Liberals plan to cut missile defense
June 19, 2007 | By Nathaniel Ward
Liberals in Congress are proposing a defense bill that would undermine efforts to expand America’s missile defense capability, leaving America’s citizens and armed forces exposed.
Heritage defense expert Baker Spring explains that two provisions in the bill would put a damper on missile defense development. “The first eliminates funding for a test bed for missile defense systems in space, and the second establishes operational testing requirements in order to continue development of the missile defense system.”
Take our poll: Is it in America’s interests to fully develop a ballistic missile shield?
Read Spring’s debunking of liberal distortions about missile defense.
From the archives
In a 1992 speech, President Ronald Reagan cites Heritage Foundation research on nuclear proliferation in the former Soviet Union.
The return of immigration ‘reform’
Liberals in Congress—and a few self-described conservatives as well—are working hard to revive the flawed immigration bill, which was withdrawn from consideration just two weeks ago.
Heritage experts are already working hard to ensure Congress and the public are informed about this version of the legislation. To that end, they have secured a copy of the legislation to ensure the public—and even members of Congress—know the revised bill’s consequences.
Read the whole text of the bill on Heritage’s Web site.
Islam and Europe
Europe faces a number of challenges from extremist Islam, a British Member of the European Parliament declared today at a Heritage Foundation panel discussion about the rise of radical Islam in Britain and on the Continent.
According to Dr. Syed Kamall, education is the key to reversing the trends towards radicalism among European Muslims. “We must educate youth on how to live as a Muslim within the context of modern society,” he explained. “We have to start engaging in the battle of ideas in Islam.”
—DeEtte Chatterton
How much are you willing to pay for gas?
Congress is now considering a poorly-conceived energy bill that is an amalgam of some of the worst ideas on energy policy. It would do nothing at all to make gasoline cheaper. In fact, as researchers in Heritage’s Center for Data Analysis have discovered, the legislation would more than double the cost of gasoline in the next decade.
View the interactive map to find out how much gas prices will increase in your state.
Holding the line on spending
Conservatives in Congress have an ace up their sleeve in their fight against liberal plans to dramatically expand federal spending. One hundred and forty-seven members of Congress have pledged in a letter to President Bush to uphold his promised vetoes of lavish spending bills.
Heritage’s Rob Bluey has posted about the letter on his weblog, and reports on which members did and did not sign up to uphold the veto. (Bluey, incidentally, is profiled in The Politico as one of the conservative blogosphere’s most important contributors.)
Watch J.C. Watts on June 21
Former Rep. J.C. Watts (R-OK) will be speaking to Heritage Foundation members in New York City on Thursday, June 21. Tune in to MyHeritage.org to watch this event live online at noon Eastern. (This event was incorrectly listed last week as taking place June 20.)
To attend this event in person, RSVP today at MyHeritage.org/NewYork/
In other news
- Rob Portman has announced he is resigning as director of the Office of Management and Budget. He will be replaced in this key administration post by former Rep. Jim Nussle (R-IA).
- ABC News reports that al Qaeda terrorists intend to target the United States and Europe with suicide attacks. Intelligence officials, however, say the terrorist ceremony on which this report is based is part of an elaborate scare tactic. Either way, the report highlights the importance of giving law enforcement officers the tools they need to monitor terrorists and thereby thwart planned attacks.
- The Washington Post reports that the federal government’s misguided ethanol subsidies are driving up the cost of food by artificially inflating the price of corn.
- Twenty-five years ago last Thursday, British forces forced Argentina to surrender after the South American country unsuccessfully tried to seize the Falkland Islands. Would that Britain’s current leadership had the wartime resolve that Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher demonstrated in that conflict. Blogger Tigerhawk has posted photos of the memorial parade in London.
- Belmont, CA could become the first American city to enact unprecedented and intrusive anti-tobacco laws by prohibiting smoking even in private residences. A proposed ordinance would treat lighting up like a noise nuisance and allow citizens to file police complaints about their neighbors’ smoking.
- Britain’s Queen Elizabeth sparked protest in Muslim countries by knighting controversial Muslim author Salman Rushdie, who wrote The Satanic Verses.
- Left-wing historian Howard Zinn has issued a new version of his revisionist book A People's History of the United States, which is widely used in classrooms. The new book, A Young People’s History of the United States, is aimed specifically at children and presents the same radical and distorted view of American history in a simplified format.
Coming up at Heritage
To attend the following Heritage Foundation events, RSVP at Heritage’s events website. Or you can watch these events live online at Heritage.org. All times are Eastern.
- On Wednesday, June 20 at 5:30 p.m., Director of Domestic Policy Jennifer Marshall will discuss her book, Now and Not Yet: Making Sense of Single Life in the Twenty-First Century.
- On Friday, June 22 at 10:00 a.m., Baker Spring hosts a panel discussion on whether conservatives should support the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
Nathaniel Ward is the Editor of MyHeritage.org—a website for members and supporters of The Heritage Foundation. DeEtte Chatterton contributed to this report.
