House Cloakroom: December 10 – December 14 Analysis: The waiting game continues here in Washington as the talks over the fiscal cliff continue. The House does not appear to be taking up any major legislation this week once again. However, there will be several hearings of note on both Dodd-Frank and Obamacare implementation. Those are […]
In his oversight report, “Safety at Any Price: Assessing the Impact of Homeland Security Spending in U.S. Cities,” Senator Tom Coburn (R–OK) highlights several examples of cities using homeland security grants for ill-advised expenses. Senator Coburn’s report is an important one and a must read for the media and policymakers. My hometown of Columbus, Ohio, […]
On November 29, the Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS) had its first successful test run, during which it intercepted an air-breathing target (that is, a missile that does not fly outside the Earth’s atmosphere). While the Pentagon decided not to procure the MEADS program, Congress recently eliminated the funding that would allow the completion […]
The Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times had front-page stories yesterday on the Securities and Exchange Commission suing the China subsidiaries of major accounting firms for not cooperating with investigations into possible fraud at Chinese clients. The famous multinational auditors are complaining, the Chinese firms are complaining, the Chinese government is complaining. None of […]
The House Republican leadership has offered a substantive counteroffer to President Obama’s frivolous fiscal cliff proposal of last week. At first blush, it appears little more than categorical, pre-emptive capitulation. To be fair, the details of the Republican proposal are extraordinarily vague. Nor is much clarity or comfort gained from the three-page accompanying letter sent […]
Strong marriage and family relationships are crucial to fighting poverty. This was the message shared by grassroots leaders at an anti-poverty conference sponsored by The Heritage Foundation and the Center for Neighborhood Enterprise this past September. These leaders shared firsthand experience and common-sense intuition about poverty reduction. They explained what sociological research and data continually […]
The former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and current Treasury boss Timothy Geithner has informed Republicans that Obama wants absolute authority to increase the national debt. Geithner’s proposal was met with derision and laughter by Republicans. “Well, it’s outrageous,” Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) told Fox News when asked about Obama’s plan […]
The World Bank has come to the rescue of Hamas, giving it $6.4 million to improve water and sewage services after the latest escalation in attacks on Israel that drew Israel into the eight-day Pillar of Defense counterterrorist campaign. The Islamic Development Bank is contributing an additional $11.1 million, but there has been no report […]
As the fiscal cliff approaches, Congress and President Obama continue to debate tax increases, even though spending is the problem. Investor Warren Buffett recently opined that tax hikes on the wealthy would not curtail investments or hurt the economy. His logic, like President Obama’s, assumes that incentives don’t matter. Oh really? News that Great Britain […]
The Palestinian Authority, which has been pushing to be recognized as a state in the United Nations, has won a symbolic victory—an upgrade of its status. Despite the fact that the Palestinian push for unilateral statehood violates all existing internationally agreed frameworks for negotiating a peace between Israel and the Palestinians, the United Nations General […]
