Tuition vouchers or tax credits should be sufficient to enable parents to choose high-quality schools, including parochial schools as well as...
The Heartlander: January-February 2010 (full text)
February 1, 2010
Heartland has launched a series of new Web sites to bring real-time information to larger audiences, boost the interactive features that already exist on our other Web sites, and take advantage of new social media tools.
The sites are part of Heartland’s “Going Digital” project, the biggest revamping of Heartland’s product line since the launch of our first public policy newspaper in 1996. The new sites will incorporate the following features:
- Social media sharing capability, allowing people to easily share articles on MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and other social media sites.
- Polls, Twitter feeds, podcasting, live-blogging, and other features.
- Easier view of videos with a Google-like interface allowing for customer reviews and tools for embedding videos on their own sites.
- Real-time posting of stories for Budget & Tax News, Finance, Insurance & Real Estate News, Environment & Climate News, Health Care News, InfoTech & Telecom News, and School Reform News as they are edited, rather than only a once-a-month release.
- Blog-like comment fields following articles for reader feedback.
- Zmags, a program that creates an interactive Flash version of the newspaper that makes it easier to read and more interactive than the standard PDF or HTML formats.
- RSS feed capability so people can sign up to receive news and commentary from the site as it is posted.
- Access to PolicyBot, a search engine and database containing several hundred thousand studies and commentaries on technology and telecom issues produced by leading think tanks and free-market advocacy groups.
The sites can be accessed from the Heartland Institute Web site at www.heartland.org: Just click the topic in the green navigation bar at the top of the page, or on the newspaper image in the left navigation column. Alternatively, you can reach each site directly at these URLs:
www.budgetandtax-news.org
www.environmentandclimate-news.org
www.fire-news.org
www.healthpolicy-news.org
www.infotech-news.org
www.schoolreform-news.org (coming soon)
In November and December, the health care reform debate accelerated in the U.S. House and Senate.
Public support for the mammoth bill continues to fall. In December, an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll showed only 32 percent of the American people support ObamaCare. A November 30 Gallup poll reported 44 percent of Americans polled support the bill, while 49 percent oppose it. Since early October, support in the Gallup poll has fallen 8 points among independents, 6 points among Democrats, and 12 points among Republicans. Fifty-three percent reported disapproval of President Barack Obama’s handling of health care policy, while only 40 percent approved.
In December, Heartland launched an intense educational campaign on the health care issue by mailing to more than 15,000 people a copy of Heartland Policy Study #123, “The Obama Health Plan: Rationing, Higher Taxes, and Lower Quality Care,” by Peter Ferrara. Ferrara demystifies the health care overhaul bills, explaining how the measures would result in less health care for consumers and higher taxes for all. The study is available online at http://www.heartland.org/article/25813/ .
Through December and into the new year, Heartland is conducting weekly mailings of key health policy research to state legislators, business and civic leaders, CEOs, medical professionals, and other “influentials” to warn them about the dangers of government- run health care.
On December 8, Peter Fotos, director of government relations, sent a Research & Commentary, “Innovation in Biopharmaceuticals Must Be Protected,” to all state and federal legislators and staff. The federal health reform legislation could impose crippling restrictions on biopharmaceuticals. The R&C, available online at http://www.heartland.org/full/26689/, highlights the hugely productive partnership between the biopharmaceutical industry and venture capital investment and how the future of biologic medicines depends upon preserving incentives for innovation.
Health Care Roundtable
On December 15, Heartland hosted a Health Care Roundtable in San Diego, California. Peter Fotos, director of government relations, moderated and presented at the event, which 30 people attended to learn more about free-market health care reform. The program also featured Jim Lakely, managing editor of InfoTech & Telecom News, discussing the pitfalls of having government involved in handling electronic medical records development; Dr. James G. Knight, CEO of Consumer Directed Health Care, Inc.; Dr. Vijay Goel, CEO of HealthShoppr.com; and Dr. Herb Rubin, medical director, The Digestive Disease Foundation.
In the News
On November 3, the Chicago Tribune (circ. 516,032) ran a letter from Policy Advisor Robert Hamilton, MD, Senior Fellow Richard Dolinar, MD, and 20 other physicians and medical professionals, rebutting an earlier letter from five physicians who advocated a tax on sugared beverages to fund children’s health care programs. Hamilton, Dolinar, et al. wrote, “Calling for a tax on soda and other sweetened drinks is ... very naive. Consumption of such drinks is a minor contributor to the nation’s obesity problem. To be successful they would need to tax substantially not only these drinks but also Twinkies, bonbons, meats, fruits, vegetables and all of the other foods and products that contribute to obesity.”
