Heritage Foundation Leadership for America

Forthcoming | Comprehensive Reports | Education | Energy | Federal Spending | Health Care | Rebuilding | Security/Response | Taxes | Trade | Misc. | Op-Eds

Forthcoming

"Tapping the Resources and Creativity of the Private Sector to Rebuild New Orleans' Public Infrastructure" by Ronald D. Utt, Ph.D.

"The Appropriate Federal Role In New Orleans' Future" by Ronald D. Utt, Ph.D.

"Katrina's Forgotten Responders: State Defense Forces Play Vital Role" by James Jay Carafano, Ph.D., and John R. Brinkerhoff

Comprehensive Reports

How to Turn the President's Gulf Coast Pledge into Reality (September 16, 2005)

In this report, Heritage experts consider the President's proposal issue by issue, pointing out problematic areas and putting forward solutions.

From Tragedy to Triumph: Principled Solutions for Rebuilding Lives and Communities (September 12, 2005)

A team of Heritage Foundation experts lays out seven principles for federal disaster response and a set of specific recommendations for how to get the job done as quickly as possible and how to be prepared for the next natural disaster.

Education

Providing Relief to Students Displaced by Katrina (September 26, 2005)
Federal policymakers are now considering proposals to provide emergency relief to assist the estimated 372,000 K-12 students whom Hurricane Katrina displaced.

Meeting Emergency Education Needs After Katrina: Education Smart Cards for Displaced K-12 Students (September 15, 2005)

The Educational Smart Card would expand parental choice and give displaced families greater flexibility, a crucial factor for those rebuilding their lives after Katrina.

Energy
More Domestic Energy: The Right Response to Katrina and Rita
(September 29, 2005)

Increased production and refining capacity are both crucial to reducing the volatility of energy prices.

No Easy Answers For Post-Katrina Gas Prices (September 2, 2005)

Setting price caps, pumping lots of oil out of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, and going after industry “price-gouging” and collusion will not have much of an impact on prices, and each comes with problems of its own.

A Bad Response To Post-Katrina Gas Prices (September 1, 2005)

Policymakers should leave the market to do what it does best: allocate limited resources to their most valuable uses.

Federal Spending and Offsets
Hurricane Job Losses: How Severe?
(October 7, 2005)
How bad was the economic damage from Katrina? Monthly job data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) this morning--the first the major macroeconomic indicator reported since Katrina--reveals that job loss was not very severe.

A Line in the Sand for Fiscally Responsible Lawmakers

(October 7, 2005)
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita will test whether Congress and the President can respond to such disasters responsibly by prioritizing the federal government's obligations.

The Growing Disconnect: Federal Spending and Congressional Leadership (September 28, 2005)

Operation Offset would ensure that limited federal dollars are directed to the highest priorities.

Deeply Flawed CRS Katrina Study Urges Return to 1960s Fiscal Policy (September 21, 2005)

This Congressional Research Service analysis is deeply flawed.

Pelosi Leads the Way on Highway Bill Give-Back (September 21, 2005)
Strong leadership like that exercised by Minority Leader Pelosi and the Republican Study Committee could make reopening the highway bill a reality.

Hurricane Costs Send Budget Projections Deeper into the Red(September 16, 2005)

This paper incorporates Katrina cost estimates into a 2005–2015 budget baseline, finding that, without a change in course, the budget deficit will top $500 billion in 2008 and reach $873 billion by 2015.

Congress Faces Pressure to Surrender Pork for Flood Relief (September 15, 2005)

Rep. Tom DeLay has said that there’s not much fat left in the budget to cut, but there’s plenty just in programs for his home state, Texas.

A "Victory" Over Wasteful Spending? Hardly (September 14, 2005)

With federal spending now topping $22,000 per household, it is hard to know where to begin cutting. This paper lists a few easy places to start—really just the tip of the waste iceberg.

The Katrina Relief Effort: Congress Should Redirect Highway Earmark Funding to a Higher Purpose (September 2, 2005)

The nearly $25 billion in pork in the recent highway bill could go a long way to repairing the Gulf Coast’s transportation infrastructure.

Health Care
Katrina's Victims Deserve Better than Medicaid

(September 26, 2005)
Putting Katrina survivors into Medicaid woul go directly against the goals of restoring stability and normalcy and encouraging personal independence.

Paying for Katrina Relief: Cancel or Delay the Medicare Drug Benefit (September 22, 2005)
Delaying the prescription drug benefit for one or two years would save tens of billions of dollars that could be put to better use in Katrina recovery.

Rebuilding

After Weeks of Confusion, the Right Course for Evacuee Housing Assistance (September 2, 2005)
Yes to vouchers, no to remote and isolated trailer parks.

Security/Disaster Response

Katrina’s Forgotten Responders: State Defense Forces Play a Vital Role (October 5, 2005)
The emergency response to Hurricane Katrina demonstrated that state defense forces can be an important supplement to the National Guard, particularly during catastrophic disasters.

