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The case for English

February 27, 2007 | By Nathaniel Ward

The English language, writes Heritage President Ed Feulner in The Chicago Sun-Times, is a tie that can bind Americans together. The overwhelming majority of Americans speak this language—and hundreds of millions around the world use it to conduct business and communicate on the Internet, where it is the default language.

“But instead of using the power of our native tongue to unite the country,” Feulner points out, “our official policy has been to balkanize the United States.” For example, an executive order issued in 2000 mandates that federally-funded government services must be provided not just in English but in the foreign languages of those likely to use the services.

America needs to establish English as an official language, Feulner writes. Click here for more on his proposal.

‘An organization in deep crisis’

Nile Gardiner, director of The Heritage Foundation’s Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom, explains why we should be suspicious of the United Nations in this new video:

Heritage’s prescient analysis

Heritage’s Nile Gardiner, April 2006: “Italy’s left-wing Union coalition, headed by Romano Prodi, has claimed victory in this week's general election… It is conceivable that his new administration may not survive beyond six months to a year.”

The Associated Press, yesterday: “Prime Minister Romano Prodi resigned Wednesday after nine months in office following an embarrassing loss by his center-left government in the Senate on foreign policy, including Italy’s military mission in Afghanistan.”

Slowing runaway government

In less than a year, the first of the Baby Boomers start collecting Social Security checks. In 2011, they become eligible for Medicare as well. This, writes Heritage Vice President Michael Franc, is “the fiscal equivalent of riding downhill with no brakes.”

Click here to read more about the coming fiscal crunch, and why tax hikes aren’t the answer.

In other news

  • Terrorists in Iraq have used chemical weapons in attacks on civilians three times in the past month, The New York Times reports.
  • Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) will introduce a new version of his amnesty legislation as early as next week, according to The Washington Times. The paper adds that Republicans, including many who supported last year’s amnesty bill, were not included in early discussions of this new version.
  • After British Prime Minister Tony Blair announced the withdrawal of 1,600 troops from Iraq, liberals in Congress said America should follow Britain’s lead. Though Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) is surely right that “there can be no purely military solution in Iraq,” this hardly means that a sudden troop withdrawal is the right strategy.
  • Vice President Dick Cheney said in an interview that liberal proposals to cut and run from Iraq would “validate the al Qaeda strategy” of undermining domestic support for the war on terrorism. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi retorted that the Vice President should not say the Congressional leadership “is acting against the national security of our country.”
  • A new study indicates that organic farming, long favored by environmentalists as more Earth-friendly, may contribute more to global warming than modern agricultural practices.
  • Iran missed another United Nations deadline to suspend its nuclear program. Instead, the Islamist regime has stepped up its uranium enrichment work.
  • A Philadelphia-area mother is suing the local school district for preventing her 10-year-old son from appearing as Jesus in a Halloween parade last fall.

Coming up at Heritage

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