What Is the Pitfall of the Obama Doctrine?
In yesterday's New York Times, International Herald Tribune columnist Roger Cohen reported: "Since taking office, President Obama has reached out to the Muslim world as a whole, to China, to Turkey and to Iran, but has devoted scant serious diplomatic energy to Europe." Cohen then went on to quote prominent Paris-based defense analyst Camille Grand: "Europe is the object of benign U.S. neglect. Obama has not established or re-established a strategic relationship with any single European country or with Europe as a whole."
What's the Truth about Obama's Tax Hike Proposal?
According to the Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll released today, only 26 percent of voters think the economy is going to be better in the next year, and 61 percent think the country is on the wrong track. Desperate to show Americans he's fighting "every single day, every single hour, every single minute" to turn the economy around, President Barack Obama unveiled yet another economic stimulus spending plan yesterday. This time the President is promising to spend $50 billion over six years on a "Race to the Top"-style transportation pork plan that will fund pet leftist projects like high-speed rail. The President promised: "this will not only create jobs immediately, it’s also going to make our economy hum over the long haul."
Member Questions of the Week of Sept. 6, 2010
William Hollingsworth of Gainesville, GA asks: "What is the Heritage Foundation's policy formulation toward the very real and serious threat that both China and Iran pose against the security and future of the United States of America?"
OUR ANSWER: The cause for worry about China and Iran is real. China's military is muscling up, and the daily news emerging from Iran -- whether about human rights abuses or nuclear weapons programs -- is grim. In the face of an ever-growing Chinese military, it's more important than ever that the U.S. sustain current military capabilities, support future military development, uphold American commitments abroad and maintain watch on Chinese military capabilities, writes Heritage fellow Dean Cheng. To promote liberty in Iran, the U.S. should, among other things, impose and enforce the strongest sanctions to penalize the Iranian regime for its continued aid to terrorist groups, its illicit nuclear weapons program and its gross violations of human rights. The president should also end his opposition to U.S. gasoline sanctions. To read more practical policy suggestions for the United States' relationship with Iran, check out this WebMemo by Heritage experts James Phillips, Helle Dale and Janice Smith.