HCF Past Session History
2007
8/3/07
Title: A Rendezvous with Destiny
Speaker: Ronald Reagan
Address on behalf of Senator Barry Goldwater
October 27, 1964
Summary: A controversial war, growing entitlement programs, increased government spending, and an election that Conservatives had little hope of winning. In 1964, when Barry Goldwater was running for president, there was little hope of a Conservative. Two weeks prior to Election Day, a former California actor gave one of the most electrifying campaign speeches of the election. Barry Goldwater lost by a landslide against incumbent President Lyndon Johnson, but Reagan’s speech entitled, “A Time for Choosing,” stirred Conservatives across the nation to a political movement. The threats to America are not so different today. Reagan’s words ring true 40 years later.
He was called the Great Communicator. His sense of humor and poignancy have touched countless lives for over half a century. He has inspired many with his words and actions and we will view one if his most memorable speeches as a tribute to his presidency and to the man himself. After the speech, a discussion will be held with Heritage experts on conservatism asking and answering questions.
7/27/07
Title: President George W. Bush’s Founding Faith
Speaker: Professor Chris Burkett, Ashland University
Summary: President Bush seems intent on arguing that his policies, both domestic and foreign, derive directly from the principles of the American founding. He argues that self-government needs to be re-invigorated and places emphasis on the obligations of citizenship, noting that public spiritedness is often difficult. He reminds that citizenship is not a matter of birth and blood, but rather, “we are bound by ideals,” and those ideals have to be learned. In this seminar we will focus on the following question: Are his arguments about the philosophical and historical heritage he appeals to accurate and persuasive?
Christopher Burkett is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Ashland University and Resident Fellow of the John M. Ashbrook Center for Public Affairs, where he teaches graduate and undergraduate courses on American political thought and institutions. Professor Burkett has spoken publicly on a number of topics, including Founding-era, Progressive and 20th Century American political theory and policy.7/20/07
Title: Words that Work
Speaker: Frank Luntz
Affiliation: Luntz, Maslansky Strategic Research
Summary: What’s behind winning campaign slogans and career-ending political blunders? Why do some speeches resonate and endure while others are forgotten moments after they are given? The answers lie in the way words are used to influences and motivate, the way they connect through and emotion. Take it from the man who helped craft “the Contract with America,” who turned mild-mannered term “estate tax” into more politically charged “death tax,” who reframed “drilling for oil” into “exploring for energy” – words can and do mean the difference between success and failure
7/13/07
Title: The Rise of the Conservative Movement
Speaker: Dr. Lee Edwards, Distinguished Fellow in Conservative Thought
Affiliation: The Heritage Foundation
Summary: The Conservative impulse was at best made up of “irritable mental gestures which seem to resemble ideas,” wrote Lionel Trilling, a literary critic in 1950. Oh, how times have changed. Some 50 years later, these “irritable mental gestures” are widely recognized as a legitimate and robust collection of ideas, enunciated by top columnists and defended by leading scholars, embodied in powerful think tanks and influential foundations, and personified by political figures at every level of government. The rise and continuing influence of conservative ideas and arguments has been one of the most remarkable developments in modern American political history. How did this come to be?
6/29/2007
Title: Independence Forever: The Declaration & Policy Today
Speaker: Dr. Peter Schramm
Affiliation: Ashbrook Center for Public Affairs, Ashland University
Summary: As a practical matter, the Declaration of Independence publicly announced to the world the unanimous decision of the American colonies to declare themselves free and independent states, absolved from any allegiance to Great Britain. But its greater meaning--then as well as now--is as a statement of the conditions of legitimate political authority and the proper ends of government, and its proclamation of a new ground of political rule in the sovereignty of the people. How has the Declaration shaped the philosophical and moral direction of America? Does the Declaration still shape our policy decisions today?
