November 10, 2009
Copenhagen Climate Change Conference Could Threaten National Security
By James Jay Carafano, Ph.D.
(Special Report #70)
According to Senator Boxer, passage of a cap-and-trade bill is a matter of national security. She is wrong.
November 10, 2009
Decreasing Union Transparency: A Step Backward for Workers
By James Sherk and Ryan O'Donnell
(WebMemo #2692)
Union members deserve to know how their dues are spent. Congress should act to protect workers if the President will not.
November 10, 2009
The Oberstar Transportation Plan: A Costly Exercise in Lifestyle Modification
By Ronald D. Utt, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2693)
The Surface Transportation Authorization Act would mark a dramatic, harmful change in federal transportation policy.
November 10, 2009
A Meaningful Agenda for President Obama's Meeting with Southeast Asian Leaders
By Walter Lohman
(WebMemo #2694)
When he meets with ASEAN leaders this week, President Obama needs to make substantive progress on several pressing issues: free trade, Burma, and the rise ...
November 9, 2009
Seven Reasons Why Congress Should Repeal, Not Fix, the Death Tax
By William W. Beach
(WebMemo #2688)
Policymakers should do what their voters want them to do: They should repeal the death tax and kill it, once and forever.
November 9, 2009
TSA Nominee Erroll Southers's Stand on Collective Bargaining Needs Clarity
By James Sherk
(WebMemo #2689)
Congress should wait to confirm any nominee to head the TSA until that nominee states his or her position on mandatory collective bargaining over security ...
November 9, 2009
Revenge of the Dirty Dozen: 12 Policies that Undermine Civil Society
By Katherine Bradley and Charles A. Donovan
(WebMemo #2690)
Taken as a whole, these 12 policies serve to undermine traditional families, devalue life and human dignity, and weaken civil society in American life.
November 9, 2009
Taiwan's Economy Needs More Than Cooperation with China
By Derek Scissors, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2691)
More open Taiwanese trade and investment with China fits the principles of American foreign policy. The U.S. should assist Taiwan in this effort, starting with ...
November 9, 2009
Government-Run Health Care Even Without the Public Option
By Robert A. Book, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2686)
The reforms under consideration in Congress would impose such rigid control on private health plans that it amounts to a government-run health care system.
November 9, 2009
Dangerous Trajectories: Obama's Approach to Arms Control Misreads Russian Nuclear Strategy
By Ariel Cohen Ph.D.
(Backgrounder #2338)
Russia still considers the United States its "principal adversary." Russia also relies on its nuclear weapons to compensate for its inferiority in conventional weapons relative ...
November 9, 2009
The U.N. Human Rights Council: No Better for Obama's Engagement
By Brett D. Schaefer and Steven Groves
(Backgrounder #2339)
The record of the U.N. Commission on Human Rights was a disgrace. Three years ago, the commission was replaced by the Human Rights Council, and ...
November 9, 2009
Japan's Security Policy: Navigating the Troubled Waters Ahead
By Bruce Klingner
(Backgrounder #2340)
The United States's relationship with Japan has just become more complicated. The recent election victory of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) has resulted in ...
November 6, 2009
The Pakistan-Britain Terror Connection: Lessons and Warnings for the United States
By Ted R. Bromund Ph.D., and Lisa Curtis
(Backgrounder #2337)
The Pakistan-Britain terror connection poses a serious threat to Great Britain and its allies, including the United States. Breaking the personnel, financial, and ideological links ...
November 6, 2009
Executive Summary: The Pakistan–Britain Terror Connection: Lessons and Warnings for the United States
By Ted R. Bromund Ph.D., and Lisa Curtis
(Executive Summary #2337)
The Pakistan-Britain terror connection poses a serious threat to Great Britain and its allies, including the United States. Breaking the personnel, financial, and ideological links ...
November 6, 2009
Pelosi Health Care Plan: Who Pays the Surtax?
By Rea S. Hederman, Jr., and Guinevere Nell
(WebMemo #2687)
The Pelosi health care plan relies on a large surtax that would gradually encompass all American taxpayers, much like the dreaded Alternative Minimum Tax does. ...
November 6, 2009
A Closer Look at the House Democrats' Health Care Bill
By the Staff of the Center for Health Policy Studies and the Staff of the Center for Data Analysis
(WebMemo #2684)
A Closer Look at the House Democrats' Health Care Bill
November 6, 2009
Heritage Employment Report: October Has Few Treats, Lots of Tricks
By Rea S. Hederman, Jr., and James Sherk
(WebMemo #2685)
As job losses mount, the monthly jobs report continues to demonstrate both the failure of the stimulus bill and the hollowness of the Administration's claim ...
November 5, 2009
Union Contracts of Health Care Workers Would Inflate Health Care Costs
By James Sherk
(WebMemo #2681)
Widespread unionization of the health care sector would make a government-run "public plan" much more expensive than currently advertised.
November 5, 2009
Doing Health Care Reform Right: The Empowering Patients First Act
By Greg D'Angelo and Robert E. Moffit, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2682)
The Empowering Patients First Act could accomplish needed reforms while minimizing Washington's role in health care.
November 5, 2009
The Pelosi Health Care Plan: Employer Mandate Penalties on Small Businesses
By John L. Ligon
(WebMemo #2683)
The Pelosi health care reform plan would create an employer penalty system that would apply to small businesses--even those with 25 or fewer workers.
November 5, 2009
Prisoner Reentry: A Limited Federal Government Role
By David B. Muhlhausen, Ph.D.
(Testimony )
To address the issue of offender recidivism, the federal government should operate reentry programs for offenders formally incarcerated in the federal correctional system. The federal ...
November 4, 2009
Federalization of Medicaid: Health Reform Bill Would Reduce State Authority
By Dennis G. Smith
(WebMemo #2678)
But under H.R. 3962, the ability of states to run Medicaid and SCHIP to reflect state variations and preferences would be substantially diminished.
November 4, 2009
Chemical Security: Separating Risk from Excessive Regulation
By Jena Baker McNeill
(WebMemo #2679)
While ensuring the safety and security of chemical facilities is important, excessive regulation that prevents the private sector from doing business is a poor approach. ...
November 4, 2009
Rethink the Housing Tax Credit: Stimulus Plans Should Think Past the Needs of Special Interest
By Ronald D. Utt Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2680)
Replacing the expiring tax credit with a new one for which most members of America's financial elite would be eligible is a costly and unnecessary ...
November 4, 2009
Why Government Control of Bank Salaries Will Hurt, Not Help, the Economy
By David M. Mason
(Backgrounder #2336)
In response to the recent financial crisis, the Obama Administration and the Federal Reserve Board are capping executive salaries and bonuses, and imposing a host ...
November 4, 2009
School Choice in America 2009: What it Means for Children's Futures
By Lindsey Burke
(Backgrounder #2332)
School choice -- what does it mean for American's daily lives? It means that more and more parents are able to send their children to ...
November 4, 2009
Executive Summary: School Choice in America 2009: What it Means for Children's Futures
By Lindsey Burke
(Executive Summary #2332)
School choice -- what does it mean for American’s daily lives? It means that more and more parents are able to send their children to ...
November 3, 2009
Boxer-Kerry Cap-and-Trade Bill's Nuclear Provision Won't Fuel a Nuclear Revival
By Jack Spencer and Nicolas D. Loris
(Backgrounder #2335)
America needs a clean, safe, and sustainable energy source. Nuclear power could be part of the solution -- with the right set of free-market reforms. ...
November 3, 2009
Senate's Byrd-Hagel Resolution Should Guide Global Warming Discussion in Copenhagen
By Ben Lieberman
(Special Report #69)
The Administration should follow the Byrd-Hagel Resolution in Copenhagen and steer clear of any agreement that violates its provisions.
November 2, 2009
Ten Things about China and Climate Change
By Derek Scissors, Ph.D.
(Special Report #68)
With Copenhagen conference looming, the U.S. must be realistic about carbon emissions and China.
November 2, 2009
Russia's Economic Crisis and U.S.-Russia Relations: Troubled Times Ahead
By Ariel Cohen, Ph.D., and Richard E. Ericson, Ph.D.
(Backgrounder #2333)
Russia's revenues from oil and natural gas are enabling its aggressive and often anti-Western foreign policy. Russia's falling economic performance has toned down Russia's rhetoric, ...
November 2, 2009
Executive Summary: Russia's Economic Crisis and U.S.-Russia Relations: Troubled Times Ahead
By Ariel Cohen, Ph.D., and Richard E. Ericson, Ph.D.
(Executive Summary #2333)
Russia's revenues from oil and natural gas are enabling its aggressive and often anti-Western foreign policy. Russia's falling economic performance has toned down Russia's rhetoric, ...
November 2, 2009
How Many Americans Could End Up on the Public Health Plan? A Look at the Estimates
By Greg D’Angelo
(Backgrounder #2334)
Congress will soon vote on massive health care legislation -- and on the amount of power the federal government will have over the entire U.S. ...
November 2, 2009
Health Care Reform and the Threat to the Dollar
By J. D. Foster, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2674)
Health care reform as currently constructed will either weaken the economy or balloon the deficit while it weakens the economy.
November 2, 2009
New Health Care House Bill Has Plenty of New Taxes
By Rea S. Hederman, Jr.
(WebMemo #2675)
The new House health care bill still contains painful tax increases that will affect more and more Americans every year.
November 2, 2009
Congress Wisely Acts to Bring Greater Independence to Pentagon's Quadrennial Defense Review Process
By Mackenzie M. Eaglen and Eric Sayers
(WebMemo #2676)
Congress has wisely appointed an independent panel to critique the analysis underpinning the Pentagon's 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review. The panel should pay particular attention to ...
November 2, 2009
Bomb or Surrender: Not America's Only Options Regarding Iran
By Baker Spring and James Phillips
(WebMemo #2677)
Any long-term strategy to counter the possible emergence of a nuclear Iran must include offensive strike options, defensive systems--including ballistic missile defenses--and diplomatic initiatives.
October 30, 2009
U.S.-China Space Cooperation: More Costs Than Benefits
By Dean Cheng
(WebMemo #2670)
The potential costs of extensive cooperation between the U.S. and Chinese space programs far outweigh the likely benefits.
October 30, 2009
The Wrong Medicare Advantage Reform: Cutting Benefits, Limiting Choices, and Increasing Costs
By James C. Capretta and Robert A. Book, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2671)
The Medicare Advantage program reforms currently being considered by Congress would lead toward a system of less choice, less accountability, and eventually lower-quality health care ...
October 30, 2009
Medicaid Funding of Abortion: Setting the Record Straight
By Dennis G. Smith
(WebMemo #2672)
Unless a specific prohibition on abortion funding is included in the final health care bill, the government will end up funding the procedure.
October 30, 2009
Honduran Handshake: U.S. Policy Still Needs to Be Better
By Ray Walser, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2673)
Presidential elections will take place in Honduras on November 29. As a result, it is now possible that the Honduran people--not outsiders--will decide who governs ...
October 30, 2009
The Spending, Deficit, and Debt Control Act Would Help Congress Rein in Spending and Deficits
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #2669)
Congress needs a budget framework that promotes responsible budgeting.
October 29, 2009
Tax on High-End Health Insurance Policies Takes the Low Road
By J. D. Foster, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2667)
The Joint Tax Committee recently shed important new light on the proposed "Cadillac excise tax" contained in the Senate Finance Committee’s health care bill.
October 29, 2009
Secretary Clinton's Visit to Pakistan: Into the Crucible
By Lisa Curtis
(WebMemo #2668)
Secretary Clinton's visit to Pakistan could help to calm some of the current tensions in the U.S.-Pakistan relationship. However, it must be followed by concrete ...
October 28, 2009
Health Care Reform: Rational Alternatives to the Congressional Leadership Bills
By Greg D’Angelo and Robert E. Moffit, Ph.D
(WebMemo #2666)
Three major bills sponsored by congressional Republicans contain promising conservative approaches to health care reform.
October 28, 2009
National Security: Not a Good Argument for Global Warming Legislation
By James Jay Carafano, Ph. D.
(Testimony )
The Clean Energy Jobs and America Power Act (S. 1733) has engendered tremendous controversy. Concerns abound about the legislation's adverse economic consequences, and there is ...
October 26, 2009
Islamist Terrorist Plots in Great Britain: Uncovering the Global Network
By Ted R. Bromund, Ph.D and Morgan L. Roach
(Backgrounder #2329)
Individuals who traveled in Pakistan and received terrorist training there or in Afghanistan are a central part of the challenge of Islamist terrorism in Britain. ...
October 23, 2009
Proposed Global Warming Bills and Regulations Will Do More Harm Than Good
By Ben Lieberman
(WebMemo #2665)
The Waxman-Markey and Kerry-Boxer bills, like the proposed regulations, are an expensive and ineffective response to the overstated threat of global warming.
October 22, 2009
The U.S.-Panama Free Trade Agreement: A Good Deal for America
By James M. Roberts
(WebMemo #2664)
For the past nine months, the Obama Administration and Congress have allowed three free trade agreements --Colombia, Panama, and South Korea --to languish unapproved. This ...
October 22, 2009
The Price of Prop 8
By Thomas M. Messner
(Backgrounder #2328)
Supporters of Proposition 8 in California have been subjected to harassment, intimidation, vandalism, racial scapegoating, blacklisting, loss of employment, economic hardships, angry protests, violence, at ...
October 22, 2009
Executive Summary: The Price of Prop 8
By Thomas M. Messner
(Executive Summary #2328)
Supporters of Proposition 8 in California have been subjected to harassment, intimidation, vandalism, racial scapegoating, blacklisting, loss of employment, economic hardships, angry protests, violence, at ...
October 22, 2009
Understanding the Great Global Contagion and Recession
By J. D. Foster, Ph.D.
(Backgrounder #2331)
The Great Global Contagion and Recession was largely the result of a sustained global savings glut combined with excessive monetary accommodation by the Federal Reserve ...
October 22, 2009
Executive Summary: Understanding the Great Global Contagion and Recession
By J. D. Foster, Ph.D.
(Executive Summary #2331)
The Great Global Contagion and Recession was largely the result of a sustained global savings glut combined with excessive monetary accommodation by the Federal Reserve ...
October 21, 2009
Health Care Bills' Medicaid Expansion: How States Can Lose the Battle Behind Closed Doors
By Dennis G. Smith
(WebMemo #2661)
The President wants federal taxpayers to pick up a greater share of the cost of the Medicaid expansion.
October 21, 2009
Why Congress Wants to Force More Americans into Medicaid
By Dennis G. Smith
(WebMemo #2662)
Congress's response to Medicaid's problems is not to fix them but rather to add another 14 million people to the program.
October 21, 2009
Another Terror Plot Foiled: 27 Since 9/11
By Jena Baker McNeill and Jessica Zuckerman
(WebMemo #2663)
The arrest of Boston resident Tarek Mehanna makes one fact very clear: the need for strong counterterrorism measures has not waned.
October 20, 2009
Obama's $250 Bonus Turns Social Security into Welfare
By David C. John
(WebMemo #2655)
President Obama wants to give each Social Security recipient $250. But this would start converting the program to a welfare program.
October 20, 2009
The Baucus Plan: Implications for Small- and Medium-Sized Firms
By John L. Ligon
(WebMemo #2656)
The Baucus health care plan will have a strong negative impact on small- and medium-sized employers.
October 20, 2009
Fire Grants: Reauthorization of an Ineffective Program
By David B. Muhlhausen, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2657)
H.R. 3791 reauthorizes a grant program that has significant shortcomings.
October 20, 2009
Joe Biden's Fence-Mending Mission: Re-Open the Visa Waiver Program
By Helle C. Dale and Jena Baker McNeill
(WebMemo #2658)
Joe Biden should use his foreign trip to put pressure on the Administration to open the Visa Waiver Program to America's Eastern European allies.
October 20, 2009
State Department Strategy Review Flawed from Start
By Helle C. Dale and James M. Roberts
(WebMemo #2659)
If the discussions at the kick-off event are an indicator, the final QDDR product will repeat past policy mistakes.
October 20, 2009
Courting Khartoum: The Obama Administration's Sudan Policy
By Ray Walser, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2660)
On October 19, 2009, the State Department finally unveiled its comprehensive policy for relations with Sudan. Characterized by conciliatory gestures, it remains unclear whether this ...
October 20, 2009
The German Elections: False Dawn for the Obama-Merkel Era
By Sally McNamara
(Backgrounder #2330)
While German-American relations have improved in tone from the thinly veiled hostility of Gerhard Schroeder's chancellorship, all is not perfect between recently re-elected Chancellor Angela ...
October 19, 2009
Baucus Health Insurance Excise Tax Misses the Mark
By Curtis S. Dubay
(WebMemo #2654)
The Baucus plan's excise tax on "Cadillac" health insurance plans would fall mostly on low- and middle-income workers.
October 15, 2009
Adding Insult to Injury: The Baucus Health Plan Imposes New Taxes on the Sick
By Robert A. Book, Ph.D., Guinevere L. Nell, and Paul L. Winfree
(WebMemo #2651)
The Baucus health care plan would harm those it should help and help those who need help the least.
October 15, 2009
The Baucus Medicaid Provisions: The Senate’s Massive Welfare Expansion
By Dennis G. Smith
(WebMemo #2652)
Expanding Medicaid is not reform. Adding more people to a flawed system would only compound the problem.
October 15, 2009
The Obama Administration Makes the Wrong Call on the U.N.'s Arms Trade Treaty
By Ted R. Bromund, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2653)
The Obama Administration must not allow the desire for a "consensus" to produce an ineffective U.N. arms control treaty that tramples American sovereignty.
October 14, 2009
The Consumer Financial Protection Agency Act: Attempting to Improve Bad Policy
By David C. John
(WebMemo #2650)
Despite honest attempts to improve the Consumer Financial Protection Agency Act of 2009, the overall concept is still badly flawed.
October 13, 2009
A Flawed Approach to Arms Control: START Negotiations Will Not Serve U.S. Interests
By Baker Spring
(WebMemo #2649)
President Obama is pursuing a rushed approach on arms control with the Russians that President Reagan would recognize is fatally flawed.
October 13, 2009
Time for Congress to Work Under the Same Rules as the Private Sector
By James Sherk and Ryan O'Donnell
(Backgrounder #2326)
All too often, Congress imposes restrictive and burdensome regulations on employers in the private sector--while conveniently exempting itself from these same rules. Many Members of ...
October 13, 2009
Preserving Freedom and Federalism: What's at Stake for Americans in the Health Care Debate
By Thomas C. Feeney
(Backgrounder #2327)
"Federalism" is no outdated concept. The founding fathers of the American Republic are the authors of a brilliant design of the distribution of political power ...
October 9, 2009
Congress's Health Care Reform Bills: The Unknown Costs
By Greg D'Angelo
(WebMemo #2646)
The CBO should produce a comprehensive assessment of the health care reform proposals--similar to the one produced during the Clinton era--before any legislation moves forward. ...
October 9, 2009
Time for Tougher Sanctions on Iran's Terrorist Regime
By James Phillips
(WebMemo #2647)
Growing momentum for further sanctions on Iran should be welcomed by the Obama Administration and integrated into its dual-track strategy for Tehran.
October 9, 2009
Patriot Act: A Chance to Commit to National Security
By Jena Baker McNeill
(WebMemo #2648)
Congress should resist initiatives that would repeal or erode key provisions of the Patriot Act.
October 8, 2009
Freezing Telecom Immunity Would Chill Counterterrorism Efforts
By Jena Baker McNeill
(WebMemo #2645)
Protecting America requires a strong private-public partnership. Telecom immunity is a critical component of this partnership.
October 8, 2009
Examining the History and Legality of Executive Branch Czars
By Matthew Spalding, Ph.D.
(Testimony )
The rise of government by bureaucrats--due to the delegation of power from Congress to administrative agencies, combined with the removal of those agencies from the ...
October 7, 2009
Congress Breaks Obama Promise on Government Role in Health Care
By Dennis G. Smith
(WebMemo #2644)
A government "takeover" in the form of greater government control over health care financing and the practice of medicine is inevitable.
October 6, 2009
50 Examples of Government Waste
By Brian Riedl
(WebMemo #2642)
Here are 50 of the most egregious examples of government waste.
October 6, 2009
The Early Learning Challenge Fund: Increased Federal Role in Early Education
By Lindsey M. Burke
(WebMemo #2643)
SAFRA would significantly increase the federal government's role in preschool education.
October 6, 2009
The Economy Hits Home: Energy and the Environment
By The Heritage Foundation
(The Economy Hits Home Volume #3)
When it comes to energy and the environment, most of us feel conflicted. On the one hand, we depend on affordable energy for almost everything--from ...
October 6, 2009
Another Sarbanes-Oxley: Threatening Small Businesses with the "Beneficial" Ownership Bill
By Hans A. von Spakovsky and Andrew M. Grossman
(Legal Memorandum #48)
The Incorporation Transparency and Law Enforcement Assistance Act (ITLEAA)--currently under consideration in Congress--would subject small businesses to a series of complicated and burdensome reporting requirements. ...
