August isn’t over yet — so I assume the Heritage Foundation’s “Insider Online” will send out one more end-of-the-week email this month linking to the latest studies and key policy commentary. It’s a wonderful resource, to be sure. Heritage has no equals when it comes to think tanks, but that’s not to say the many, many other think tanks and issue advocacy organizations that populate the fruited plain aren’t doing a great job covering their issues.
My first point in posting the following is simple, and it’s expressed in my headline. I’ve been writing about what I call the “information war” for some time. My second point is — we have the ammunition — but too little of it is being used to its potential. It’s all about public opinion, and if we don’t get more of the facts disseminated to more people this country will be lost.
Yesterday, National Review’s Jim Geraghty brought attention to this tweet by “@E_Strobel”: “The term ‘low-info voter’ is inadequate… More like ‘wrong-info voter.'” Fine. Nice point. (I’ve been making it for many months.) But please, guys, don’t start writing 1,000 word op-eds debating the problem. We know the problem. And the problem implies the solution. I’ve been calling them the “uninformed and misinformed.” Until more people on our side are all about outreach to them, then we will not begin to turn the tide and win support for the many reforms and course corrections needed.
The links posted below are a small fraction of what conservatives produce on a weekly/monthly basis. Everyone has their favorite websites — news, policy, commentary, etc. We all know that it would be impossible for anyone to see but a relatively small percentage of what’s written weekly/monthly by those who support the principles of the Declaration of Independence and are willing to defend the U.S. Constitution. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining, and I’m not saying that this is anything but a miracle. What I’m saying is that it should only be considered the first step.
What follows are large sections of the last four “Insider Online” emails from the Heritage Foundation. (Please forgive the sloppy font changes, etc., as it was a quick cut and paste job.) For the sake of space I deleted a lot from each. You need not see everything to get the point: we need more think tanks employees who are dissatisfied with producing fantastic reports that too few people benefit from — and more people dedicated to becoming the equivalent of policy missionaries to the political pagans.
Image credit: theweek.com.
August 23, 2014
Latest Studies
31 new items, including a report form the Truth in Accounting Institute on the financial state of the states, and a Nevada Policy Research Institute report on how to improve education without spending more
Notes on the Week
Criminalizing vetoes is probably unconstitutional, HHS swings and misses again on contraception mandate, only Chad and United Arab Emirates have higher corporate taxes than U.S., and more
To Do
Take your activism to the next level
Latest Studies
Budget & Taxation
• State Budget Overview: Teacher Compensation and Medicaid Drive the 2014-15 Budget – John Locke Foundation
• Sales Taxes and Exemptions – Mercatus Center
• The United States’ Debt Crisis: Far from Solved – Mercatus Center
• Risky Business: Will Taxpayers Bail Out Health Insurers? – National Center for Policy Analysis
• Corporate Income Tax Rates around the World, 2014 – Tax Foundation
• The 2013 Financial State of the States – Truth in Accounting
Crime, Justice & the Law
• A Judicial Cure for the Disease of Overcriminalization – The Heritage Foundation
Education
• Teacher Quality 2.0 – Harvard Education Press
• Reauthorizing the Higher Education Act—Toward Policies that Increase Access and Lower Costs – The Heritage Foundation
• 33 Ways to Improve Nevada Education Without Spending More – Nevada Policy Research Institute
Family, Culture & Community
• A Race for the Future: How Conservatives Can Break the Liberal Monopoly on Hispanic Americans – Random House
Foreign Policy/International Affairs
• The Way Forward in Iraq – The Heritage Foundation
• Chaos in Libya – Hoover Institution
Monetary Policy/Financial Regulation
• ‘The American Banking System Might Not Last Until Monday’ – American Enterprise Institute
• The Federal Reserve’s Policy Dilemma – American Enterprise Institute
• The Fed’s Failure as a Lender of Last Resort: What to Do About It – The Heritage Foundation
National Security
• NATO Summit 2014: Stay Committed to Afghanistan – The Heritage Foundation
• NATO Summit 2014: Time for the Alliance to Get Back to Basics – The Heritage Foundation
• NATO Summit 2014: Time to Make Up for Lost Ground in the Arctic – The Heritage Foundation
• Iraq after America: Strongmen, Sectarians, Resistance – Hoover Institution
• The Salafi Dawa of Alexandria: The Politics of A Religious Movement – Hudson Institute
Natural Resources, Energy, Environment, & Science
• Flash Point: New Oil-by-Rail Rules – American Enterprise Institute
• Reining in the EPA Through the Power of the Purse – The Heritage Foundation
• Environmental Regulation through Litigation – National Center for Policy Analysis
Regulation & Deregulation
• Co-opting the Criminal Justice System to Prevent Competition or Serve Noncompetitive Interests – The Heritage Foundation
• The End of FDA Paternalism – Hoover Institution
• Non-Renewal of Policies in Texas’ Homeowners Insurance Market – Texas Public Policy Foundation
• Racing Commission Should Abandon Effort to Legalize “Historical Racing” Slot Machines – Texas Public Policy Foundation
The Constitution/Civil Liberties
• The Obama Administration’s Attempt to Balkanize Hawaii – The Heritage Foundation
Transportation/Infrastructure
• Review of Greenlight Pinellas – Cato Institute
Notes on the Week
In politics, when people talk about change, they always mean change by the other guy.
