Opinion and commentary on news, politics, culture, and policy impact.
We have some idea from his two terms as governor of Louisiana what Bobby Jindal, perspective 2016 presidential candidate, would do domestically in the Oval Office. But we found out on Monday that when it comes to foreign and defense policy, Jindal would pursue a track a lot more like that of Ronald Reagan than…
As November nears and President Obama's approval numbers plummet, some Democrat senate candidates decide to go overboard. >>> This Senate Candidate Was Asked If She Voted for Obama. She Refused to Answer.
Some Members of Congress have raised security questions about continuing the Visa Waiver Program (VWP)—since Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) members could legally enter the U.S. with passports from VWP partner countries. Former Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff, however, stressed that cancelling the VWP would make the U.S. less safe, while hurting…
We assume that everyone, including government officials, exercise common sense when making decisions. So much for that assumption: recently, a local government took an action that could destroy the dreams of a young girl for apparently no good reason. Tiffany Miranda is a 10-year-old girl from Santa Fe Springs, Calif., who suffers from a rare,…
What started off as a measure to hurt drug kingpins and their criminal empires by confiscation of their property has morphed into an often abused law enforcement tactic that harms blameless citizens. “Civil forfeiture,” as the procedure which allows police to seize property suspected of being related to a crime is called, was the subject…
Imagine the federal government creating a company to promote an industry and bankrolling up to half of its budget. If this company were promoting the oil and gas industry or agribusiness or banking, people would be outraged, and rightly so. But when it comes to the tourism industry, daydreams of beach vacations and mountain retreats…
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) will hold a meeting next week in Los Angeles. The meeting, the 51st of its kind (hence the name “ICANN 51”), comes at an important cusp in the development of a new model for governing the Internet. Major issues that should merit public attention are how…
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has not been seen in public for more than a month, generating speculation that his absence is due to failing health or political intrigue. Given the paucity of information, keeping track of Kim is tougher than winning at three-card monte, and the stakes are much higher: the potential instability…
Taxpayers are being forced to pay $300 million to help the cotton industry–the Brazilian cotton industry–in order to resolve a long-standing dispute between the U.S. and Brazil over cotton subsidies. In 2002, Brazil brought an action against the United States arguing that American cotton subsidies violated World Trade Organization rules. The Congressional Research Service explains:…
She weighed just over 1 pound when she was born at 23 weeks–but nearly three months later, baby Bella is still alive and well. At her birth, Bella was the same size as many babies who are legally and electively aborted in the United States every day. Her mom, Vicky Jackson, wants to make sure…
Khorasan, a group of veteran terrorists created by al-Qaeda’s leadership, was little known until its plans to attack Western targets captured the attention of the international community. Although U.S. intelligence agencies have been aware of the group’s existence for months, this information was not publicly disclosed until Director of Intelligence James Clapper acknowledged the threat…
Finally, it is official. On Tuesday, the International Monetary Fund announced China has surpassed the United States as the world’s largest economy. The U.S. has held the distinction since 1873, when it overtook Great Britain. Given growth trajectories of the last few decades, this should come as no surprise. Neither is it necessarily anything for…
A whole generation of people have been born, learned how to walk, ride bikes, drive cars, graduated from high school, celebrated 18 birthdays, and are now considered legal adults while the data show there has been no global warming over their lifetimes. The problem is the U.S. government and others are still basing major policy…
The Congressional Budget Office released Wednesday the figures for spending, revenues and the deficit in 2014. At $486 billion, the 2014 deficit is the smallest since the pre-stimulus and pre-bailout level of $498 billion (adjusted for inflation to 2013) in 2008. This means the household national debt burden rises by about $4,000. The total household debt…
>>> UPDATE: Brittany Maynard announced in a new video that while she still intends to choose when she dies, "I still feel good enough and I still have enough joy and I still laugh and smile with my family and friends enough that it doesn't seem like the right time right now," although "it will…
Former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta has joined other former members of the Obama team in criticizing the president’s Middle East policy and his handling of the Benghazi attack. In an interview with Bill O’Reilly this week, Panetta said he always thought the assault on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi on Sept. 11, 2012, was…
Sometimes a picture (or a video) is worth a thousand words, but does it tell the whole story? A video taken by a 14-year-old boy is the focus of increased media attention after his family sued the city of Hammond, Ind., police officers for allegedly using excessive force while stopping their vehicle for a seatbelt infraction….
A recent Heritage Foundation forum highlighting the relationship between marriage, family structure, and societal well-being noted positive cultural trends as well as troubling data. Discussing information presented in the 2014 Index of Culture and Opportunity, panelists cited hopeful data on the abortion rate, which has steadily declined since peaking in the 1980s. In contrast, they…
The top Democrat in Colorado, Gov. John Hickenlooper, said Monday during a gubernatorial debate that legalizing marijuana in Colorado was “reckless.” His Republican opponent, Bob Beauprez, agreed. According to The Huffington Post, Hickenlooper said, “I think for us to that that [legalize recreational use] without having all the data, there is not enough data, and…
Two liberals, New York Times columnist Paul Krugman and Slate columnist Jamelle Bouie, launched misguided broadsides against dynamic scoring this week. Dynamic scoring pertains to how the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) score—namely, calculate the budgetary cost of–bills that impact government spending and tax revenues respectively (both Krugman and…