It’s not just European countries that are less enthusiastic about the EU: a poll just released by the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF) and the Italian Compagnia di San Paolo shows an unmistakable trend in Turkey: 44 percent of Turkish respondents said EU membership would be a good thing, down from 48 percent […]

On the eve of the new Iranian President’s first visit to the United States, the media is full of hopeful stories about a diplomatic ending to the nuclear disagreement. The New York Times reports that President Obama sent Hassan Rouhani a letter promising relief from sanctions if Iran would “cooperate with the international community, keep your […]

Two stories this morning, both from Reuters, provide more evidence of the costs of President Obama’s Syria non-policy.First, it appears that a sizable exodus of fighters from more moderate organizations to al-Qaeda-affiliated groups like the Nusra Front and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) is underway in Syria’s north: “This is a […]

A senior election official was assassinated in Afghanistan’s Kunduz province on Tuesday, the first killing directly linked to next spring’s critical presidential elections. The Taliban quickly claimed responsibility for the attack on their Twitter feed. Then, in nearby Badakhshan province yesterday, Taliban fighters reportedly killed 10 police and kidnapped 16. Both of these attacks occurred in the […]

Two years after the Solyndra bankruptcy scandal, bad green energy investments are still dogging the Obama administration. The latest is Ecotality, which had manufactured charging stations for electric vehicles. It has just filed for bankruptcy and is preparing to auction off all of its assets. Apparently, the electric car market didn’t take off quite as […]

Some American conservatives are finally getting serious about wooing “Sam’s Club” voters. Republican senator Mike Lee has unveiled a new tax plan that would offer a $2,500 per child tax credit to all parents with dependent children. Lee’s speech introducing the idea was refreshing not only because of its meatiness and substance, but also because it distanced itself […]

Executives at the Indiana-based biofuels producer E-Biofuels have enjoyed lavish lifestyles over the past five years, driving Ferraris, buying Picassos and wearing diamonds. These luxuries weren’t the result of hard work and honest profits, but fraud. Now investors and taxpayers alike are out more than $100 million in what federal prosecutors are calling the largest […]

One of the biggest pieces of recent health care news is the slowdown of US spending. We’ve noted that among the biggest factors contributing to this is the rise of high deductible plans, but those plans also have a dark side. The WSJ looks at the high out-of-pocket costs these plans can force on consumers:  At businesses […]

The WaPo reports that the al-Qaeda linked group Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant emerged victorious yesterday from a firefight with a “more moderate” rebel group, the Northern Storm Brigade (part of the Free Syran Army). The al-Qaeda group has come into control of the northern border town of Azaz, which the FSA seized […]

Germany’s green revolution—its energiewende—has been sputtering for some time, but the chorus of media voices decrying the ill-thought-out green policy is getting deafening. Der Spiegel lashed out at length at the renewable energy plan earlier this month, and last week the FT added its two cents on the ugly effects of propping up expensive renewables. By guaranteeing solar […]