already starting to prove the law of unintended consequences is alive and well. The main culprit is the new liquidity coverage ratio rule, a requirement that (most) banks hold enough high-quality assets to fund their operations for 30 days during stressed economic conditions. The…
Seeking to emerge from its institutional “childhood,” the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) threw itself a big 10th birthday party in Washington last month. The milestone provides a good point to take stock of whether the MCC has remained faithful to the core of its original mandate: ensuring that developing countries take responsibility to reform themselves…
In the debate surrounding President Barack Obama’s immigration amnesty plan, there is increasing attention over the fact that Obama initiated his amnesty without an executive order. However, this does not alter the appropriate congressional response. Congress needs to act as soon as possible to not only refuse to appropriate new money to fund the administration’s…
"Guardians of the Galaxy" star Chris Pratt spoke at last Friday's March of Dimes Celebration of Babies — and things got emotional as he recounted the birth of his son, Jack. Jack, now 2, entered the world nine weeks before his due date weighing just 3 pounds, 12 ounces . A photo posted by anna faris…