Obama follows Heritage's advice
May 28, 2009 | By Nathaniel Ward
President Obama announced this week that he will integrate the Homeland Security Council with the National Security Council -- exactly as Heritage Foundation experts recommended.
The change will enhance national security by strengthening the government's response capability and efficacy while streamlining bureaucracy. In a statement announcing the transition, the President explained that today's national security challenges "demand a response that effectively integrates all aspects of American power."
In April, Heritage domestic policy experts Jena Baker McNeill and James Carafano advised the President to "fold the HSC into the NSC" since "policy-planning for homeland security has matured to the point that a separate council is no longer essential." This recommendation followed on a more comprehensive Heritage report issued last September.
While these are welcome changes, McNeill and Carafano warn against complicating these important reforms. "The White House should also demonstrate prudence and restraint in expanding the authority and responsibility of the President's staff. The NSC should remain focused on its primary task: Policy coordination and providing staff advice to the President. The Administration should resist the effort to 'operationalize' the White House by expanding its capacity to conduct crisis management and planning day-to-day operations."
-- Amanda Reinecker
Other Heritage work of note
- After President Obama nominated Judge Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court vacancy, Heritage experts worked quickly to get out the facts. The Washington Post commented on Heritage's quick work to spread the conservative message, saying that Heritage's online advertising purchase is "a form of online rapid response that other conservative groups are likely to follow in coming days." Check back to Heritage's rapid response page for all the latest on the nomination.
- Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich will highlight The Heritage Foundation's first-ever Protect America Month. Romney's June 1 address and Gingrich's July 10 remarks will bookend the five-week effort to showcase the need to enact policies that will truly protect the nation, including a commitment to sufficient levels of defense spending. RSVP today to attend Gov. Romney's June 1 speech in Washington.
- Faced with climbing federal budget deficits as spending soars out of control, liberals are proposing a new source of revenue: a European-style value added tax in addition to other federal taxes. "A VAT is basically a national sales tax," Heritage budget expert Brian Riedl explains, "and the possible 25 percent tax rate floated in the article would raise the cost of virtually all goods and services by 25 percent. It would devastate families and businesses, kill jobs, and hammer the economy." Instead of adding to the American tax burden, Riedl suggests that the government do what you or I do when times are tight: prioritize and cut spending where possible.
- Heritage Latin American studies expert Ray Walser criticizes the Left's push for more conciliatory policies towards Cuba, arguing there is no "proof that the 50-year, anti-American dictatorship is loosening its repression of the Cuban people." Skeptical of proposals to eliminate the 50-year old embargo against a Castro-led Cuba, Walser argues the embargo is a necessary "leveraging point for bargained change" and represents America's stand against repression and dictatorship.
- North Korea's provocative nuclear tests and missile launches are "a lot worse" than most people realize, writes Heritage defense policy expert Peter Brookes. Pyongyang has defiantly tested the new administration more in four months than it ever did during President Bush's eight years in office -- suggesting that the President's strategy of negotiation doesn't work. "The threat that a North Korean nuke could reach us is on the horizon," warns Brookes, making the need for robust missile defenses greater than ever.
- Over the past 70 years, Gallup polls have consistently reported a decline in support for the sitting President's party. However, Heritage Vice President Mike Franc notes one exception: during Ronald Reagan's presidency, Republicans experienced a 17-point net gain. This, Franc argues, offers "compelling evidence of what a clearly articulated and compelling vision can do to revive an ailing political party without sacrificing the principles for which it stands."
In other news
- American military forces are on high alert after North Korea renounced the 1953 cease-fire that ended the Korean War. And now,despite past reluctance, Russia is responding to Western calls for stronger punitive sanctions against the reclusive communist country.
- The latest news on the auto bailouts is troubling: the government may soon own a majority stake in General Motors. The Washington Post reports that "the United States and Canada would own nearly three-quarters of a restructured General Motors, effectively nationalizing the border-straddling industrial colossus as part of an overhaul plan that would put most of the rest of the company in the hands of a union trust fund."
- President Obama's energy secretary, Stephen Chu, suggests an unusual way to combat the effects of global warming: paint all rooftops white. One wonders whether the government will throw taxpayer dollars at the problem or simply impose a mandate.
- In a surprise addition to his three-day Middle East trip next week, President Obama plans to meet with King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia in an effort to jumpstart the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and to garner support over the nuclear standoff with Iran.
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, June 1 at noon, author James Muller will discuss the political thinking of Winston Churchill.
- On Thursday, June 4 at 4:00 p.m., authors Martin and Annelise Anderson explain how Ronald Reagan fought to stop the Soviet Union in its tracks and abolish nuclear weapons.
Nathaniel Ward is the Editor of MyHeritage.org—a website for members and supporters of The Heritage Foundation. Amanda Reinecker contributed to this report.
