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Hans von Spakovsky examines how civil justice is administered in state and federal courts as senior legal fellow in The Heritage Foundation’s Center for Legal and Judicial Studies. As manager of the think tank’s Civil Justice Reform Initiative, von Spakovsky is particularly interested in the ways that plaintiffs’ attorneys and activists try to manipulate the courts for their own ends -- at the expense of the public. The project studies not only how the civil justice system can be protected but improved and made more efficient, resulting in greater fairness and predictability for all. “This is an issue vital to the economy of the country as well as the health and well-being of Americans,” von Spakovsky says. Among other responsibilities, von Spakovsky researches and writes about aspects of election law such as campaign finance, voter fraud and voter identification as well as registration and equipment issues. These have emerged as important topics in an era of razor-thin victory margins for national candidates. Before joining Heritage in 2008, he served two years as a member of the Federal Election Commission, the authority charged with enforcing campaign finance laws for congressional and presidential elections, including public funding. Previously, von Spakovsky worked at the Justice Department as counsel to the assistant attorney general for civil rights, providing expertise in enforcing the Voting Rights Act and the Help America Vote Act of 2002. A former litigator, in-house counsel and senior corporate officer in the insurance industry, von Spakovsky worked on tort reform and civil justice issues there for more than a decade. He also has served on the Board of Advisors of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission and on the Fulton County (Ga.) Board of Registrations and Elections. He is a member of the Fairfax County (Va.) Electoral Board and the Virginia Advisory Board to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. His analysis and commentary have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Times, Politico and Human Events, as well as such outlets as National Review Online and Townhall. He has testified before state and congressional committees and made presentations to, among other organizations, the National Association of Secretaries of State, the Federalist Society, the National Conference of State Legislatures and the American Legislative Exchange Council. A 1984 graduate of Vanderbilt University School of Law, von Spakovsky received a bachelor's degree in 1981 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He currently resides in Vienna, Va. ...
James Carafano, one of the nation's leading experts in defense and homeland security, directs Heritage's Douglas and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign Policy Studies. Carafano is an accomplished historian and teacher as well as a prolific writer and researcher on a fundamental constitutional duty of the federal government: to provide for the common defense. His research focuses on developing the national security required to secure the long-term interests of the United States -- protecting the public, providing for economic growth and preserving civil liberties. In this capacity, Carafano is one of the principal policy experts who appear in Heritage's gripping documentary on the case for missile defense, 33 Minutes: Protecting America in the New Missile Age. In August 2009, Carafano was promoted to director of the Allison Center for Foreign Policy Studies as well as to deputy director of the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for International Studies. Carafano, a 25-year veteran of the Army, manages day-to-day research and program activities of the Allison Center. He also serves as deputy to Kim R. Holmes, vice president for defense and foreign policy studies, in overseeing the centers and projects of Davis Institute, where Carafano had been assistant director since 2006. He is a weekly columnist on national security affairs for the Washington Examiner newspapers. Carafano's most recent book is Private Sector/Public Wars: Contracting in Combat-Iraq, Afghanistan and Future Conflicts (Praeger, 2008), a rigorous study of contractors' role on the battlefield and their impact on military effectiveness and civil society. Carafano's current book project is a history of the modern military. He is editing a new book series, The Changing Face of War, which examines how emerging political, social, economic and cultural trends will affect the nature of armed conflict. Carafano joined Heritage as a senior research fellow in 2003. He had been a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, a Washington policy institute dedicated to defense