A conservative lion passes away

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James Carafano discusses important foreign policy election issues with CNN’s Glenn Beck.

Another liberal distortion on Iraq

Radical left-wing advocacy groups including MoveOn.org are uniting this week to launch a multi-million-dollar lobbying campaign. They spuriously claim that the softening economy can be cured by cutting and running from Iraq, a key front in the war on terror, and redirecting war spending to big-government social programs.

“As long as we keep pouring that money down the drain in Iraq, we’ll never solve our economic woes,” claims MoveOn.org. “We won’t have the money to take care of people hurt by the economic downturn, or to invest in making our economy more competitive.”

This is completely wrong. In fact, according to a debunking prepared by Heritage experts, it is not spending on social programs but military spending that has the short end of the stick.

» Read the full debunking on MyHeritage.org

Here’s how you can help:

For the latest on Iraq, visit Heritage’s Progress in Iraq page.

—Chris Albright

Federal spending by the numbers

Heritage Foundation budget expert Brian Riedl has crunched the latest federal spending figures and discovered exactly how much our lawmakers are overspending. A few highlights from his research:

Federal spending has grown twice as fast under President Bush as under President Clinton.

In 2008, the federal government will spend $25,117 per household, collect taxes of $21,604 per household, and run a budget deficit of $3,513 per household.

Entitlements (excluding net interest) take up 53 percent of all program spending and a record 11 percent of GDP.

Anti-poverty spending has surged 56 percent (29 percent after inflation) under President Bush, to a record 3 percent of GDP.

Much of the rapid 2001–2008 defense spending surge reversed cuts made during the 1990s. Domestic discretionary programs have actually grown faster than defense and homeland security since 1990.

Anti-poverty spending has surged 56 percent (29 percent after inflation) under President Bush, to a record 3 percent of GDP.

Government auditors spent the past five years examining all federal programs and found that 22 percent of them—with total budgets of $123 billion—fail to show any positive impact on the populations they serve.

—Chris Albright

In other news

The Senate is debating legislation that would require American troops to withdraw from Iraq within 120 days. Meanwhile, actress Angelina Jolie writes in The Washington Post that aid agencies believe the surge has brought increased security so they can “attempt to scale up their programs.”

“Taxpayers overwhelmingly believe the federal government has failed to explain how it collects and spends money,” Government Executive reports. Only five percent of Americans believe the government is being open and honest with its spending, according to the survey.

The federal government is stepping up its efforts to deport illegal alien criminals.

More than one in 100 Americans is behind bars or on parole, according to a new report. We should keep in mind what Heritage’s David Muhlhausen’s research found: “In terms of public policy, a major factor contributing to falling crime rates in recent years has been the increased use of incarceration.”

Coming up at Heritage

To attend these or any other events at Heritage please RSVP at Heritage’s website. Or you can view these events live online. All times are Eastern.

On Monday, March 3 at noon, Brian Latell of the Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies at the University of Miami will discuss Raúl Castro’s regime in Cuba.

On Tuesday, March 4 at 12:30 p.m., Heritage Vice President Kim Holmes discusses his new book, Liberty’s Best Hope: American Leadership for the 21st Century. Pre-order his book today at the Heritage bookstore!

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