October 5, 2009
Shortsighted U.S. Policies on Afghanistan to Bring Long-Term Problems
By Lisa Curtis and James Phillips
(WebMemo #2640)
President Obama must avoid shortsighted policies that undermine U.S. friends in Afghanistan and Pakistan while encouraging America's enemies.
October 5, 2009
The Baucus Bill: Medicare Advantage and Medicare Savings Lost to Medicare Reform
By Robert E. Moffit, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2641)
Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) is proposing major changes to the Medicare program under the America's Healthy Future Act of 2009.
October 2, 2009
Obama Jobs Deficit a New Record, Again
By J. D. Foster, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2638)
The President's jobs promise means total employment should be at least 138.6 million by 2010, leaving him with a total deficit to close that now ...
October 2, 2009
Heritage Employment Report: September's Step Back
By Rea S. Hederman, Jr., and James Sherk
(WebMemo #2639)
The continued weakness in the labor market continues to illustrate how flawed the stimulus package was.
October 1, 2009
A Policy Agenda for the U.S.-Russia Congressional Caucus
By Ariel Cohen, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2636)
The Congressional Russia Caucus should guard American interests while promoting an agenda which encourages security, freedom, democracy, and economic cooperation with Russia.
October 1, 2009
Will Obama's High-Speed Rail Plan Become a Subsidy for Freight Railroads?
By Ronald D. Utt, Ph.D
(WebMemo #2637)
Congress should strip costly and ineffective high-speed rail funding from the FY 2010 budget.
October 1, 2009
The Economics of Extending Unemployment Benefits
By Karen A. Campbell, Ph.D.
(Testimony )
A tool meant as a temporary safety net for workers who find themselves involuntarily unemployed is too blunt to address the needs of individuals who ...
September 30, 2009
Sin Taxes on Soda, Alcohol, and Cigarettes: Congress's Latest Vice
By Curtis S. Dubay
(WebMemo #2635)
Congress should drop its efforts to levy sin taxes and targeted taxes. They lead only to higher deficits and higher taxes.
September 30, 2009
The War in Afghanistan: Why Britain, America, and NATO Must Fight to Win
By Dr. Liam Fox, MP
(Heritage Lecture #1136)
We are in Afghanistan out of necessity, not choice. Were we to lose, it would be a shot in the arm for every jihadist, would ...
September 29, 2009
States: Stop Subsidizing FEMA Waste and Manage Your Own Local Disasters
By Matt A. Mayer
(Backgrounder #2323)
All disasters are local. Or so many politicians proclaim. Yet 29 states send their tax money to FEMA only to end up footing the disaster-response ...
September 29, 2009
Social Security's Unexpected Deficits Show Urgent Need for Reform
By David C. John
(WebMemo #2632)
Social Security's deficits are likely to be permanent, and the only way out of this cash crunch is to fix the program.
September 29, 2009
2010 Defense Appropriations Bill: Conference Report Should Defer to Senate Bill on Many Programs
By Mackenzie M. Eaglen
(WebMemo #2633)
The Senate's version of the 2010 defense appropriations bill provides the funds necessary to meet the needs of America’s military.
September 29, 2009
26 Foiled Terror Plots Show Success of Information Sharing
By Jena Baker McNeill
(WebMemo #2634)
Three thwarted domestic terror attacks: A wake-up call for Congress and the Administration.
September 28, 2009
How Margaret Thatcher Helped to End the Cold War
By Ted R. Bromund, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2631)
On the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, there are valuable lessons the West can learn from the Iron Lady, Margaret Thatcher. ...
September 28, 2009
Global Trade Liberalization Continues, But Risks Abound
By Daniella Markheim and Ambassador Terry Miller
(Backgrounder #2320)
The 2010 rankings of trade freedom in countries around the world, developed by The Heritage Foundation as part of its annual Index of Economic Freedom, ...
September 25, 2009
The Baucus Individual Health Insurance Mandate: Taxing Low-Income and Moderate-Income Workers
By Robert A. Book, Ph.D., Guinevere Nell, and Paul L. Winfree
(Backgrounder #2325)
The individual mandate in the Baucus health care plan would impose punitively high, regressive taxes on low-income and moderate-income working families. Its penalties and additional ...
September 25, 2009
Baucus Plan Increases Out-of-Pocket Costs for Many Families
By Rea S. Hederman, Jr., and Paul L. Winfree
(WebMemo #2628)
The mandates in Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus's health care reform bill will hurt individuals, families, and businesses.
September 25, 2009
The Baucus Health Bill: A Medicare Physician Payment Shell Game
By Dennis G. Smith
(WebMemo #2629)
For all of the bold talk of reform, the Baucus health bill is just another flawed, big-government solution.
September 25, 2009
Defunding ACORN: Necessary and Proper, and Certainly Constitutional
By Hans A. von Spakovsky
(WebMemo #2630)
Barring ACORN from receiving federal funds through the Defund ACORN Act is perfectly constitutional.
September 24, 2009
The American Conservation and Clean Energy Independence Act: A Bipartisan Pro-Energy Bill
By Ben Lieberman
(WebMemo #2627)
The ideas contained in American Conservation and Clean Energy Independence Act would produce energy in a way that is environmentally sound and would help the ...
September 24, 2009
Congress's Health Care Bills Would Increase Spending and Federal Budget Deficits
By Brian M. Riedl
(Backgrounder #2324)
Both the House health care reform bill (H.R. 3200) and the bill authored by Senator Baucus would increase government spending by hundreds of billions of ...
September 23, 2009
Current Health Insurance Reform Proposals vs. Real Reform and Economic Growth
By Karen A. Campbell
(Backgrounder #2321)
Current proposals for health care reform would exacerbate existing problems in the U.S. health care system and weaken the economy. In particular, the proposed surtax ...
September 23, 2009
Pittsburgh Should Be the Last G-20 Summit: Leaders Should Promote Free Economies Instead
By James M. Roberts
(Backgrounder #2322)
In the past 10 months, the leaders of the G-8 and G-20 nations have met three times at elaborate and expensive summits to address the ...
September 23, 2009
Missile Defense and the Defense of Freedom
By The Honorable Jim DeMint
(Heritage Lecture #1135)
In any situation, the friend of freedom is the friend of the United States, but the current Administration does not seem to abide by this ...
September 23, 2009
Do DHS Fire Grants Reduce Fire Casualties?
By David B. Muhlhausen, Ph.D.
(Center for Data Analysis Report #09-05)
From FY 2001 to FY 2009, Congress appropriated $5.7 billion in funding for fire grants. Using panel data from 1999 to 2006 for more than ...
September 23, 2009
Two Plus Two Equals Five: The Obama Administration's Missile Defense Plans Do Not Add Up
By Baker Spring
(WebMemo #2624)
The White House's "Fact Sheet on U.S. Missile Defense Policy," suffers from three serious flaws.
September 23, 2009
Scaling Back in Afghanistan Would Jeopardize Security of U.S. Homeland
By Lisa Curtis
(WebMemo #2625)
While there is a need to carefully review and refine tactics and strategies, President Obama must shun the temptation to believe that the U.S. can ...
September 23, 2009
The Return of Manuel Zelaya and the Honduras Crisis: Time for a U.S. Policy Change
By Ray Walser, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2626)
The Obama Administration must clarify its incoherent policy toward Manuel Zelaya and the current Honduran crisis. Most importantly, the U.S. must support the November 29 ...
September 22, 2009
Congress Should Stop Playing Politics with E-Verify
By Jena Baker McNeill
(WebMemo #2622)
E-Verify is set to expire on September 30. Unless Congress renews this program, uncertainty over the future of E-Verify will only lead to confusion as ...
September 22, 2009
President Obama at the United Nations: Sending the Wrong Message
By Brett D. Schaefer
(WebMemo #2623)
In order to protect its interests, the U.S. must continue to take the lead in addressing the many problems plaguing the U.N. system and understand ...
September 22, 2009
President Obama's Agenda Would Bring $13 Trillion in Budget Deficits, Not $9 Trillion
By Brian M. Riedl
(Backgrounder #2319)
President Obama's budget will likely produce $13 trillion in deficit spending over the next 10 years--nearly $4 trillion more than forecast. The White House figures ...
September 21, 2009
Sound Health Care Reform for a Sound Economy: A Response to the CEA Report
By Robert A. Book, Ph.D.
(Backgrounder #2318)
The President's Council of Economic Advisers correctly notes that fixing several problems with the American health care system would produce substantial economic benefits. However, the ...
September 18, 2009
ENDA and the Path to Same-Sex Marriage
By Thomas M. Messner
(Backgrounder #2317)
A significant body of evidence suggests that sexual orientation nondiscrimination laws like the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) can function as important incremental steps toward same-sex ...
September 18, 2009
Executive Summary: ENDA and the Path to Same-Sex Marriage
By Thomas M. Messner
(Executive Summary #2317)
A significant body of evidence suggests that sexual orientation nondiscrimination laws like the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) can function as important incremental steps toward same-sex ...
September 18, 2009
White House Fact Sheet on Missile Defense Raises More Questions Than It Answers
By Baker Spring
(WebMemo #2621)
The White House has released a fact sheet in support of its decision not to field missile defense interceptors in Poland and radar in the ...
September 17, 2009
Obama Administration's New Missile Defense Plan Is a Losing Proposition
By Baker Spring and Mackenzie M. Eaglen
(WebMemo #2620)
Today, President Obama reneged on a long-standing agreement with America's allies and formally abandoned the "third site" missile defense plan.
September 17, 2009
The Baucus Health Bill: A First Look
By the Staff of the Center for Health Policy
(WebMemo #2619)
The Baucus bill still contains the most objectionable features of the liberal health policy agenda.
September 17, 2009
The Economic Role of Government: Focus on Stability, Not Spending
By Karen A. Campbell, Ph.D.
(Backgrounder #2316)
Is there a role for government in the economy? Yes, says Heritage analyst Karen Campbell--but the government must focus on maintaining economic stability. Fiscal responsibility ...
September 16, 2009
Obama to Spend $10.3 Trillion on Welfare: Uncovering the Full Cost of Means-Tested Welfare or Aid to the Poor
By Robert Rector, Katherine Bradley, and Rachel Sheffield
(Special Report #67)
Means-tested welfare spending nearly rivals the combined cost of Social Security and Medicare, and President Obama's response has been to continue the permanent enlargement of ...
September 16, 2009
The Meaning Of The Constitution
By Edwin Meese III
(WebMemo #2616)
The Constitution is our fundamental law because it represents the settled and deliberate will of the people, against which the actions of government officials must ...
September 16, 2009
The Originalist Perspective
By David F. Forte
(WebMemo #2617)
Written constitutionalism implies that those who make, interpret, and enforce the law ought to be guided by the meaning of the United States Constitution--the supreme ...
September 16, 2009
Rein in Spending by Stopping the Stimulus and Ending the TARP
By Stephen A. Keen and J. D. Foster, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2618)
The federal budget deficit is already unsustainable and threatens to balloon further as Congress considers a multitude of new spending initiatives from health care reform ...
September 15, 2009
How Not to Increase U.S. Tourism
By Helle C. Dale
(WebMemo #2612)
If the Travel Promotion Act of 2009 passes the U.S. House, the
number of foreign tourists visiting the U.S. will continue to drop.
September 15, 2009
Retiring Baby Boomers Will Not Cause an Asset Bust
By Nicola Moore
(WebMemo #2613)
Some have argued that baby boomers' retirement poses a threat to working
Americans' savings. However, a new report from the Congressional Budget
Office has found ...
September 15, 2009
President Obama's Medical Liability Reform Proposal: No Silver Bullet
By Randolph W. Pate
(WebMemo #2614)
In an apparent concession to Republicans on health care reform,
President Obama broached the topic of medical liability reform Wednesday
night in his health care ...
September 15, 2009
Student Lending and College Affordability: Alternative Approaches to Reform
By Dan Lips
(WebMemo #2615)
The House of Representatives will soon consider H.R. 3221, the "Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2009," legislation that will terminate the Federal Family ...
September 14, 2009
The Lehman Brothers Collapse: Financial Regulation One Year Later
By David C. John
(WebMemo #2610)
One year ago today Lehman Brothers collapsed. President Obama will mark the occasion with an address to Wall Street in which he will likely outline ...
September 14, 2009
The ICC Investigation in Afghanistan Vindicates U.S. Policy Toward the ICC
By Brett D. Schaefer and Steven Groves
(WebMemo #2611)
The Obama Administration is reportedly close to announcing a change in U.S. policy toward the ICC. This decision would jeopardize America's ability to protect its ...
September 10, 2009
School Safety in Washington, D.C.: New Data for the 2007-2008 School Year
By David Muhlhausen, Ph.D., Don Soifer, and Dan Lips
(WebMemo #2609)
This WebMemo is a summary of a CDA Report by The Heritage Foundation and Lexington Institute that presents an analysis of 911 calls originating from ...
September 10, 2009
Alaska's Strategic Role in the Defense of the United States and the Vital Role of Missile Defense
By The Honorable Mark Begich
(Heritage Lecture #1133)
Alaska is sixth among all states and territories in volume of personnel serving in Iraq and Afghanistan and is a very important component in America's ...
September 10, 2009
Maintaining Full-Spectrum Capabilities in an Operating Environment of Hybrid Threats: The Army's Future Requirements
By Mackenzie M. Eaglen
(Heritage Lecture #1134)
Experience shows that blended warfare will happen more often than expected in one conflict and that hybrid conflict will demand creative approaches to operational problems, ...
September 10, 2009
Swine Flu: What Every American Should Know
By James Jay Carafano, Ph.D., and Richard Weitz, Ph.D.
(Backgrounder #2315)
With H1N1 vaccines not becoming generally available until after the U.S. flu season begins, the single greatest contribution that the public can make is to ...
September 9, 2009
Eight Years after 9/11: Analyzing Congress's Homeland Security Agenda
By Jena Baker McNeill, James Jay Carafano, Ph.D., and Matt A. Mayer
(WebMemo #2608)
This Friday makes the eighth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Congress should honor the memory of that tragedy by solidifying its homeland security agenda by ...
September 8, 2009
Critical Reforms Required for U.N. Peacekeeping
By Brett D. Schaefer
(Backgrounder #2313)
The unprecedented pace, scope, and ambition of U.N. peacekeeping operations have led to numerous serious flaws, limitations, and weaknesses that need to be addressed. Peacekeeping ...
September 8, 2009
Executive Summary: Critical Reforms Required for U.N. Peacekeeping
By Brett D. Schaefer
(Executive Summary #2313)
The unprecedented pace, scope, and ambition of U.N. peacekeeping operations have led to numerous serious flaws, limitations, and weaknesses that need to be addressed. Peacekeeping ...
September 8, 2009
How to Protect Consumers in the Financial Marketplace: An Alternate Approach
By David C. John
(Backgrounder #2314)
The Treasury Department has proposed consolidating the existing consumer protection divisions of the various federal financial regulatory agencies into a new and powerful Consumer Financial ...
September 4, 2009
Heritage Employment Report: August Jobs Report Shows Too Soon to Announce "Mission Accomplished"
By Rea S. Hederman Jr. and James Sherk
(WebMemo #2604)
The predictions that were used to promote the stimulus bill have proven false as the August jobs report shows unemployment continues to climb.
September 4, 2009
Why Organized Labor Supports Government Health Care
By James Sherk
(WebMemo #2605)
Unions strongly support health care reform and have made supporting a "public plan" that would lead to a government-run single-payer system their top priority.
September 4, 2009
House Health Care Bill Will Hurt Small Businesses: A Reply to My Critics
By D. Mark Wilson
(WebMemo #2606)
Policymakers need to know that the costs and benefits of an employer mandate will not be equally borne by firms and employees.
September 4, 2009
Success in Afghanistan Requires Firm Presidential Leadership, Not Half-Measures
By James Phillips
(WebMemo #2607)
President Obama is expected to launch a new counterinsurgency strategy in Afghanistan that puts a premium on protecting the Afghan people from Taliban terrorism and ...
September 3, 2009
President Obama Must Not Surrender to Russia on Missile Defense
By Nile Gardiner, Ph.D., and Sally McNamara
(WebMemo #2603)
Abandoning the third site missile defense installation would sacrifice U.S. interests, as well as those of its allies in Europe, on the altar of political ...
September 3, 2009
Controlling Illegal Immigration: What Ohio and Every Other State Can Do
By Matt A. Mayer
(Heritage Lecture #1132)
In order to truly tackle their illegal immigration problems, state and local governments must take a more aggressive approach than simply relying on the federal ...
September 2, 2009
The Perils of Prediction and Unpreparedness in Building the Future Force
By Kim R. Holmes, Ph.D.
(Heritage Lecture #1131)
America can afford to pay more for defense, but we need to be more modest in our strategic assumptions and build that modesty into both ...
September 2, 2009
Soft Despotism, Democracy's Drift: What Tocqueville Teaches Today
By Paul Rahe, James Ceaser, and Thomas West
(First Principles #28)
If we are ever to stop the advance of the administrative state, recover our liberty, and reassert our dignity as citizens rather than as clients ...
September 2, 2009
Defending Those Who Serve: Paying the Legal Costs of CIA Officers
By Edwin Meese III and Hans A. von Spakovsky
(WebMemo #2602)
CIA Director Leon Panetta's decision to use agency funds to pay for the legal defense of case officers targeted by President Obama and Attorney General ...
September 1, 2009
Will Obama's "Livability" Program Bring Britain's "Hobbit Homes" to America?
By Ronald D. Utt, Ph. D.
(WebMemo #2601)
Shortly after taking office President Obama announced his intention to develop federal policies to induce states and local communities to embrace "smart growth" land use ...
August 31, 2009
Japanese Election Poses Challenges for U.S. Alliance
By Bruce Klingner
(WebMemo #2600)
The results of the recent Japanese election are historic.
August 31, 2009
Confronting Unlimited Government: Lessons from the Term Limits Movement
By H. Abbie Erler, Ph.D.
(Special Report #48)
The modern term-limits movement arose in response to the professionalization of politics and growing popular discontent with Congress, but its supporters misunderstood the nature of ...
August 31, 2009
Why Job Creation Matters More than Job Losses
By James Sherk
(Backgrounder #2310)
Job losses have increased, but they are not the largest reason for the 9.4 percent unemployment rate. The main reason unemployment rises during economic downturns ...
August 28, 2009
Economics of Play-or-Pay Mandates in Health Care Reform Bills
By D. Mark Wilson
(Backgrounder #2312)
The play-or-pay mandates in the health care reform bills, which require employers to offer health insurance to their workers or pay a tax to the ...
August 28, 2009
The Trial Lawyers' Earmark: Using Medicare to Finance the Lifestyles of the Rich and Infamous
By Edwin Meese III and Hans A. von Spakovsky
(Legal Memorandum #47)
A proposed amendment to the America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009 would have generated abusive Medicare litigation on a massive scale to benefit plaintiffs' ...
August 28, 2009
School Safety in Washington, D.C.: New Data for the 2007-2008 School Year
By David Muhlhausen, Ph.D., Don Soifer, and Dan Lips
(Center for Data Analysis Report #09-06)
Many District of Columbia students attend schools where they are too often exposed to crime and violence. Policymakers in the District should recognize that school ...
August 28, 2009
Waxman-Markey's Effect on Gas Prices in Your State
By Nick Loris and Ben Lieberman
(WebMemo #2598)
The Waxman–Markey energy bill, which would restrict greenhouse gas emissions by creating a cap-and-trade system, was passed by the House in June and will likely ...
August 28, 2009
Five Major Faults with the Health Care Bills
By Nina Owcharenko
(WebMemo #2599)
Current efforts by Congress to “reform” the health care system are centered on several flawed policy initiatives that will transfer more power and decisions to ...
August 28, 2009
Constitutional Amendment Concerning Senate Vacancies
By Matthew Spalding, Ph.D.
(Testimony )
A proposed constitutional amendment to require that all vacancies in the Senate be filled by election is susceptible to insuperable objections. It fails to understand ...
August 27, 2009
Budget Update Shows No Need for Tax Hikes
By Curtis S. Dubay
(WebMemo #2597)
The OMB and CBO budget updates show that spending cuts—not tax increases—are necessary to bring deficits under control.
August 26, 2009
Blaming Oil Speculators: A Costly Diversion from Real Solutions to Rising Oil Prices
By Ben Lieberman and J. D. Foster, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2596)
Oil speculation is not the long-term cause of high or volatile oil prices, and ill-advised market restrictions may well prove counterproductive.
August 26, 2009
The Public Health Insurance Option: Unfair Competition on a Tilting Field
By John S. Hoff
(Backgrounder #2311)
Advocates of a "public option" government insurance plan assure us that it would compete with private insurers on a level playing field. In reality, the ...
