If you want the dirty details of government excess, then do what I do, talk to Chris Edwards, Director of Tax Policy Studies at the Cato Institute. A lucky few will have the chance to listen to Chris speak at this week’s exclusive Cato gathering in Naples, Florida. I wish I were there. In his latest piece Chris writes: The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released new projections showing the debt disaster being manufactured in Washington. Federal borrowing from global capital markets is expected to soar from an outstanding $14 trillion this year to $24 trillion by 2026 under the … [Read more...]
Debt Disaster: $107,000/Household
The Cato Institute’s Chris Edwards, a featured speaker at the Cato Club Naples 2016, notes in the Cato Tax & Budget Bulletin published in September, 2015 that “Federal debt now totals more than $13 trillion, or about $107,000 for every household in the nation.” Last week, regarding the latest CBO Budget, he wrote “Federal borrowing from global capital markets is expected to soar from an outstanding $14 trillion this year to $24 trillion by 2026 under the baseline.” As you can see, the numbers aren’t getting any better. Edwards notes that the post-WWII debt decline was mostly due “to the … [Read more...]
Power Wars
The Cato Institute’s Gene Healy introduces Pulitzer-prize winning journalist Charlie Savage, author of Power Wars: “We’ve paid a heavy price for having a president whose priority is expanding his own power,” then-senator Barack Obama proclaimed on the campaign trail in 2007. As president, he promised, “I’ll turn the page on the imperial presidency.” And yet, as Pulitzer-prize winning journalist Charlie Savage documents in his new book Power Wars, from the early days of the Obama administration, “policy choices that departed from Bush-era programs dwindled, and those that continued— or even … [Read more...]
Will Public-Sector Employees Win the Right to Choose?
The oral arguments have been heard by the Supreme Court Justices in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association. The case pits public sector employees against their unions, which they have no choice but to join and pay dues to. Here The Cato Institute’s Ilya Shapiro breaks it down: The conventional wisdom is that Justice Scalia is the swing vote in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, but he gave no indication at this morning’s argument that he was anywhere but on the plaintiffs’ side. Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Kennedy – other potential defectors from the pro-workers, … [Read more...]
The Truth behind Obama’s SOTU
Your Right-to-Work
The Supreme Court heard arguments yesterday in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association. The case centers around 10 teachers (Friedrichs et. al) challenging a state requirement that they pay dues to a union (California Teachers Association) that takes political positions teachers may disagree with. This case “would be a huge victory for workers’ rights, the First Amendment, and educational freedom – and probably the most important ruling this term,” says Cato Institute scholar Ilya Shapiro, co-author of Cato’s amicus brief. Shapiro concludes: CONCLUSION “First Amendment values are at … [Read more...]
Make Union Membership a Choice
Friends and family of mine who have been, and who currently are, teachers do not like the fact that they have to join a union as a condition of their employment. They deserve to have a choice. Harlan Elrich, a California teacher has joined a 10 person lawsuit against unions that force non-members to pay dues. The case is now in front of the Supreme Court as Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association. Elrich writes: I was a member of the union for years and even served as a union representative. But the union never played an important role in my school. When most teachers sought guidance, … [Read more...]
Dragon Fire II: 120 mm Heavy Mortar
Since 1997 the US Marine Corps Warfighting laboratory is experimenting the Dragon Fire, Expeditionary Fire Support System - a mortar based system that designed to provide mobile fire support for expeditionary forces. Dragon Fire I system demonstrator that utilized a 120mm rifled, recoiling, self-loading mortar, that can fire rifled or smoothbore ammunition. The original system had a weight of 7,000 pounds, but the new version, Dragon Fire II weighs only 3,200 pounds, and will be capable of deployment in a towed, heliborne and mounted versions. … [Read more...]
Sandia’s self-guided bullet prototype can hit target a mile away
Take two Sandia National Laboratories engineers who are hunters, get them talking about the sport and it shouldn’t be surprising when the conversation leads to a patented design for a self-guided bullet that could help war fighters. … [Read more...]
Operation Neptune Spear: Bin Laden’s Demise
As you have surely heard, Osama bin Laden was terminated on May 1st. The operation that killed him was known as Operation Neptune Spear, and the elite Navy SEAL team responsible for this absolute success was the Naval Special Warfare Development Group (DevGru, a.k.a. SEAL Team Six). DevGru was ferried into Pakistan by the U.S. Army’s 160th Special Operation Aviation Regiment in a group of helicopters that appear to have included advanced BlackHawk variants and Chinooks. Once they reached the compound where OBL was living, the SEAL team was met with 12-18 foot walls and armed resistance. That … [Read more...]