After trying private negotiations, bipartisan commissions, informal “gangs” and a supercommittee, the search for a long-term federal fiscal plan has come full circle back to where it started — regular order under the budget process in Congress.

Amid all the controversies gripping Congress, certainly we should all be able to agree that the full faith and credit of the United States — the very trust the public has when it loans money to the government — should not hang in the balance every time there’s a fiscal debate in Washington. 

America faces an alarming growth gap — a gap between where our economy is in the present recovery compared with where our economy should be in an average recovery. 

As much energy as the United States consumes, it’s nothing compared to how much energy we allow to go to waste.

Amazingly, almost two-thirds of energy produced is going to waste, according to data released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration/Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. In 2011, EIA estimated that the equivalent of 39 quadrillion British Thermal Units (“quads”) of electricity was generated from a variety of sources: natural gas, coal, nuclear, hydro, and renewables.  Of the 39 quads, only about one-third was actually used for residential, commercial and industrial uses; the other two-thirds of electricity was wasted -- lost due to inefficiencies and waste in transmission lines, the electrical distribution grid, and end-use of electricity in homes and businesses. Read more...

It really has become the age of the whistle-blower.  Perhaps it was the 9/11 wakeup call that we live in a more dangerous world.  Maybe we no longer trust the government to look out for us the way we think it should.  Or maybe it is simply about corporate plunder and the ever-widening gulf between the haves and have-nots.  Whatever it is, a new mindset pervades -- where getting involved is the right thing to do; where if you see something you are supposed to say something.  And with this new outlook has come some significant additional prodding from a host of newly energized laws that for virtually every industry sweeten the pot considerably for those willing to stand up and be heard.

When it comes to factory farms, however, the legislative tide seems to be moving in the exact opposite direction.  That is because of a set of laws being pushed across the country which not only discourages whistle-blowers from coming forward.  It actually threatens them with jail time if they do. Read more...

It will be downright unfair if Dr. Kermit Gosnell is found guilty of murder this week at his abortion-infanticide trial in Philadelphia.  His defense attorney made a convincing case in closing arguments that abortion doctors end pregnancies every day, so why single out Gosnell?    Perhaps he operated under particularly unsanitary conditions, was singularly incompetent, and committed medical malpractice, but, really, murder?

In fact, the judge in Gosnell’s case has already dropped three of the murder charges because the medical examiner said he could not prove those babies were alive after birth.  The murder case against Gosnell rests entirely on the location of the victim (in inches, mind you) at the time of death, not in the fact that the victim was killed. Read more...

The Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im) is a vital tool to promote economic growth through exports and level the playing field for manufacturers in the United States in the face of aggressive foreign export credit agencies. With 95 percent of consumers living outside of the United States and fierce global competition, we must continue to use every tool available to grow exports in order to create jobs and grow our economy. Read more...

Every child deserves an excellent education. Unfortunately, there are many children in this country that, because of their neighborhood or socio-economic status, do not have access to a school that will prepare them to succeed in college and a career. On a national scale, only one in 10 students from low-income families will graduate from college. Internationally, the United States fails to compete with the world’s best. According to a recent study by Pearson Education, the United States does not even crack the top 15 in educational performance amongst countries in the developed world.

Imagine this scene: A CEO, VP of government affairs, communications director, media spokesperson, social media manager and webmaster are huddled in a conference room somewhere in Washington, D.C. Sipping on Starbucks and bottled water, they are diligently brainstorming about how to raise awareness about a particularly challenging issue facing their organization. Read more...