August 26, 2009
How to Save the U.S.-Japan Alliance
By Bruce Klingner
(Backgrounder #2308)
The U.S.-Japan alliance remains crucial, but it is underperforming and weaker than generally perceived. A failure by America's leaders to understand, appreciate, and take necessary ...
August 25, 2009
The Economy Hits Home: Entitlements
By The Heritage Foundation
(The Economy Hits Home Volume #2)
Why every American born today owes $184,000 and what to do about it
August 25, 2009
Controlling Illegal Immigration: State and Local Governments Must Do More
By Matt A. Mayer
(Special Report #66)
Politicians should focus their efforts on securing the border, deporting apprehended aliens, and increasing the legal avenues for foreign workers to come to the United ...
August 25, 2009
New Budget Estimates Show Unsustainable Spending and Debt
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #2595)
The OMB's new budget spending estimates are alarming and absolutely unsustainable-and are the true cause of these appalling levels of deficit and debt.
August 24, 2009
Why Congress Cares About Engine Competition for the Joint Strike Fighter
By Mackenzie M. Eaglen
(WebMemo #2594)
Pentagon officials must follow the law and require all major programs and subsystems to compete, including the F136 Joint Strike Fighter alternate engine.
August 24, 2009
E-Verify: Challenges & Opportunities
By Jena Baker McNeill
(Testimony )
An effective immigration policy will be one that has the effect of reducing illegal immigration in the United States. At the same time, policies must ...
August 24, 2009
Captive Nations Past and Present
By Helle C. Dale
(Heritage Lecture #1130)
Captive nations are not a thing of the past. Communist and other totalitarian regimes like China and North Korea violate individual rights and freedoms in ...
August 21, 2009
The U.N.'s Arms Trade Treaty: A Dangerous Multilateral Mistake in the Making
By Ted R. Bromund, Ph.D., and Steven Groves
(Backgrounder #2309)
The treaty contemplated by the U.N.'s October 2008 arms trade resolution would be a license to almost all states, no matter how irresponsible, to buy ...
August 21, 2009
Executive Summary: The U.N.'s Arms Trade Treaty: A Dangerous Multilateral Mistake in the Making
By Ted R. Bromund, Ph.D., and Steven Groves
(Executive Summary #2309)
The treaty contemplated by the U.N.'s October 2008 arms trade resolution would be a license to almost all states, no matter how irresponsible, to buy ...
August 21, 2009
Afghan Elections Offer Hope for the Future
By James Phillips and Lisa Curtis
(WebMemo #2593)
The Afghan elections mark an important milestone in Afghanistan's evolving democratic politics that could help stabilize the war-torn country.
August 20, 2009
Extended Republic or Centralized Nation-State? Herbert Croly, Progressivism, and the Decline of Civic Engagement
By Brian Brown
(First Principles #27)
The 20th century transformation of domestic policy in America into a climactic struggle between the national government and every conceivable social ill inherited from the ...
August 19, 2009
Impact of the Waxman–Markey Climate Change Legislation on the States
By David Kreutzer, Ph.D., Karen Campbell, Ph.D., William W. Beach, Ben Lieberman, and Nicolas D. Loris
(WebMemo #2585)
The 1,500-page cap-and-trade climate legislation, also known as Waxman-Markey, passed by a narrow margin late in the day on June 26. Cap and trade is ...
August 18, 2009
No North Korean Thaw from Clinton Trip
By Bruce Klingner
(WebMemo #2591)
It is one thing to point out that former President Bill Clinton's trip to Pyongyang to secure the release of two American journalists was a ...
August 18, 2009
Strengthening U.S. Anti-Narcotics Efforts in Colombia
By Ray Walser, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2592)
To preserve and strengthen U.S. counter-drug capacity, the Obama Administration is negotiating for the right to use air and naval facilities in Colombia.
August 18, 2009
The U.S. Should Not Join the International Criminal Court
By Brett D. Schaefer and Steven Groves
(Backgrounder #2307)
Unless the ICC's serious flaws are addressed fully, President Obama should continue to insist that the U.S. is not bound by the Rome Statute and ...
August 18, 2009
Executive Summary: The U.S. Should Not Join the International Criminal Court
By Brett D. Schaefer and Steven Groves
(Executive Summary #2307)
Unless the ICC's serious flaws are addressed fully, President Obama should continue to insist that the U.S. is not bound by the Rome Statute and ...
August 17, 2009
Adult Time for Adult Crimes: Life Without Parole for Juvenile Killers and Violent Teens
By Charles Stimson and Andrew Grossman
(Special Report #65)
Adult Time for Adult Crimes: Life Without Parole for Juvenile Killers and Violent Teens by Charles D. Stimson and Andrew Grossman looks at the continued ...
August 17, 2009
Sustain MEADS, the Other European Missile Defense Program
By Baker Spring
(WebMemo #2589)
A vital missile defense/air defense cooperation program deserves congressional attention and support: the Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS) development program.
August 17, 2009
Obama Missile Defense Proposal: Numbers Matter
By Baker Spring
(WebMemo #2590)
Congress should examine these implications of the fiscal year 2010 missile defense cuts.
August 14, 2009
A CIA Special Prosecutor: A Wolf in Wolf's Clothing
By Todd Gaziano and Robert Alt
(WebMemo #2588)
Even assuming a criminal investigation of CIA interrogators is warranted, Attorney General Holder most definitely should not appoint a special prosecutor.
August 13, 2009
India's Future in the Balance
By Michelle Kaffenberger and Derek Scissors, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2586)
The Indian federal legislature has approved a bill mandating free public education for all citizens.
August 13, 2009
Five Things Congress and the President Are Doing to Bring Back Sky-High Gas Prices
By Ben Lieberman
(WebMemo #2587)
A return to $4 a gallon gas--or higher--will be certain if Congress and the President succeed in enacting a host of proposals to crack down ...
August 11, 2009
Democracy in Danger: What States Can Do to Safeguard America's Election System
By Hans A. von Spakovsky
(Heritage Lecture #1129)
In order to have an election process in which we can be confident that everyone who is eligible gets to vote, the vote is counted, ...
August 10, 2009
The Economic Impact of The Waxman-Markey Cap-and-Trade Bill on Western States
By Ben Lieberman
(Testimony )
Cap and trade is very expensive and amounts to nothing more than an energy tax in disguise. The bottom line is that cap and trade ...
August 7, 2009
Health Care Reform in West Virginia: A Lesson from the States
By Dennis G. Smith
(WebMemo #2582)
West Virginia has experimented with Medicaid reform and has learned a lot about what those reforms accomplished.
August 7, 2009
Pakistan Gaining Against Militants
By Lisa Curtis
(WebMemo #2583)
Reports of the death of Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud demonstrate that cooperation between the U.S. and Pakistan against militants located in the tribal border ...
August 7, 2009
Heritage Employment Report: July Jobs Report a Jolt
By Rea S. Hederman, Jr.
(WebMemo #2584)
Policymakers should end their reliance on failed Keynesian economics and concentrate on pro-growth policies such as extending the lower tax rates for dividends and capital ...
August 6, 2009
Heritage Analysis of Waxman-Markey Hits Where Others Miss
By David W. Kreutzer, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2580)
The Waxman-Markey bill forces a bad deal on a generation that does not have the option to turn it down.
August 6, 2009
The North American Leaders Summit: Promoting Economic Freedom and Security
By James M. Roberts and Ray Walser, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2581)
By promoting economic freedom and security, President Obama, President Calderón, and Prime Minister Harper can ensure that the North American Leaders Summit is a success. ...
August 6, 2009
Maintaining America's Safety to Build Our Prosperity and Freedom
By The Honorable Newt Gingrich
(Heritage Lecture #1128)
The United States needs a new strategy to counter unforeseen developments in the technology and capability of rivals, competitors, and foes; less bureaucratic red tape ...
August 6, 2009
The Economic Consequences of Waxman-Markey: An Analysis of the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009
By David W. Kreutzer, Ph.D., Karen A. Campbell, Ph.D., William W. Beach, Ben Lieberman, and Nicolas D. Loris
(Center for Data Analysis Report #09-04)
The Waxman-Markey bill proposes a new national tax of historic proportions. Though levied directly on carbon-based energy, the tax's impact spreads through the economy, increasing ...
August 6, 2009
Obama's Plan to "Create or Save" Jobs: A Promise Unfulfilled
By James Sherk and Rea S. Hederman, Jr.
(Backgrounder #2305)
President Obama has repeatedly claimed that his economic stimulus bill will "create or save" 3.5 million new jobs by 2011, including 600,000 jobs by the ...
August 5, 2009
Fiscal Year 2010 Defense Authorization Bill: Conference Issues and Recommendations
By Mackenzie M. Eaglen
(WebMemo #2577)
As the House and Senate conference the FY 2010 defense authorization bill, Members should consider the long-term impact their decisions as a whole may have ...
August 5, 2009
Kerry's Excise Tax on "Gold-Plated" Health Insurance Policies
By Edmund F. Haislmaier
(WebMemo #2578)
Senator John Kerry has suggested a new excise tax on "gold-plated" health insurance policies. But this is not the right way to go.
August 5, 2009
Cash for Clunkers: Just Spinning Wheels
By James L. Gattuso and Nicolas D. Loris
(WebMemo #2579)
Despite its popularity, the cash-for-clunkers program is no success--unless success is defined as spending a lot of money quickly.
August 5, 2009
The Youth PROMISE Act: Outside the Scope and Expertise of the Federal Government
By David B. Muhlhausen, Ph.D.
(Testimony )
However well-intentioned, the Youth PROMISE Act will further expand the national government's role in preventing crime into what has been the traditional realm of state ...
August 4, 2009
Bill Clinton in Pyongyang: Bring American Reporters Home, Do Not Let Up on Nukes
By Bruce Klingner
(WebMemo #2573)
While securing the freedom of the two U.S. journalists would be a welcome development, former President Clinton's surprise visit to North Korea risks undermining ongoing ...
August 4, 2009
Foreign Aid: Congress Should Shift USAID Funds to the Millennium Challenge Account
By James M. Roberts
(WebMemo #2574)
When it comes to spending precious U.S. tax dollars on official development assistance to third world countries, the Millennium Challenge Corporation has a better approach ...
August 4, 2009
The Tourism Promotion Act of 2009: Doing What Government Does Not Do Best
By Jena Baker McNeill
(WebMemo #2575)
Instead of promoting tourism through the Tourism Promotion Act of 2009, the government should stick to its current tourism-related responsibilities.
August 4, 2009
Shiprider Program Demonstrates U.S.-Canadian Cooperation
By Dean Lenuik and Jena Baker McNeill
(WebMemo #2576)
The Shiprider program is an example of the well-integrated marine defense relationship between the U.S. and Canada. Both nations should seek greater cross-border cooperation.
August 4, 2009
Killing Americans by Stifling Medical Innovation: The Medical Device "Safety" Act of 2009
By Hans A. von Spakovsky
(Legal Memorandum #46)
The misnamed Medical Device Safety Act of 2009 would gut the carefully crafted regulation of medical devices by the Food and Drug Administration, exposing developers ...
August 3, 2009
Seven Myths About Taxing the Rich
By Curtis S. Dubay
(Backgrounder #2306)
Raising taxes on the rich would increase the progressivity of the already highly progressive tax code. It would also damage economic growth by stifling job ...
August 3, 2009
National Security Not a Good Argument for Global Warming Legislation
By James Jay Carafano, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2572)
The Waxman-Markey bill's supporters are increasingly making the case that creating a new law is a national security imperative. They are wrong.
July 31, 2009
Pitts Bill Could Be Nuclear Energy Game Changer
By Jack Spencer
(WebMemo #2571)
The market-based policies proposed in the SAFE Nuclear Act would put the U.S. nuclear renaissance on the fast track.
July 30, 2009
House Executive Pay Legislation Puts Pay Czar's Boot in the Door
By David M. Mason
(WebMemo #2570)
The Obama Administration appointed a "pay czar" to oversee compensation at firms receiving substantial government backing. Regrettably, the Administration did not stop with government-aided companies ...
July 30, 2009
A Federal Health Insurance Exchange Combined with a Public Plan: The House and Senate Bills
By Robert E. Moffit, Ph.D.
(Backgrounder #2304)
While the national health insurance exchange advocated by President Obama and congressional leaders is sometimes described as a nationwide pool of health insurance providers, its ...
July 29, 2009
Homeowners’ Defense Act Rewards States for Bad Property Insurance Decisions
By David C. John and Matt A. Mayer
(WebMemo #2568)
The newly reintroduced Homeowners’ Defense Act is a dangerous step toward a federal government subsidy of property insurance coverage for natural disasters.
July 29, 2009
State Health Reform: The Significance of Utah Health Insurance Reforms
By Edmund F. Haislmaier
(WebMemo #2569)
Utah will soon offer a working model of how states can design and implement a consumer-centered health insurance market that leverages existing resources with minimal ...
July 28, 2009
Priorities for Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO's New Secretary General
By Sally McNamara
(WebMemo #2567)
At NATO's 60th anniversary summit in Strasbourg-Kehl this past April, the alliance appointed former Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen to succeed Jaap de Hoop ...
July 28, 2009
America's Military Voters: Re-enfranchising the Disenfranchised
By Hans A. von Spakovsky and M. Eric Eversole
(Legal Memorandum #45)
In recent elections, only 5 to 20 percent of eligible military voters cast absentee ballots that were counted. This shockingly low participation rate is as ...
July 27, 2009
The Unlikely Orchid Smuggler: A Case Study in Overcriminalization
By Andrew M. Grossman
(Legal Memorandum #44)
Today, enormously complex and demanding regulations are regularly paired with draconian criminal penalties for even minor deviations from the rules. Minor violations from time to ...
July 27, 2009
Federal Spending by the Numbers 2009
By Brian M. Riedl
(Special Report #63)
Spending and deficits are surging at a pace not seen since World War II. Washington will spend $33,932 per household in 2009--$8,000 per household more ...
July 27, 2009
Ideas Matter: Restoring the Content of Public Diplomacy
By Robert R. Reilly
(Special Report #64)
It is not obvious to much of the world that the United States has the moral high ground against the terrorists. If we truly believe ...
July 27, 2009
Legal Authorities in the Long War
By the Honorable Kenneth L. Wainstein
(Heritage Lecture #1127)
The three counterterrorism authorities that are scheduled to sunset this year have proven to be invaluable in our counterterrorism efforts. They are subject to careful ...
July 27, 2009
Keynesian Fiscal Stimulus Policies Stimulate Debt--Not the Economy
By J. D. Foster, Ph.D.
(Backgrounder #2302)
The federal government has poured extraordinary amounts of fiscal stimulus into the economy two years running, yet unemployment continues to rise with the national debt. ...
July 27, 2009
The PERI Report on Clean Energy: The Wrong Question and a Misleading Result
By Karen A. Campbell, Ph.D.
(Backgrounder #2303)
The PERI report does not estimate the economic impact of any policy currently being debated, and the job number finding is not the overall impact ...
July 27, 2009
Joe Biden's Trip to Ukraine and Georgia
By Ariel Cohen, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2565)
As Joe Biden visited Kyiv and Tbilisi, the Obama Administration managed to dilute a key message--that Russia should respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of ...
July 27, 2009
Honduras's Conservative Awakening
By Ray Walser, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2566)
The path to resolving the Honduran crisis begins with a genuine understanding of the facts on the ground.
July 24, 2009
The Case for Maintaining Abstinence Education Funding
By Katherine Bradley and Christine C. Kim
(WebMemo #2562)
Before cutting federal funding for abstinence education programs, policymakers should consider all of the evidence that indicates its effectiveness.
July 24, 2009
Compromising the Doctor-Patient Relationship: The Impact of the House Health Care Bill
By John O’Shea, M.D.
(WebMemo #2563)
A growing number of physicians believe that H.R. 3200 is likely to make matters worse.
July 24, 2009
New Taxpayer Subsidies: The Impact of the House and Senate Health Bills
By Dennis G. Smith
(WebMemo #2564)
Under the House and Senate bills, taxpayers are going to pay more for health insurance.
July 24, 2009
Illusions of Cost Control in Public Health Care Plans
By Robert A. Book
(Backgrounder #2301)
The available evidence does not indicate that a public plan modeled on Medicare could provide health care comparable to that offered by existing private plans, ...
July 24, 2009
Executive Summary: Illusions of Cost Control in Public Health Care Plans
By Robert A. Book
(Executive Summary #2301)
The available evidence does not indicate that a public plan modeled on Medicare could provide health care comparable to that offered by existing private plans, ...
July 23, 2009
U.S. Policy Regarding Burma: Making Virtue of Necessity
By Walter Lohman
(WebMemo #2560)
Despite the Obama Administration's desire to "engage" recalcitrant, repressive regimes, three factors--the weight of circumstances, the force of law, and solid American values--dictate that current ...
July 23, 2009
Senator Kerry's Tax on Health Insurance Companies Would Hit Everyone with Insurance
By J. D. Foster, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2561)
Taxing health insurance companies is a bad, backdoor alternative to the more sensible, more transparent policy of capping the exclusion for employer-sponsored health insurance.
July 23, 2009
House Bill to Hit Small Businesses with Surtax
By Rea S. Hederman, Jr.
(WebMemo #2556)
The large tax increases proposed by House Ways and Means Chairman Charlie Rangel (D-NY) would harm over a million small businesses, making them less likely ...
July 23, 2009
Postpone Minimum Wage Increase until Low-skilled Unemployment Falls
By James Sherk
(WebMemo #2557)
Congress should postpone the minimum wage increase until the unemployment rates of teenagers and unskilled adults return to historically normal rates.
July 23, 2009
Micromanaging Americans' Health Insurance: The Impact of House and Senate Bills
By Edmund F. Haislmaier
(WebMemo #2558)
Both the pending House health care bill and Senate HELP Committee bill include provisions that would, if enacted, result in sweeping, complex, and highly discretionary ...
July 23, 2009
Undercutting State Authority: The Impact of the House and Senate Health Bills
By Dennis G. Smith
(WebMemo #2559)
The states are being invited into a shaky bargain that trades dollars for control over the administration of Medicaid.
July 21, 2009
Employer Health Care Mandates: Taxing Low-Income Workers to Pay for Health Care
By James Sherk and Robert A. Book, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2552)
Congressional rhetoric to the contrary, much of the burden of paying for an employer mandate will fall on ordinary Americans, and lower-income workers will be ...
July 21, 2009
Waxman-Markey: Homeowners, Small Businesses, and Farmers Hit the Hardest
By Ben Lieberman
(WebMemo #2553)
The Heritage Foundation calculates that, by 2035, America would be $9.4 trillion poorer with Waxman-Markey than without it. This is a tremendous burden and one ...
July 21, 2009
Medicaid Expansion: The Impact of the House and Senate Health Bills
By Dennis G. Smith
(WebMemo #2554)
Further expansion of Medicaid would create new inequities among individuals, even within families.
July 21, 2009
The Obama-Maliki Meeting: Security in Iraq Should Be the Priority
By James Phillips
(WebMemo #2555)
When Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki meets with President Barack Obama at the White House tomorrow, one topic deserves particular attention: How to immediately strengthen ...
July 20, 2009
Nuclear Waste: Do Not Rule Out Yucca Mountain Just Yet, Says House of Representatives
By Jack Spencer and Nicolas D. Loris
(WebMemo #2549)
The Senate should follow the House's lead and ensure that Secretary Chu's blue-ribbon commission on nuclear waste be compelled to consider all waste disposition alternatives, ...
July 20, 2009
Cap and Trade: A Comparison of Cost Estimates
By Nicolas D. Loris
(WebMemo #2550)
Three major analyses of the Waxman-Markey climate bill confirm that cap and trade will produce an economy that will perform well under its potential.
July 20, 2009
Time for the Administration to Turn to Substance in Southeast Asia
By Walter Lohman
(WebMemo #2551)
In the next couple of weeks, the Obama Administration will be engaged in high-level diplomacy with America’s treaty allies and friends in Southeast Asia.
July 20, 2009
U.S.-China Trade: Do's and Don'ts for Congress
By Derek Scissors, Ph.D.
(Backgrounder #2299)
Congress is correct to criticize the PRC as a nonmarket economy, but its proposed remedies are often misguided. Blocking Chinese imports would merely force production ...
July 20, 2009
All a Twitter: How Social Networking Shaped Iran's Election Protests
By James Jay Carafano, Ph.D.
(Backgrounder #2300)
During the recent Iranian election protests, cyber activists organized via social-networking tools to share information and updates about unfolding events around the world, as well ...
July 20, 2009
Executive Summary: All a Twitter: How Social Networking Shaped Iran's Election Protests
By James Jay Carafano, Ph.D.
(Executive Summary #2300)
During the recent Iranian election protests, cyber activists organized via social-networking tools to share information and updates about unfolding events around the world, as well ...
July 20, 2009
Spending Spree and Cutting Defense Don't Add Up
By Edwin J. Feulner, Ph.D.