issues. In his Army career, Carafano rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel. He served in Europe, Korea and the United States. His assignments included head speechwriter for the Army Chief of Staff, the service's highest-ranking officer. Before retiring, Carafano was executive editor of Joint Force Quarterly, the Defense Department's premiere professional military journal. A graduate of West Point, Carafano holds a master's degree and a doctorate from Georgetown University as well as a master's degree in strategy from the U.S. Army War College. He is a visiting professor at National Defense University and Georgetown University. He previously served as an assistant professor at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y., and as director of military studies at the Army's Center of Military History. He taught at Mount Saint Mary College in New York and was a fleet professor at the U.S. Naval War College. Carafano is the co-author with Paul Rosenzweig of Winning the Long War: Lessons from the Cold War for Defeating Terrorism and Preserving Freedom (2005). The authors, first to coin the term "the long war," argued that a successful strategy requires a balance of prudent military and security measures, continued economic growth, zealous protection of civil liberties and prevailing in the "war of ideas" against terrorist ideologies. Carafano also co-authored a textbook, Homeland Security (McGraw-Hill), designed as a practical introduction to everyday life in the era of terrorism. The textbook addresses such key details as the roles of first responders and volunteers, family preparedness techniques and in-depth looks at weapons of mass destruction. His other works include G.I. Ingenuity: Improvisation, Technology and Winning World War II (2006); Waltzing Into the Cold War (2002); and After D-Day (2000), a Military Book Club main selection. As an expert on defense, intelligence and homeland security issues, Carafano has testified many times before Congress. He is a regular guest analyst for all the major U.S. network and cable television news organizations, from ABC to FOX to MSNBC to PBS, as well as such outlets as National Public Radio, Pajamas TV, Voice of America and the History Channel. From SkyNews to Al Jazeera, he also has appeared on TV news programs originating in Australia, Austria, Canada, France, Great Britain, Greece, Hong Kong, Ireland, Iran, Japan, Portugal, Spain and Sweden. Carafano's op-ed columns and commentary are published widely, including the Baltimore Sun, Boston Globe, New York Post, Philadelphia Inquirer, USA Today and Washington Times in addition to the Washington Examiner. He is a member of the National Academy's Board on Army Science and Technology and the Department of the Army Historical Advisory Committee. He is a senior fellow at George Washington University's Homeland Security Policy Institute. In 2005, Carafano received Heritage's prestigious W. Glenn and Rita Ricardo Campbell Award. The honor goes to the staff member determined to have made "an outstanding contribution to the analysis and promotion of the free society."...
Jena Baker McNeill is a homeland security policy analyst at The Heritage Foundation. She handles homeland security and science and technology issues. As an expert on homeland security and science and technology issues, she has provided commentary for Fox News, ABC, CNBC, C-SPAN, CNN Radio, Pajamas TV, Voice of America, Federal News Radio, and ABC News Radio among others and has testified before Congress on such topics as E-Verify. Her commentary has appeared in such publications as The Chicago Tribune, The Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Government Executive, CNS News, Congressional Quarterly and Federal Computer Week. Before joining Heritage in 2008, McNeill worked as a Research Assistant for Hutchinson Group LLC, a homeland security consulting firm founded by Asa Hutchinson, former Undersecretary for Border and Transportation Security at the Department of Homeland Security. She previously worked as an Environmental Management Consultant for Booz Allen Hamilton and as a Staff Assistant for Maryland Governor Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. She has worked on several high-profile gubernatorial and congressional campaigns and was a legislative intern for Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV). McNeill earned a degree from the University of Arkansas-Little Rock School of Law, where she was a member of the Moot Court Board and Federalist Society. During law school, she clerked for the Senate Committee on the Judiciary-Antitrust Subcommittee and several Arkansas criminal and business litigation firms. She received a bachelor's degree in environmental science from the University of Maryland....