Critics of the Hurricane Response Miss the Mark in Focusing on Posse Comitatus
(October 3, 2005)
Rather than change a law that safeguards the liberties of U.S. citizens, the principles of federalism, and the balance of civil-military relations, Congress and the Administration should improve integration of the Guard Reserve, create a Navy Guard, and reorganize part of the National Guard for new missions.

Making FEMA Stronger: A Clear Mission and a New Name
(October 3, 2005)
The Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) response to Hurricane Katrina demonstrated both the agency's own limitations and the misperceptions that many have about its function as part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

Katrina: The Right Inspector General for the Job
(September 23, 2005)
Congress should put the Special Inspector General for Relief and Reconstruction in charge of overseeing Katrina-related reconstruction.

Katrina: A Fair Framework for Assessing the Response and the Next Steps (September 22, 2005)
The U.S. needs a greater national capacity to respond to catastrophic disasters. Did we do the best with what was available? Have we improved since 9/11? What are the next steps?

House Defense Review Should Include Coast Guard (September 21, 2005)

Did we do the best with what was available? Have we improved since 9/11? What are the next steps?

Coast Guard's Finest Hour Ignored by Congress (September 16, 2005)

Congress should recognize the Coast Guard's contributions along the Gulf Coast by fully funding the Coast Guard’s modernization budget.

Improving the National Response to Catastrophic Disaster (September 15, 2005)

Carafano discusses the key considerations that should shape the effort to learn from this tragedy.

Responding to Katrina: The Realities of a Catastrophic Disaster (September 2, 2005)

Congress must keep the realties of responding to a catastrophic disaster in mind as it plans its next steps for recovering from Hurricane Katrina and preparing for future national crises.

Taxes

Deeply Flawed CRS Katrina Study Erges Return to 1960s Fiscal Policy (September 21, 2005)

This Congressional Research Service analysis is deeply flawed

The Economic and Budgetary Effects of the Katrina Emergency Tax Relief Act of 2005 (September 21, 2005)
Projections of the bill's economic and budgetary effects.

Repealing Tax Cuts to Pay For Katrina Recovery Would Cost the Gulf Coast, and the Nation, Jobs (September 19, 2005)

Making the President's tax cuts permanent would annually create 5,300 additional jobs in Mississippi and 9,100 additional jobs in Louisiana—about one-third of those in New Orleans.

Trade

Cutting Tariffs Will Speed Post-Katrina Rebuilding (September 16, 2005)

Rather than wait for the inevitable price hikes that will come once rebuilding gets underway, the Administration should be proactive and exercise its emergency authority to significantly reduce tariffs.

Miscellaneous

President’s Bold Action on Davis-Bacon Will Aid the Relief Effort (September 9, 2005)

As a result, federal aid to the Gulf States will now yield more benefits to the region’s beleaguered residents and hasten the recovery effort.

Thanks, But No Thanks for Aid from Self-Serving Autocrats (September 7, 2005)

Most aid is heartfelt and comes from longtime allies and countries that have received U.S. assistance in their moments of need. But that is not true in every case—for example, Cuba and Venezuela.

Labor Day Review: In Katrina's Wake (September 2, 2005)

Americans can be thankful that the storm hit when American economic strength is at a peak, as new employment figures from the Labor Department attest.

Op-eds
Legislative Lowdown -- Week of October 3rd by Mike Franc (October 4, 2005)

Give up your bike path, bridge for hurricane relief by Ronald D. Utt, Ph.D. (September 28, 2005)

Legislative Lowdown -- Week of September 26th by Michael Franc (September 27, 2005)

Displaced students need aid, not phony excuses by Dan Lips (September 23, 2005)

Viewpoint: Pulling Together by Matthew Spalding, Ph.D. (September 22, 2005)

How Do You Spell Recovery? by Dan Lips (September 21, 2005)

Using FOIA to Keep Katrina Recovery Honest by Mark Tapscott (September 21, 2005)

Hurricane of Entitlements by Michael Franc (September 20, 2005)

Legislative Lowdown -- Week of September 19th by Michael Franc (September 20, 2005)

Don't bind New Orleans in red tape by Edwin J. Feulner (September 19, 2005)

Post-Katrina Frenzy by Helle Dale (September 15, 2005)

Lose the Rules by Stuart M. Butler, Ph.D. (September 14, 2005)

The Limits of Relief  by James Jay Carafano, Ph.D. (September 13, 2005)

High Chairman by Edwin J. Feulner, Ph.D. (September 12, 2005)

Price-Fixing on Gasoline: Control Yourself By Ben Lieberman (September 12, 2005)

Preventing Future Catastrophes by Helle Dale (September 9, 2005)

Throwing Out the Thugs by Rebecca Hagelin (September 6, 2005)

The Post-Katrina Jump at the Pump -- Unavoidable? by Ben Lieberman (September 6, 2005)