(Special Report #62)
Our leaders are cutting back on defense, even in the midst of a war in Afghanistan and ongoing terrorist threats. That's a mistake, because protecting ...
July 17, 2009
The Invisible Secretary of State: Hillary Clinton's Failure of Leadership on the World Stage
By Nile Gardiner, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2548)
Hillary Clinton's underwhelming performance so far as secretary of state is representative of a U.S. foreign policy that projects weakness rather than strength and is ...
July 16, 2009
China Refuses to Adjust Its Economy
By Derek Scissors, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2546)
For those worried that China is rising to replace a declining America, take heart: If the U.S. is headed in the wrong economic direction, the ...
July 16, 2009
Clinton Visit to India Should Stress Core Strategic Interests
By Lisa Curtis
(WebMemo #2547)
When U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrives in India tomorrow, she will need to demonstrate that the Obama Administration has a strategic vision for ...
July 16, 2009
The Middle East, Fragmented Societies, and the Future
By Janice A. Smith
(Heritage Lecture #1126)
The future for the Middle East looks bleak, and many people believe that unless something changes soon, the opportunity for a solution will be gone ...
July 15, 2009
Understanding CBO Health Cost Estimates
By Donald B. Marron
(Backgrounder #2298)
Congressional Budget Office analyses often rely on sophisticated economic modeling and are usually framed in ways that match the specific, sometimes arcane, requirements of the ...
July 15, 2009
Understanding CBO Health Cost Estimates
By Donald B. Marron
(Executive Summary #2298)
Congressional Budget Office analyses often rely on sophisticated economic modeling and are usually framed in ways that match the specific, sometimes arcane, requirements of the ...
July 15, 2009
Income Tax Surtax Should Not Fund Government Health Care Expansion
By Brian M. Riedl and Curtis S. Dubay
(WebMemo #2544)
Congress is reportedly considering raising taxes by at least $540 billion over 10 years to fund President Obama's health care initiative through a "surtax" on ...
July 15, 2009
The Obama Financial Regulatory Reform Plan: Poor Policy and Missed Opportunities
By David C. John
(WebMemo #2545)
The recent financial regulatory reform plan issued by the Treasury Department is a detailed mixture of overreaching policy mistakes, missed chances for real reform, blanks ...
July 14, 2009
Section 287(g) Revisions: Tearing Down State and Local Immigration Enforcement One Change at a Time
By Jena Baker McNeill and Matt A. Mayer
(WebMemo #2543)
The Obama Administration's plans to revise the Memorandums of Agreement that are negotiated under section 287(g) of the Immigration and Naturalization Act will undercut a ...
July 14, 2009
A Defense Budget to Recapitalize the U.S. Military with Next-Generation Platforms
By James Talent
(Special Report #61)
For three years, The Heritage Foundation has been advocating the “4 percent for Freedom” solution as national defense policy. This 10-year commitment would affirm the ...
July 13, 2009
The State Secret Protection Act Is Not Like the Classified Information Procedures Act (CIPA)
By Andrew M. Grossman
(Legal Memorandum #43)
The proposed State Secret Protection Act would require the disclosure of highly classified information in a variety of contexts, putting at risk the nation’s security ...
July 13, 2009
Reforming and Improving Federal Preschool and Child Care Programs Without Increasing the Deficit
By Dan Lips
(Backgrounder #2297)
In FY 2009, the federal government will spend more than $25 billion on 69 programs for early childhood education and childcare. After more than four ...
July 13, 2009
Congress Should Support the Development of an Allied Variant of the F-22A
By Mackenzie M. Eaglen and Eric Sayers
(WebMemo #2540)
Congress should reward allies like Japan, Australia, and possibly South Korea with the option to purchase the F-22A.
July 13, 2009
India Heads in the Wrong Direction with New Budget
By Derek Scissors, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2541)
The Indian government budget for the next fiscal year puts political gain over long-term economic progress.
July 13, 2009
The U.S.-U.K. Defense Trade Cooperation Treaty Merits Early Consideration
By Ted R. Bromund, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2542)
The U.S.-U.K. Defense Trade Cooperation Treaty will advance American interests in several important areas.
July 13, 2009
U.S. Air Force Fifth-Generation Fighter: The F-22A Raptor Requirements Retreat
By Mackenzie Eaglen and Eric Sayers
(WebMemo #2539)
Without congressional intervention, the Air Force's ability to conduct air superiority missions will be increasingly at risk over the next three decades.
July 13, 2009
Facing America’s Long-Term Entitlement Challenges Laid Out in the Financial Report of the United States Government
By Brian Riedl
(Testimony )
The most striking part of the 2008 Financial Report of the United States Government is not the balance sheets showing total assets of $2 trillion ...
July 10, 2009
The European Experience with Cap and Trade
By Ben Lieberman
(Testimony )
The economic realities of cap and trade are becoming clear in Europe. If we adopt a similar approach here, expect considerable economic pain for minimal ...
July 10, 2009
Key Questions for Sonia Sotomayor
By Deborah O'Malley and Robert Alt
(WebMemo #2534)
Given concerns about her judicial philosophy, fairness on the bench, and fidelity to the Constitution, Senators should ask Judge Sotomayor the following 10 questions.
July 10, 2009
Homeland Security Department Guts Workplace Enforcement
By James Jay Carafano, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2535)
This week the Department of Homeland Security announced it plans to kill some responsible, reasonable workplace verification rules. As a result, the department will likely ...
July 10, 2009
Obama Administration's Plan to Coerce People out of Their Cars
By Ronald D. Utt
(WebMemo #2536)
The Administration has formally embarked on an unprecedented and costly exercise in social engineering to alter the way Americans live and travel.
July 10, 2009
The President's Ghana Trip: Obama Should Advance Freedom in Africa
By Brett D. Schaefer
(WebMemo #2537)
The key to African development lies in freeing African economies, combating corruption, unleashing the entrepreneurial talents of the people, and embracing competition in the global ...
July 10, 2009
The G-8 and Summitry: Enough Already!
By James M. Roberts
(WebMemo #2538)
The G-8 process has outlived its usefulness. President Obama should insist that the meeting in Italy be the last G-8 event.
July 9, 2009
Why a Federal Interagency History Office Is Needed
By James Jay Carafano, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2530)
The U.S. Congress should establish by law a national historian of the U.S. government and a federal interagency office.
July 9, 2009
Fixing the Fighter Gap Facing the U.S. Navy, Air Force, and Air National Guard
By Mackenzie Eaglen
(WebMemo #2531)
The ability of America's Air Force to dominate the skies is under attack from a long-standing and widening fighter aircraft gap.
July 9, 2009
Value-Added Tax: No Solution for Health Care or Fiscal Woes
By Curtis S. Dubay
(WebMemo #2532)
Congress should resist calls for a VAT on top of all the taxes Americans already pay.
July 9, 2009
A Third Stimulus? Don't Repeat the Same Failures
By J. D. Foster, Ph.D., and Rea S. Hederman, Jr.
(WebMemo #2533)
Congress and the Administration should jettison their ideology to pursue policies that will help the economy in the short and long term.
July 8, 2009
Cap and Trade Sold under False Pretenses
By Nicolas Loris and Ben Lieberman
(WebMemo #2528)
Cap and trade is nothing more than a massive energy tax, which is why it has been sold under false pretenses.
July 8, 2009
President Obama Retreats on Third-Site Missile Defenses
By Sally McNamara
(WebMemo #2529)
For the sake of U.S. national security and to prevent another dangerous geopolitical setback in Russia's neighborhood, President Obama should make it clear that he ...
July 8, 2009
From Strategy to Implementation: Strengthening U.S.-Pakistan Relations
By Lisa Curtis
(Testimony )
Containing the global terrorist threat in South Asia will depend largely on the ability of the United States to forge a trusting and cooperative partnership ...
July 8, 2009
Closing Car Dealerships: A Matter of Economics, Not Politics
By James Sherk and James L. Gattuso
(Backgrounder #2296)
Congress should not interfere with the painful but necessary moves being made to bring GM and Chrysler back to profitability.
July 7, 2009
The Growing Air Power Fighter Gap: Implications for U.S. National Security
By Mackenzie M. Eaglen and Lajos F. Szaszdi, Ph.D.
(Backgrounder #2295)
The immediate threat to America's air power does not originate from foreign nations, but from President Obama's fiscal year 2010 defense budget request that would ...
July 7, 2009
Arms Control with Russia: Senators Should Provide Their Advice to the Obama Administration
By Baker Spring
(WebMemo #2526)
Before they are asked to consent to its ratification, prudent Senators should provide advice to the President Obama regarding the prospective U.S.-Russia treaty on strategic ...
July 7, 2009
Crisis in Honduras: A Diplomatic Balancing Act for the United States
By Ray Walser, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2527)
An internationally coerced and unconditional return of Zelaya to the Honduran presidency will weaken the fundamentals of liberal democracy (limited government, checks and balances, and ...
July 6, 2009
G-8 Can Stimulate Economic Recovery by Restoring Freedom
By Anthony B. Kim
(WebMemo #2523)
The current period of global financial and economic turmoil is a great opportunity to ponder the principles that can revitalize economic growth.
July 6, 2009
An Act to End Trade
By Daniella Markheim
(WebMemo #2524)
The TRADE Act will erectcostly, protectionist walls around America's economy--sounding the death knell for the international trade system as a whole.
July 6, 2009
Questions for Judge Sotomayor on the Use of Foreign and International Law
By Steven Groves
(WebMemo #2525)
If Judge Sotomayor intends to join her colleagues already on the Court in relying upon something other than U.S. legal precedent and American norms in ...
July 6, 2009
The Economy Hits Home: What Makes the Economy Grow?
By The Heritage Foundation
(The Economy Hits Home Volume #1)
The Economy Hits Home: What Makes the Economy Grow?
July 4, 2009
North Korean Launches Affirm Need for Missile Defense
By Bruce Klingner
(WebMemo #2522)
North Korea's blatant defiance of yet another UN resolution demonstrates the critical necessity for the U.S. and its allies to have robust missile defense systems. ...
July 2, 2009
Obama Jobs Deficit Swells Again by Nearly Half a Million
By J. D. Foster, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2520)
Today's release of the nation's employment figures by the Department of Labor show that the nation is still waiting for even a few of President ...
July 2, 2009
Heritage Employment Report: June Job Market Continues Downward Slide
By Rea S. Hederman, Jr., and James Sherk
(WebMemo #2521)
While the June jobs report is not as bad as some of the previous job reports, the employment situation remains grim.
July 2, 2009
Correcting False Claims about the New False Claims Act Legislation
By Hans A. von Spakovsky and Brian W. Walsh
(Legal Memorandum #42)
Congress's latest amendments to the federal False Claims Act destroy the FCA's prior balance that protected federal taxpayer funds while providing some restraints against abusive ...
July 2, 2009
Terrorist Watch: 23 Plots Foiled Since 9/11
By Jena Baker McNeill and James Jay Carafano, Ph.D.
(Backgrounder #2294)
Since 9/11, 23 terrorist plots against the U.S. have been foiled. Many of the individuals involved in these plots have been convicted and sentenced to ...
July 2, 2009
Executive Summary: Terrorist Watch: 23 Plots Foiled Since 9/11
By Jena Baker McNeill and James Jay Carafano, Ph.D.
(Executive Summary #2294)
Since 9/11, 23 terrorist plots against the U.S. have been foiled. Many of the individuals involved in these plots have been convicted and sentenced to ...
July 1, 2009
A Trade Agenda for the G-8 Summit in Italy
By Daniella Markheim
(Backgrounder #2293)
Time is running out for the world's leaders to strengthen the global trading system. In their July meeting, G-8 leaders should commit to eliminating trade ...
July 1, 2009
This Fourth of July, Keep Cool with Coolidge
By Julia Shaw
(WebMemo #2514)
America's birthday is also that of Calvin Coolidge, the only President to be born on the Fourth of July. This is altogether fitting, as the ...
July 1, 2009
The House Health Care Bill: A Blueprint for Federal Control
By Robert E. Moffit, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2515)
The incentives built into the House bill would guarantee that millions of Americans would lose their private coverage, regardless of their personal preferences.
July 1, 2009
Senate "Free Rider" Penalties: Taxing the Poor to Pay for Health Care
By Robert A. Book, Ph.D. and Edmund F. Haislmaier
(WebMemo #2516)
Congress's mad scramble to turn health care buzzwords and bumper stickers into legislation last week careened off in yet another direction.
July 1, 2009
How to Design a Tax Cap in Health Care Reform
By Stuart M. Butler, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2517)
The Obama Administration and congressional Democrats have recently opened the door to a change in the tax treatment of employer-sponsored health benefits as part of ...
July 1, 2009
How Reforms to the Tax Treatment of Health Insurance Benefit the Middle Class
By Greg D’Angelo, Rea S. Hederman, Jr., and Paul L. Winfree
(WebMemo #2518)
Health reform proposals recently introduced in Congress--such as the Patients' Choice Act of 2009--seek to replace the current income tax exclusion with a fairer, flatter ...
July 1, 2009
U.S. Levies Economic Sanctions on North Korea
By Bruce Klingner
(WebMemo #2519)
Hopefully realizing the futility of relying on U.N. actions to constrain North Korean belligerence, on June 30 the Obama Administration imposed unilateral U.S. sanctions on ...
June 30, 2009
What Americans Need to Know About Missile Defense: We're Not There Yet
By Kim R. Holmes, Ph.D., James Jay Carafano, Ph.D., Peter Brookes, and Baker Spring
(WebMemo #2512)
President Obama is cutting missile defense spending by over $1 billion. This makes no sense at the same time that North Korea is testing nuclear ...
June 30, 2009
Ag JOBs Amnesty: The Wrong Way to Help American Agriculture
By Jena Baker McNeill
(WebMemo #2513)
Proving genuine assistance to farmers and other agricultural sectors is important. Amnesty, however, is the wrong answer.
June 30, 2009
Statement on the Tri-Committee Draft Proposal for Health Care Reform
By Robert E. Moffit Ph.D.
(Testimony )
The Committee is considering ambitious and comprehensive legislation. It covers an enormous range of policy items and issues.
June 30, 2009
Entitlement Reform Is Necessary for Long-Term Fiscal Stability
By Douglas Holtz-Eakin and Gordon Gray
(Backgrounder #2291)
Entitlement spending is projected to exceed 20 percent of GDP by 2060. Furthermore, the U.S. will be spending a crushing 22 percent of GDP to ...
June 30, 2009
Executive Summary: Entitlement Reform Is Necessary for Long-Term Fiscal Stability
By Douglas Holtz-Eakin and Gordon Gray
(Executive Summary #2291)
Entitlement spending is projected to exceed 20 percent of GDP by 2060. Furthermore, the U.S. will be spending a crushing 22 percent of GDP to ...
June 29, 2009
Obama Missile Defense Plan Puts America at Risk
By Baker Spring
(Backgrounder #2292)
On May 7, 2009, the Obama Administration announced its FY 2010 defense budget--which reduces missile defense spending by $1.62 billion. The programs that require funds ...
June 29, 2009
Worst-Case Scenario: Dealing with WMD Must Be Part of Providing for Common Defense
By James Jay Carafano, Ph.D.
(Special Report #60)
The recent Graham-Talent Commission study, A World at Risk, argues that this is no time to be complacent about weapons of mass destruction (WMD). In ...
June 29, 2009
Entitlements Darken Long-Term Outlook for Federal Budget
By Nicola Moore
(WebMemo #2510)
Congress ought to take the warnings issued in the CBO's "Long-Term Budget Outlook" seriously.
June 29, 2009
Honduras Fires Its Runaway President: Constitutional Order Is Preserved
By Ray Walser, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2511)
While Honduran government institutions may have acted precipitously, the bottom line is that President Zelaya was fired for cause. However, the U.S. can ill afford ...
June 26, 2009
Senate Finance "MedPAC" Health Proposal Needs Savings Guarantee
By Stuart M. Butler, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2507)
Congress could end creating a large new entitlement, with savings offsets that are phantom rather than real, and adding to the staggering debt burden on ...
June 26, 2009
President Obama and Colombia's Uribe Meeting: A Pivotal Hemispheric Encounter
By James M. Roberts and Ray Walser, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2508)
When he meets President Uribe, President Obama should take the following steps.
June 26, 2009
What Is Next in Iran?
By James Phillips
(WebMemo #2509)
The Obama Administration must abandon wishful thinking and deal with Iran as it is, not as how they would like it to be.
June 26, 2009
The Economic Impact of the Waxman-Markey Cap-and-Trade Bill
By Ben Lieberman
(Testimony )
It is clear that cap and trade is very expensive and amounts to nothing more than an energy tax in disguise. The bottom line is ...
June 26, 2009
Unfinished Business at FEMA: A National Preparedness Perspective
By Dennis R. Schrader
(Heritage Lecture #1125)
The nation's preparedness has come a long way in the past 20 years, but there is significant unfinished business. The challenge is to find ways ...
June 25, 2009
Health Information Technology: The Case for a Sound Federal Policy
By Tevi Troy, Ph.D.
(Backgrounder #2289)
As part of the stimulus bill, Congress is set to spend $20 billion to encourage doctors and hospitals to adopt electronic health records (EHRs). A ...
June 25, 2009
Health Insurance Co-ops: How Congress Could Adopt the Right Design
By Edmund F. Haislmaier
(Backgrounder #2290)
Consumer-owned cooperative, or mutual, health insurers could increase consumer control and choice in health insurance. Member-owned mutual health insurers would return any profits or surplus ...
June 25, 2009
Waxman-Markey Global Warming Bill: Economic Impact by Congressional District
By Karen A. Campbell, Ph.D., and David W. Kreutzer, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2504)
It has become quite clear over the past several months that placing a cap on carbon emission will have major implications for the American economy ...
June 25, 2009
Medicare Administrative Costs Are Higher, Not Lower, Than for Private Insurance
By Robert A. Book, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2505)
Many advocates of a public health plan claim that Medicare has lower administrative costs than private insurance. However, on a per-person basis Medicare's administrative costs ...
June 25, 2009
The U.S. Agenda for the Obama-Medvedev Summit
By Ariel Cohen, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2506)
On July 7, Presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev will meet for their first full-fledged summit in Moscow. There are many issues President Obama must ...
June 24, 2009
2010 Defense Authorization Bill: Merits and Flaws of House Armed Services Bill H.R. 2647
By Mackenzie Eaglen and Eric Sayers
(WebMemo #2501)
As the Senate Armed Services Committee marks up its version of the 2010 defense authorization bill this week, Members should support and retain many House ...
June 24, 2009
Health Care Reform and Economic Growth: A Critique of the CEA Report
By Robert A. Book, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2502)
The CEA report fails to draw a link between any particular health care reforms and the economic benefits that might theoretically be achieved.
June 24, 2009
CBO Grossly Underestimates Cost of Cap and Trade
By David Kreutzer, Ph.D., Karen Campbell, Ph.D., and Nicolas D. Loris
(WebMemo #2503)
The CBO analysis of Waxman-Markey fails to take into account all the adverse effects that will ripple through the U.S. economy if cap and trade ...
June 24, 2009
Maritime Security: Fighting Piracy in the Gulf of Aden and Beyond
By James Jay Carafano, Ph.D., Richard Weitz, Ph.D., and Martin Edwin Andersen
(Special Report #59)
This report provides specific recommendations for addressing piracy and other armed criminal acts at sea. It assesses the current threat in the Gulf of Aden ...
June 23, 2009
The Enumerated Powers Act: A First Step Toward Constitutional Government
By Andrew M. Grossman
(Legal Memorandum #41)
The Enumerated Powers Act would be a small step toward reviving the practice of constitutionally limited government. Although it would not stop Congress from passing ...
June 23, 2009
The PASS ID Act: Rolling Back Security Standards for Driver's Licenses
By Janice L. Kephart and Jena Baker McNeill
(Backgrounder #2288)
PASS ID would repeal REAL ID, stripping away the substantive provisions that are already making driver's license more secure, including a repeal of 9/11 commission ...
June 23, 2009
Create a National Defense Panel to Independently Judge Pentagon's Quadrennial Defense Review
By Mackenzie Eaglen and Eric Sayers
(WebMemo #2500)
Congressional authorization for a National Defense Panel is an important step toward forcing a transparent public debate regarding how America’s military should be organized for ...
June 23, 2009
Do DHS Fire Grants Reduce Fire Casualties?
By David B. Muhlhausen, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2499)
Fire grants are an ineffective way of reducing fire casualties. Consequently, Congress should eliminate funding for the fire grant program.
June 23, 2009
The Waxman-Markey Global Warming Bill: Is the Economic Pain Justified by the Environmental Gain?
By Ben Lieberman
(Testimony )
My name is Ben Lieberman and I'm the Senior Policy Analyst for Energy and Environment at The Heritage Foundation. I'll be discussing the economics of ...