Senior Fellow Greg Scandlen’s oped critical of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force dropping its endorsement of regular mammograms for women aged 40 and above received wide circulation in print and broadcast, including on November 24 The Williamson Daily News (circ. 12,500) in West Virginia. The American Spectator’s online edition ran the essay, and ABC News online quoted Greg, “If it were my money and my life at stake, I would forget the committees and the politicians and listen only to the one person who knows me best. My own doctor.”
On December 10, Investor’s Business Daily (circ. 210,708) examined the hidden and not-so-hidden costs in the health care overhaul bill and asked Greg for his take. Greg noted an as-yet-unreported possible cost for potential beneficiaries: “Almost everyone on Medicare has to buy a supplemental policy to go along with it. It seems crazy to me that they’d allow people to buy into Medicare knowing they’d have to supplement it with something else. It could be considered bait-and-switch.” The article was widely distributed online through Yahoo.com.
Senior Fellow Maureen Martin suggested in a widely published oped that Members of Congress might be liable for prosecution under breach-of-contract or racketeering statutes because they failed “to read bills before voting on them,” which constitutes “grounds for malpractice actions against them for damages.” Her oped ran in several papers in the Media News Group syndicate, including the El Paso Times (circ. 72,027).
Greg pulled no punches in a December 20 oped in the Southtown Star (circ. 24,500) when he wrote about the health care bill about to pass the Senate, “The lust to score a political win on health care is making Tiger Woods look like a saint. Congressional Democrats are willing to throw all common sense overboard in their frenzy for a conquest.” The Rational Review, a popular libertarian online aggregator, reprinted Greg’s oped on December 21.
Greg and New Orleans physician Michael S. Ellis cooperated on a December 21 letter to the Baton Rouge Advocate (circ. 87,800) disputing an earlier letter from a reader who objected to health savings accounts. Greg and Michael’s letter concluded, “HSAs are one of the few innovative developments in health insurance markets in recent years, forcing consumers to make smarter choices about the health care resources they use.”
Peter and John O’Hara, assistant communications director, had fun with their oped, “A Health Care Christmas List: All we want for Christmas is real health care reform,” which outlined several reforms that would reduce health care costs without forcing radical plans on patients. The oped ran in the Waxahachie (Texas) Daily Light (circ. 5,250) and the Deming (New Mexico) Headlight (circ. 3,541) and was syndicated widely online via RationalReview.com.
On the Air, Online
Washington, DC’s big morning talk radio station, WMAL, interviewed Greg on November 7 as the dangers of the House-passed health care overhaul bill became increasingly apparent.
Matt Patrick, a popular mid-morning talk show host in Toledo on WKKD, talked to Policy Advisor Peter Ferrara on November 13 for 20 minutes about Peter’s analysis that the health care overhaul bill poses “a serious threat” not just to consumers’ “freedom and prosperity, but to your very life as well.”
On December 6, Heartland Senior Fellow Richard Dolinar, MD spent an hour on the Terry Gilberg talk radio show on KFYI in Phoenix, Arizona. The two discussed the fallacy of evidence-based medicine, the current health care crisis, and the Democrats’ health care bill.
Trying to keep a bead on health care overhaul legislation, the Managed Care/First Report Daily News turned on December 17 to Greg for an update. He noted several costly mandates and regulations in the Senate bills. MC/FP reported, “In addition to creating individual and employer insurance mandates, Mr. Scandlen said ... (the Senate bill) contains a requirement for minimum medical loss ratios that will pose major challenges for insurers by setting a percentage of health insurance premiums that must be used to provide healthcare to customers. HR 3962 gives the HHS Secretary authority to specify medical loss ratios at no less than 85%, and insurers would need to provide rebates to enrollees if their medical loss ratio is less than specified.”
Greg ominously predicted, “That is going to be a big problem for carriers because they will not be able to provide the kind of administrative scrutiny that they have been on fraud prevention. ... And one of the things I find kind of curious is that the agents and brokers have not been more agitated about this, particularly NAHU [National Association of Health Underwriters], because it is going to essentially be the end of their profession.”
Executive Vice President Dan Miller spent an hour December 20 analyzing the health care bills in Congress on the nationally syndicated “Beyond the Beltway” with Bruce DuMont. Dan guested with two others, one liberal and the other very liberal. About 10 listeners from California to North Carolina who called in during the hour supported Dan’s position, while two supported the liberals.