6/22/2007
Topic: Budget/Approps FAQ
Speaker: Brian Riedl
Affiliation: The Heritage Foundation
Summary: Brian Riedl is The Heritage Foundation's lead budget analyst and has built a solid reputation for interpreting, explaining and reforming the often arcane realm of federal budget policy. Take this opportunity to pick apart of the nation’s leading minds about everything and anything approps, economy, agriculture, etc.
Indeed, much of the current backlash against runaway federal spending can be attributed to Riedl's work. As far back as 2002 and 2003, his writings exposed the beginnings of a federal spending spree that was pushing real federal spending more than $20,000 per household for the first time since World War II.
6/15/2007
Title: The Administrative State and the Constitution
Speaker: Dr. R.J. Pestritto
Affiliation: Hillsdale College
Summary: Can the administrative state as it currently exists in America be reconciled with the Constitution? Does it matter? What are the implications of admitting that most of what the federal government does is unconstitutional? Moreover, what are the implications of changing the character of the Constitution to make it compatible with the way government works today in America? These questions cannot be answered without an understanding of the founders’ constitutional principles and the progressives’ rejection of those principles in the early 20th Century. Dr. R.J. Pestritto combines careful study of the progressives’ political thought with a thorough understanding of the founders’ constitutional framework in order to enable us to think clearly about what the administrative state means for the Constitution today.
6/8/2007
Title: The History of the Filibuster
Speaker: Marty Gold
Affiliation: Covington & Burling
Summary: Two years ago, a small band of Senators-known as “the gang of 14”- exerted their power, in effect staging a coup against the wishes of the White House and the leaders of both parties, when they sought to pull the Senate back from the brink: deployment of the constitutional or nuclear option over the organized use of the filibuster. The deal was a culmination of months of contentious debate over the rights of the minority (Democrats) to use the filibuster to block judicial nominations. The compromise seeks to end a feud that began two decades ago with President Reagan’s failed nomination of Judge Robert Bork to the Supreme Court and has escalated with each presidency since.
5/18/2007
Title: The Bush Doctrine
Speaker: Dr. Robert G. Kaufman
Affiliation: Pepperdine University
Summary: In a speech given on June 1, 2002, President George W. Bush unveiled a set of guidelines that would outline a new phase in our country’s foreign and domestic security policy. An emphasis was placed on military pre-emption, superiority, unilateral action and a commitment to "extending democracy, liberty, and security to all regions". This speech marked the departure from deterrence and containment that characterized America’s foreign policy for the past four and a half decades. As we learned two weeks ago with Dr. Carafano, the policies set in place in the first ten years of a long war will determine the outcome. Let’s all be there Friday to learn about ‘The Bush Doctrine’, from its roots in Wolfowitz to the future path it has set forth for our nation.
5/11/2007
Title: Constitutionalism and the Rule of Law
Speaker: Matthew Spalding
Affiliation: The Heritage Foundation
Summary: “But where says some is the King of America? …in America, the law is king.” Thomas Paine’s words reflect the authority of the law in the American republic. What authority does the Constitution have in America’s legal system? Where does it derive its authority? What mechanisms did the Founders create in the Constitution to help preserve it and have they worked? Why do conservatives today emphasize the Constitution so much?
5/4/2007
Title: Winning the Long War
Speaker: James Carafano
Affiliation: The Heritage Foundation
4/28/2007
Title: Habits of Highly Effective Staff
Speaker: Bret Bernhardt & Ed Corrigan
Affiliation: Office of Senator DeMint
Summary: Capitol Hill represents a unique work environment, unlike any other in the United States. Staffers work long hours, often for minimal pay, and are basically answerable to one person while working with thousands of others. The Hill environment can create unique opportunities and remarkable stresses—which means that mistakes that usually would have been swept under the rug end up on the front page of Roll Call. What does it mean to be a Capitol Hill staffer-- whether you work for a committee or a personal staff? What are some of the pitfalls that you need to avoid? What separates the best from the rest?