June 22, 2009
The Senate Health Care Bills: $1.5 Trillion Sticker Shock
By James C. Capretta
(WebMemo #2498)
The government cannot bend the health care cost curve from Washington without resorting to arbitrary caps and price controls that always lead to a reduction ...
June 22, 2009
Moving Forward on Missile Defense
By Baker Spring
(Special Report #58)
On April 6, 2009, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates announced that the Obama Administration would reduce the ballistic missile defense budget by $1.4 billion to ...
June 19, 2009
Patent Proposal Puts Property and Innovation at Risk
By Honorable Thomas C. Feeney and Andrew M. Grossman
(Legal Memorandum #40)
The Senate's patent "reform" bill would weaken fundamental principles of patent protection. Specifically, it would introduce uncertainty into all patent rights, diminishing the value of ...
June 19, 2009
The FY 2010 Defense Budget Request: Prelude to Another Procurement Holiday?
By Baker Spring
(Backgrounder #2286)
The Obama Administration's core defense budget request for fiscal year 2010 (not including funding for overseas contingency operations) will absorb 3.8 percent of gross domestic ...
June 19, 2009
Obama Administration Must Speak Out Against Iran's Clenched Fist
By James Phillips
(WebMemo #2494)
The Obama Administration must recalibrate its Iran policy and take a tougher public stance in support of the Iranian opposition's campaign for greater freedom.
June 19, 2009
Nuclear Energy Renaissance: Global Supply Chain Critical
By Jack Spencer and Daniella Markheim
(WebMemo #2495)
With protectionist sentiment on the rise, the DOE should be commended for recognizing the critical role that the global nuclear industrial base must play in ...
June 19, 2009
Stronger Welfare Work Requirements Can Help Ailing State Budgets
By Katherine Bradley and Robert Rector
(WebMemo #2496)
Although the elimination of a state TANF program would not have the disastrous effect that some might expect, there are other less controversial ways for ...
June 19, 2009
The Iranian Elections and Public Diplomacy 2.0: A Tale of Untapped Potential
By Helle C. Dale
(WebMemo #2497)
As demonstrated by the activities coinciding with Obama’s speech, the U.S. government has seized on the possibilities of cutting-edge communication.
June 18, 2009
Obama Gets a Tax Issue Right--Is Congress Next?
By J. D. Foster, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2491)
President Obama's PAYGO proposals suggest the revenue baseline be fixed. Congress should now direct the CBO to reform its procedures for calculating the revenue baseline. ...
June 18, 2009
Promoting U.S. Tourism: Taxes Are the Wrong Approach
By Jena Baker McNeill
(WebMemo #2492)
The Travel Promotion Act of 2009 will make travel to the U.S. more expensive, thereby encouraging would-be tourists to stay at home or spend their ...
June 18, 2009
Health Care Co-Operatives: Doing It the Right Way
By Edmund F. Haislmaier, Dennis G. Smith, and Nina Owcharenko
(WebMemo #2493)
Some key Senators are considering cooperatives as an alternative to a public health plan. Here are several principles that must be a part of any ...
June 17, 2009
The SAFETY Act: Obama Cyber Plans and the Private Sector
By Jena Baker McNeill
(WebMemo #2490)
On May 29, the Obama Administration released the results of its 60-day cyber review. The review correctly emphasized the vital role of the private sector ...
June 17, 2009
U.S. Border Security: Realities and Challenges for the Obama Administration
By Matt A. Mayer
(Backgrounder #2285)
President Obama's initial actions on border security are largely consistent with those of President Bush. The challenges for Obama will come when the economy improves ...
June 16, 2009
Improving U.S. Competitiveness with K-12 STEM Education and Training
By Ethel Machi
(Special Report #57)
The Heritage Foundation, supported by the McCormick Tribune Foundation, convened leading education and national security experts as well as private-sector representatives to discuss methods for ...
June 16, 2009
Energy Cap and Trade Threatens American Prosperity
By Daniella Markheim
(WebMemo #2488)
Policymakers should maintain the integrity and freedom of global markets as a means to transfer clean technologies, keep international investment flowing, and promote economic growth ...
June 16, 2009
The Death Tax: Another Obama Tax Hike Target
By Curtis S. Dubay
(WebMemo #2489)
President Obama should stop hiking taxes and restrain spending immediately. The economy is in a precarious position and cannot afford the damage tax hikes will ...
June 15, 2009
Republicans' Financial Regulatory Reform Plan a Good Start
By David C. John
(WebMemo #2484)
The House Republican financial regulation plan contains a number of key provisions that Congress should carefully consider in the coming weeks.
June 15, 2009
KORUS FTA Strengthens the U.S. Economy and Alliance with Korea
By Bruce Klingner and Daniella Markheim
(WebMemo #2485)
Reviving the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement is a critically important issue for both countries.
June 15, 2009
Obama's 2010 Defense Budget: Top Five Worst Choices for National Security
By Jim Talent and Mackenzie Eaglen
(WebMemo #2486)
President Obama has submitted a defense budget request to Congress for fiscal year 2010 that, if implemented, will dramatically reshape America's military.
June 15, 2009
The NATO First Act Would Advance Transatlantic Security
By Sally McNamara
(WebMemo #2487)
With Barack Obama having already visited Europe twice as President, with a third visit scheduled for July, his positioning of the transatlantic alliance in his ...
June 15, 2009
Rogue States and Rising Powers Continue to Pose a Strategic Risk to American Security
By Peter Brookes
(Special Report #56)
The world remains a dangerous place, populated with countries that will compete with the United States for political, economic, and military preeminence and could hold ...
June 15, 2009
Conservative Principles of Health Care Reform: The Road Ahead
By the Honorable Michael B. Enzi
(Heritage Lecture #1124)
Obama health care plan, Expanded health insurance coverage should give every American access to affordable, high-quality health insurance. Patient-focused care provides the highest quality and ...
June 15, 2009
Organized Labor Concedes: Employer Violations Rare in Secret Ballot Elections
By James Sherk
(Backgrounder #2287)
The union movement's own data analysis shows that employer intimidation rarely occurs. Employers win union elections by educating workers about the downsides of unionizing. Kate ...
June 12, 2009
Visa Waiver Program: A Plan to Build on Success
By Jena Baker McNeill, Nathan Alexander Sales, James Jay Carafano, Ph.D., and James Dean
(Backgrounder #2282)
Congress established the VWP to strengthen America's relationship with key allies around the globe. Recent reforms have made the program a better tool for thwarting ...
June 12, 2009
The Confluence of Cyber Crime and Terrorism
By Steven P. Bucci, Ph.D
(Heritage Lecture #1123)
The West has a huge number of intelligence and law enforcement assets dedicated to stopping the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction but does not ...
June 12, 2009
Why the Kennedy Health Bill Would Wreck Bipartisan Reform
By Robert E. Moffit, Ph.D., and Stuart M. Butler, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2481)
The Affordable Health Choices Act is a setback for bipartisan health care reform.
June 12, 2009
A New Public Health Plan: How Congressional Details Will Impact Doctors and Patients
By Greg D’Angelo
(WebMemo #2482)
Many in Congress are looking to Medicare as a model for a new public health plan, yet millions of Americans would lose the private coverage ...
June 12, 2009
The Obama-Berlusconi White House Meeting: Advancing U.S.-Italian Cooperation
By Ted R. Bromund, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2483)
The U.S.-Italian relationship will continue to thrive only if it based, as it has been in the past, on a clear vision, held by both ...
June 11, 2009
Iran's Sham Election: Buying Votes with Potatoes
By James Phillips
(WebMemo #2480)
Tomorrow's presidential election in Iran is essentially a referendum on President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's embattled leadership.
June 11, 2009
America's Air Force Is in the Fight
By Mackenzie Eaglen
(WebMemo #2478)
Congress should provide additional modernization funds to the U.S. Air Force.
June 11, 2009
The American Energy Act: An Energy Bill with Some Real Energy in It
By Ben Lieberman
(WebMemo #2479)
The American Energy Act seeks to undo many of the mistakes in our current domestic energy policy and allow the free market to provide more ...
June 11, 2009
A Guide to State Health Care Reform
By The Heritage Foundation
(Special Report #55)
The Heritage Foundation's A Guide to State Health Care Reform is a concise summary of actions needed to achieve patient-centered health reform. Successful health care ...
June 10, 2009
Durban II: Lessons for U.S. Engagement with the U.N. on Human Rights
By Brett D. Schaefer and Steven Groves
(Backgrounder #2284)
The Durban II conference is a testament to a fundamental problem of U.N. conferences and other U.N. efforts to advance human rights. The experience of ...
June 10, 2009
Cap and Trade: A Handout for Corporations and a Huge Tax on Consumers
By Nicolas Loris and Ben Lieberman
(WebMemo #2476)
Waxman-Markey has evolved into a corporate welfare program for businesses interested in protecting their bottom lines, making it that much more painful for the energy ...
June 10, 2009
The American Energy Act Puts Nuclear on the Fast Track
By Jack Spencer
(WebMemo #2477)
The American Energy Act puts forth a pro-market agenda that allows nuclear energy to compete based on its merits, such as being affordable, domestic, and ...
June 10, 2009
Government Intervention: A Threat to Economic Recovery
By Ambassador Terry Miller
(Testimony )
Testimony before The House Committee on Foreign Affairs' Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Trade
June 9, 2009
One Cheer for the House Republican Budget Cuts
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #2472)
House Republicans get credit for beginning a necessary and overdue conversation about spending restraint. They should go further to offer meaningful cuts.
June 9, 2009
Narco-Terrorism in Peru: The Return of Shining Path
By James M. Roberts and Edwar Enrique Escalante
(WebMemo #2473)
The Shining Path is revitalized and once again threatening the stability and security of not only Peru but Latin America and the U.S. as well. ...
June 9, 2009
Narco-Terrorismo en Perú: El Retorno de Sendero Luminoso
By James M. Roberts and Edwar Enrique Escalante
(WebMemo #2473)
En la década de 1960, un profesor izquierdista de filosofía iniciaría un grupo guerrillero maoísta en la Universidad de San Cristóbal de Huamanga en Ayacucho, ...
June 9, 2009
European Elections 2009: Rising Disillusionment with the EU
By Sally McNamara
(WebMemo #2474)
The disenchantment of the electorate with the European project was demonstrated through non-participation in the 2009 European elections and the elevation of parties opposed to ...
June 9, 2009
Five Free Market Priorities for a Nuclear Energy Renaissance
By Jack Spencer and Nicolas Loris
(WebMemo #2475)
When it comes to nuclear energy, policymakers should reject the subsidies-first mentality that permeates most current thinking and instead focus on the following five free ...
June 9, 2009
Response to the NRDC Critique of The Heritage Foundation's Analysis of the Waxman-Markey Bill
By David W. Kreutzer, Ph.D., Karen A. Campbell, Ph.D., William W. Beach, and Ben Lieberman
(Center for Data Analysis Report #09-03)
Recently, Dr. Laurie T. Johnson of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) critiqued The Heritage Foundation's analysis of the Waxman–Markey bill (H.R. 2454, "American Clean ...
June 8, 2009
Protecting the Protectors by Investing in People and Next-Generation Equipment
By Mackenzie M. Eaglen
(Special Report #54)
A citizen who volunteers to become a member of the armed forces deserves the best equipment to succeed. The contract that exists between the volunteer ...
June 8, 2009
Federal Transportation Programs Shortchange Motorists: Update of a USDOT Study
By Wendell Cox and Ronald D. Utt, Ph.D.
(Backgrounder #2283)
In contrast to motorists and commercial airlines, transit users pay no federal taxes or fees and instead benefit by receiving a share of the taxes ...
June 8, 2009
Questions on EPA's Cost Estimates for Waxman-Markey Climate Change Legislation
By David Kreutzer, Ph.D., and Nicolas Loris
(WebMemo #2470)
The EPA's conclusion that Americans will be better shielded from the pain of capping carbon by Waxman-Markey draft legislation is fantasy. Two major independent model ...
June 8, 2009
Financial Systemic Risk Regulators: Congress Is Asking the Wrong Questions
By David C. John
(WebMemo #2471)
Congress may be about to create a new financial regulator without fully understanding exactly what problem it is supposed to solve or how the new ...
June 5, 2009
Heritage Jobs Report: May Report Shows Small Silver Lining
By Rea S. Hederman, Jr., and James Sherk
(WebMemo #2467)
The May employment report revealed a glimmer of sunlight in the recession's stormy clouds.
June 5, 2009
Obama's Cairo Speech Stresses Common Interests but Fails to Identify the Common Enemy
By Lisa Curtis and James Phillips
(WebMemo #2468)
President Obama's speech in Cairo yesterday missed an opportunity to clearly identify the common enemy: Islamist extremists.
June 5, 2009
Cuba in the OAS: Communist Fox in the Democratic Hen House?
By Ray Walser, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2469)
On June 3, the Organization of American States repealed a 1962 resolution that suspended communist Cuba from membership. What this means for U.S. interests in ...
June 4, 2009
The State Secret Protection Act: Unnecessary, Unconstitutional, and Undemocratic
By Andrew M. Grossman
(Testimony )
The misnamed State Secret Protection Act of 2009 (H.R. 984) is dangerous, in terms of both its effect on national security and the violence it ...
June 4, 2009
RAISE Act Lifts Pay Cap on 8 Million American Workers
By James Sherk and Ryan O'Donnell
(Backgrounder #2270)
Employers may not pay productive workers more than a collective bargaining agreement allows without negotiating with the union. This "seniority ceiling" holds back productive union ...
June 4, 2009
Iran's Nuclear Threat: The Day After
By The Heritage Foundation Iran Working Group
(Special Report #53)
Iran is on the brink of attaining a nuclear weapons capability. The U.S. should immediately put in place the foundations of a strategy to dissuade ...
June 3, 2009
The Care of Freedom
By The Honorable Mitt Romney
(Heritage Lecture #1122)
The current leadership in Washington has passed measures that will add almost $4 trillion to the national debt in the short term and then over ...
June 3, 2009
Effective Counterterrorism: State and Local Capabilities Trump Federal Policy
By Matt A. Mayer
(Center for Data Analysis Report #09-02)
Washington needs to end the dual-headed federal agency fight over which entity should be the primary federal partner of state and local law enforcement. Rather, ...
June 2, 2009
Slouching Toward a "Huddled Masses" Housing Policy: Saving Energy with Higher Densities?
By Ronald D. Utt, Ph.D.
(Backgrounder #2281)
If President Obama and his subordinates are to be believed, this Administration is promising to impose unprecedented ("transformational") changes on the way Americans live, work, ...
June 2, 2009
President Obama's Second European Tour: U.S. Priorities for the Transatlantic Alliance
By Sally McNamara
(WebMemo #2464)
President Obama must transform his popularity in Europe into tangible policy gains that advance transatlantic interests.
June 2, 2009
Barack Obama's Top 10 Apologies: How the President Has Humiliated a Superpower
By Nile Gardiner, Ph.D., and Morgan Roach
(WebMemo #2466)
The following is a list of the 10 most significant apologies by the President of the United States in his first four months of office ...
June 1, 2009
Obama's Deficits Put U.S. Credit Rating at Risk
By J. D. Foster, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2465)
The dangers of the U.S.'s credit rating being downgraded are real, and an imminent fundamental policy course correction is inevitable.
June 1, 2009
The Challenge to Religious Liberty in Indonesia
By Richard G. Kraince
(Backgrounder #2279)
The Indonesia that President Barack Obama knew as a child, with its culture of pluralism and constitutional protections for religious freedom, provides an important model ...
June 1, 2009
Executive Summary: The Challenge to Religious Liberty in Indonesia
By Richard G. Kraince
(Executive Summary #2279)
The Indonesia that President Barack Obama knew as a child, with its culture of pluralism and constitutional protections for religious freedom, provides an important model ...
June 1, 2009
Income Tax Will Become More Progressive Under Obama Tax Plan
By Curtis S. Dubay
(Backgrounder #2280)
Tax progressivity discourages hard work, savings, investing, and entrepreneurship. Discouraging these catalysts of economic growth is always counterproductive, but doing so during a severe recession ...
June 1, 2009
Justice, Law, and the Creation of the American Republic: The Forgotten Legacy of James Wilson
By Mark David Hall, Ph.D.
(First Principles #26)
James Wilson was one of six men to sign both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States. He was also a ...
June 1, 2009
Sustaining American Leadership with Military Power
By Kim R. Holmes, Ph.D.
(Special Report #52)
Contrary to what many politicians and talking heads tell Americans, a false choice exists between what are often referred to as hard and soft power. ...
May 29, 2009
General Motors Bankruptcy and Nationalization: Exit Strategy Needed
By James L. Gattuso
(WebMemo #2462)
Running auto companies is the wrong road for Detroit, for consumers, and for U.S. taxpayers. America needs to take the nearest exit.
May 29, 2009
Secretary of State Clinton in El Salvador and Honduras: Defining Obama's Latin American Policy
By Ray Walser, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2463)
Recently, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton specified the three guiding "D's" of U.S. foreign policy: defense, development, and diplomacy. When she heads to El Salvador ...
May 28, 2009
President Obama's Visit to Germany: Mythologies of Dresden Must Be Rejected
By Ted R. Bromund, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2460)
On June 5, President Obama will visit the German city of Dresden. The President must avoid giving any credence whatsoever to efforts to equate the ...
May 28, 2009
State Employee Health Care as a "Public Plan"
By Robert E. Moffit Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2461)
The President says that Congress can create a “level playing field” nationwide to ensure a fair competition between the newly created public plan and private ...
May 28, 2009
Japan's Economic Failure and America's Economic Risk
By Derek Scissors, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2459)
The Japanese economic policy of the past two decades provides a critical example to an America caught in a financial crisis.
May 28, 2009
How the RESPECT Act Hurts Companies and Employees Alike
By James Sherk and Ryan O’Donnell
(Backgrounder #2277)
Through seemingly minor statutory alterations, the Re-Empowerment of Skilled and Professional Employees and Construction Tradeworkers Act, by redefining the criteria used to determine whether an ...
May 28, 2009
Contracting Out in Defense: Lessons from the British Experience for the U.S. and Great Britain
By Ted R. Bromund, Ph.D.
(Backgrounder #2278)
Contracting out is an important instrument and should to be employed effectively. The British method of financing it has encouraged the growth of the state ...
May 28, 2009
Executive Summary: Contracting Out in Defense: Lessons from the British Experience for the U.S. and Great Britain
By Ted R. Bromund, Ph.D.
(Executive Summary #2278)
Contracting out is an important instrument and should to be employed effectively. The British method of financing it has encouraged the growth of the state ...
May 27, 2009
Trustees Reports Highlight Pressing Need to Reform Entitlement Programs
By Nicola Moore
(WebMemo #2458)
The fact that Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are on an unsustainable course was reconfirmed by the latest annual reports from the Social Security and ...
May 26, 2009
North Korea's Nuclear Defiance
By Bruce Klingner
(WebMemo #2457)
The U.S. should respond in several ways to North Korea's continued pursuit of nuclear weapons.
May 26, 2009
China's Military and Security Relationship with Pakistan
By Lisa Curtis
(Testimony )
Pakistan and China have long-standing strategic ties, dating back five decades. Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari wrote in a recent op-ed that, "No relationship between ...
May 26, 2009
China Global Investment Tracker
By Derek Scissors, Ph.D.
(White Paper )
The China Global Investment Tracker created by The Heritage Foundation is the only available comprehensive dataset relating to large Chinese foreign investments and construction contracts ...
May 22, 2009
The Tipping Point: The Transportation-Housing Trade-Offs of Suburban, Urban and Rural Living
By Alan E. Pisarski
(White Paper )
The white paper discusses the issue of the relatives costs of housing and transportation, particularly: the transportation-housing trade-offs of suburban, urban and rural living; and ...
May 22, 2009
Bailouts, Abusive Bankruptcies, And the Rule of Law
By Andrew M. Grossman
(Testimony )
The Obama Administration is abusing bankruptcy law to benefit a favored constituency, the United Auto Workers union. This threatens serious consequences.
May 22, 2009
Killing the Entrepreneurial Spirit: Government Is Not a Good Investor
By Karen A. Campbell Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2455)
President Barack Obama calls his stimulus bill and proposed budget an "investment" plan. But this plan is based on the faulty assumption that only government ...
May 22, 2009
Japan's Economic Weakness: A Security Problem for America
By Bruce Klingner and Derek Scissors, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2456)
Japan's dismal economic performance is constraining American efforts to induce Tokyo to adopt a larger security role.
May 22, 2009
Maintaining the Superiority of America's Defense Industrial Base
By Mackenzie M. Eaglen and Eric Sayers
(Backgrounder #2276)
America’s defense manufacturing industrial base has given the United States an advanced array of weapons systems and platforms to meet the full spectrum of potential ...
