Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta announced a new timeline for American combat operations in Afghanistan—or did he?     He said, “Hopefully, by mid- to the latter part of 2013, we’ll be able to make, you know, to make a transition from a combat role to a tra... More of this article

Here’s some news that federal bureaucrats in Washington — and indeed around the country — don’t want to hear: According to a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report released this week, federal workers are paid higher than their private-sector counterparts.     ... More of this article

Editor’s note: The Orange County Register received this exclusive oped from the White House. In it President Barack Obama argues for his recent housing reform proposals.In a previous editorial the Register opposed his plan.   In my State of the Union Address, I laid out a blueprint for... More of this article

It was predictable that President Barack Obama would pander again to entitlement sentiments. This time involves the misguided belief that everyone is entitled to homeownership, even at the government's – the taxpayers' – expense.   But the president's audacity is a bit much to ... More of this article

Cooperating with US-led sanctions against Tehran would bring New Delhi long-term dividends.     How should India respond to U.S.-led efforts to halt Iran's suspected rogue nuclear weapons program? An India that uses its oil purchases and diplomatic clout to create breathing room for I... More of this article

Venezuela’s dictator Hugo Chávez was informed five years ago that his close ally Gen. Henry Rangel Silva – the man whom he recently named Defense Minister – is involved in cocaine smuggling.      Rangel Silva’s appointment to that key security... More of this article

Once again, the regulators in California have decided to lead the nation in terms of vehicle emission standards, proposing to require that 15.4 percent of all vehicles sold by 2025 must be electric cars, plug-in hybrid cars, or (currently non-existent) fuel cell cars.     In... More of this article

The Congressional Budget Office has released a new study showing that federal-government employees receive significantly higher compensation than private-sector workers with the same levels of education and experience.     The CBO report confirms many of the findings of a 2011 study ... More of this article

Mitt Romney's impressive victory Tuesday makes it very likely that we will look back on the Florida primary as the contest that determined the 2012 Republican nomination.     To be sure, the campaign fight will go on, and Romney is by no means assured of a sweep of the relatively fe... More of this article

Editors note: Reactions to recent events by Harrison Schmitt — Heartland Institute Board member, former U.S. Senator (R-N.M.), and the last man (and first scientist) to set foot on the moon. (Cross-posted at America’s Uncommon Sense)     C... More of this article

The difficulty of creating new and better medicines has been the subject of extensive – at times excessive – soul searching, a process that’s intensified as high-profile patents expire, along with their associated revenue streams, traditionally relied upon to supp... More of this article

The Obama administration’s newly released strategic guidance for the Defense Department emphasizes the importance of defending U.S. interests in the Asia-Pacific. It’s ironic that elements of the strategy suggest the United States will welcome more risk on the Korean peninsula.  ... More of this article

Some prominent left-wing commentators have devoted weekly columns and blogs to the notion that Great Britain has misguidedly pursued harsh spending “austerity” and that doing so has left the country lingering in unnecessary anguish.     In the opinion pages of The New York... More of this article

In early January, Iran caught the world’s attention by threatening to close the Strait of Hormuz and brandish shore-to-sea cruise missiles in what was to be a 10-day naval exercise.     That same week Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced a five-nation trip thro... More of this article

Introduction The United States is in a precarious condition. The American economy still has not fully recovered from the downturn that began in 2008.     A mortgage and banking crisis, followed by a long recession, has given way to an anemic recovery. Americans have endured an al... More of this article

A Wisconsin Tea Party group recently announced that it had found errors on more than a third of the same-day voter registration forms completed in Milwaukee County in the April 2011 election.     I am so not surprised. On presidential election day in November 2004, I was a Repu... More of this article

I’m a Chicago native who moved to Wisconsin fulltime in 2002, where I had vacationed for many years.   I love Wisconsin, but here I’m known as a FIB. The “I” stands for Illinois. You can figure out the rest. Generally speaking, the title is often well-deserved, thoug... More of this article

Editors note: This article is also written by Gary Schmitt (Resident Scholar, Director of Advanced Strategic Studies, and Director of the Program on American Citizenship, AEI) and Mackenzie Eaglen (Resident Fellow, AEI).     The President’s budget request will slash $487 billion... More of this article

In the year ahead, a more than likely intensification of the European debt crisis constitutes the major external risk to the US economic outlook.   This is partly because US export prospects will be negatively impacted by a marked weakening in the Euro and by a serious economic recession ... More of this article

Taliban Reconciliation? News reports in the beginning of January rang alarm bells about a ground-breaking agreement between militant groups in northwest Pakistan initiated by Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Omar, brokered by the Haqqani Network, and encouraged by the Pakistani government.   T... More of this article