Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez continues his march to authoritarianism. In an effort to bolster the already excessive power of the executive, Chavez received authority to govern by decree until mid-2012 from a lame duck legislative national assembly controlled by Chavez loyalists. This action comes on the eve of a January handoff to a new legislative body […]
There she goes again. DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano just can’t speak in public without destroying any remaining confidence Americans have left in her agency. CNS News reports that at a conference devoted to “environmental justice”, Secretary Napolitano announced that the Department of Homeland Security would be creating the “Climate Change and Adaptation Task Force” to […]
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is slated to vote Tuesday on an Internet regulation scheme hatched by Chairman Julius Genachowski. It’s bad enough that the commission is attempting yet again to supersede its statutory authority—despite a court ruling halting a previous attempt to regulate the Web. The fact that the public has been barred from […]
The long-awaited White House Review on Afghanistan demonstrates that General Petraeus’ counterinsurgency strategy is beginning to pay dividends. The additional U.S. troops deployed to Afghanistan have helped the U.S. and coalition forces begin to uproot the Taliban from some of their traditional strongholds in southern Afghanistan. The most important task now is to gain greater […]
The Norwegian Nobel Committee held its annual awards ceremony last week in Oslo, where it intended to award the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize to Chinese intellectual and human rights activist Liu Xiaobo “for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China.” Still imprisoned, Liu was prevented from traveling to Oslo to participate […]
“Duck and Cover” has been replaced by its 21st-century incarnation: “Shield Yourself.” This no doubt marks the zenith of the Obama Administration’s nuclear preparedness plan (sarcasm intended), as outlined in a recent government report detailing the methods for increasing survivability rates in the case of a nuclear blast. Unfortunately, such trivialities belie the dangerous path […]
Rep. Jim Jordan (R–OH) is a man who doesn’t like to lose. His high school wrestling record was an astonishing 150–1. That bodes well for the Republican Study Committee (RSC), a group of conservative lawmakers Jordan will lead in the 112th Congress. Jordan joined the RSC’s outgoing chairman, Representative Tom Price (R–GA), at an American […]
Heritage Foundation Senior Policy Analyst in Labor Economics James Sherk writes: “The Obama Administration recently rolled back union financial transparency reforms. New regulations will exempt many union trust funds, such as strike funds and apprenticeship programs, from financial disclosure laws. These regulations also end financial reporting for many government unions.” According to recent polling, 66 […]
The Senate plays a vital role in the treaty-making process. The Senate is required to provide due diligence in the considerations of treaties. The Founding Fathers set a high procedural bar for ratification and entry into force of treaties, expecting that the Senate would serve as a quality control mechanism. Thus, they gave the Senate […]
Today on the Senate floor, John Kerry (D-MA) informed 15,304,498 voters from 16 states that their democratic voice is better left unheard. Kerry’s remarks came during a speech in which he urged the ratification of the ill-conceived New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) with Russia. Kerry and other Senate liberals are striving to ratify the […]
