Opinion and commentary on news, politics, culture, and policy impact.
Twelve years ago, in the aftermath of 9/11, Congress created a “temporary” subsidy program for insuring losses from terrorist attacks. That temporary program, the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA), has since been reauthorized twice, and lawmakers are now considering yet another renewal. There is no justification for continuing the program. But if reauthorization is inevitable,…
James Carafano is a 25-year Army veteran, a graduate of and former professor at West Point, and a leading expert on military strategy, including border issues. In his decade at The Heritage Foundation, he has conducted extensive research on border issues, including making frequent trips to the U.S. borders with Canada and Mexico. On the…
>>> This Standard Is One Reason the Price of Gas Will Increase
Last week the Congressional Budget Office issued an updated budget score for lawmakers’ proposal (H.R. 3230) to expand veterans’ access to healthcare outside the VA for two years. CBO’s verdict: If the measure passes, VA would receive expanded authority and unlimited funds for two years to pay for health care from non-VA providers. CBO’s 16-page…
A sweeping bill that could eliminate many commonsense state laws protecting women from the harms of abortion was considered in a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday. “Imagine the vast majority of pro-life laws wiped out with the enactment of a single piece of federal legislation. That is the purpose behind S. 1696,” summarizes Bill Saunders…
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder fears American and European foreign fighters in Iraq and Syria are receiving training from Yemeni bomb makers. In an interview last week, Holder said “…That’s deadly combination, where you have people who have the technical knowhow along with the people who have this kind of fervor to give their lives…
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently released preliminary suggestions for ways the U.S. could strengthen the economic recovery and improve the economy’s long-term outlook. U.S. policymakers should ignore the IMF’s recommendations. One of the themes the IMF focuses on is “keeping public debt on a sustained downward path.” There is certainly broad agreement that the…
Putting aside politics is the key to stabilizing the US-Southern border with Mexico. There are key national interests at stake. In addition to concerns over security, public health and sovereignty, the disruption of illegal migration flows at the border distracts from focusing resources on the clear and present danger of transnational criminal cartels and gangs…
One issue voters often overlook when selecting presidential candidates is what type of judges those candidates will support. These are lifetime appointments, and a two-term president could nominate hundreds of judges to the federal judiciary – with advice and consent of the Senate. From trial-level district court judges to the justices on the U.S. Supreme…
Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, the Army solider who was held by the Taliban for five years and released in May in exchange for five senior Taliban Guantanamo detainees, is now manning a desk while the Army decides what to do with him. According to news reports, he has completed the formal phase of his recovery and…
Today the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its 2014 Long-Term Budget Outlook, projecting U.S. spending, taxes, deficits, and the debt for the next 25 years. The CBO report stressed the nation’s unsustainable public debt path, calling it “a trend that could not be sustained indefinitely.” This report should serve as a wake-up call to President…
Two reports in recent days have focused on the fate of the Boeing Co. in the event Congress opts against reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank. Both Standard & Poor’s and the Government Accountability Office effectively have concluded the aviation giant—Ex-Im’s biggest beneficiary by far—would manage just fine without taxpayer subsidies. The same can be said…
Hamas starts wars it knows it can’t finish. It also knows full well that wars in a very small place put innocents at risk. And Hamas is fine with that. No matter how this latest round of Palestinian-Israeli retribution ends, it won’t be the last. Long rooted in the Gaza Strip, Hamas will ever rise…
Some in Congress seem to think the federal government can do a better job marketing and promoting tourism to America than the $1.5 trillion industry that exists to attract and accommodate visitors. How? By doing what government does best: taxation. Since 2011, the government has been taxing tourists and some in Congress want to keep…
Last week, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto and Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina launched a program aimed at regulating the influx of immigrants from Guatemala to Mexico called Southern Border or “Frontera Sur.” Intended to improve the system for cataloging migrant movements between both countries, the program aims to increase information on migrants, and thus help…
As Hamas launches rockets from the Gaza Strip into Israel, casualties are kept at a minimum thanks to Israel’s superior air defense system. In the current conflict, up to 90 percent of the rockets engaged by the “Iron Dome” are intercepted as they approach high-value Israeli targets. The Rafael-Raytheon air defense system has held a high…
Call it a victory for common sense. City officials in Leawood, Kan., have reversed course after ordering a 9-year-old boy to tear down the little free library he built in his front yard for Mother’s Day. Late last Monday night, after Spencer Collins had appeared before the Leawood City Council to advocate for permission to…
On Thursday, U.S. drones killed at least four militants in Pakistan. It is the fourth such strike since a Pakistani military operation commenced in June. The June drone strikes killed nearly 19 militants, including a high-level Haqqani network commander, Haji Gul, and two senior Afghan Taliban leaders. Pakistan’s foreign ministry condemned the strikes, calling them…
U.S. officials and observers are hoping last week’s U.S.-China Strategic and Economic dialogue will halt what some are calling a “downward spiral” in relations between the two powers. However, this week’s meetings are unlikely to yield transformative changes in policy. In addition to China’s abysmal human rights record, especially under President Xi, two issues that…
On Tuesday, President Obama requested $3.7 billion in “emergency” funds from Congress to address the urgent immigration crisis along the southwestern border. The proposal includes a request of $45.4 million “to hire approximately 40 additional immigration judges and support teams, including those anticipated to be hired on a temporary basis.” Although the funding request has…