Ripon Forum Looks at State of Homeland Security in Spring 2010 Edition
Latest edition also focuses on November mid-term elections and the looming pension crisis facing America
WASHINGTON, DC – The Ripon Forum looks at the state of homeland security in its Spring 2010 edition, asking a question that, nearly a decade after 9/11, should concern all Americans today – namely, has Washington lost its sense of urgency in the war against terrorism?
The Forum asked that question of Fran Townsend, former Homeland Security Advisor in the Bush Administration who previously served as a prosecutor under Rudolph Giuliani, who stated that, “because there hasn’t been a successful attack inside the United States, I fear that people take the wrong lesson from that. I fear that the lesson they take is that the enemy has receded … and basically there is no need for the investment in our intelligence and military capabilities.”
Townsend also declares: “You look at the continuing increase in terrorist activities in places like Yemen and Somalia, the use of Americans like Jihad Jane and Zazi Najibullah, and I worry that Americans cannot afford the luxury of believing that this war is over. It’s not over.”
In addition to the Q&A with Townsend, the latest edition of the Forum also features an essay by Texas Congressman Mac Thornberry on the decision of the Obama Administration to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay and why this decision does not make sense. Noting that “symbolic gestures are not the same as effective programs,” Thornberry, one of the leading experts on national security and public diplomacy issues on Capitol Hill, writes that: “The facility at Guantanamo gives the United States a unique opportunity to deal with terrorists as enemy combatants and to keep them off of the battlefield. It is not a capability we should throw away to keep a campaign promise.”
The Spring 2010 edition of The Ripon Forum also looks at the mid-term elections with an essay by one of the rising stars of the Republican Party, California Congressman Kevin McCarthy. In his essay, McCarthy, who has taken a leading role in both candidate recruitment and message development leading up to November, writes that, “if the election were held today, we’d have a really good night.” He concludes by saying that: “We aren’t the weak party the media once thought we were. Rather, we are a strong party with new fresh face recruits that is ready to put our nation back on the right track and restore the broken bonds of trust between Americans and Congress.”
With America climbing out of the Great Recession, the Forum examines the next major crisis looming on the American horizon – the crisis facing pension funds. As Susan Urahn, Managing Director of the Pew Center on the States, points out in an essay on the subject: “…there is a $1 trillion gap between the amount of money states have set aside to pay employees’ retirement benefits and the $3.35 trillion price tag of those promises to current and retired workers.” Unless steps are taken to prevent this problem, Urahn warns: “That gap will continue to grow as states fully account for the dramatic investment losses in 2008 and 2009 — leaving states struggling to fund their pension plans.”
(Urahn’s warning comes as The Ripon Society prepares to hold a Bully Pulpit policy conference focusing on the looming pension crisis and the need for reform. The conference, entitled “Preventing the Next Bailout,” will be held this Thursday, April 29th, from 11:30 am – 1:30 pm at the Capitol Hill Club in Washington, DC. For more information about the conference agenda, please click here.)
Other authors and essays featured in the Spring edition of The Ripon Forum include:
* Delaware Congressman Mike Castle – writing about youth safety and the importance of preventing “at-risk kids from ever getting involved in criminal activity.”
* Texas Congresswoman Kay Granger – writing about military families being the foundation of military readiness.
* Former U.S. Trade Representative Carla Hills – writing about the U.S.-China trade relationship and why it is essential for that relationship to stay strong.
* Dan Danner of the National Federation of Independent Business – writing about it being a good time to start a small business, as long as Washington stays out of the way.
* David Tuerck, the Executive Director of the Beacon Hill Institute at Suffolk University – writing about the Obama’s Administration’s push for Project Labor Agreements and the fact that PLAs are not only unpopular with the public, but inconsistent with the President’s pledge to make government more efficient.
* Technology expert and Forum editorial board member Billy Pitts – writing about the fact that the federal government is sending mixed messages when it comes to text bans and technology in our cars.
The Spring edition of The Ripon Forum also features a profile of North Dakota Governor John Hoeven.
The Ripon Forum is published by the Ripon Society in Washington, DC. Founded in 1962, the Ripon Society is a public policy organization that takes its name from the town where the Republican Party was born in 1854 — Ripon, Wisconsin. One of the main goals of the Ripon Society is to promote the ideas and principles that have made America great and contributed to the GOP’s past success. These ideas include keeping our nation secure, keeping taxes low and having a federal government that is smaller, smarter and more accountable to the people.
For more information on the Ripon Society and to view the current edition of The Ripon Forum, please visit https://riponsociety.org.
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