4/17/2007
Topic: How Liberalism Transformed America
Speaker: Matthew Spalding
Affiliation: The Heritage Foundation
Summary: It is often assumed that the American Founding inevitably leads to liberalism. In fact, modern American liberalism begins with a systematic critique of the principles and practices of the American Founding and its out-dated Constitutionalism. What was the progressive critique and the new argument proposed as its replacement? How did these ideas influence the policies of the New Deal and the Great Society?
4/10/2007
Topic: Lincoln & the Idea of Community
Speaker: Dr. Allen Guelzo
Affiliation: Gettysburg College
Summary: Like Lincoln, most Capitol Hill Staffers left their hometown toserve their country in Washington, D.C. Despite Lincoln’s words commemorating his life in Springfield, he still left. Does this suggest, as many scholars argue, that America has lost any sense of meaningful community? Or do American communities, in Lincoln’s case and our own, unburden us from the expectations of collective life, making true growth and opportunity possible? As federalism collapses into a growing administrative state, what does Lincoln teach us about practicing principled politics from Washington while remaining ever-mindful of the communities back home that we represent?
3/23/2007
Title: The Budget Process
Speaker: Neil Bradley
Affiliation: Office of the Republican Whip
Summary: After President Bush released his FY 2008 Budget in February, many members of the House of Representatives and Senate have been quick to offer their assessments of the President’s optimistic proposal to balance the budget by 2012. Friday’s session will offer some insights as to why the budget debate is so important and garners ardent attention. He knows all the essential information you need to know in order to understand how the budget process affects your work and your constituents.
3/15/2007
Title: Why the American Founding was Conservative
Speaker: Dr. Matthew Spalding
Affiliation: The Heritage Foundation
Summary: The usual academic line is that America is but the unfolding of modern political liberalism, from Thomas Jefferson to William Jefferson Clinton. This is simply untrue. The main principles and purposes of the American Founding are inherently conservative. And as the cornerstone of American political thought, the principles of the American Founding remain the principles of America, and thus, the principles that conservatives seek to conserve. This is the first in a series of scheduled conservative core seminars designed to introduce you to the primary principles, ideas, events, and figures of the American political tradition as they relate to the rise of the modern conservative movement.
3/9/2007
Title: Legislative Floor Proceedure
Speaker: Judy Schneider
Affiliation: Congressional Research Services
Summary: House and Senate rules of procedure are largely a function of the number of members comprising each chamber. In the House, a structured legislative process and strict adherence to the body’s rules and precedents have resulted from the need to manage how 435 Representatives make decisions. By contrast, the Senate’s smaller membership has brought about a less formal policy-making process and a more flexible approach to the chamber’s standing rules. While individual Representatives must typically yield to the majority will of the House, the Senate usually accommodates the interests of individual Senators. Understanding the underlying and oftentimes complicated legislative procedures of the House and Senate is not only useful but essential for one to become an effective Capitol Hill Staffer
3/2/2007
Title: The Index of Economic Freedom
Speaker: Tim Kane
Affiliation: The Heritage Foundation
Summary: For over 50 years, the U.S. and the world have reaped the economic benefits of gradual liberalization in trade and investment. Recognizing the benefits of open trade, the U.S. government has been a leading advocate of trade liberalization. Today however, the place of free trade in American policymaking is far from secure. Rising protectionist sentiment in the wake of the aborted Dubai ports deal, concern about the U.S.-China economic relationship, outsourcing and frustration over the pace of global trade talks are combining to threaten further trade liberalization, both in America and around the world.
2/23/2007
Title: Presidential War Powers
Speaker: Professor John Yoo
Affiliation: Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California -- Berkley
Summary: Has President George W. Bush overstepped his constitutional powers in conducting the war on terrorism and the war in Iraq? How forcefully and independently should the President act to repel threats to the nation? What role does Congress play in setting the course of the Iraq war, interrogation policy at the Guantanamo Bay base, or military surveillance by the National Security Agency? What can Congress do to counter presidential decisions in foreign policy? Should it do so? Such hotly contested questions demand an assessment of the allocation of war-making powers between the Executive and Legislative branches, and the reconstruction of the meaning of the foreign affairs power in the Constitution. In an era of terrorism, rogue nations, and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, getting the answers to these questions right is an imperative of homeland defense and national security.
