July 10, 2007 | By Nathaniel Ward

How conservatives can prevail

To make the case for limiting government and defending the nation, conservatives in Congress should recommit to their core principles, Rep. Roy Blunt (R-MO) said today at The Heritage Foundation.

Government, he said, should secure the nation’s borders, rein in government spending, ensure that individuals and not bureaucrats run health care, enact a sound energy policy and “trust the American people with decisions on how to spend their money.”

Read more about Rep. Blunt’s remarks on the need for principle if conservatives are to win policy victories.

Don’t tie the military’s hands in Iraq

A new Senate proposal to limit overseas military deployment times “is a transparent attempt to hamstring the military’s ability to support combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Heritage’s James Carafano writes.

The proposal is “the first step toward cutting and running in Iraq and turning the country over to al-Qaeda, Iran, and other terrorist groups that want to kill, exploit, and oppress the Iraqi people.” It is no less, he adds, than a “cut-and-run approach.”

Troop deployments should not be dictated by politicians in Washington, Carafano writes, but instead “really should be determined based upon the needs of battlefield commanders.”

The Libby commutation: What does the Constitution say?

Since President Bush’s commutation of the prison sentence of former vice presidential advisor I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby last week, critics of the President have accused him of abuse of the “power of pardon” granted in the Constitution. Whatever the merits of President Bush’s decision to commute Libby’s sentence, there is little doubt that it was a permissible act under the Constitution and strays little from previous exercise of this power.

Here’s what the Constitution says: “The President . . . shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.” (Article II, Section 2, Clause 1)

Writing in The Heritage Guide to the Constitution, legal scholar James Pfiffner makes the case that the President’s power in such cases is quite broad. But he cautions that the executive must use his judgment when exercising his power:

The pardon power has been and will remain a powerful constitutional tool of the President. Its use has the potential to achieve much good for the polity or to increase political conflict. Only the wisdom of the President can ensure its appropriate use.

Liberals push for a new entitlement

Liberals in Congress are looking to create a vast new entitlement—under the guise of “helping the children”—by expanding a health care program for low-income children to cover families making $80,000 a year. In fact, many families that would be covered under this program for poor children would also be hit by taxes designed for high earners.

The plan calls for a tremendous increase the number of people eligible for the program, which would cover families making up to 400 percent of the federal poverty level, or $80,000 a year. In fact, according to a new analysis from Heritage’s Center for Data Analysis, about 70,000 families would receive federal health care funding because of their “poverty” even as they pay the Alternative Minimum Tax because of their “wealth.”

Click here to learn how Congress wants to create an entitlement for higher-income families.

Where conservatives and liberals agree

Conservatives and liberals may disagree on many issues, but in one policy area they see eye-to-eye. Heritage education expert Dan Lips explains that “conservatives and liberals alike are calling for greater state and local control of schools.”

Click here for more on the growing call for local control of education.

In other news

• Federal officials report that high demand for gasoline will drive up prices at the pump. If Congress wants to lower gas prices, the solution is to increase the supply of energy, for example by allowing expanded energy exploration.
• Reason’s Jacob Sullum notes some backwards economic logic in The New York Times, which argues that “the lack of subsidies for fruits and vegetables makes them expensive by comparison” to grains. But the problem is not that fruits and vegetables don’t get enough in the way of government handouts but that grains get too much.
• A rapid American withdrawal from Iraq could lead the country’s government to collapse, Iraqi officials warned yesterday.
• A New York City program has turned the city's public schools into soup kitchens for children during the summer months. While providing food to the needy is a noble enterprise, The New York Times reports that city officials are going much further, actively seeking out children to feed—apparently whether they truly need handouts or not—and federal taxpayers are left picking up the tab.
• New York is also looking to install a massive network of surveillance cameras, ostensibly as an anti-crime and counter-terrorism measure. But will it work? There’s little evidence that such programs work, Heritage’s James Carafano tells The New York Times.

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, July 11 at 11 a.m., Edwin Meese hosts a panel discussion on the Supreme Court’s recent term.
• On Thursday, July 12 at 11:30 a.m., scholar David Aikman speaks on the possibility of peaceful reform in communist China.

Nathaniel Ward is the Editor of MyHeritage.org—a website for members and supporters of The Heritage Foundation. DeEtte Chatterton contributed to this report.

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