Abstract: In passing the FY 2012 defense authorization and appropriations bills, Congress missed an ideal opportunity to reverse the damage that the Obama Administration inflicted on U.S. missile defense programs in 2010. Congress specifically failed to move the U.S. toward a more defensive nuclear… Read more

Abstract: The introduction of the bipartisan Wyden–Ryan premium support plan for Medicare ensures that reform of the government’s largest health entitlement program will continue to be a major topic of debate in 2012. With premium support, the federal government moves away from running a… Read more

Abstract: Medicare reform is inevitable because its demands on the federal budget are unsustainable. The question is whether Congress will extend the premium support model to the rest of Medicare or pursue a radical approach that … Read more

Abstract: Wasteful, inequitable, and bristling with burdensome regulations, the Federal Highway Program is in dire need of reform. Although Members of Congress have attempted to enact changes in the past, the influence of many lobbyists and influential constituencies continues to thwart the process. By… Read more

Abstract: The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued final regulations for Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs). The outcome is disappointing: There are marginal changes only; the final regulations retain the same flawed structure set out in… Read more

Abstract: The U.S. nuclear triad of heavy bombers, intercontinental-range ballistic missiles (ICBMs), and submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) is aging. The nuclear testing moratorium, which has reached nearly two decades, and the required reductions under New START are magnifying questions about the U.S. nuclear arsenal’s reliability. These growing questions will eventually… Read more

Abstract: Religious staffing by religious organizations is an established, baseline position in federal law that deserves continued support. Most fundamentally, religious staffing by religious organizations is socially desirable conduct that benefits individuals and society, not unjust discrimination that should be eradicated through law. In… Read more

Abstract: America needs jobs. A government committed to free enterprise, limited government, and individual freedom, and not to more borrowing and spending, can properly help. To help unleash the private sector to invest and create jobs, Congress should promptly take five specific actions: enact… Read more

Abstract: In the six two-year budgets between 2000 and 2011, the United Nations’ regular budget grew by 117 percent. In its 2010–2011 budget, the U.N. spent a whopping $5.42 billion, with American taxpayers footing 22 percent of the bill. The 2012–2013 budget was expected… Read more

Abstract: After the U.S. raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan in May 2011, Pakistani political leaders played up their country’s relations with China, touting Beijing as an alternative partner to Washington. But China’s concerns over Pakistan’s future stability will likely limit the… Read more

Abstract: Given tight federal budget restraints and shrinking transportation trust fund revenues, states and the federal government need to find alternative financial resources to finance needed transportation infrastructure projects, especially maintaining and expanding the capacity of the Interstate Highway System. Increased use of public–private… Read more

Abstract: In March 2012, two years after the enactment of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), the Supreme Court will hear challenges to the federal health care legislation. One issue the court will take up is whether the PPACA’s Medicaid expansion constitutes… Read more

Abstract: A robust, comprehensive, and integrated suspicious activity reporting (SAR) system, linking the unique observations of law enforcement personnel from around the nation, is a necessary component of a 21st-century policing strategy predicated on the increasing role of state and local law enforcement in… Read more

Abstract: A November 2011 Heritage Foundation report—“Assessing the Compensation of Public-School Teachers”—presented data on teacher salaries and benefits in order to inform debates about teacher compensation reform. The report concluded that public-school teacher compensation is far ahead of… Read more

Abstract: The policies of the United States and the European Union should encourage and support Russian civil society and Russia’s democratic modernizers. And, if Russia continues to abrogate its international commitments to basic freedoms and human rights, the… Read more