Morning Bell: 5 Things to Know About the Obama Budget
President Obama finally released his budget yesterday—more than two months late. Heritage experts immediately went to work analyzing the mounds of new spending on education,… Read More
EconomyNews
The Obama Budget: Heritage Experts’ Analysis
Minimum Wage President Obama’s budget proposes raising the minimum wage to $9 an hour. This would hurt the very workers the President wants to help…. Read More
Budgets in Comparison: Will President Obama’s Budget Save the American Dream?
When the President’s budget comes out Wednesday, it will complete the last piece of the budget puzzle, as the House and Senate have each duly… Read More
WSJ: Food Stamp Rolls Remain High Despite Economic Improvement
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported last week that even with improvements in the economy, food stamp participation rates have reached all-time highs. Since 2008,… Read More
$1.2 Billion in Cash Goes to Energy Projects, Despite Sequestration
Despite a fiscal cliff and sequestration worries, more than $1.2 billion in cash payments for energy projects (in lieu of tax credits) have been issued… Read More
Obama Administration Plans to Spend $150 Million for Green Energy Projects (Because It’s Worked So Well Before)
Just what America needs: More taxpayer-funded green energy projects. The Department of Energy (DOE) and the U.S. Internal Revenue Service released plans to re-allocate more… Read More
DOE Sitting on Taxpayer Dollars Due to Negative Publicity
Despite billions of dollars in unused loan authority remaining under the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Loan Programs Office, negative publicity surrounding the loan guarantee programs… Read More
Morning Bell: Heritage Experts Analyze the State of the Union
President Barack Obama laid out an ambitious agenda last night. Here are some highlights of our experts’ analysis of his claims, his plans, and his… Read More
Morning Bell: Obama’s Bogus State of the Union Promises
Tonight, the American people will be watching President Obama’s fifth State of the Union address. How has he done on his promises over the past… Read More
GDP Fell in the Fourth Quarter of 2012
The Department of Commerce made news Wednesday by announcing the first quarterly decline in gross domestic product (GDP) since the recession ended in 2009. As… Read More
Secretary Ray LaHood to Leave Department of Transportation
Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Ray LaHood is moving on. In an e-mail to DOT employees announcing his plans to leave, LaHood highlighted what he… Read More
Colorado Energy Office Misspends Millions in Stimulus Funds
The Colorado Energy Office (CEO) misspent millions in stimulus funds and could not account for a variety of other financial statements, according to a new… Read More
Taxpayer-Funded Infrastructure Bank: The “Investment” Isn’t Worth It
Bad ideas never seem to die. But the proposal to create a national infrastructure bank to federally fund transportation and infrastructure projects with taxpayer dollars… Read More
Don’t Gut Our Military: $150 Billion in Commonsense Proposals to Prevent Sequestration
Unless Congress acts, March 1 will trigger a $55 billion-per-year ($43 billion in 2013, as the fiscal cliff deal delayed the cuts for two months)… Read More
Obama Inauguration Speech: More Transportation “Investment”
President Obama hinted toward at least one aspect of his second-term agenda during yesterday’s inaugural address: more transportation “investment.” No surprise there. Obama’s past budget… Read More
USDA’s Stimulus Jobs Data Plagued by Inaccuracies
Federal requirements for monitoring jobs data associated with President Obama’s stimulus package are insufficient to ensure that that the information is accurate, according to a… Read More
Feds Investigate Stimulus-Backed Solar Companies With Political Ties
Three solar companies are under investigation for potentially inflating costs in order to draw down more money from a stimulus-funded loan program. All three boast… Read More
Fiscal Cliff: Is Heritage Inconsistent?
Menzie Chinn took to the blog Econbrowser last Thursday to accuse conservative economists in general – and The Heritage Foundation in particular – of being… Read More
Morning Bell: 6 Fixes to America’s Fiscal Crisis
President Obama made his first offer to congressional Republicans yesterday in negotiations over the “fiscal cliff”—an economic catastrophe of tax hikes just a few weeks… Read More
The Wrong Technology: Evidence of Faulty Panels Continues to Mount at Abound Solar
Claims that Chinese solar subsidies killed Abound Solar—and not faulty solar panels made by the company itself—are beginning to wear as thin as the solar… Read More
Two More Stimulus-Backed Solar Companies Announce Layoffs
A pair of foreign-owned solar companies that benefited from a combined $84 million in Energy Department tax credits have announced they will lay off employees. One of… Read More
Left-Wing Groups Misused More than $750,000 in Stimulus Housing Grants
A pair of left-wing groups misused hundreds of thousands of dollars in stimulus grant funds, according to federal investigators, who questioned the validity of every… Read More
News
Green Graveyard: An In-Depth Look at Government’s Bad Bets on 19 Now-Bankrupt Companies
As a follow up to the Green Graveyard overview, this post provides additional information concerning the funding for each of the now-bankrupt green energy companies…. Read More
$14 Billion in Stimulus Spending Generates Just 1.2 Percent of Electricity
Despite more than $14 billion in cash payments to solar, wind, and other renewable energy project developers since 2009, just 48 terawatt hours of additional… Read More
Is a Tax Cut Always a Good Thing?
According to Friday’s Washington Post, the Administration is considering a new, short-term tax cut. Should conservatives cheer? As a matter of principle, there are at… Read More
Morning Bell: Obama’s “New Economic Patriotism”
President Obama has a new booklet—a glossy, 20-page spread called “The New Economic Patriotism: A Plan for Jobs and Middle-Class Security.” The title is completely… Read More
President Obama’s Taxpayer-Backed Green Energy Failures
It is no secret that President Obama’s and green energy supporters’ (from both parties) foray into venture capitalism has not gone well. But the extent… Read More
House Committee Launches Document Probe Into DOE, Abound Solar
Bankrupt solar module manufacturer Abound Solar, recipient of a Department of Energy loan guarantee of $400 million, and the subject of an official investigation in… Read More
VIDEO: Pre-Presidential Debate Highlights Policy Differences
DENVER — Conservatives and progressives duked it out over policy Wednesday morning ahead of the first presidential debate of 2012 at the University of Denver…. Read More
10 Ways the Obama Administration Is Hurting America’s Energy Economy
One of the few bright spots over the past few years in America’s economy has been energy production, but this has occurred largely in spite… Read More
