Posts belonging to Category Politics
Imagine being a child trapped in a failing school in Arizona. Prior to 2011, being trapped in a failing school in Arizona meant being trapped in a failing school in a state that ranks among the worst performing in the country. But during 2011—the “Year of School Choice”—Arizona led the way in expanding educational options for children outside of the public system. And the Grand Canyon State did so in a major way: by enacting groundbreaking, first-in-the-nation education savings accounts. Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (ESAs) enable parents of special needs children … More
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Numerous Heritage research papers and postings on The Foundry in the past year have reported on the plight of Gibson Guitar, which has been accused by the Obama Administration of running afoul of the Lacey Act—one of the oldest U.S. environmental regulations. Gibson’s violations were deemed so severe that armed federal marshals entered its facilities in Nashville and Memphis in August 2011 and seized millions of dollars’ worth of guitars, which the government alleges may have been constructed of wood illegally harvested in Madagascar and India. As the months have … More
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A funny thing happened on the way to the recall. Government unions organized Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s (R) recall in retaliation for limiting their collective bargaining powers. But the Democratic candidate, Milwaukee mayor Tom Barrett, barely mentions the collective bargaining law on the campaign trail. That is probably because—now that they have seen its benefits—most Wisconsin voters want to keep it. By a 53 percent to 38 percent margin, independent voters favor the limits on collective bargaining in government. It turns out that closing a $3.6 billion deficit without raising … More
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By Malou Innocent
In today’s Washington Post, David Ignatius writes that Pakistan is reaping the whirlwind of homegrown terrorism by having “squandered the opportunity presented” with a large-scale U.S. troop presence next door and for refusing to work with Washington to stabilize its mountainous tribal region. Recent history suggests a more complex reality. Mr. Ignatius is correct when [...]
Ignatius on Pakistan: Actually, We May Have Only Had One Year is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog
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By Jim Harper
The ACLU’s Chris Calabrese notes that nominations to the Privacy and Civil Liberties Board were forwarded from the Senate Judiciary Committee to the full Senate this morning. Congress created the Board in August 2007, and we have waited, and waited, and waited while the Bush and Obama administrations neglected to appoint anyone to it. Calabrese [...]
I Second That Skepticism is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog
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By Tad DeHaven
This week the Club for Growth released a study of votes cast in 2011 by the 87 Republicans elected to the House in November 2010. The Club found that “In many cases, the rhetoric of the so-called “Tea Party” freshmen simply didn’t match their records.” Particularly disconcerting is the fact that so many GOP newcomers [...]
Freshman Republicans Switch from Tea to Kool-Aid is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog
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In the current economic environment, one would think that Congress could identify nonessential international programs to defund. That’s what Representatives Jeff Duncan (R–SC) and Jim Jordan (R–OH) are attempting to do in Amendment No. 200 to the fiscal year 2013 National Defense Authorization Act. Amendment No. 200 is pretty straightforward: None of the funds authorized to be appropriated by this Act may be made available for any institution or organization established by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, including the International Seabed Authority, the International Tribunal for … More
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What would the life in the United States look like if the continent were hit by an electromagnetic pulse (EMP)? The new TV show Revolution from producer J.J. Abrams, launching on NBC in the fall, is seeking to answer the question. The show portrays life in the United States 15 years after an EMP disables all electronics. Life as we know it changes forever; militias and warlords rule the society, which has to provide for itself without the help of all the electronic devices we know today. Such a scenario … More
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JP Morgan Chase’s $2 billion loss on a hedging strategy doesn’t mean that the bank is in crisis, and it certainly does not mean the government needs to step in. JP Morgan Chase is a $2.3 trillion bank with a net worth of $189 billion. While the bank’s loss represents a clear failure of management, they are accountable to the shareholders. The loss will be covered by the bank’s capital, just as it should be. Neither the bank nor the financial system was endangered, and no government intervention or additional … More
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It was a major, who in 1923, gave a talk to a small group here in Washington, D.C., an Army major, who said that America has the habit of doing and undoing its military. Undoing particularly after every major conflict. At that time, in 1923, Major George C. Marshall spoke of the Army being 125,000, and he said they would have gone down to 95,000 had Congress not gone out of session. In 1998, Congressman Ike Skelton (D–MO) related this story of George C. Marshall, who as a major in … More
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