Heritage Commentary

• Ed Feulner criticizes federal energy subsidies and comments on the future of solar power in The Washington Times.
• James Carafano analyzes the current turmoil in the Middle East in The Daily Caller.
• James Carafano discusses revolution and the new role social media in The Washington Examiner.
• Brian Darling gives an assessment of the effects of President Obama’s budget in Human Events.
• James Sherk comments on the implications of unionizing through government regulation in The Wichita Eagle.
• James Sherk writes on the history of public employee unions in New York Times’ “Room for Debate.”
• Robert Bluey separates myth from fact in the Wisconsin union protesters’ debate for Big Government. Continue Reading »

Speaking at The Heritage Foundation last week, Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) explained his new proposal to ensure public debts are paid even if the debt ceiling is not raised.

Toomey authored the bill to prevent the federal government from defaulting on its obligations, which could happen if the debt ceiling is not raised.

But he also insisted that while the government must pay its debts, lawmakers shouldn’t use payments on the debt as an excuse to  automatically renew and increase federal spending and borrowing.

Noting that the federal government will reach the current debt ceiling in the next few months, Heritage economist J.D. Foster argues that the chances of a default are slim—but says Toomey’s proposed “Full Faith and Credit Act” would help reassure markets.

Toomey had some nice words to say about Heritage during his address:

It’s great fun to be back at The Heritage Foundation. I love this organization. I love the work that Heritage does. I think it’s one of the most important thought leaders in the entire political spectrum… It’s very important to provide that intellectual underpinning for the policies that will enable us to expand and defend freedom and have the prosperity that comes from that freedom.

One year ago, leaders from around the country came together to reaffirm conservative principles during what many liberals claimed was a new progressive era.

Signed by a broad coalition of conservative leaders from all corners of the movement, the statement was written to be a defining statement of conservative beliefs and values in uncertain times for conservative ideas.

The day after the statement was drafted, Heritage President Ed Feulner told members and supporters,

The Heritage Foundation was founded to uphold the very principles articulated in this document. Our mission statement reads: “To formulate and promote conservative public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values and a strong national defense.” Our vision statement is “to build an America where freedom, opportunity, prosperity, and civil society flourish.” That is the same mission, the same vision embraced by the founders and articulated in the Mount Vernon Statement. We’ve been bound, voluntarily and enthusiastically, to those ideals since Heritage’s founding in 1973. I hope you share these principles, and join me in supporting this framework and signing your name here.

On the anniversary of this important event, please take the time to reaffirm your commitment to conservatism by signing onto the statement, and comment below:

Why is it important for America to defends its First Principles?

Last week, Heritage Foundation economist J.D. Foster testified on Capitol Hill about the ineffectual and perhaps dangerous effects the “stimulus” program had on the American economy.

Foster began this way:

At best, stimulus efforts based on government spending and tax cuts with little or no incentive effects have done no harm. At best. It is quite possible most of these efforts over the past couple of years have slowed the recovery while adding hundreds of billions of dollars to the national debt.

Instead, Foster offered ideas about what the government could have done differently. For example, he suggested that “Congress could have focused its fiscal policies on the sources of recovery and growth, rather than give in to the perennial delight of increasing spending on politically favored causes.”

Read his full remarks, or watch the video below.

Foster spoke before the Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs, Stimulus Oversight, and Government Spending, charged with making government spending transparent and accountable to the American people. The Subcommittee is investigating the liberal program stimulus to determine its effectiveness.

Yesterday’s Morning Bell featured Tina Korbe’s exclusive one-on-one interview with Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker to discuss the labor showdown in the Badger State.

Subscribers to The Heritage Foundation’s Morning Bell were the first to see this interview. And they’re the first to see the conservative take on the day’s issues every weekday morning.

“The Morning Bell is my daily wake-up call for fresh, conservative analysis on the news,” says Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC). “Every member of Congress who believes in conserving and renewing the principles of freedom should make it theirs, too.”

If you would like a dose of conservative analysis with your morning coffee, subscribe to the Morning Bell today.