JD Foster is the Norman B. Ture Senior Fellow in the Economics of Fiscal Policy at The Heritage Foundation. His primary focus is studying long-term changes in tax policy to ensure a strong economy. He also examines changes in Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security so they are both affordable and more effective. Foster came to Heritage in 2007 after serving many years at the White House, the Executive Branch, Capitol Hill and private policy institutions. His last job before joining Heritage was at the White House's Office of Management and Budget, where he was Associate Director for Economic Policy. While there, Foster led the office's economic policy staff and advised three Directors on developments in the economy and potential changes in economic policy. He was also the chief adviser to the Director on matters of tax policy and led the OMB team in the Administration's "Troika" economic forecasting process. In addition, he played a leading role in the development and advancement of the Administration's pension and private health care policies. Before joining OMB in June 2002, Foster served at the Treasury Department, where he was Senior Adviser in Economics at the department's Office of Tax Policy. He also advised the Assistant Secretary on issues concerning the 2001 tax cut, the 2002 tax stimulus bill, reform of the tax expenditure presentation in the President's budget, simplification, and options for tax reform. On Capitol Hill, he was the Legislative Director for Rep. Philip M. Crane (R-IL), then Vice Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. Before that, he was the Executive Director and Chief Economist at the Tax Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-based research and education institution. While at the foundation, he saw its research program and reputation restored, a variety of new education programs instituted, and its debt retired. He also was Chief of Staff to Chairman Michael Boskin at the President's Council of Economic Advisors at the White House. Prior to joining the Council of Economic Advisors, Foster was: Economic Counsel to Sen. Steve Symms (R-ID) and working on the Senate Finance and Budget Committees, 1991. Staff Economist at the Senate Republican Policy Committee under Sen. Don Nickles (R-OK), 1991. Economic Counsel to Sen. William Armstrong (R-CO) and working on the Senate Finance and Budget Committees, 1989-1990. Staff Economist at the Institute for Research on the Economics of Taxation, 1985–1989. Foster received his doctorate in economics from Georgetown University, his master's degree in economics from Brown University, and bachelor's degrees in economics and mathematics from the University of Colorado. ...
Curtis Dubay is a Senior Policy Analyst at The Heritage Foundation, where he specializes in tax issues. Before coming to Heritage in November 2008, Dubay was a Senior Associate at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Atlanta, where he structured international transactions as part of the accounting firm's Transfer Pricing Group. Dubay previously served as a Senior Economist for the Tax Foundation, where he authored three widely recognized and cited reports: "Tax Freedom Day," "State-Local Tax Burdens" and "The State Business Tax Climate Index." (Tax Freedom Day refers to the date on which Americans at last have earned enough income to pay the nation's total income tax bill for the year.) Dubay has done research on the details of a wide range of taxes, among them income, sales, capital gains, dividends, corporate, excise and international. He has testified to state legislatures about how to improve their tax climates. Such newspapers and periodicals as The Wall Street Journal and Forbes have quoted his views. Dubay received his master's degree in economics from the University of Connecticut in 2004. He also has a bachelor's degree in economics and leadership studies from the University of Richmond. He lives in Washington, D.C....
As Director of The Heritage Foundation's Center for Data Analysis, William W. Beach is the think tank's chief "number cruncher." He oversees Heritage's original statistical research on taxes, Social Security, energy, crime, education, trade and a host of other issues, ensuring it is both rigorous in technical scholarship and produced in time to help inform public debate. Under Beach's leadership, Heritage has acquired one of the largest collections of privately held public-policy databases in the United States, as well as a variety of peer-reviewed analytical models. Together, these acquisitions allow the Center for Data Analysis (CDA) to produce some of the most sophisticated calculations done anywhere in the world. Because of his ability to boil down complicated data into plain language and real-world examples, Beach is a reliable source for news reporters and a frequent guest on television and radio talk shows. He serves on the Economics Advisory Panel for ABC News. Beach helps build analytical models as well as acquires them. He was instrumental in developing the state-of-the-art econometric models Heritage uses to produce detailed estimates of how proposed tax and energy changes would affect individuals, families and business sectors as well as the overall national economy. Indeed, CDA has become the leading proponent of "dynamic scoring," which shows, for example, how much federal revenues change when the U.S. economy reacts to a tax increase or tax cut. Under Beach's direction, CDA has progressed to the point that it regularly competes with the Congressional Budget Office, the Office of Management and Budget, the Joint Committee on Taxation or any other government agency when it comes to "scoring" potential costs and benefits of legislation. Indeed, federal lawmakers often ask CDA to analyze their draft legislation, knowing they can get a reliable estimate more quickly than from a Capitol Hill agency. Prior to joining Heritage in 1995, Beach held a variety of posts in the public, private and academic sectors. He served as a litigation economist with two Kansas City, Mo., law firms - Campbell & Bysfield and Watson, Ess, Marshall & Enggas - where he specialized in analyzing how anti-trust legal remedies would alter product pricing and availability. Later, as an economist for Missouri's Office of Budget and Planning, he designed and managed the state's econometric model and advised the governor on revenue and economic issues. After a stint in the corporate headquarters of Sprint United Inc., Beach moved to the Washington, D.C., area to serve as president of the Institute for Humane Studies at George Mason University. A graduate of Washburn University in Topeka, Kan., Beach also holds a master's degree in history and economics from the University of Missouri-Columbia. He is a visiting fellow at Buckingham University in Great Britain....
