Rumors are swirling that included in their negotiations to avert the “fiscal cliff,” President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner (R–OH) may add an additional $100 billion in cuts as an alternative to the roughly $500 billion in defense budget cuts over nine years required by sequestration under the Budget Control Act of 2011. If […]
Too often, government policies designed to ameliorate a general problem merely benefit a special interest. A case in point, highlighted by Binyamin Applebaum on the Economix blog, is the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP). HARP is part of the complex federal effort to stabilize the home mortgage market and stem the flood of foreclosures, and […]
(CNSNews.com) – MSNBC’s Chris Hayes said on Sunday he is “uncomfortable” using the phrase “right-to-work” because it has its origins in the “segregationist white supremacist south.” “I’m not going to use the phrase [right to work] that is commonly used because it is such a ridiculous—let me just give people a little bit of history […]
Kicking the can is the least repugnant remaining resolution to the fiscal cliff. The only alternatives appear to be the Republicans’ unconditional surrender on income tax rates (and conceding their principles) or simply going over the cliff. The story is now a familiar one. Congress and the President conspire to delay every conceivable difficulty until […]
Faced with a court-ordered deadline, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized more stringent rules for National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Particulate Pollution (PM2.5), more commonly known as soot. The new standard lowers the standard from 15 micrograms per cubic meter of air down to 12 micrograms, and counties must meet the standard by 2020 […]
The last head of state of the former Soviet Union, Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev, has warned the US of an imminent Soviet-like collapse if Washington persists with its hegemonic policies. Speaking at a Thursday conference on the future of the Middle East and the Black Sea region in the Turkish city of Istanbul, Gorbachev […]
Israel has decided to pay off Palestinian Authority debts for electricity by using tax money the government collects for it. Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz ordered that 435 million shekels – more than $110,000 – not only will be withheld from the Palestinian Authority but also will be transferred to the Israel Electric Corp, leaving an […]
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 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 […]