Maureen visited with Jack Harris & Tedd Webb December 22 on AM TampaBay, the morning drive-time program on 970-AM WFLA. She discussed the “bribery” with earmarks for Nebraska Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson, Connecticut’s Chris Dodd, and Louisiana’s Mary Landrieu to get the 60 Democratic votes needed to move the health care overhaul bill.
Health Care News
The December 2009 issue of Health Care News reports on the Senate Finance Committee’s October vote to send health care reform legislation to the Senate floor ... and on important studies that say insurers and the insured would be hurt by the plan.
The issue also addresses Medicaid and Medicare, the Canadian health care system, and labor unions’ perspective on health care reform.
CENTER ON RISK, REGULATION, AND MARKETS
In December, Heartland agreed to acquire the Center on Risk, Regulation, and Markets (RRM) from the Washington, DC-based Competitive Enterprise Institute. The center, which has offices in Washington, DC and Florida, is directed by Eli Lehrer, a widely recognized expert on property and casualty insurance. Prior to joining CEI, Eli worked as speechwriter to U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) and previously worked as senior editor of The American Enterprise magazine and as a fellow for The Heritage Foundation.
“We worked closely with Eli on the 50-state report card on P&C insurance and came to recognize and respect his deep knowledge of this important topic,” said Heartland President Joseph Bast. “Eli’s expertise extends beyond this area, and we are already tapping him and his team to ramp up our efforts on finance, insurance, and real estate.”
Integration of the two organization’s PR and other programs is already underway, and an official announcement and launch of RRM at The Heartland Institute will take place in January.
The center is staffed by Eli Lehrer, director; Christian Cámara, director of the Florida Insurance Project; and administrative assistant Jesse Buggs.
New Senior Fellow: Alan B. Smith
On December 29, Alan B. Smith joined Heartland as a senior fellow who will work closely with RRM on finance, insurance, and real estate issues.
Smith most recently served as executive director of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), the nation’s largest individual membership association of state legislators. He has been involved with ALEC as an active representative of a member company for more than two decades and was a former member of ALEC’s Private Enterprise Board.
New Policy Advisors
RRM affirmed relationships with the Pelican Institute and James Madison Institute and secured major 2010 gifts totaling $259,000 from two key donors. In addition, 10 new individuals joined Heartland’s Board of Policy Advisors in support of the center’s work. They are:
Don Coursey, Ameritech Professor of Public Policy at the Harris School of Public Policy Studies, University of Chicago
Michael Hough, task force director at the American Legislative Exchange Council
David C. Marlett, chair of the Department of Finance, Banking and Insurance, Appalachian State University
Edwin Mills, professor emeritus of real estate and finance, Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University
Larry Mirel, former commissioner of insurance, securities, and banking for the District of Columbia
Jennifer Monti, deputy to the commissioner of nutrition for Baltimore, Maryland and physician, Case Western Reserve University Hospital
Lawrence S. Powell, associate professor and Whitbeck-Beyer Chair of Insurance and Financial Services, College of Business, University of Arkansas at Little Rock
Daniel Rothschild, managing director of the State and Local Policy Project at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University
Marni Soupcoff, columnist and editorial board member, The National Post (Toronto)
Samuel R. Staley, Robert W. Galvin Fellow and director of urban and land use policy, Reason Foundation
Dan Sutter, associate professor, Department of Economics & Finance, University of Texas - Pan American
Tom Stanton of Johns Hopkins University also agreed to participate in advisory board activities but expressed a preference not to be listed on the board.
Legislative Outreach
Finance
On November 11, Legislative Specialist Matthew Glans emailed a policy update on overdraft fees, including the full text of his November 3 letter to the editor of The Press of Atlantic City (circ. 67,916). “Banking fees have become a hot-button issue with the economy’s recent downturn,” he writes. “Overdraft fees are the most contentious, and regulators are currently considering changing how banks are allowed to apply and administer them.”
On November 23, Matt emailed to legislators nationwide his Finance, Insurance & Real Estate News article on the failures of the government’s stimulus tracking Web site, Recovery.org. He writes, “As news reporters and private citizens peruse records that supposedly track the federal government’s economic stimulus spending, they are finding huge exaggerations, errors, and apparent falsehoods, including jobs ‘saved or created’ in hundreds of congressional districts that do not exist.”
On November 24, Matt released a Research & Commentary update on the failure of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s deposit insurance fund. He describes the mismanagement that led to the exhaustion of the emergency fund and how the situation will get worse with future bank collapses. And he notes, “Studies, including those done by the FDIC itself, have shown free-market banking systems to be significantly less prone to failures than regulated banking systems.” His R&C is available online at http://www.heartland.org/article/23629/.