2/16/2007
Title: Ethical Realism in Foreign Policy
Speaker: John Hulsman
2/9/2007
Title: Welcome
Speaker: Dr. Edwin J. Feulner
Affiliation: The Heritage Foundation
2006
10/6/2006
Title:The Legacy of Ronald Reagan
Speaker:Edwin Meese III
Organization: THF
Summary: Not Provided
9/15/2006
Title:Getting America Right
Speaker:Ed Feulner
Organization: THF
Summary: Not Provided
8/18/2006
Title:Religion and the Founders
Speaker:Daniel Dreisbach
Organization: American University
Summary: No metaphor in American letters has had a more profound influence on law and policy than Thomas Jefferson’s “wall of separation between church and state.” Today, this figure of speech is accepted by many Americans as a pithy description of the constitutionality prescribed church-state arrangement, and it has become the sacred icon of a strict separationist dogma that champions a secular polity in which religious influences are systematically and coercively stripped from public life. What is the source of this figure of speech, and how has this symbol of strict separation between religion and public life come to dominate church-state law and policy? How did Jefferson and the other Founders view the role of religion in American political life?
7/28/2006
Title:American Statesmanship
Speaker:Peter Schramm
Organization: Ashbrook Center for Public Affairs
Summary: Even though the powers of the American Exectuive are controlled and limited, extraordinary acts of statesmanship are possible. This session examines those Presidents who may be called statesmen and the political circumstances in which their prudence revealed itself. We should nto be surprised that these statesmen will also have demonstrated some measure of their greatnes by the way they lead and isntructed and inspired the people. Among those examined will be George Washington, Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Ronald Reagan.
7/21/2006
Title:The Progressive's Attack on the Constitution
Speaker:Matthew Spalding
Organization: The Heritage Foundation
Summary: This session will consider the "three waves" of liberalism-progressivism, and New Deal liberalism and Great Society liberalism-and how they increasingly turned America away from its first principles. Special attention will be given to the key documents and major speeches of the time.
7/14/2006
Title: Principles of American Foreign Policy
Speaker:John Hulsman
Organization: The Heritage Foundation
Summary: 20 + years and four Presidential administrations later, American Foreign policy is again at the forefront of issues that the American public views as important. In the wake of the Cold War and as the War on Terrorism progresses, conservatives have started to reassess the notion of conservative American foreign policy. "Conservative American foreign policy" has evolved over the past 20 + years from the realpolitik policies that President Reagan enacted during the Cold War to the neo-conservative policies pursued by the Bush Administration in the aftermath of 9/11 and the ensuing War on Terrorism.
6/30/2006
Title:Priority Issues in the 109th Congress
6/25/2006
Title:Bioethics
Speaker:Nigel Cameron
Organization: Council on Bioethics
6/23/2006
Title:Polling and the 2006 General Elections
Speaker:Frank Luntz
Summary: As the 2006 fall elections rapidly approach, many political pundits have started lamenting the prospects for Republicans maintaining control of both the House and the Senate. With conservatives seemingly disenchanted with the spending spree in which the White House and Congress have been engaged since the beginning of the Bush Presidency, getting these conservative voters to show up to the polls in November may be a daunting challenge.
6/16/2006
Title:Conveying Your Message
Speaker:Genevieve Wood
Organization: Family Research Council
Summary: We will discuss how you can effectively communicate your message and market yourself, your ideas and your boss’ ideas to the media and to the public.
6/9/2006
Title:Death Tax and Class Warfare
Speaker:Steve Moore
Organization: The Wall Street Journal
Summary: This week, the Senate is scheduled to vote on repealing the death tax which the House overwhelmingly passed in April 2005. The debate over tax "fairness" is not just an ethical battle between those who support a free-market economy and those who desire a welfare state. It is also an empirical battle based on numbers that often can be verified or disqualified. The economic evidence clearly demonstrates that the U.S. economy will produce significant income gains for all Americans as long as appropriate (tax rate reductions and death tax repeal) policies are followed.