May 21, 2009
What Unions Do: How Labor Unions Affect Jobs and the Economy
By James Sherk
(Backgrounder #2275)
Unions function as labor cartels, restricting the number of workers in a company or industry to drive up the remaining workers' wages. They also retard ...
May 21, 2009
The Results Are In: Stimulus Bill Neither Timely Nor Targeted
By Patrick Tyrrell
(WebMemo #2454)
As The Heritage foundation predicted, the stimulus bill is neither timely nor targeted. Only time will tell if it is temporary.
May 20, 2009
20 Years Later: Professional Military Education
By James Jay Carafano, Ph.D.
(Testimony )
The Pentagon is currently undertaking a congressionally mandated Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) of strategy, force structure, missions, and resources. One issue that should be on ...
May 19, 2009
Cuba Solidarity Day 2009: Supporting Cuba's Democratic Movement
By Ray Walser, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2453)
May 20 is Cuba Solidarity Day--an opportunity to shine a bright light on the abuses of the Castro regime.
May 18, 2009
Son of Waxman-Markey: More Politics Makes for a More Costly Bill
By William W. Beach, David W. Kreutzer, Ph.D., Karen A. Campbell, Ph.D., and Ben Lieberman
(WebMemo #2450)
The Waxman-Markey bill is a massive energy tax in disguise that promises job losses, income cuts, and a sharp left turn toward big government.
May 18, 2009
Amnesty as an Economic Stimulus: Not the Answer to the Illegal Immigration Problem
By Jena Baker McNeill
(WebMemo #2451)
Repackaging amnesty as an economic stimulus is not an effective means of combating illegal immigration. Nor will it help the economy.
May 18, 2009
2010 Budget Resolution Raises Taxes and Hurts Economic Recovery
By Curtis S. Dubay
(WebMemo #2452)
Congress recently passed the fiscal year 2010 budget resolution, which includes several provisions that will significantly raise taxes and hurt economic recovery.
May 18, 2009
Winston Churchill's Constitutionalism: A Critique of Socialism in America
By Justin D. Lyons
(First Principles #25)
Because of the working relationship between Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt in matters of foreign policy, we tend to assume that they agreed on domestic policy. ...
May 18, 2009
Who Will Pay for President Obama's Tax Increases?
By Michael G. Franc
(Backgrounder #2271)
The President proposes reinstating the 36 and 39.6 percent rates (up from 33 and 35 percent) for taxpayers earning more than $250,000 (married) and $200,000 ...
May 18, 2009
Social Networking and National Security: How to Harness Web 2.0 to Protect the Country
By James Jay Carafano, Ph.D.
(Backgrounder #2273)
Social networking has already profoundly redefined business practices and politics. National security is next. Washington is well behind in its willingness and capacity to adapt ...
May 15, 2009
U.S.-India Relations: Ensuring Indian Prosperity in the Coming Demographic Boom
By Derek Scissors, Ph.D., and Michelle Kaffenberger
(Backgrounder #2274)
The U.S. has not played an important role in Indian economic development, but could help to identify crucial areas for economic liberalization and establish channels ...
May 15, 2009
Executive Summary: U.S.-India Relations: Ensuring Indian Prosperity in the Coming Demographic Boom
By Derek Scissors, Ph.D., and Michelle Kaffenberger
(Executive Summary #2274)
Executive Summary: The U.S. has not played an important role in Indian economic development, but could help to identify crucial areas for economic liberalization and ...
May 15, 2009
The Obama Health Agenda: Impact on the States
By Dennis G. Smith
(WebMemo #2445)
The President's proposal for a Medicaid expansion and a public program expansion would be a step backward.
May 15, 2009
The Obama-Netanyahu Meeting: Finding Common Ground
By James Phillips
(WebMemo #2446)
When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets President Barack Obama at the White House on May 18, two major issues will dominate their agenda: How ...
May 15, 2009
Recommendations for the New U.S. Ambassador to NATO
By Sally McNamara
(WebMemo #2447)
As U.S. ambassador to NATO, Ivo Daalder cannot afford to be so equivocal in the future: In terms of transatlantic security and America's national interest, ...
May 15, 2009
A Principled Path to Rational Health Care Reform
By Nina Owcharenko
(WebMemo #2448)
The health care policies outlined by President Obama during his campaign would centralize control over the health care system in Washington. There is a much ...
May 15, 2009
Australia Surveys Asia's Future
By Eric Sayers and Walter Lohman
(WebMemo #2449)
The clarity Australia has provided with Force 2030 should serve as both a warning and a guidepost for America's future commitments to the region.
May 14, 2009
Capping Carbon Emissions Is Bad, No Matter How You Slice the Revenue
By Nicolas Loris and Ben Lieberman
(WebMemo #2443)
Cap and trade or any variant thereof would be a drag on the U.S. economy at a time when it can afford it the least. ...
May 14, 2009
Japan's Opposition Buoyed by Leader's Resignation
By Bruce Klingner
(WebMemo #2444)
In the coming months, Japanese politics should garner particular attention from U.S. policymakers who may soon face a new Japanese leadership--one that is willing to ...
May 14, 2009
Does Universal Preschool Improve Learning? Lessons from Georgia and Oklahoma
By Lindsey Burke
(Backgrounder #2272)
While proponents of universal preschool ...
May 13, 2009
Restricting H-1B Visas Is Bad for Business and the Economy
By James Sherk and Diem Nguyen
(WebMemo #2440)
By improving and expanding the H-1B visa program, Congress can ensure that American businesses have the workforces necessary for further economic growth.
May 13, 2009
Time to Get Serious (Again) About Medicare Reform
By Greg D'Angelo and Robert E. Moffit, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2441)
The Medicare Trustees Report shows that reform of the program is of urgent necessity.
May 13, 2009
Strategic Posture Commission's Report Provides Necessary Guidance to Congress
By Baker Spring
(WebMemo #2442)
The Strategic Posture Commission reached agreement on a wide variety of issues. Congress would do well, therefore, to pay attention to the commission's areas of ...
May 13, 2009
D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program: Improving Student Safety
By Shanea J. Watkins, Ph.D., and Dan Lips
(WebMemo #2437)
Members of Congress and the D.C. City Council should recognize the persistent problem of school violence and crime in public schools in the nation’s capital ...
May 13, 2009
The Economic Impact of Waxman–Markey
By William W. Beach, David W. Kreutzer, Ph.D., Karen A. Campbell, Ph.D., and Ben Lieberman
(WebMemo #2438)
The Waxman-Markey bill would have little impact on world temperatures, it is a massive energy tax in disguise that promises job losses, income cuts, and ...
May 13, 2009
2009 Social Security Trustees Report Continues to Show the Urgency of Reform
By David C. John
(WebMemo #2439)
The 2009 Social Security Trustees Report was released on May 12. This paper explains the important facts and answers the frequently asked questions about Social ...
May 12, 2009
Senate Credit Card Bill Would Restrict Credit for Those Who Need It Most
By David C. John
(WebMemo #2435)
While well intentioned, the Senate credit card bill is likely to either make it harder for certain people to find credit cards at all or ...
May 12, 2009
Waxman-Markey Global Warming Proposal's Other Problematic Provisions
By Ben Lieberman
(WebMemo #2436)
The main focus of debate over the proposed Waxman-Markey bill has been its cap and trade program. But there are other measures in the proposal ...
May 12, 2009
Byrne JAG and COPS Grant Funding Will Not Stimulate the Economy
By David B. Muhlhausen, Ph.D.
(Testimony )
Instead of passing economic stimulus legislation designed to stimulate the economy, Congress treated the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 (P.L. 111-5) as ...
May 11, 2009
The Obama Administration Will Not Make the U.N. Human Rights Council Effective
By Brett D. Schaefer
(WebMemo #2432)
Having an American representative is unlikely to improve the U.N. Human Rights Council’s dismal record. On the contrary, the U.S. presence will only give undue ...
May 11, 2009
Obama's Dividend and Capital Gains Tax Hike Would Hurt Seniors
By Curtis S. Dubay
(WebMemo #2433)
President Obama's "Budget Blueprint" proposes to raise the tax rate on dividends and capital gains from 15 percent to 20 percent. This tax hike would ...
May 11, 2009
COPS Program: COPS Improvements Act of 2009 Exacerbates Flawed Federal Policies
By David B. Muhlhausen, Ph.D., and Brian W. Walsh
(WebMemo #2434)
The COPS Improvements Acts of 2009 would encourage state and local officials to become permanent supplicants for federal COPS funding.
May 8, 2009
Obama Jobs Deficit Grows by Another 563,000
By J. D. Foster, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2430)
The President's policies will more likely decrease employment than help to reach his target.
May 8, 2009
President Obama Must Not Concede to Russian Demands over NATO
By Sally McNamara
(WebMemo #2431)
President Obama's discussions with Minister Lavrov serve as important preparatory talks for his July 2009 meeting with President Medvedev in Moscow. The United States must ...
May 8, 2009
April Employment Report Showers Doubt on Detroit Bailout
By James Sherk
(WebMemo #2428)
The April jobs report shows a labor market that continues to weaken. These employment figures also demonstrate that this is the wrong time for the ...
May 8, 2009
Bank Stress Tests: Green Light for Markets
By David C. John
(WebMemo #2429)
Now that there is clear public information about the conditions at the largest U.S. banks, it is time to return their control to the private ...
May 7, 2009
President's Budget Cuts Should Go Towards Deficit Reduction
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #2427)
Congress should go much further than the $17 billion in savings the President has proposed and should make sure these cuts are not transferred into ...
May 7, 2009
The Best Protection for both Colombian and American Workers: Stronger, Market-Based Democratic Institutions in Colombia
By James M. Roberts
(Testimony )
Colombia is one of America's best friends in the Caribbean-Andean region. The Colombian government -- the oldest democracy in South America -- is solidly committed ...
May 7, 2009
The Economic Impact of Cap and Trade
By David W. Kreutzer, Ph.D.
(Testimony )
Carbon dioxide is not a toxin, is not directly harmful to human health, and is not projected to become so--even without legislative or regulatory action. ...
May 6, 2009
Coverage Issues in Health Reform
By Stuart M. Butler, Ph.D.
(Testimony )
There is broad agreement on the broad goals of health reform. We all want to achieve significant progress this year towards the vision of an ...
May 6, 2009
Correcting the Pervasive Inequities in Gas Tax Spending Should Be a Reauthorization Priority
By Ronald D. Utt, Ph.D.
(Backgrounder #2269)
The federal highway program's allocation formula shortchanges states in the South and Great Lakes regions and benefits the slow-growing, high-income Northeast. The most effective remedy ...
May 5, 2009
Why a New Public Plan Will Not Improve American Health Care
By Walton J. Francis
(Backgrounder #2267)
The real reason why a number of policy analysts and politicians favor a public health plan is because they see it as a way to ...
May 5, 2009
Executive Summary: Why a New Public Plan Will Not Improve American Health Care
By Walton J. Francis
(Executive Summary #2267)
The real reason why a number of policy analysts and politicians favor a public health plan is because they see it as a way to ...
May 5, 2009
North Korean Human Rights: Recommendations for the Obama Administration and the U.S. Congress
By Honorable Ed Royce
(Heritage Lecture #1121)
As North Korea marches on with its missile tests, proliferation, and nuclear program, we have muted ourselves on human rights. Morally, that is indefensible, especially ...
May 5, 2009
From Strategy to Implementation: The Future of the U.S.-Pakistan Relationship
By Lisa Curtis
(Testimony )
Developing and implementing an effective U.S. policy toward Pakistan is one of the most complicated yet important foreign policy challenges the Obama Administration faces. Pakistan ...
May 5, 2009
Photo ID Laws Do Not Reduce Voter Turnout
By David B. Muhlhausen, Ph.D.
(Testimony )
Americans support voter ID laws for good reasons. First, there is little evidence to suggest that these laws disenfranchise voters. Second, voter ID laws are ...
May 5, 2009
The National and Local Economic Impacts of Cap and Trade
By Ben Lieberman
(Testimony )
We all know that the Waxman-Markey cap and trade proposal will be very expensive and amounts to nothing more than a massive energy tax.
May 5, 2009
Job Corps: An Unfailing Record of Failure
By David B. Muhlhausen, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2423)
Given the program's poor performance and President Obama's call for "the elimination of dozens of government programs shown to be wasteful or ineffective," Job Corps ...
May 5, 2009
Not a Zero-Sum Game: Replacing Justice Souter Risks a More Activist Court
By Andrew M. Grossman
(WebMemo #2424)
Justice Souter was no conservative and no originalist, but replacing him with a far-left activist would change the balance of the Court for the worse. ...
May 5, 2009
Independent Panel Needed for Alternative Views to the Pentagon's Quadrennial Defense Review
By Mackenzie M. Eaglen and Eric Sayers
(WebMemo #2425)
A congressionally-mandated National Defense Panel offers a pragmatic way to ensure transparency in the defense strategy process by creating a hedge against the prevailing opinions ...
May 5, 2009
Obama International Tax Plan Would Weaken Global Competitiveness
By J. D. Foster, Ph.D., and Curtis S. Dubay
(WebMemo #2426)
President Obama and Treasury Secretary Geithner unveiled a tax reform plan yesterday that, if enacted, would seriously damage the international competitiveness of U.S. businesses.
May 4, 2009
The Rich Pay More Taxes: Top 20 Percent Pay Record Share of Income Taxes
By Curtis S. Dubay
(WebMemo #2420)
Since the passage of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, critics have claimed incessantly that they disproportionately benefited the rich while burdening the poor. Now ...
May 4, 2009
Union Accountability Reversal Breaks Obama’s Transparency Pledge
By James Sherk
(WebMemo #2421)
Congress should prohibit the Department of Labor from spending taxpayer dollars to implement new regulations rescinding the union financial transparency reforms.
May 4, 2009
Panama Bucks Latin America's Left: New President Favors U.S.
By Ray Walser, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2422)
Panama is an important U.S. ally in the Americas. President-elect Martinelli's victory now offers the opportunity to strengthen this relationship—to the benefit of both countries. ...
May 4, 2009
Reviving Pakistan's Pluralist Traditions to Fight Extremism
By Lisa Curtis and Haider A. H. Mullick
(Backgrounder #2268)
To fend off the growing extremist influence in Pakistan, its leadership should highlight the brutality of the pro-Taliban militants that are gaining ground in the ...
May 4, 2009
Strategic Nuclear Arms Control for the Protect and Defend Strategy
By Andrei Shoumikhin, Ph.D., and Baker Spring
(Backgrounder #2266)
On April 1, 2009, President Obama and Russian President Medvedev issued a joint statement committing both states to arms control negotiations on strategic nuclear weapons. ...
May 4, 2009
Executive Summary: Strategic Nuclear Arms Control for the Protect and Defend Strategy
By Andrei Shoumikhin, Ph.D., and Baker Spring
(Executive Summary #2266)
On April 1, 2009, President Obama and Russian President Medvedev issued a joint statement committing both states to arms control negotiations on strategic nuclear weapons. ...
May 1, 2009
A Tribute to Margaret Thatcher--30 Years On
By Robin Harris, D.Phil.
(WebMemo #2419)
By the time Margaret Thatcher left office, Britain had changed profoundly and overwhelmingly. Just to list the achievements is, yet again, to feel astonished at ...
April 30, 2009
Global Competitiveness and the Corporation Income Tax
By Douglas Holtz-Eakin and Gordon Gray
(Backgrounder #2265)
Over the past several decades, other nations have generally lowered their corporate tax rates, while the U.S. has kept its rate largely unchanged. The U.S. ...
April 30, 2009
Securing the West: The U.S., the U.K., and Present Dangers
By Robin Harris
(Special Report #51)
Current policies of expansive government, centralized control, bailouts, rewarding failure, penalizing thrift, downgrading responsibility, passing the buck to regulators, and empowering international bureaucracies all threaten ...
April 29, 2009
Federal Hate Crimes Statute: An Unconstitutional Exercise of Legislative Power
By Brian W. Walsh
(WebMemo #2416)
The Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009 is based on serious analytical and constitutional flaws and would actually be counterproductive to prosecuting ...
April 29, 2009
Mexico's Swine Flu Crisis: Expect Political and Economic Fallout
By Ray Walser, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2417)
A Mexico seriously weakened by fears of pandemic, economic meltdown, or drug violence will adversely impact U.S. domestic politics and this nation's capacity to demonstrate ...
April 29, 2009
The Economic Impact of the Proposed Capital Gains Tax Increase
By Curtis S. Dubay
(WebMemo #2418)
President Obama’s recently released “Budget Blueprint” proposes raising the tax rate on capital gains from 15 percent to 20 percent. In real terms (that is, ...
April 28, 2009
Strategy for Swine Flu Should Focus on Common Sense, Not the Border
By Jena Baker McNeill and James Jay Carafano, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2415)
The United States should remain diligent in its efforts to control the spread of swine flu. Focusing on the border, however, will not stop the ...
April 27, 2009
Mortgage Cramdowns: Problems with Involving Bankruptcy Judges
By Andrew M. Grossman and David C. John
(WebMemo #2409)
The mortgage cramdown proposal would prolong and worsen the banking crisis, delaying economic recovery.
April 27, 2009
Squeezing the Military through the Emergency War Supplemental
By Mackenzie M. Eaglen
(WebMemo #2410)
As Congress begins consideration of the second emergency supplemental spending bill for Iraq and Afghanistan, Members must scrutinize the request to ensure all of the ...
April 27, 2009
The $64,000 Question: Is President Obama Actually Increasing the Defense Budget?
By Mackenzie M. Eaglen
(WebMemo #2411)
Although the defense budget proposal may seem to provide a superficial spending increase, a closer examination reveals an increased risk to the military.
April 27, 2009
100 Days of Obama's Presidency: Serious Questions on National Security Strategies
By James Jay Carafano, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2412)
Presidents must keep the nation safe, free, and prosperous for four years, not 100 days. The White House has a lot more work to do. ...
April 27, 2009
Obama's 100 Days in Foreign Policy: Triumph of the Personal
By Kim R. Holmes, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2413)
In his first 100 days in office, President Barack Obama completed two whirlwind tours of Europe and Latin America. His message on both continents was ...
April 27, 2009
State Department Legal Adviser Nominee Harold Koh: Questions on the Role of International Law in the U.S. Legal System
By Steven Groves and Ted R. Bromund, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2414)
President Obama has nominated Harold Koh to be the next Legal Adviser, which is the top legal position at the U.S. Department of State. While ...
April 27, 2009
Consequences of the Employee Free Choice Act: Union and Management Perspectives
By Homer L. Deakins, Jr., and Rian Wathen
(Heritage Lecture #1119)
The Employee Free Choice Act would replace secret-ballot organizing elections with card check, take free collective bargaining out of the hands of unions and employers, ...
April 27, 2009
The End of Conservatism?
By Lee Edwards, Ph.D.
(Heritage Lecture #1120)
Through the power and successful political application of its ideas, the conservative movement became a dominant player in America’s political and economic realms. With the ...
April 24, 2009
The Real Price of a Public Health Plan: Less Innovation and Lower Quality
By Dennis G. Smith
(Backgrounder #2263)
Most Americans value their current private health insurance, desire choices in health coverage, and are wary of government plans. Key supporters of a new government ...
April 24, 2009
How Washington Pushes Americans into Low-Quality Health Care
By Jeet Guram and John S. O’Shea, M.D.
(Backgrounder #2264)
President Obama favors an expansion of government health insurance programs as a key component of his health care reform agenda. Because of the "crowd out" ...
April 24, 2009
Climate Policy: Free Trade Promotes a Cleaner Environment
By Daniella Markheim
(WebMemo #2408)
Regardless of the shape of any final climate change bill, lawmakers should maintain the integrity and freedom of global markets as a means to transfer ...
April 23, 2009
Set the Record Straight: Publish All Key Memos on CIA Interrogations
By James Jay Carafano, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2406)
U.S. government officials have a solemn obligation to resist those who want to play political “lawfare” with counterterrorism policies to advance constituent agendas at the ...
April 23, 2009
Five Reasons the EPA Should Not Attempt to Deal with Global Warming
By Ben Lieberman and Nicolas D. Loris
(WebMemo #2407)
Using the Clean Air Act to regulate CO2 would harm everyone who uses energy, especially the poor--all for a change in the Earth's temperature too ...
April 23, 2009
Credit Derivatives: Market Solutions to the Market Crisis
By David M. Mason
(Backgrounder #2262)
Credit default swaps play a productive role in U.S. and international financial markets. The Administration and Congress should encourage continued market improvements rather than imposing ...
April 23, 2009
A Free and Just Society
By Honorable Kevin Andrews
(Heritage Lecture #1118)
The institutions of civil society are important because they are neither created nor controlled by the state. While public funding requires accountability and some services ...
April 22, 2009
People and Platforms: An Agenda for Balanced Defense Forces
By Mackenzie M. Eaglen
(Special Report #50)
After eight years of warfare, the U.S. military requires considerable recapitalization. Predictable levels of robust defense spending will allow the military to reset and rebuild ...