The Obama Department of Health and Human Services still wants employer plans to cover contraception.
Criminalizing governors’ vetoes is probably unconstitutional.
In some cities, the thieves wear uniforms .
Wind power needs 725 times more land to produce the same energy as shale oil.
August 16, 2014
Latest Studies
32 new items, including a report from the American Legislative Exchange Council on why some states are rich and others poor, and a Manhattan Institute assessment of why it is so costly to live in New York
Notes on the Week
Inversions help the economy, think tanks take a stand against enlisting the courts to shut down debate, HHS also lacks transparency, and more
To Do
Learn what Wikipedia could do for government transparency
Latest Studies
Budget & Taxation
• Ten Reasons to Abolish the Export-Import Bank – Competitive Enterprise Institute
• Understanding Public Pension Debt: A State-by-State Comparison – Competitive Enterprise Institute
• Mismanagement of Export-Import Bank Invites Fraud – The Heritage Foundation
• Is the Tax Code Driving Taxpayers from Wisconsin? An Analysis of Wisconsin Taxes – National Center for Policy Analysis
• The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Eight Patrick Administration Budgets Later – Pioneer Institute for Public Policy Research
Crime, Justice & the Law
• Is Congress Addressing Our Overcriminalization Problem? Reviewing the Progress of the Overcriminalization Task Force – The Heritage Foundation
Economic and Political Thought
• The Fourth Revolution – Cato Institute
• John Rawls: Theorist of Modern Liberalism – The Heritage Foundation
Economic Growth
• Rich States, Poor States 7th Edition: ALEC-Laffer State Economic Competitiveness Index – American Legislative Exchange Council
• The Cost of New York – Manhattan Institute
• Income Data is a Poor Measure of Inequality – Tax Foundation
Elections, Transparency, & Accountability
• The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: A Review of Arizona’s Fiscal Transparency Efforts – Goldwater Institute
Foreign Policy/International Affairs
• NATO Summit 2014: An Opportunity to Support Georgia – The Heritage Foundation
• The U.S. and South Korea Should Focus on Improving Alliance Capabilities Rather Than the OPCON Transition – The Heritage Foundation
• Don’t Ignore the Indo-Pacific – Hoover Institution
• The Pax Americana Is Dead – Hoover Institution
Health Care
• Transcending Obamacare: A Patient-Centered Plan for Near Universal Coverage and Permanent Fiscal Solvency – Manhattan Institute
• Obamacare’s Phony Success Story – Reason Foundation
Information Technology
• Innovation, Investment, and Competition in Broadband and the Impact on America’s Digital Economy – Mercatus Center
International Trade/Finance
• Pacific Alliance Looks East – National Center for Policy Analysis
Monetary Policy/Financial Regulation
• Good News for U.S. Capital Markets – American Enterprise Institute
• Five Guiding Principles for Housing Finance Policy: A Free-Market Vision – The Heritage Foundation
• Quantitative Easing, The Fed’s Balance Sheet, and Central Bank Insolvency – The Heritage Foundation
National Security
• Pooling and Sharing: The Effort to Enhance Allied Defense Capabilities – American Enterprise Institute
Natural Resources, Energy, Environment, & Science
• Facts on Fracking: Addressing Concerns over Hydraulic Fracturing Coming to North Carolina – John Locke Foundation
• The 50 State Index of Energy Regulation – Pacific Research Institute
• Texas Supreme Court Rejects “Any Exposure” Causation in Asbestos Litigation – Washington Legal Foundation
Regulation & Deregulation
• A Flawed E-Cigarette Regulation – American Enterprise Institute
• In Defense of Price Gouging and Profiteering – American Enterprise Institute
• Reforming Regulatory Analysis, Review, and Oversight: A Guide for the Perplexed – Mercatus Center
Transportation/Infrastructure
• What’s the Matter with Zoning? The Unintended Consequences of Planning’s Favorite Tool – Texas Public Policy Foundation
Notes on the Week
A libel lawsuit threatens to chill speech about public policy .
Another federal agency loses key documents .