6/2/2006
Title:Supreme Court Nominations
Speaker:Judge Charles Pickering
Summary: The judicial confirmation process is in a state of chaos. America’s culture war has set the stage for a power struggle reaching to the highest court in the land—the Supreme Court. Integrity and ability are no longer the criteria for evaluating the caliber of a judge. Rather it is one’s position on hot-button social issues.
5/19/2006
Title:Federal Marriage Amendment
Speaker:Maggie Gallagher
Organization: Institute for Marriage and Public Policy
Summary: The gay marriage debate raises the most profound questions about marriage, including: Why do we have laws about it? What is the state’s interest in marriage? How can Steve and Adam’s marriage affect anyone else? The general rule in American law and society is: the more personal and intimate the relationship, the less likely it is to be regulated by law.
5/12/2006
Title:Does Limited Government Weaken National Security?
Speaker:Paul Rosenzweig
Organization: Department of Homeland Security
Summary: One of the principle purposes of government is national defense. The Founders thought limited government and national security were compatible, yet it would seem that a government with greater control could better ensure national security. Does national security require or reject the idea of limited government? Is it in our national interest to advance limited government in other nations?
5/5/2006
Title:The Rise of Ronald Reagan
Speaker:Steven Hayward
Organization: American Enterprise Institute
Summary: The 1960s saw the federal government pass a threshold to a new level of social policy activism, including but not limited to the War on Poverty and vast new regulatory initiatives. This “third wave” of the administrative state differed substantially from the liberal governance of earlier eras, as Ronald Reagan became one of the first to recognize.
4/28/2006
Title:Writing Effective Talking Points
Speaker:Laurence Rothenberg
Summary: Talking points on Supreme Court cases should be written in clear, concise language that captures the essential facts and legal reasoning of the case without going into non-material details. The talking points should summarize in only one or at most a few sentences each: the factual circumstances of the case, the procedural history (what the lower courts held), the main arguments of the petitioner and respondent, the Court’s holding, and the legal reasoning of the majority, minority and concurring opinions, if any. You should finish with one or two openly polemical points about why the decision is good or bad.
4/21/2006
Title:Federalism
Speaker:Gene Hickok
Organization: Former Deputy Secretary of Education
Summary: With the revocation of the Articles of Confederation in 1789, our founding fathers created a form of government that would outlast any other government of the time and would eventually spread its influence around the world. This form of government is popularly known as a federal system. Through the years, the federal government has meticulously usurped the influence of the states power: from the Civil War to Teddy Roosevelt's New Nationalism and from FDR's New Deal to Lyndon Johnson's Great Society. Recently, the federal government has squared off against state and local governments as it relates to controversial issues, such as same sex marriage, the USA Patriot Act (civil liberties) and the Terry Schiavo case.
4/7/2006
Title:Budget Process
Speaker:Bill Henniff
Organization: Congressional Research Service
Summary: After President Bush released his FY 2007 Budget in February, many members of the House of Representatives and Senate have been quick to offer both their positive and negative assessments of what has been called an austere budget proposal. Now, as the budget debate takes center stage in the House this week, Friday’s session will offer some insights as to why the budget debate is so important and garners ardent attention.
3/31/2006
Title:Feminism
Speaker:Christina Hoff Sommers
Organization: American Enterprise Institute
Summary: The Oxford English definition of the word feminism is-a movement or theory that supports the rights of women. However, a once noble and progressive social movement lost its way several decades ago when supporting the basic rights of women evolved into a male-bashing, victim inspired, radical and politically partisan movement.
3/24/2006
Title:Conservatives in the Media
Speaker:Ramesh Ponnuru
Organization: The National Review
Summary: With conservatives constantly referring to the liberal bent to the media and how the press reports stories from the War in Iraq to the Supreme Court nomination process and recent Congressional scandals, the question remains: Why aren’t there more conservatives in the media?