April 22, 2009
Section 287(g): State and Local Immigration Enforcement Efforts Are Working
By Jena Baker McNeill
(WebMemo #2405)
Congress should recognize the valuable role that state and local law enforcement can and do play in keeping America safe, combating illegal immigration, and protecting ...
April 22, 2009
Coming to Grips with an Expanding Extremist Threat in Pakistan
By Lisa Curtis
(WebMemo #2403)
The Pakistani people have a deep culture of pluralist traditions dating back centuries. In order to stabilize and develop their country, Pakistanis need to nurture ...
April 21, 2009
The Fifth Summit of the Americas: Return of the Good Neighbor Policy?
By Ray Walser, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2401)
The Fifth Summit of the America’s was characterized by feel-good rhetoric and the resurrection of FDR’s Good Neighbor Policy. However, the real impact of the ...
April 21, 2009
Conservatives Should Have Done More to Increase Long-Term Defense Spending During Budget Resolution Debates
By Mackenzie M. Eaglen
(WebMemo #2402)
The annual congressional budget debate is over, and the House and Senate have passed one-party budget resolutions. A flat--or, worse, a declining--defense budget will come ...
April 20, 2009
Incompatible Pronouncements on the Future of the U.S. Nuclear Force
By Baker Spring
(WebMemo #2400)
In an April 5 speech in Prague, President Barack Obama reiterated his campaign commitment to "seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear ...
April 20, 2009
How Members of the 111th Congress Practice Private School Choice
By Lindsey Burke
(Backgrounder #2257)
A Heritage survey of the Members of the 111th Congress revealed that 44 percent of Senators and 36 percent of Representatives had sent their children ...
April 19, 2009
The U.S. Is Right to Boycott the U.N. Durban II Conference on Racism
By Brett D. Schaefer and Steven Groves
(WebMemo #2399)
On April 18, the U.S officially announced that it would not attend Durban II. The U.S. was right to ignore outside pressure and refuse to ...
April 19, 2009
Canada and the United States: Time for a Joint Threat Assessment
By James Jay Carafano, Sharon Cardash, and Frank Cilluffo
(WebMemo #2404)
A joint U.S.-Canadian threat assessment, conducted and published by the two countries, could be a powerful protective tool on both sides of the 49th parallel. ...
April 17, 2009
Piracy: A Symptom of Somalia's Deeper Problems
By Brett D. Schaefer
(WebMemo #2398)
A long-term solution to piracy hinges on improving stability and bolstering Somali authorities with which the U.S. can work to advance mutual interests.
April 16, 2009
Complex Systems Analysis-A Necessary Tool for Homeland Security
By James Jay Carafano, Ph.D., and Richard Weitz, Ph.D.
(Backgrounder #2261)
Many of the threats the United States faces, and many of the means available to counter them, are embedded in webs of complex systems—from the ...
April 15, 2009
A New Approach to Improving Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math Education
By Dan Lips and Jena Baker McNeill
(Backgrounder #2259)
American leaders have emphasized the need to improve performance in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education. Instead of focusing on federal solutions and increasing ...
April 15, 2009
The Summit of the Americas: A Chance to Make the Americas More Secure
By Ray Walser, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2396)
In order to ensure that the Fifth Summit of the Americas makes considerable progress toward securing a most secure, stable, and prosperous Western Hemisphere, President ...
April 15, 2009
Options for Combating Piracy in Somalia
By Jena Baker McNeill and Brett D. Schaefer
(WebMemo #2397)
U.S. anti-piracy strategy should be applied to the Horn of Africa and surrounding waters, but the uniquely lawless situation in Somalia requires supplementary strategies.
...
April 14, 2009
Keeping Score: Will the Summit of the Americas Make the U.S. More Prosperous?
By James M. Roberts
(WebMemo #2395)
Confronted by serious economic problems domestically and unprecedented foreign challenges to the U.S.’s historically dominant role in Latin America, will President Obama will use the ...
April 14, 2009
President Obama's New Plan to Decide Where Americans Live and How They Travel
By Ronald D. Utt, Ph.D.
(Backgrounder #2260)
President Barack Obama’s partnership between the Department of Transportation and Department of Housing and Urban Development reflects an escalation in his apparent intent to re-energize ...
April 13, 2009
Gates' Proposed Missile Defense Cuts: Confusion and Contradictions
By Baker Spring
(WebMemo #2394)
In an April 6 press briefing at the Pentagon, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates announced sweeping changes in a variety of defense modernization. Congress and ...
April 10, 2009
D.C. Opportunity Scholarships Boost Reading Scores, Family Satisfaction
By Dan Lips
(WebMemo #2391)
Now that an evaluation of the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program is complete, questions about this program's effectiveness are resolved.
April 10, 2009
The G-20 Summit: Mistakes and Missed Opportunities
By Ted R. Bromund , Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2392)
The G-20 Summit in London promised to bring together the heads of the world’s leading nations to address the global financial crisis. Instead, the summit ...
April 10, 2009
Indonesian President Yudhoyono's Big Decision
By Walter Lohman
(WebMemo #2393)
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is a clear winner in his country’s April 9, 2009 parliamentary elections. Yet he will need to form a governing ...
April 10, 2009
Proposed Decrease in Charitable Tax Deduction Crowds Out Civil Society
By Ryan Messmore
(Backgrounder #2258)
President Barack Obama’s proposal to raise taxes and reduce charitable deductions for the wealthy mistakenly suggests that government bureaucracy can deploy citizens’ resources more effectively ...
April 9, 2009
Renewing Conservatism: Lessons from Britain
By Rt. Hon. Iain Duncan Smith
(Heritage Lecture #1117)
Emphasizing social policy means rediscovering the conservatism of Edmund Burke. There will be no sustainable reduction in the size of the state if civil society ...
April 9, 2009
President Should Merge Homeland Security Council with NSC
By Jena Baker McNeill and James Jay Carafano, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2390)
President Obama should fold the Homeland Security Council into the National Security Council. Doing so would improve interagency policy planning and eliminate gaps between efforts ...
April 8, 2009
Suspend UNDP Activities in North Korea, Again
By Brett D. Schaefer
(WebMemo #2387)
The U.S. should seek to suspend the U.N. Development Program as a clear signal of international displeasure with North Korea's missile launch.
April 8, 2009
NATO's 60th Anniversary Summit: Unfocused and Unsuccessful
By Sally McNamara
(WebMemo #2388)
In spite of President Obama's high personal approval ratings among Europeans, he did not further American interests at NATO's 60th anniversary summit last weekend.
April 8, 2009
The Dirty Dozen: 12 New Policies That Undermine Civil Society
By Jennifer A. Marshall and Katherine Bradley
(WebMemo #2389)
Within the first quarter of 2009, the Obama Administration and the 111th Congress have advanced a number of policies that will undermine family and religious ...
April 8, 2009
Principles for Reform of Catastrophic Natural Disaster Insurance
By Matt A. Mayer, David C. John, and James Jay Carafano, Ph.D.
(Backgrounder #2256)
The private sector, state governments, and the federal government could take many actions short of creating a catastrophic hurricane fund (CAT) fund that would provide ...
April 7, 2009
Help the Economy and Federal Deficit by Raising H-1B Caps
By Jena Baker McNeill and Diem Nguyen
(WebMemo #2384)
Raising H-1B caps will provide businesses the professionals and skills they need to develop their business when ready.
April 7, 2009
Protection of Health Care Providers’ Right of Conscience: What Federal Law Says
By Randolph W. Pate
(WebMemo #2385)
The Obama Administration is moving rapidly to overturn federal "conscience clause" regulations protecting health care providers who object to performing procedures that violate their religious ...
April 7, 2009
Where Is Nuclear Energy in the Markey-Waxman Energy Bill?
By Jack Spencer
(WebMemo #2386)
If CO2 reduction is truly the objective, then maximizing America's nuclear resources should be a top priority.
April 6, 2009
Secretary Chu's Blue Ribbon Commission on Nuclear Waste
By Jack Spencer
(WebMemo #2382)
Secretary of Energy Steven Chu is forming a blue-ribbon commission to answer the question of what to do with America's nuclear waste. Here are our ...
April 6, 2009
Obama in Ankara: Turkey's Dangerous Drift
By Ariel Cohen, Ph.D., and Owen Graham
(WebMemo #2383)
President Obama's visit to Turkey highlights the importance Washington attaches to this country as a key regional player, a veteran NATO ally, and an influential ...
April 4, 2009
North Korea Throws Down Missile Gauntlet
By Bruce Klingner
(WebMemo #2365)
North Korea's launch of a long-range Taepo Dong-2 missile is a direct challenge not just to the United States but to the international community’s resolve ...
April 3, 2009
Obama's Proposal to Reduce Charitable Deductions Would Hurt Civil Society, Expand Government
By Ryan Messmore
(WebMemo #2379)
Congress should resist President Obama's proposal to reduce the tax deduction rate on charitable gifts from high-income earners.
April 3, 2009
March Employment Report: With Grim Jobs Numbers, Not the Time for a Tax and Spend Budget
By James Sherk and J. D. Foster, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2380)
March continued the string of dismal employment reports from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is precisely the wrong time to burden the economy with ...
April 3, 2009
Single Payer: Why Government-Run Health Care Will Harm Both Patients and Doctors
By Robert A. Book, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2381)
The key issue in the emerging national health care debate is the role of the federal government: A concentration of government power over health care ...
April 2, 2009
The 2009 Energy Bill: Anti-Market and Anti-Consumer
By Nicolas Loris and Ben Lieberman
(WebMemo #2378)
The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 offers nothing more than subsidies and mandates for unsuccessful, unproven energy sources coupled with taxes on ...
April 2, 2009
U.N. Human Rights Council Whitewash Argues Against U.S. Participation
By Brett D. Schaefer
(Backgrounder #2255)
President Barack Obama should think twice before lending the U.N. Human Rights Council the credibility that U.S. participation would provide. A wiser course of action ...
April 1, 2009
The Future of Conservatism: An Argument for a Constitutional Conservatism
By Harvey C. Mansfield
(Heritage Lecture #1115)
Conservatives must defend the liberal regime and its ruling middle class: what Aristotle might call the “interest of the regime.” The liberal form of government ...
April 1, 2009
Budget Proposal Will Raise Taxes, Grow Government, and Cut Defense
By Mackenzie Eaglen
(WebMemo #2373)
The military cannot afford a "modernization depression"—yet that is exactly what is coming.
April 1, 2009
A U.S.-China G-2: Today It's Closer to a G-0
By Derek Scissors, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2374)
The G-20 convenes again this week, once more generating high hopes that progress can be made in addressing the economic crisis. Observers have focused on ...
April 1, 2009
U.S. to Seek Seat on the U.N. Human Rights Council: A Wrong Step for the Obama Administration
By Brett D. Schaefer
(WebMemo #2375)
The Obama Administration is wrong if it believes that the efforts of countries determined to undermine the aims of the U.N. Human Rights Council will ...
April 1, 2009
Secure Flight Program Creates Safer Skies
By Jena Baker McNeill
(WebMemo #2376)
Yesterday the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the implementation of Secure Flight—a program to screen flight passenger data and flag possible terrorists before they ...
April 1, 2009
House Republican Budget Would Confront Hard Choices and Rein in Budget Deficits
By Brian Riedl
(WebMemo #2377)
The House Republican blueprint provides a strong contrast to President Obama’s plan to saddle Americans with historic tax increases, runaway spending, and a doubling of ...
April 1, 2009
Economic Analysis of the House Republican Budget Alternative (H.R. 85): "Report on the Path to American Prosperity"
By Karen A. Campbell, Ph.D.
(White Paper )
On April 1, 2009, Congressman Paul Ryan (R-WI), the ranking Republican on the House Budget Committee, introduced the House Republican Budget Alternative to budget initiatives ...
March 31, 2009
Labor Union Snap Elections Deprive Employees of Informed Choice
By James Sherk and Ryan O’Donnell
(WebMemo #2371)
Snap elections preserve the secret ballot in name only because they compromise the election process: With only a few days to hear both sides of ...
March 31, 2009
The G-20 Summit: Time to Renew Commitment to Economic Freedom
By Anthony B. Kim
(WebMemo #2372)
President Obama and other leaders of the G-20 should be reminded that economic freedom is indispensable in amplifying and cascading the benefits of any plans ...
March 31, 2009
Afghanistan and Pakistan: Understanding and Engaging Regional Stakeholders
By Lisa Curtis
(Testimony )
In his speech last Friday, President Obama provided a clear signal that his Administration intends to dedicate the time, resources, and, most important, U.S. leadership ...
March 31, 2009
The Past, Present, and Possible Futures of the Anglo-American Alliance
By Ted R. Bromund, Ph.D.
(Heritage Lecture #1116)
In Winston Churchill’s vision, the U.S.-British relationship must and would endure because both are liberal, English-speaking democracies. If Britain is being Europeanized, the U.S. could ...
March 30, 2009
The Implications of the European Contribution to the Global Financial Crisis for the G-20 Summit
By Ted R. Bromund, Ph.D., and Daniella Markheim
(WebMemo #2369)
The story that Europe is telling about the global financial crisis is untrue: The crisis is not simply the fault of the United States.
March 30, 2009
Barack Obama's European Tour: The President Must Protect the Transatlantic Alliance
By Nile Gardiner
(WebMemo #2370)
President Obama must project a clear vision for U.S. global leadership, one that is anchored firmly in the transatlantic alliance with Britain.
March 27, 2009
G-20 Summit: Rhetoric and Empty Promises Will Not Protect Free Trade
By Daniella Markheim
(WebMemo #2366)
With the next G-20 summit only days away, President Obama and other world leaders are once again promising to oppose protectionism as a central tenet ...
March 27, 2009
Three Mile Island and Chernobyl: What Went Wrong and Why Today’s Reactors Are Safe
By Jack Spencer and Nick Loris
(WebMemo #2367)
This Saturday marks the 30th anniversary of the partial meltdown of the Three Mile Island nuclear reactor. This occasion is a good time to consider ...
March 27, 2009
The Obama–Medvedev G-20 Meeting: The Agenda for the First Encounter
By Ariel Cohen, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2368)
The United States can explore Russia's willingness to rethink its relationship with Iran, yet Washington should not bargain away its own interests or those of ...
March 27, 2009
Russia and Eurasia: A Realistic Policy Agenda for the Obama Administration
By Ariel Cohen, Ph.D.
(Special Report #49)
Russia, seeking a new place in the global architecture, is pursuing an increasingly assertive foreign policy. President Barack Obama and his Administration will need to ...
March 26, 2009
Obama Administration Proposes New Federal Education Spending Increases
By Dan Lips
(WebMemo #2363)
After less than three months, the Obama Administration has approved an unprecedented increase in federal spending for the Department of Education. But if history is ...
March 26, 2009
New Global Currency Proposal: Good Diplomatic Theater but Bad Policy
By Ambassador Terry Miller
(WebMemo #2364)
Recently, both China and Russia have called for the replacement of the dollar as the international reserve currency of choice, suggesting use of IMF Special ...
March 25, 2009
Geithner's Troubling Plan for Troubled Assets
By James L. Gattuso and David C. John
(WebMemo #2360)
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner yesterday released details on his proposal for removing toxic assets from the balance sheets of banks and other financial institutions. Substantively, ...
March 25, 2009
Obama's Energy Budget: More Taxes, Higher Prices
By Nicolas Loris and Ben Lieberman
(WebMemo #2361)
Obama's Energy Budget: More Taxes, Higher Prices
March 25, 2009
Obama Budget's Tax Proposals: Wrong and Risky
By J. D. Foster, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2362)
President Obama's budget outlines sweeping changes for federal tax policy. A few of these changes are good policy that ought to be accepted by Congress. ...
March 25, 2009
Issues in Health Insurance Market Reform
By Edmund F. Haislmaier
(Testimony )
Mr. Chairman, Representative Deal, and members of the committee, thank you for inviting me to testify before you today on some of the key issues ...
March 25, 2009
The President's Budget And Medicare
By Robert E. Moffit, Ph. D.
(Testimony )
President Barack Obama has outlined an ambitious and far-reaching health care agenda, including major changes in the Medicare program. It should be noted that even ...
March 25, 2009
The Role of Long-Term Care in Health Reform
By Dennis G. Smith
(Testimony )
Long-term care is an important but all too often overlooked component of health care reform. The great challenges we face because of population changes between ...
March 25, 2009
NATO 60th Anniversary Summit: An Agenda for American Leadership
By Sally McNamara
(Backgrounder #2254)
NATO’s 60th anniversary summit will be a critical time for the transatlantic alliance, and it will likely shape the transatlantic relationship for the remainder of ...
March 24, 2009
A First Big Step Toward Medicare Sustainability
By J. D. Foster, Ph.D.
(Backgrounder #2253)
Medicare is a vital program for seniors, but is fundamentally unaffordable as it is currently structured because it faces an unfunded obligation of $85.6 trillion. ...
March 24, 2009
When Art Becomes a Crime: A Case Study in Overcriminalization
By Andrew M. Grossman
(Legal Memorandum #39)
Prosecutors continue to abuse the federal mail and wire fraud statutes to go after contractual violations, local-government patronage politics, minor regulatory violations, and other conduct ...
March 24, 2009
Elimination of U.S. Pilot Truck Program Triggers Mexican Tariffs
By James M. Roberts
(WebMemo #2357)
The Obama Administration should take immediate steps to restore funding to the pilot truck program, and then expand it and make it permanent.
March 24, 2009
Secretary Clinton's Mexico Trip: Three Benchmarks for U.S.–Mexican Relations
By Ray Walser, Ph.D., James Roberts, and Jena Baker McNeill
(WebMemo #2358)
This week, during her inaugural visit to Mexico, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton faces a tough but critical challenge: laying the early foundations for a ...
March 24, 2009
Calling for G-20 Global Action for Economic Recovery: Obama Touches All the Bases but Fails to Score
By Ambassador Terry Miller
(WebMemo #2359)
President Obama’s March 24 call for “bold, comprehensive, and coordinated action” by the G-20 revealed the President’s basic confusion about the role of government in ...
March 23, 2009
Obama's Stimulus Has "Spread the Wealth Around": Are Tax Hikes Next?
By Curtis S. Dubay
(WebMemo #2354)
President Obama famously said during the campaign that he thinks the economy works best when "we spread the wealth around." He is wasting no time ...
March 23, 2009
New Constitution Pushes Bolivian Economy into Socialism
By James M. Roberts and Gonzalo Schwarz
(WebMemo #2355)
The new Bolivian constitution—written by President Evo Morales and approved by voters in late January—is an assault upon the universal ideals of individual and economic ...
March 23, 2009
Can Congress Punish People? Why the Constitution Prohibits Bills of Attainder
By The Heritage Foundation
(WebMemo #2356)
The Framers considered freedom from bills of attainder so important that it is one of only two individual liberties that the original Constitution protects from ...
March 23, 2009
Executive Order on Regulatory Review
By David M. Mason
(Testimony )
The President's Memorandum on Regulatory Review begins by observing that the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs has reviewed Federal regulations for "well over two ...
March 23, 2009
Requiring Identification by Voters
By Hans A. Von Spakovsky
(Testimony )
Guaranteeing the integrity of elections requires having security throughout the entire election process, from voter registration to the casting of votes to the counting of ...
March 21, 2009
Fighting in Sri Lanka: Protect Civilians to Facilitate Long-term Peace
By Lisa Curtis and Nicholas Hamisevicz
(WebMemo #2353)
The Sri Lankan army's recent military success against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam is being diminished by international concern over the deteriorating human rights ...
March 20, 2009
The Russia–Iran S-300 Air Defense Systems Deal: Beware of Russians Bearing Gifts
By Ariel Cohen, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2350)
The Obama Administration should use extreme caution in negotiating Russian cooperation on Iran.
March 20, 2009
The Death of Public Service: Serve America Act Sends Volunteerism to Hooverville
By Brian Brown
(WebMemo #2351)
Serve America is the Senate's attempt to turn into reality President Obama's campaign promises about public service. But in practice, the bill hearkens back to ...
March 20, 2009
The G-20 Summit: Potential Threats to U.S. Interests
By Ted R. Bromund, Ph.D. and J. D. Foster, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2352)
The G-20 should find common ground on defending free trade, opposing further unwise government spending, and reforms to the banking sector that are designed and ...
March 20, 2009
Cracking the Bedrock of Democracy: Destroying the Secret Ballot in Union Elections
By Hans A. von Spakovsky
(Legal Memorandum #38)
The Employee Free Choice Act of 2009 would fundamentally change the nature of the relationship between unions, employers, and employees. The only reason to eliminate ...
March 20, 2009
America's North Korea Policy: Adding Lanes to the Road
By Bruce Klingner
(Backgrounder #2252)
Despite public perceptions of a major U.S. policy shift toward North Korea, President Obama is continuing the Bush engagement strategy. The Six-Party Talks should not ...
