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John Bolton resigns

December 5, 2006 | By Nathaniel Ward

A staunch defender of American’s values and interests has resigned his office. John Bolton yesterday announced that he would no longer serve as the nation’s ambassador to the United Nations, where he has worked feverishly for more than a year to reform the inept and corrupt organization.

Nile Gardiner and Brett Schaefer from Heritage’s Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom explain Ambassador Bolton’s achievements:

As U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton has proven a forceful advocate of American interests, a powerful voice for U.N. reform, and a staunch defender of the cause of human rights. He has worked closely with Congress, testifying no less than six times before House and Senate committees. Bolton has been an outspoken critic of corruption, mismanagement, waste, and inefficiency at a world body that receives several billion dollars a year from U.S. taxpayers. He has shaken up an institution that has for decades resisted change and cast a revealing light on an elite U.N. establishment that has long thrived amid a culture of complacency and secrecy.

Unfortunately, continued Senate squabbling over his confirmation, including highly emotional and partisan performances from liberals opposed to making his job permanent, seem to have ensured he would not continue in his job. Heritage will work with President Bush to ensure the next United Nations ambassador is as committed to freedom and United Nations reform as Ambassador Bolton.

More dependence on government

Last week, The Heritage Foundation published its latest Index of Dependency, which studies how much Americans rely on the government to get by. This year’s Index, unfortunately, “found that dependence on government has grown steadily and at an alarming rate in recent years.”

This means that “federal government services and programs have grown in areas in which private or community-based services and programs exist or have existed to address the same or similar needs.” It should be remembered, of course, that this isn’t a problem just of economics: when government displaces families and civil society institutions, the traditional values that have made our country strong suffer as well.

Click here to read more about the disturbing results of the study.

How bad has it gotten? Click here to read more.

What ails our country

“In 2006, our country is again gripped and increasingly bound by tyrants—not regents and despots from afar, but by cancerous growths from within,” entertainer and best-selling author Pat Boone said last week in The Heritage Foundation’s Lerhrman Auditorium (link in PDF).

Click here to find out which are the “powerful forces” Boone says are “robbing us of the very liberty to perpetuate the vision of our Founding Fathers.”

Rebuilding the Reagan coalition—state by state

One of The Heritage Foundation’s most important missions is taking conservative reform to the states. That’s why Heritage works closely with the State Policy Network, an alliance of conservative policy organizations from around the country.

Heritage’s Alex Adrianson reports on the group’s latest visit with Heritage:

[T]he State Policy Network members gathered in Washington for their annual “DC Networking Trip” and made a stop at The Heritage Foundation. While at Heritage they heard from outgoing Republican Study Committee Chairman (and former Indiana state think tank founder) Mike Pence, and they took part in a half-day meeting to share the latest in policy innovations, and discuss marketing strategies and networking with the media.

Heritage’s Ronald Reagan Fellow Edwin Meese gave a dinner address on the question “Can We Rebuild the Reagan Coalition?” Reagan, said Meese, had numerous personal qualities that allowed him to endure tough times, withstand electoral setbacks, reinvigorate our economy, and win the Cold War: vision, integrity, courage, and persistence. But above all, cheerfulness and optimism, said Meese, were Reagan’s most impressive personal qualities.

Click here to read more about Attorney General Meese’s talk on President Reagan.

Heritage in Chicago

Yesterday, nearly 300 Chicagoans braved single-digit temperatures to attend the seventh annual Chicago Business Luncheon, hosted by the Chicago Committee for Heritage.

Several speakers highlighted the challenges facing conservatives in the coming years:

  • Sen.-elect Bob Corker of Tennessee (R) explained that his commitment to conservative principles made the difference in his election. He especially noted that The Heritage Foundation was the first place he came when looking for policy guidance when considering a run for the Senate.
  • Tim Goeglein from the White House Office of Public Liaison and Heritage Vice President of Government Relations Mike Franc explained the fallout of the 2006 midterm elections. Franc pointed out that the elections were in no way a defeat of conservative ideas—though the Democrats gained seats, it was often at the expense of Republicans who abandoned conservative principles.
  • Economist Brian Wesbury joined Heritage economist Dan Mitchell for a discussion of the country’s economic future. Without urgently-needed reforms to entitlements and the tax code, they agreed, our nation will become “a decrepit, high-tax welfare state” like France.

Other speakers included Heritage President Ed Feulner and Andy McKenna, chairman of the Illinois Republican Party and a strong Heritage supporter.

In other news

  • At Senate hearings on his nomination to be the next Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates said today that America must work to secure Iraq. If we don’t, he argued, the Middle East could face a “regional conflagration.” The Armed Services Committee approved his nomination unanimously, and the whole Senate will now vote on his confirmation.
  • The new Congress could impose undemocratic “card-check” unionization schemes on non-union employers like Wal-Mart, Bloomberg reports.
  • New York City, which was among the pioneers of smoking bans in privately-owned facilities, has taken its nanny-state policies to the next level by banning the use of certain cooking oils. Is it really the responsibility of government, as some argue, to limit individual freedom?
  • The Senate’s Environment and Public Works Committee will hold hearings this week on how the media is hyping global warming.
  • The federal government has found a way to spend even more taxpayer money than it already is. NASA announced yesterday that it would establish a permanent base on the moon by 2024. The agency has already estimated it will cost $104 billion just to get to the moon and back.

Coming up at Heritage

To attend these or any other Heritage Foundation events, RSVP at Heritage’s events website. Or you can watch these events live online at Heritage.org. All times are Eastern.

Nathaniel Ward is the Editor of MyHeritage.org—a website for members and supporters of The Heritage Foundation.