Lindsey Burke researches and writes on federal and state education issues as a policy analyst at The Heritage Foundation. Burke's research has been cited by The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal and Fox News, and she has been quoted in Time and Newsweek, among other major media outlets. Her commentary and opinion pieces have appeared in such print and online venues as National Review Online, The Star-Ledger and the Boston Herald. Burke has spoken on education reform before audiences from Capitol Hill to local "school choice" communities. Before joining Heritage in 2008 as a research assistant, Burke taught high school French in Virginia. She earned a bachelor's degree in politics from Hollins University in Roanoke, Va., and a master of teaching degree in foreign language education from the University of Virginia. She and her husband, Brian, reside in Washington, D.C. ...
David John is one of five experts who "exert more influence" on the Social Security debate than anyone else in Washington – and he is The Heritage Foundation's lead analyst on issues relating to pensions, financial markets and institutions, banking regulation, asset building, and Social Security reform. In 2006, John lived up to this title, given to him by Congressional Quarterly, by working with Brookings Institution scholar J. Mark Iwry to come up with a "third way" to promote retirement self-reliance: the Automatic IRA. Their approach would encourage most workers not covered by an employer-sponsored retirement plan to build their own low-cost, diversified individual retirement accounts. It would work much like a direct paycheck deposit to a bank account – a feature now common in the American workplace. Unless workers choose to opt out, they would be automatically enrolled in the generic savings program, with a pre-set contribution rate and diversified investment portfolio. The contribution amount and portfolio selection could be adjusted by workers to meet their individual needs. This approach would let workers accumulate pre-tax retirement savings in every job they hold, even when their employers offer no such benefit of their own. This is just one of John's many professional achievements. Since coming to Heritage in 1998, he has written and lectured extensively on the importance of reforming the nation's retirement system. During this time, he has testified before a number of House and Senate committees on subjects ranging from Social Security and pension reform to improving the nation's flood insurance program. In 2001, he testified before President George W. Bush's Commission to Strengthen Social Security, providing detailed analysis of how personal retirement accounts could be structured and regulated. John also testified before the House Budget Committee's Task Force on Social Security, explaining what the costs of transitioning to a system of Social Security personal retirement accounts might be as compared to the cost of running the current program. In addition, John has testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on issues such as steps that should be taken to improve Social Security for women and minorities, how to increase the information that the public can receive about Social Security programs, and how the United Kingdom's pension system operates. He also testified before both the Senate Special Committee on Aging and the House Education and the Workforce Committee on proposals to strengthen the funding of defined benefit pension plans. John has been published and quoted extensively in many major publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Washington Post, New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, Washington Times, Forbes, Business Week, and USA Today. He has also appeared on CBS News, NBC News, CNN, MSNBC, the Fox News Channel, BBC radio, and many other national and syndicated radio and television shows. John came to Heritage from the office of Rep. Mark Sanford (R-SC). He was the lead author of Sanford's plan to reform Social Security by setting up a system of personal retirement accounts. His Capitol Hill service also includes stints in the offices of Reps. Matt Rinaldo (R-NJ), and Rep. Doug Barnard Jr. (D-GA). While working for Barnard, John helped write one of the first bills that would have eliminated restrictions on banks to sell securities and insurance. He also authored a bill in 1981 that restarted the national commemorative coin program. In the private sector, John was a Vice President at the Chase Manhattan Bank in New York, specializing in public policy development. In addition, he worked for three years as Director of Legislative Affairs at the National Association of Federal Credit Unions, and worked as a Senior Legislative Consultant for the Washington law firm of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips. John earned a bachelor's degree in journalism, an MBA in finance, and a master's degree in economics from the University of Georgia in Athens....
