Heritage Foundation

The Foundry: Conservative Policy News Blog from The Heritage Foundation

• Ryan House Budget Committee Leads on Process Reforms
  
  With debt and spending out of control, the good news is that the House Budget Committee is taking important steps toward focusing Congress on its most basic duty: budgeting. By speedily passing several budget process reform bills, Chairman Paul Ryan (R–WI) and others on his committee are moving Congress in the right direction—toward controlling spending and increasing accountability and transparency in the federal budget process. The fundamental problem with the Senate’s refusal to pass a budget for more than 1,000 days is a lack of fiscal discipline, which results in … More
  
  
• Charges Against NGO Workers Show Egypt Is Slow to Change
  
  Last year, Egyptians overthrew the Mubarak regime in the name of freedom and democracy. Yet, the transitional government’s recent taking of hostages—foreign nongovernmental staff—reveals that authoritarian tendencies remain a major problem. On Monday, Egypt’s public prosecutor published a list of 43 workers, including 19 Americans, who will be put on trial for violating foreign funding laws. Egypt’s interim government claims that the foreign nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) illegally funded political groups in Egypt’s parliamentary election. The NGOs insist that they provided Egyptians with only technical assistance to help them take part … More
  
  
• Even Krugman Agrees–Economy in a Dead-Cat-Bounce Recovery
  
  Despite a recent spate of good economic data, including last week’s jobs report, the U.S. economy remains deeply depressed. Don’t take my word for it. That’s how Paul Krugman, leftist econo-pundit extraordinaire, describes the economy. In a recent column in The New York Times, he wrote, “our economy remains deeply depressed.” As Krugman pointed out, given an honest appraisal, one finds that “every silver lining comes with a cloud.” And thus it is with the recent good data, which while decidedly good and will hopefully persist, nevertheless cannot disguise the … More
  
  
• Side Effects: Medicare Advantage Gains Won’t Last
  
  Last week, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that average premiums in Medicare Advantage (MA) for 2012 have fallen by 7 percent, and enrollment has increased by about 10 percent. This is great news for the program, which allows seniors to receive Medicare benefits through a private plan of their choice. But in a serious twist of logic, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius credited Obamacare with MA’s success: “Now this is just one of the ways the Affordable Care Act is making … More
  
  
• EU Should Act Quickly on Syria
  
  You can tell how serious the situation in Syria is getting by looking at the recent actions taken by its neighbors. Earlier this week, the Gulf Cooperation Council—a regional intergovernmental grouping consisting of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates—released a condemning proclamation against the Assad Regime and recalled their ambassadors from Damascus. Yesterday, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdo?an stated that Turkey is preparing a new initiativewith countries that oppose the current Syrian regime. Although the announcement was vague, the message was serious. Turkey has … More
  
  
• NLRB’s ‘Snap Elections’ Rule Would Dramatically Increase Unionization
  
  A new National Labor Relations Board regulation that expedites elections for union representation will likely lead to dramatically higher rates of unionization, a new study has found. A majority of workplace union elections are decided by five or fewer votes, according to a Bloomberg Government analysis. What’s more, “cutting the time between a request for an election and the ballot increases the chances union supporters will prevail,” according to the study. “Unions win 87 percent of elections held 11 to 15 days after a request, a rate that falls to … More
  
  
• Judging Marriage: What Is the Proper Role of the Courts?
  
  Yesterday’s decision by the Ninth Circuit striking down California’s Proposition 8, which amended the California constitution to define marriage as a legal institution involving one man and one woman, has reignited the public debate about judicial activism. When courts weigh in on such controversial and political topics, it is necessary to stop to consider a larger question: What is the proper role of the courts? Explaining the appropriate interplay between the branches of government and the proper methods of interpretation that judges should employ when determining whether a law is … More
  
  
• Justice Ginsburg: “I Would Not Look to the U.S. Constitution”
  
  Conservatives are often ridiculed for criticizing activist judges who fail to respect the Constitution. We are told that it is not conservative originalists (labeled ignorant and extremist) but rather enlightened liberal judges—with their nuanced understanding of constitutional penumbras—who truly respect the spirit of the Constitution. Conservatives, however, have good reason to be skeptical of the left’s “respect’’ for the Constitution. Just last week, for example, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg told an Egyptian TV station that she would not recommend the U.S. Constitution as model for Egypt’s new government. … More
  
  
• Washington Post Terrorism Poll Misses Point
  
  A new Washington Post–ABC News poll finds that “the sharpest edges of President Obama’s counterterrorism policy, including the use of drone aircraft to kill suspected terrorists abroad and keeping open the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have broad public support, including from the left wing of the Democratic Party.” These findings come as no surprise. For well over a year now, there have been disturbing signs that the Administration’s counterterrorism seemed more structured to win popular support for his reelection bid than it did with defeating transnational terrorist groups … More
  
  
• Guest Blog: The Danger of A Nation of Dependents
  
  As someone who grew up in inner-city Atlanta, I understand there are times when people need whatever help they can find. The social safety net—in conjunction with generosity from neighborhood groups, churches, charities, and private companies—can help lift Americans out of poverty and toward the path of self-reliance and individual prosperity. However, that “net” should never turn into a “hammock”—and that is what this President and his policies are allowing. What we see today with our vast social safety net is a growing and frightening dependency on the federal government, … More