The Organization of American States (OAS) is an enthusiastic backer of its CIFTA treaty, the Spanish-language abbreviation for the Inter-American Convention Against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives, and Other Related Materials. President Clinton signed CIFTA in 1997, but it has not been ratified by the Senate. That is fortunate, for […]
On February 11, the U.S. Department of Commerce will release our country’s 2010 trade statistics. The following three principles will help in understanding what the numbers mean: Unlike the U.S. budget deficit, the size of the trade deficit does not matter. The trade deficit results from people in other countries spending more dollars investing in […]
A large number of Senators went on record tonight opposing ObamaCare. The House spoke on a bipartisan basis on a measure to fully repeal the President’s health care law by 56 votes last month. Just yesterday, a Florida federal court issued a decision declaring the individual mandate, and the whole law, unconstitutional. If one of […]
Under the Progressive notion of a “living” Constitution, almost every aspect of the Constitution has been subject to reinterpretation. One section that would seem to defy a new interpretation, however, is Article I, Section 7, Clause 2 – or the “Presentment Clause” – which clearly outlines the process by which a bill becomes a law. […]
President Hosni Mubarak continues facing enormous pressure to step down from power. As rioting continues, a host of otherwise disparate interest groups unite in their opposition to the president. With U.S. and Middle East geopolitics contingent upon what happens in Egypt, in a recent podcast Heritage expert Jim Carafano gives his insight as to what […]
As a rising international power, Brazil under President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva outlined a comprehensive national defense plan aimed at controlling and defending national territory, extending its maritime reach, and developing cutting-edge defense technology. The plan calls for reorganization of the army, air and space capabilities to cover Brazil’s extensive territory (including the Amazon), […]
President Obama’s oil spill commission spent six months examining the “root causes” of the Gulf disaster, yet never inspected the failed blowout preventer — the part of the well that could have, as its name suggests, prevented the explosion. At a House Natural Resources Committee hearing this week, the co-chairmen of the National Oil Spill […]
Last Thursday, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner sent a letter extolling the impact of Obamacare on small business. Geithner touted small business tax credits and the creation of health insurance exchanges as ways to enable a greater number of employers to offer health benefits. But reality tells a different story. A day earlier, the House Committee […]
Tensions on the streets of Cairo continue to rise. Looters have taken advantage of the widespread disappearance of the reviled police to smash and grab what they can. Gangs have attacked prisons to release Muslim militants held there along with hundreds of common criminals, who have added to the chaos. The Egyptian army, which was […]
From the outset of the Obama presidency and the emergence of the Obama Doctrine, the similarities between this Administration and that of Jimmy Carter have been striking. Like Obama, Carter trumpeted soft power and international institutions as the means to solve the most perplexing foreign policy problems. The programs of both Presidents hinged on the […]
