The future USS Michael Murphy will shortly join a dwindling Navy. Photo: US Navy

A strong defense is our best offense, which is why our nation needs a stronger naval power.

A powerful Navy with an impressive fleet will not only help to win wars, but it can also prevent them. Due to a lack of federal funding, the US fleet has dwindled to a low not seen since the First World War.

“Building more ships and fully funding maintenance and mod­ernization are critical to sustain­ing a healthy fleet,” Heritage Foundation experts Steven Bucci and Baker Spring explain.

Fortunately, the tide may be changing for our Navy. Congress vetoed defense spending cuts, thereby showing support for national security:

By following the House Armed Services Committee’s (HASC) lead in raising the top-line budget for defense over the President’s fiscal year 2013 request, Congress can sustain this momentum. This will enable depleted military assets such as the Navy’s fleet to modernize and grow. While legislators should strive to find efficiencies within defense, they should also reinvest savings into national security programs in need, such as the Navy’s perennially underfunded shipbuilding budget.

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Ed Feulner

Sen. Mike Lee’s (R-UT) budget plan, which is based on The Heritage Foundation’s Saving the American Dream plan, is an important step for the nation, Heritage President Ed Feulner writes in the Washington Times.

The reaction from those who want to continue the status quo is predictable. They will demagogue Mr. Lee and other conservatives for wanting to throw grandma over the cliff. How blind – and irresponsible. If we fail to act, then spending under programs such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid will balloon unchecked. Eventually, the nation will effectively go bankrupt. The truth is that the president’s health reform law magnified the financial problem while already ending Medicare as we know it. …

By substantially reducing the size and scope of the federal government, Mr. Lee’s plan rightfully moves government toward its core responsibilities that fit within the Constitution and original intent of our Founding Fathers.

Read more about Heritage’s Saving the American Dream plan, a detailed framework for the federal budget.

Chen Guangcheng’s story has become a nationally known drama. The blind Chinese activist escaped the compound where he was being held under house arrest by the communist government.

A self-trained legal advocate, Chen was imprisoned and beaten because of his efforts to expose the “gendercide” occurring under China’s draconian One-Child Policy.

Chen’s story has brought new attention to the negative consequences of this policy, which compels women to undergo forced abortions. The Heritage Foundation’s Jennifer Marshall explains: Continue Reading »

America needs a strong national defense, Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) said in an interview last week at The Heritage Foundation.

Speaking with Heritage’s Lachlan Markay as part of Heritage’s Protect America Month, Kyl reiterated that the federal government’s constitutional obligation to provide a national defense is a bedrock principle of American governance.

Watch the video below:

In the world of finance, simple mistakes can turn into big financial losses. Headlines this week report on JP Morgan Chase’s $2 billion loss from a failed hedging strategy.

But this loss pales in comparison to the U.S. Postal Service’s $3.2 billion loss just in the most recent quarter.

The Heritage Foundation’s Mike Brownfield compares the two losses in today’s Morning Bell:

While JP Morgan’s loss represents a clear failure of management, it’s not a systemic problem that requires or would be fixed by additional regulation. For starters, JP Morgan is a $2.3 trillion bank with a net worth of $189 billion, meaning that this loss reduced the bank’s capital ratio from 8.4 percent to 8.2 percent. In other words, the bank can absorb the loss, and it’s nowhere close to needing any form of federal intervention.

Some more perspective could be gleaned by examining the $3.2 billion loss the U.S. Post Office experienced in the most recent quarter, or the billions lost on risky green energy bets made by President Obama and Energy Secretary Steven Chu. Only those losses weren’t incurred by private investors, but by you the taxpayer.

Tell us in the comments: with the government’s track record of running a business like the Post Office, what do you think the government’s role should be in our market economy?