NUMBER OF ISLAMIST TERROR PLOTS AGAINST THE US RISES TO 89: PROACTIVE APPROACH TO TERRORISM NEEDED | 'No American Should Be Forced to Participate in Abortion,' Says Pastor Following Pro-Life Vote | What Government Action Poses the Greatest Risk to Growth...

July 18, 2016
Good afternoon from Capitol Hill, where the Islamist-inspired terrorist attack in France brings calls for lawmakers to protect the homeland better. Such plots against the U.S. are up to 89 since 9/11, David Inserra and Riley Walters write in updating The Heritage Foundation's interactive timeline. In a Q&A, a California pastor talks about the rights of pro-life Americans. Salim Furth says it's not higher taxes that pave the road out of recession. And here's an opportunity to help the family of the late Daily Signal cartoonist Glenn Foden.
Number of Islamist terror plots against the US rises to 89: proactive approach to terrorism needed. The U.S. must do more to defeat ISIS abroad if it is to deal with Islamist terrorism at home. Congress should also ensure U.S. law enforcement and intelligence communities have the resources and tools they need to stop terrorism before it strikes like they have in these three cases. In this period of heightened terrorism at home and across the world, the U.S. must also continue to pursue closer counterterrorism relationships with allies and partners, write David Inserra and Riley Walters.
'No American should be forced to participate in abortion,' says pastor following pro-life vote. In an interview with Bound4LIFE—a faith-based, pro-life organization—following a House vote on the Conscience Protection Act, Jim Garlow discusses how he testified before Congress, his personal connection to life issues, and the covert strategy he sees at work in politics today.
What government action poses the greatest risk to growth? For policymakers in a crisis country such as Ireland or Portugal, the question is not so much whether to cut the deficit, but how. A large and compelling body of evidence says that spending cuts do much less damage to future growth than tax increases do, Salim Furth writes.
What we're reading: "Even before this latest attack on the police, officers across the country have been reeling under the prejudice directed against them … Officers have already been backing off of proactive policing under the constant charge that they are racist for making pedestrian stops and enforcing public-order laws in black neighborhoods. In June, I spoke with police officers in Dallas about the 75 percent increase in homicides the city has experienced this year. The officers chalked it up to de-policing … This summer of blue bloodshed will deter officers from discretionary policing even more. Expect violent crime, already on the rise since the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, in summer 2014, to spike further," writes Heather Mac Donald for City Journal.