Heritage Foundation Leadership for America

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
Heritage Employment Report: June Job Market Continues Downward Slide
By Rea S. Hederman, Jr., and James Sherk
(WebMemo #2521)
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
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
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 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 ...

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
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
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
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
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.

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
Tea Party Talking Points: Obama's War on the American Dream
By heritage.org
(Fact Sheet #35)
Instead of higher taxes and a second stimulus, President Obama should embrace real tax and entitlement reform by lowering business taxes, permanently repealing the Alternative ...

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
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 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 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
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
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 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
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
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 ...