March 19, 2009
The AIG Clawback: Possibly Unconstitutional, Doubtlessly Imprudent
By Andrew M. Grossman
(WebMemo #2349)
Congress should realize the prudential limits of its powers and competence and take no action against those receiving deferred compensation for work that they have ...
March 19, 2009
How the Obama Administration Should Engage Russia
By Ariel Cohen, Ph.D.
(Testimony )
President Barack Obama has expressed a desire to constructively engage Russia and has also expressed concerns over Russia’s increasingly truculent behavior and the threat it ...
March 18, 2009
FMLN Wins in El Salvador: No Mandate for Revolutionary Change
By Ray Walser, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2347)
On March 15, citizens of El Salvador elected--for the first time in the nation's history--a president hailing from the political Left. Whether the FMLN charts ...
March 18, 2009
Why the United States Should Not Join the Inter-Parliamentary Union
By Ted R. Bromund , Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2348)
The United States should not join the IPU. To do so would imply the IPU is a respectable international organization, not the friend of dictatorships ...
March 18, 2009
Medicare Reform: Setting Attainable Goals for Sustainability
By J. D. Foster, Ph.D.
(Backgrounder #2251)
The Treasury Department's general fund subsidizes Medicare by an amount equal to about 1.3 percent of GDP, a large but manageable sum and an apparently ...
March 17, 2009
The EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy: How It Threatens Transatlantic Security
By Sally McNamara
(Backgrounder #2250)
In an effort to create "one telephone line" to Europe, the EU's proposed Lisbon Treaty, successor to the European Constitution, would remove foreign policy from ...
March 17, 2009
A Political Idea That Won't Go Away: Implications of Moral Law for America's Founding and Future
By Greg Forster, Ph.D.
(Heritage Lecture #1113)
The idea of politics based on moral law is not inherently totalist and does not imply an unlimited mandate to impose a total vision of ...
March 17, 2009
A New American Fusionism: Recovering Principles in Our Politics
By Matthew Spalding, Ph.D.
(Heritage Lecture #1114)
The fusion of our ideas and our politics is to be found not as much at the level of ...
March 16, 2009
The Obama Budget: Spending, Taxes, and Doubling the National Debt
By Brian M. Riedl
(Backgrounder #2249)
President Obama has framed his budget as a break from the Bush Administration’s policies. However, Obama’s budget would double the publicly held national debt to ...
March 16, 2009
Health Care Reform: Changing the Tax Treatment of Health Insurance
By Greg D'Angelo and Robert E. Moffit, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2344)
A proposal that gradually phases out the current income tax exclusion while phasing in a more equitable and efficient system is essential to achieving serious ...
March 16, 2009
Obama Jobs Deficit Grows: 651,000 Reasons to Cut Tax Rates
By J. D. Foster, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2345)
President Obama pledged to create 3.5 million new jobs by 2010. The President's jobs promise means total employment should be at least 138.6 million by ...
March 16, 2009
Why a Policy Undersecretary Office for Homeland Security Department Remains Essential
By James Jay Carafano, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2346)
The White House and congressional leadership should make establishing an undersecretary for policy and planning in the Department of Homeland Security a priority.
March 13, 2009
G-20: International Cooperation Can Go Only So Far to End the Recession
By Ambassador Terry Miller
(WebMemo #2343)
An announcement by the governments of the G-20 of what they will not do to intervene in markets would probably go a lot further in ...
March 13, 2009
Time for a Real Change: Repeal the Corporate Income Tax
By Karen A. Campbell, Ph.D.
(Backgrounder #2248)
America's corporate income tax rate is one of the world's highest and imposes indirect costs in the form of reduced investment, lower wages, lower productivity, ...
March 12, 2009
How the Obama Administration Should Deal with Russia's Revisionist Foreign Policy
By Ariel Cohen, Ph.D.
(Backgrounder #2246)
How the Obama Administration Should Deal with Russia's Revisionist Foreign Policy
March 12, 2009
Public Corruption Prosecution Improvements Act: Revising Federal Gratuities Law to Criminalize Innocent Conduct
By Brian W. Walsh
(WebMemo #2340)
The Senate Judiciary Committee is considering a bill that would greatly expand the reach of a key "public corruption" offense, an offense that is already ...
March 12, 2009
EFCA Authorizes Government Control of 4 Million Small Businesses
By James Sherk
(WebMemo #2341)
The Employee Free Choice Act does more than take away secret ballot elections: It empowers the federal government to impose contracts on newly organized companies. ...
March 12, 2009
Ailing Automakers Need Bankruptcy, Not Bankruptcy-Lite
By Andrew M. Grossman
(WebMemo #2342)
If GM and Chrysler are to survive and prosper, they must undergo real reorganization in bankruptcy, not anything less.
March 11, 2009
EFCA: High-Pressure Spin Selling and Creative Organizing for Labor Unions
By James Sherk and Ryan O’Donnell
(WebMemo #2335)
Under EFCA, union organizers will be free to use aggressive and emotionally manipulative sales techniques to pressure or mislead employees into joining a union.
March 11, 2009
No Cost Stimulus Expands Energy Supply and Creates Jobs
By Nicolas Loris and Ben Lieberman
(WebMemo #2336)
The No Cost Stimulus Act of 2009 would open up resources and streamline regulatory, environmental and judicial review processes to provide a real stimulus to ...
March 11, 2009
World Bank's Proposed Vulnerability Fund: A Gimmick for the Poor
By Ambassador Terry Miller
(WebMemo #2337)
The World Bank has proposed a "Vulnerability Fund" to siphon off 0.7 percent of developed countries' stimulus packages for assistance to poor countries.
March 11, 2009
D.C. Voting Rights: No Representation? No Taxation!
By Robert A. Book, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2338)
Simply exempting D.C. residents from federal taxes would help revitalize the District -- and do so in a way consistent with what the Founders had ...
March 11, 2009
Why President Obama Should Not Attend the Alliance of Civilizations Forum
By Brett D. Schaefer
(WebMemo #2339)
The Alliance of Civilizations' attempt to quell perceived tensions between Muslim and Western nations has little prospect for success due to bias and objectionable proposals ...
March 10, 2009
Card Check Creates Government-Run Workplaces
By James Sherk
(WebMemo #2334)
EFCA gives control of the workplace to government bureaucrats.
March 10, 2009
Why Maryland Needs Truth-in-Sentencing
By David B. Muhlhausen, Ph.D.
(Testimony )
Maryland faces a serious violent crime problem. Some members of society clearly need to be in prison for the safety of the rest. As long ...
March 9, 2009
E-Verify Expires: Time for Congress to Reauthorize the Program
By Jena Baker McNeill
(WebMemo #2332)
Congress should reauthorize and fully fund E-Verify.
March 9, 2009
The Gaza Aid Package: Time to Rethink U.S. Foreign Assistance to the Palestinians
By James Phillips
(WebMemo #2333)
Congress needs to scrutinize the Obama Administration's aid plans to make sure that there is absolutely no chance that funds provided by American taxpayers end ...
March 9, 2009
15 Steps to Better Border Security: Reducing America's Southern Exposure
By Jena Baker McNeill
(Backgrounder #2245)
The 9/11 attacks raised concerns over the security of U.S. borders. In response, the Bush Administration employed additional Border Patrol agents, deployed new technologies at ...
March 9, 2009
Executive Summary: 15 Steps to Better Border Security: Reducing America's Southern Exposure
By Jena Baker McNeill
(Executive Summary #2245)
The 9/11 attacks raised concerns over the security of U.S. borders. In response, the Bush Administration employed additional Border Patrol agents, deployed new technologies at ...
March 9, 2009
An Analysis of Federal, State, and Local Homeland Security Budgets
By Matt A. Mayer
(Center for Data Analysis Report #09-01)
Despite a rich history in which states and localities have taken responsibility for their own affairs, we are federalizing more and more of the homeland ...
March 6, 2009
Heritage Jobs Report: February Employment Losses Would Be Worse with Card Check
By Rea S. Hederman Jr. and James Sherk
(WebMemo #2330)
February continued the miserable string of poor employment reports by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Consequently, Congress and the President should take action to strengthen ...
March 6, 2009
Enforcing Immigration Laws: State and Local Law Assistance Needed
By Jena Baker McNeill and Diem Nguyen
(WebMemo #2331)
Congress should recognize the valuable role 287(g) plays in keeping America safe, combating illegal immigration, and engaging state and local governments.
March 6, 2009
Obama Administration: Yet to Show Strong Leadership on Trade Policy
By Daniella Markheim
(WebMemo #2328)
The 2009 Trade Policy Agenda's general lack of specificity leaves much of its content open to interpretation, reducing its transparency and informational value to consumers ...
March 6, 2009
U.S., Canada Working Together on Improving Border Security
By Jena Baker McNeill and Diem Nguyen
(WebMemo #2329)
Initiatives to secure the United States from potential terrorists in Canada should respect both nations’ sovereignty and addresses common concerns without hindering either nation’s economic ...
March 5, 2009
China Will Follow the U.S.: A Climate Change Fable
By Derek Scissors, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2327)
President Obama's emphasis on climate change has notable implications for U.S.-China relations.
March 5, 2009
Don't Regulate the Suburbs: America Needs a Housing Policy That Works
By Wendell Cox and Ronald D. Utt, Ph.D.
(Backgrounder #2247)
As housing-price trends in the U.S. over the past decade reveal, the intensity of a region’s land-use regulations is a key factor in the region’s ...
March 4, 2009
The Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act (S. 386): Criminalizing Our Way out of the Financial Crisis
By Brian W. Walsh and Tiffany M. Joslyn
(WebMemo #2322)
Members of Congress should not embrace harmful or misguided legislation simply to show they are "doing something" to "solve" the subprime meltdown and resulting financial ...
March 4, 2009
Avoiding a Keynesian Rush to Regulate the Financial Markets
By David M. Mason
(WebMemo #2323)
Poorly designed regulations may have encouraged, rather than curbed, excesses in private markets. A Financial Markets Commission could help identify how regulation may have contributed ...
March 4, 2009
The United Kingdom Must Lead Europe's Withdrawal from the U.N.'s Durban Review Conference
By Ted R. Bromund , Ph.D., and Steven Groves
(WebMemo #2324)
The United Kingdom must withdraw from Durban II immediately and unconditionally and supply the leadership in action that has so far been lacking in Europe. ...
March 4, 2009
U.S. Boycott of U.N. Durban II Conference on Racism: The Right Decision by the Obama Administration
By Brett D. Schaefer and Steven Groves
(WebMemo #2326)
In a welcome recognition of the limitations of multilateral engagement, the Obama Administration announced that it would not participate in the upcoming Durban Review Conference. ...
March 3, 2009
Secretary Clinton's European Tour: A NATO-First Agenda
By Sally McNamara
(WebMemo #2320)
Secretary Hillary Clinton must be proactive on this European trip, requesting European military support in Afghanistan as well as confronting Russian opposition to key U.S. ...
March 3, 2009
A To-Do List for Secretary Chu on Nuclear Energy Policy
By Jack Spencer
(WebMemo #2321)
Washington is starting to recognize that President Obama will not be able to meet his energy objectives without a strong nuclear industry.
March 3, 2009
Prepared Statement before Committee on Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific and the Global Environment
By Bruce Klingner
(Testimony )
Thank you Mr. Chairman and the distinguished members of the Subcommittee for asking me to testify on “Remaking U.S. Foreign Policy in North Korea.”
March 3, 2009
Testimony before the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission on China’s Role in the Origins of and Responses to the Global Recession
By Derek Scissors
(Testimony )
Addressing the effect of the current economic crisis on the U.S.-China economic relationship presumes an understanding of the crisis and the relationship. This is plainly ...
March 2, 2009
Omnibus Spending Bill: Huge Spending and 9,000 Earmarks Represent Business as Usual
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #2318)
Even a recession and record $1.4 trillion budget deficit has not altered Congress's business-as-usual culture of spending and pork.
March 2, 2009
Global Warming: Using the Polar Bear to Impose Costly Measures
By Ben Lieberman
(WebMemo #2319)
The American people do not need a costly backdoor global warming policy through the misuse of preexisting ESA authority never intended for that purpose.
March 1, 2009
The Obama–Brown White House Talks: The U.S.–U.K. Special Relationship Must Be Maintained
By Nile Gardiner, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2317)
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown will be the first European leader to meet with President Barack Obama when he visits the White House on March ...
February 27, 2009
The Obama Health Care Budget: Hopeful Savings and Costly Change
By Robert E. Moffit, Ph.D., Nina Owcharenko, and Dennis Smith
(WebMemo #2314)
President Obama's health care budget proposal is large but surprisingly unimaginative.
February 27, 2009
Barack Obama and Gordon Brown Must Strengthen U.S.–U.K. Defense Cooperation
By Ted R. Bromund, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2315)
Both President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Gordon Brown should acknowledge the shared values and interests that are at stake and act to continue this ...
February 27, 2009
Restructuring FEMA: Stand-Alone FEMA Would Not Make Cents
By Jena Baker McNeill
(WebMemo #2316)
Given the current economic turmoil and the success of DHS in recent years, taking FEMA out of DHS would be a mistake.
February 26, 2009
Obama's PAYGO Law Would Not Slow Spending or Budget Deficits
By Brian Riedl
(WebMemo #2312)
PAYGO has proven to be more of a talking point than an actual tool for budget discipline.
February 26, 2009
Spratly Islands: The Challenge to U.S. Leadership in the South China Sea
By Walter Lohman
(WebMemo #2313)
On the eve of the annual ASEAN summit this week, an old issue has resurfaced: conflicting claims over the Spratly Islands.
February 26, 2009
Building a Strategic Partnership: U.S.-India Relations in the Wake of Mumbai
By Lisa Curtis
(Testimony )
Last year's November 26–29 terrorist attacks in Mumbai that killed nearly 170 people, including six Americans, have provided new impetus to U.S-India counterterrorism cooperation.
February 26, 2009
Does employer-sponsored health insurance reduce job mobility?
By Paul L. Winfree
(White Paper )
How the health insurance system influences the likelihood of changing jobs and becoming self-employed
February 25, 2009
Bankruptcy Mortgage Cramdowns Would Hurt Housing Market
By David C. John
(WebMemo #2310)
Mortgage cramdowns would further destabilize an already damaged housing market while increasing mortgage costs for future borrowers.
February 25, 2009
12 Problems with the Obama Mortgage Stability Initiative Plan
By Ronald D. Utt, Ph.D., and David C. John
(WebMemo #2311)
President Obama's Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan is unlikely this plan will provide any relief—short-term or long-term—to the beleaguered housing market.
February 25, 2009
Combating Libel Tourism: Federal Efforts Needed
By Andrew M. Grossman
(Backgrounder #2244)
Congress should adopt a two-step approach to restore American authors’ First Amendment rights. To protect speech rights, abusive foreign libel judgments should be unenforceable in ...
February 25, 2009
Pros and Cons of Multilateral Nonproliferation: Lessons Learned from the Bush Administration
By Ambassador Jackie Wolcott
(Heritage Lecture #1112)
International institutions sometimes fail, and it is not our job to save them from themselves. Failure, on the other hand, could force them to adapt ...
February 24, 2009
Progressivism and the New Science of Jurisprudence
By Bradley C. S. Watson
(First Principles #0024)
Progressivism in its jurisprudential guise is rooted not in constitutional text, tradition, logic, or structure, but in the judge’s view of which necessities are most ...
February 24, 2009
Oil-for-Food Revisited: The U.N. Should Not Pay Benon Sevan's Legal Fees
By Nile Gardiner Ph.D. and Steven Groves
(WebMemo #2308)
The U.N.'s decision to pay Benon Sevan's legal fees should be condemned by both the U.S. Congress and the Obama Administration.
February 24, 2009
The Elements of a Responsible Budget Proposal
By Brian M. Riedl, Mackenzie M. Eaglen, Curtis S. Dubay, J. D. Foster, Ph.D., William W. Beach, and Rea S. Hederman, Jr.
(WebMemo #2309)
The President must ensure that his budget proposal protects America’s security abroad and economic security at home.
February 23, 2009
Two Lost Decades? Why Japan’s Economy Is Still Stumbling and How the U.S. Can Stay Upright
By Derek Scissors, Ph.D. and J. D. Foster, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2307)
A weak Japanese economy is again making Americans nervous. The U.S. risks its own prolonged period of weakness if it fails to correct the policies ...
February 20, 2009
D.C. Representation: How Congress Promotes the Interests of the District of Columbia
By Joseph Postell and Nathaniel Ward
(WebMemo #2304)
Congress’s latest attempt to grant representation to the District of Columbia by legislative fiat is not only unconstitutional but potentially contrary to the District’s interests. ...
February 20, 2009
Reviewing DHS: The International Dimension of Homeland Security
By Jena Baker McNeill and Diem Nguyen
(WebMemo #2305)
Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano should ensure that her policy priorities recognize the important role international cooperation plays in U.S. security ...
February 20, 2009
Another Bailout for Detroit Automakers Would Throw Good Money After Bad
By Nicolas Loris
(WebMemo #2306)
It is no surprise that GM and Chrysler are already asking for more money, and it certainly won’t be surprising if they come knocking back ...
February 19, 2009
The Obama Administration Should Not Delay Offshore Oil and Gas Leasing
By Ben Lieberman
(WebMemo #2302)
The Obama Administration has taken steps to slow down the process of leasing offshore areas to energy companies, and some fear that expanded offshore drilling ...
February 19, 2009
Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions and U.S. Detainee Policy
By David Rivkin, Lee Casey, and Charles Stimson
(WebMemo #2303)
President Barack Obama ordered the secretary of defense to conduct an immediate 30-day review of the conditions of detention in Guantanamo to "ensure full compliance" ...
February 19, 2009
Appealing to the Judge's Better Angels
By David F. Forte
(Heritage Lecture #1111)
The Constitution made judges independent precisely to give them the power to limit the executive and legislature. The very independence of the courts was to ...
February 19, 2009
Voting Representation for the District of Columbia: Violating the Framers' Vision and Constitutional Commands
By Nathaniel Ward and Andrew M. Grossman
(Legal Memorandum #37)
Lawmakers must reject any legislative proposal granting the residents of the District of Columbia a separate, voting representative in Congress. Providing such a representative would ...
February 19, 2009
What to Do about Hugo Chávez: Venezuela’s Challenge to Security in the Americas
By Ray Walser, Ph.D.
(Backgrounder #2243)
Venezuela recently surpassed Mexico as the third-largest supplier of crude oil to the U.S.—after Canada and Saudi Arabia. Hugo Chávez has already demonstrated his willingness ...
February 19, 2009
Executive Summary: What to Do about Hugo Chávez: Venezuela's Challenge to Security in the Americas
By Ray Walser, Ph.D.
(Executive Summary #2243)
Venezuela recently surpassed Mexico as the third-largest supplier of crude oil to the U.S.—after Canada and Saudi Arabia. Hugo Chávez has already demonstrated his willingness ...
February 18, 2009
More Than Hope: Policy for a Free and Just Society
By Robert L. Woodson, Sr., The Honorable Kevin Andrews, Greg Fleming, Philippa Stroud, and The Honorable Monte Solberg
(Heritage Lecture #1110)
Successful solutions to social breakdown are those that engage personal responsibility and mutual responsibility, not through government redistribution, but through relationships. That is why we ...
February 18, 2009
D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program: Study Supports Expansion
By Lindsey Burke
(WebMemo #2297)
A new evaluation of the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program highlights how the program is benefiting families, adding to the reasons why Congress and the Obama ...
February 18, 2009
The Brown Government Should Stop Mortgaging the Future of Britain's Defenses
By Ted R. Bromund, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2298)
The danger facing the U.K. Ministry of Defence is clear: Either the troops in the field will have to go without necessary equipment paid for ...
February 18, 2009
Obama's Visit to Canada: Forging Stronger Alliances and Economic Cooperation
By James M. Roberts and Ray Walser, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2299)
When Barack Obama takes the traditional first foreign trip as the new U.S. President to Ottawa on February 19, our northern neighbors will be watching ...
February 18, 2009
The District of Columbia: A Federal City
By Lee A. Casey
(WebMemo #2300)
Statehood is now the clear preference of District of Columbia voting-rights advocates, but the proposal has never, heretofore, excited much support in Congress and would, ...
February 18, 2009
Secretary Clinton's Asia Trip: Getting China Right
By Stephen Yates and Walter Lohman
(WebMemo #2301)
The new Administration should clearly communicate the kind of relationship it seeks from China, what it expects in return, and what it is prepared to ...
February 17, 2009
North Korea's Missile Gambit
By Bruce Klingner
(WebMemo #2295)
North Korea may be preparing to test-launch a long-range Taepo Dong-2 missile from its eastern coast. The U.S. must send a clear message to Pyongyang, ...
February 17, 2009
Expanding Cross-Border Trucking with Mexico Benefits American Consumers