When you give workers choices, unions have to serve the workers .
Video of the week: Workers have rights. Do they know it?
More access to experimental treatments, please
Happy birthday, Phyllis Schlafly!
Toolkit: Extremism in the pursuit of optimization is a vice .
Is judicial deference unconstitutional?
August 9, 2014
Latest Studies
34 studies, including a Pacific Research Institute handbook on tobacco taxation, and a Hudson Institute report on Iraq’s second Sunni insurgency
Notes on the Week
The environmental costs of delaying Keystone, What does the strategic trade lit really say about the Export-Import Bank? Is administrative law running off the rails?
To Do
Figure out what now for ObamaCare
Latest Studies
Budget & Taxation
• The Export-Import Bank: What the Scholarship Says – The Heritage Foundation
• Abolishing the Corporate Income Tax Could Be Good
for Everyone – National Center for Policy Analysis
• Handbook of Tobacco Taxation – Pacific Research Institute
• Sales Tax Holidays: Politically Expedient but Poor Tax Policy – Tax Foundation
The Constitution/Civil Liberties
• An Originalist Future – Federalist Society
• Repression in China and Its Consequences in Xinjiang – Hudson Institute
• Private Property Interrupted: Protecting Texas Property Owners from Regulatory Takings Abuse – Texas Public Policy Foundation
Crime, Justice & the Law
• Criminal Law and the Administrative State: The Problem with Criminal Regulations – The Heritage Foundation
Economic Growth
• The Long-Hours Luxury – American Enterprise Institute
• Misallocation, Property Rights, and Access to Finance – Cato Institute
• Do Labour Shortages Exist in Canada? Reconciling the Views of Employers and Economists – Fraser Institute
• “Middle-Out” Economics? – Hoover Institution
• How Many Jobs Does Intellectual Property Create? – Mercatus Center
• Thomas Piketty’s False Depiction of Wealth in America – Tax Foundation
Education
• Philadelphia School Trends, 2002-03 to 2012-13 – Commonwealth Foundation for Public Policy Alternatives
Foreign Policy/International Affairs
• Setting a Course for Obama’s Rudderless Africa Policy – The Heritage Foundation
• The Failure of the E.U. – Hoover Institution
• Iraq’s Second Sunni Insurgency – Hudson Institute
• The Collective Security Treaty Organization: Past Struggles and Future Prospects – Hudson Institute
Health Care
• Changing the Rules of Health Care: Mobile Health and Challenges for Regulation – American Enterprise Institute
• Direct Primary Care: An Innovative Alternative to Conventional Health Insurance – The Heritage Foundation
• How Obamacare Fuels Health Care Market Consolidation – The Heritage Foundation
• A Time for Reform: Close and Consolidate Texas’ State Supported Living Centers – Texas Public Policy Foundation
International Trade/Finance
• Sustaining the Economic Rise of Africa – Cato Institute
• Market Solutions Should Be Central to U.S.’s Taiwan Policy – The Heritage Foundation
Labor
• Asserting Influence and Power in the 21st Century: The NLRB Focuses on Assisting Non-Union Employees – Federalist Society
Monetary Policy/Financial Regulation
• “Choking Off” Disfavored Businesses and Their Clients: How Operation Choke Point Undermines the Rule of Law and Harms the
Economy – The Heritage Foundation
National Security
• Autonomous Military Technology: Opportunities and Challenges for Policy and Law – The Heritage Foundation
• Size Isn’t All that Matters – Hoover Institution
Natural Resources, Energy, Environment, & Science
• The Keystone Delay Is Costing us More than Jobs and Revenue – American Action Forum
• Who Watches the Watchmen? Global Warming in the Media – Capital Research Center
• Rethinking Energy: Supplying Competitive Electricity Rates – Center of the American Experiment
Retirement/Social Security
• A Guide to the 2014 Social Security Trustees Report – e21 – Economic Policies for the 21st Century
• Social Security Trustees Report: Unfunded Liability Increased $1.1 Trillion and Projected Insolvency in 2033 – The Heritage Foundation
The environmental costs of delaying Keystone
Rewarding work
What does a gas company have to do with ObamaCare?
The Constitution doesn’t exist for the convenience of the government.
Video of the week: Economics is everywhere, including between the goalposts.
