What is the “debt failsafe” trigger that the President rolled out in his speech on April 13? This is an idea that may be introduced into the debt limit increase debate next month, and it is a dangerous idea. If the Senate’s “Gang of Six” (a bipartisan group working to reduce the deficit) or the […]
Galvanized by the brutal slaying of his 24-year old son on March 28, Mexican poet and intellectual Javier Sicilia has become the loudest voice of discontent in the ongoing war against criminal organizations in Mexico. The murder of Juan Sicilia and six other youth is only a snapshot of the violence that has claimed more […]
In a timely Heritage in Focus, Heritage expert Curtis Dubay discusses part of President Obama’s budget proposal to raise taxes on the wealthy – those earning over $250,000. The president’s budget this year is $3.6 trillion. Confiscating every single penny from every income earner making more than $114,000 – everyone in the top 10 percent […]
Good Friday, a holy day for Christians around the world, is turning out to be a bad day for Egyptian Christians. Thousands of Muslims gathered to protest the appointment of a Coptic Christian governor in the Qena province this week. This incident comes amid a campaign of discrimination and violence targeting Egypt’s Christian community, which […]
It seems everyone except President Obama is presenting a detailed plan for dealing with our nation’s rapidly growing debt these days. The latest entry comes from the Bipartisan Policy Council. One feature of their plan, “SAVEGO,” calls for automatic spending cuts and higher taxes should Congress not reduce the debt to a predetermined share of […]
UAE to Iran: Butt Out! Iran should reconsider its policies in the region and respect the unity of Gulf countries, UAE foreign minister Shaikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan said Wednesday in Abu Dhabi. “Iran should reconsider its policies in the region,” Al Nahyan, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the Gulf Cooperation Council, […]
Some critics of the proposed South Korea–U.S. Free Trade Agreement (KORUS) have expressed concerns about imports from North Korea, specifically goods originating from the Kaesong Industrial Region. This should be a non-issue. The chart below compares how imports from North Korea are treated today and how they will be treated if KORUS is approved. With […]
Last week, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced new initiatives intended to provide states with increased flexibility to better manage their Medicaid programs. However, these initiatives do not seriously address states’ mounting Medicaid crises. The first HHS initiative is to improve coordination of care for individuals enrolled in both Medicare and Medicaid, […]
Today the Supreme Court took up the case of American Electric Power Co. v. Connecticut, reviewing a Second Circuit decision finding that states and private parties could sue electricity generators for global warming under the judge-made law of nuisance. To the Second Circuit, this was just a “garden-variety” claim, despite pitting all the world (those […]
United States government, be forewarned: Your credit won’t always be good if you fail to get control of the debt while keeping up your big-spending ways. And merely raising the debt limit won’t be enough to solve your problems. That was the message delivered yesterday by Standard Poor’s (SP) credit rating firm, which lowered its outlook […]