James Gattuso handles regulatory and telecommunications issues for The Heritage Foundation as a Senior Research Fellow in its Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies. Prior to joining Heritage in 2002, he was Vice President for Policy at the Competitive Enterprise Institute. In that position, he oversaw the institute's policy work, and supervised the overall management of the organization. Before that, Gattuso served as Vice President for Policy Development with Citizens for a Sound Economy from 1993 to 1997, where he directed the research activities for that organization. Gattuso also has served in the federal government. From 1990 to 1993, he was the Deputy Chief at the Federal Communications Commission's Office of Plans and Policy. From May 1991 to June 1992, the FCC detailed him to the office Vice President Dan Quayle, where Gattuso served as Associate Director of the President's Council on Competitiveness. Gattuso is currently serving his second tour of duty at Heritage. From 1985 to 1990, he was a Heritage policy analyst with a responsibility for a broad range of issues, including telecommunications, transportation and antitrust policy. Before coming to Heritage the first time, he was an associate with the Washington law office of Squire, Sanders and Dempsey, where he handled matters before a number of regulatory agencies. In 2002, Gattuso's work on government bailouts and free markets earned him the prestigious Drs. W. Glenn and Rita Ricardo Campbell Award. It is given to the Heritage employee who has delivered “an outstanding contribution to the analysis and promotion of a Free Society." Gattuso graduated magna cum laude from the University of Southern California in 1979. He received his law degree from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1983, where he was a member of the UCLA Law Review. He is a member of the California and District of Columbia bars and is the author of a number of articles written for newspapers, magazines and journals. His commentaries have appeared in FOXNews.com, The Hill, The Los Angeles Times, USA Today and The Washington Times . ...
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The current regime in Russia has a terrible record as a reliable partner, yet President Obama wants the nuclear treaty he negotiated with the Kremlin fast-tracked for Senate approval. That makes no sense. Here are 10 reasons why. Read more
Decades of increased education spending have yielded little academic progress. Academic achievement nationally has flat lined, and graduation rates are no better today than they were in 1970. But despite these historic levels of education funding, the Obama administration, at the behest of teachers unions, is seeking to further inflate funding for the public education sector. Read more
The net result of the new START treaty will be to accentuate the role of nuclear weapons, particularly in Russia’s military planning. The Russians are trying to constrain our advantage in conventional (non-nuclear) ‘strategic’ weapons, including missile defense, in order to accentuate the power of their nuclear arsenal. So even if the overall levels of nuclear weapons are lower, their strategic importance would be greater in maintaining the military balance, subverting the administration’s lofty intentions to use this treaty as a step toward universal nuclear disarmament. Read more
An op-ed in The Wall Street Journal by Robert McDowell, a commissioner of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission,...
Liberals are desperate to bully or chide the rest of the country into accepting massive new taxes to support the...
You can buy a lot of car for $41,000. A BMW. A Mustang GT convertible. Even a Mercedes. Or you could shell out for a...
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