3/17/2006
Title:Iran
Speaker:Peter Brookes
Organization: The Heritage Foundation
Summary: Today, the President released his National Security Report reaffirming his doctrine of preemptive force against terrorists and enemy nations. The report referred to Iran as America’s greatest national security threat.
3/10/2006
Title:Originalism and the Constitution
Speaker:Matthew Spalding
Organization: The Heritage Foundation
Summary: In Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer's book "Active Liberty: Interpreting Our Democratic Constitution," he argues against other members of the court who say they reach decisions based on the original intent of the writers of the Constitution. Breyer says the founders' intent was to promote active democracy and "originalist" decisions can have the opposite result. However, the American Founders thought the Constitution was crucially important, and that those who make, interpret and enforce the law ought to be guided by its original meaning. Having been revived in the 1980s, the argument between these approaches is now being voiced in our on-going public debate about the role of judges and the judiciary. How important is the Constitution? How is it to be interpreted and understood? Should those who apply the law be bound by the original meaning of the Constitution? How can that meaning be determined?
3/3/2006
Title:Legislative Floor Procedure
Speaker:Judy Schneider
Organization: Congressional Research Service
Summary: House and Senate rules of procedure are largely a function of the number of members comprising each chamber. In the House, a structured legislative process and strict adherence to the body’s rules and precedents have resulted from the need to manage how 435 Representatives make decisions. By contrast, the Senate’s smaller membership has brought about a less formal policy-making process and a more flexible approach to the chamber’s standing rules. While individual Representatives must typically yield to the majority will of the House, the Senate usually accommodates the interests of individual Senators. Understanding the underlying and oftentimes complicated legislative procedures of the House and Senate is not only useful but essential for one to become an effective Capitol Hill Staffer.
2/24/2006
Title:How to be an Effective Staffer
Speaker:Ed Corrigan
Organization: Office of Senator Sessions
Summary: Capitol Hill represents a unique work environment, unlike any other in the United States. Staffers work long hours, often for minimal pay, and are basically answerable to one person while working with thousands of others. The Hill environment can create unique opportunities and remarkable stresses—which means that mistakes that usually would have been swept under the rug end up on the front page of "Roll Call."
2/17/2006
Title:The History of the Filibuster
Speaker:Marty Gold
Organization: Covington & Burling
Summary: Last spring, a small band of Senators-known as “the gang of 14”- exerted their power, in effect staging a coup against the wishes of the White House and the leaders of both parties, when they sought to pull the Senate back from the brink: deployment of the constitutional or nuclear option over the organized use of the filibuster.
The deal was a culmination of months of contentious debate over the rights of the minority (Democrats) to use the filibuster to block judicial nominations. The compromise seeks to end a feud that began two decades ago with President Reagan’s failed nomination of Judge Robert Bork to the Supreme Court and has escalated with each presidency since.
2/10/2006
Title:The American Founding
Speaker:Matthew Spalding
Organization: The Heritage Foundation
Summary: The usual academic line is that America is but the unfolding of modern political liberalism, from Thomas Jefferson to William Jefferson Clinton. This is simply untrue. The main principles and purposes of the American Founding are inherently conservative. And as the cornerstone of American political thought, the principles of the American Founding remain the principles of America, and thus, the principles that conservatives seek to conserve.
2/3/2006
Title:Culture and Politics
Speaker:Bill Wichterman
Organization: Covington & Burling
Summary: Is America engaged in a culture war? In the aftermath of the 2004 Presidential election, the media reported that cultural and moral values (issues), such as same sex marriage, right to life and the role of religion in our society were issues that drove Americans to the polls to vote for President Bush and the Republicans. With these issues being debated in American society and the government, the answer to this question must be yes. It would be wrong to say that American culture has completely rejected transcendent truth. To be sure, there is much in American society that is still rooted in a notion of objective right and wrong. However, it is the overall trajectory of American culture that is cause for great alarm.