Pulling back the curtain on Healthcare.gov:
August 2, 2014
Latest Studies: 43 new studies, including a Competitive Enterprise Institute report on why the EPA’s climate rule is illegitimate, and an Independent Women’s Forum report on how educational freedom benefits women
Notes on the Week: Legislative history shows D.C. Circuit got Halbig right, Medicaid expansion dwarfs private coverage growth, another win for gun rights, and more
To Do: Defend state sovereignty
Budget & Taxation
• The Future of America’s Entitlements: What You Need to Know About the Medicare Trustees Report – American Action Forum
• The Unseen Costs of Tax Cronyism: Favoritism and Foregone Growth – American Legislative Exchange Council
• Why California Dissolved Its RDAs – Cato Institute
• An Economic and Fiscal Comparison of Alberta and Other North American Energy Producing Provinces and States – Fraser Institute
• Congress Should Fund Wildfire Suppression Without Creating a New Spending Loophole – The Heritage Foundation
• A Legislator’s Guide to Delivering Better Service at a Better Price – Kansas Policy Institute
• Establishing a Minimum Wage for Contractors – Mercatus Center
• Pension Reform Handbook: A Starter Guide for Reformers – Reason Foundation
• Teacher Pension Enhancement in Missouri: 1975 to the Present – Show-Me Institute
• What Would Piketty’s 80 Percent Tax Rate Do to the U.S. Economy? – Tax Foundation
The Constitution/Civil Liberties
• Obama’s LGBT Blunder – Hoover Institution
Crime, Justice & the Law
• The Case for the Smarter Sentencing Act – The Heritage Foundation
Economic Growth
• Increasing Economic Opportunity for African-Americans: Local Initiatives that Are Making a Difference – American Enterprise Institute
• The Sharing Economy: A Positive Shared Vision for the Future – Free State Foundation
• America’s Opportunity City – Manhattan Institute
Education
• Student Achievement and Prosperity – Center of the American Experiment
• How Educational Freedom Benefits Women – Independent Women’s Forum
• The Plot Against Merit – Manhattan Institute
• Seeds of Achievement: AppleTree’s Early Childhood D.C. Charter Schools – Pioneer Institute for Public Policy Research
Foreign Policy/International Affairs
• Khamenei’s Team of Rivals: Iranian Decision-Making, June-July 2014 – American Enterprise Institute
• China Ascendent? – Hoover Institution
Health Care
• Intellectual Property Underpinnings of Pharmaceutical Innovation: A Primer – American Action Forum
• The Affordable Care Act’s Risk Spreading Mechanisms: A Primer on Reinsurance, Risk Corridors, and Risk Adjustment – American Action Forum
• Even If You Like Your Plan, You May Well Lose Your Plan. And Even If You Like Your Doctor, You May Well Lose Your Doctor. – American Enterprise Institute
• New Obamacare Enrollment Data: Employer-Based Coverage Declines – The Heritage Foundation
• The Mechanics of Medicaid – John Locke Foundation
Immigration
• Brief Analysis of the House Republican Leadership’s Secure the Southwest Border Supplemental Appropriations Act and the Secure the Southwest Border Act of 2014 – Center for Immigration Studies
• Immigration Working Group Recommendations Fall Short – The Heritage Foundation
Information Technology
• The Questionable Call for Common Carriage – Cato Institute
International Trade/Finance
• A Case against Child Labor Prohibitions – Cato Institute
• Congress Should Upgrade the African Growth and Opportunity Act – The Heritage Foundation
• China Needs a New Way to Manufacture Export Growth – Hudson Institute
Labor
• A Federal Minimum Wage and the States – Cato Institute
• The Unintended Consequences of Collective Bargaining – Competitive Enterprise Institute
Monetary Policy/Financial Regulation
• Should Penny Auctions Be Regulated Under Gaming Law? – Cato Institute
Natural Resources, Energy, Environment, & Science
• Alabama’s Environment 2014: Six Critical Indicators – Alabama Policy Institute
• EPA’s Illegitimate Climate Rule – Competitive Enterprise Institute
• Gene-Spliced Crops for the Dry Years – Hoover Institution
Regulation & Deregulation
• FDA’s Animal Food Regulation Is for the Birds – Cato Institute
• Operation Choke Point: What It Is and Why It Matters – Competitive Enterprise Institute
Retirement/Social Security
• Hard Lessons for Institutional Investors from the MBTA Retirement Fund – Pioneer Institute for Public Policy Research
Transportation/Infrastructure
• Rapid Bus: A Low-Cost, High-Capacity Transit System for Major Urban Areas – Cato Institute
Welfare
• SSDI Program Growth Will Continue Unless Fundamental Reforms Are Implemented – American Enterprise Institute
Notes on the Week
Legislative history supports the Halbig decision against subsidies in the federal exchanges.
ObamaCare “fixed” health care by expanding the part that was most broken.
No, Medicare has not been fixed.
President Obama could learn from President Lincoln.
How would the economy do under Piketty’s proposed taxes?
Your property could become the police’s property—even if you do nothing illegal.
Video of the week: The Lego Movie shows why central planning can’t work.
Worker freedom is good for workers.