The idea of a “transaction tax” that would impose an apparently small fee on all stock, future, swap, credit default swap, and option transactions has gained significant support among some members of Congress and left-of-center advocacy groups. On December 14, Eli published a Research & Commentary collection providing a directory of academic research on the taxes. It’s available online at http://www.heartland.org/article/26518/.
On December 23, Matt sent to legislators nationwide an “In Case You Missed it” email on Citibank’s repayment of its TARP loans. The email included a letter to the editor Glans published in the Washington Times, examining the rationale behind Citi’s repayment and the regulations banks face under TARP. “TARP recipients like Citi have discovered that government bailouts always involve more regulatory control and more political influence over lending. Bailouts and increasingly onerous regulations are woefully ineffective at solving the root causes of the current crisis. They succeed only in propping up failing companies. The Obama administration should allow the market to run its course.”
Insurance - States
On November 2, Matt continued his promotion of the “Ten Principles of Property and Casualty Insurance Regulation” booklet by sending personal emails to legislators in Illinois, Iowa, and Missouri. The email linked to the booklet and quoted from its discussion of the National Flood Insurance Program. Matt also sent personalized emails to members of the congressional committees responsible for insurance and followed up with phone calls. The booklet is available online at http://www.heartland.org/full/26013/.
On November 30, Matt worked with Heartland’s public relations team to distribute a media advisory on proposed changes to Michigan’s auto insurance regulations. The new regulations would ban credit scoring and give the state insurance commissioner greater power to regulate rates.
In Florida, three major events characterized December:
- Early in the month, Eli and Christian traveled across Florida meeting with allies in the government and private sector. They consulted with and advised allies on the introduction of a new property insurance reform bill in that state. Christian continued his work advising legislators on the bill, which was formally introduced in a press conference on December 8. A press release from Heartland followed the bill’s introduction.
- On December 15, Heartland received early word that State Farm, Florida’s largest private insurer, and the Office of Insurance Regulation had struck a deal that would end State Farm’s withdrawal plan and allow the company to cull unprofitable policies. Eli and Christian issued a press release about the topic.
- On December 30, the State Office of Insurance Regulation announced it had put Magnolia Insurance, a major Citizens takeout company, under administrative supervision. Eli and Christian researched a report, to be co-published with the James Madison Institute, about the news.
In Louisiana, the debate over the potential privatization of the Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corporation continued. Eli wrote both an op-ed, published in several papers, and a white paper, co-published with the Pelican Institute, outlining reform possibilities for Citizens. Louisiana Department of Insurance Commissioner James Donelon complimented Heartland on the paper.
On December 14, Heartland published a white paper analyzing Michigan’s auto insurance reform plans. An op-ed that Eli wrote on the plans appeared on FrumForum.
On December 28, Matt sent an “In Case You Missed it” email on the auto insurance reforms being proposed in Michigan. In his original letter, printed in the Battle Creek Enquirer, Matt discusses several of the drawbacks the proposed legislation could present to consumers and the auto insurance market as a whole. “The bills, known as FAIR, would essentially eliminate insurers’ ability to react to risks and write sound auto policies. Accurate rates ensure that one consumer does not end up subsidizing another’s risky behavior. By making it impossible to use dozens of important risk factors - including credit scores and, for the most part, location - the bills would make auto insurance rates less fair for everyone in the state.”
Insurance - National
On December 1, Eli published a Research & Commentary collection on property mitigation based heavily on Smartersafer.org’s work. Eli participated in Capitol Hill meetings, educating members of Congress and staffs about Smartersafer’s positions. The R&C is available online at http://www.heartland.org/article/26457/.
On December 8, Eli learned about a proposed amendment from Rep. Kathy Castor (D-FL) that would have created a federal insurance “backstop.” He contacted the Smartersafer.org coalition and several congressional offices and drafted a letter offering advice that the coalition signed. The amendment was ruled out of order in the Rules Committee.
Working with members of Smartersafer.org--primarily the National Wildlife Federation and Sierra Club--Eli drafted a letter that was sent to President Barack Obama’s Council on Environmental Quality commenting on proposed changes to federal flood standards. He also co-wrote an op-ed with David Conrad of the National Wildlife Federation asking, “Can Congress Keep America Storm Resistant.” The op-ed ran in The Hill on December 9. Eli also recruited a new member--the Council of State Historic Preservation Officers--to the Smartersafer.org coalition.
Eli published a major piece on AIG at FrumForum.com. The piece received praise from unusual sources, including the left-wing headquarters Daily Kos, as well as criticism from some traditional allies at the Risk and Insurance Management Society.
Eli’s three op-eds on health care reform, also written for FrumForum, were featured as lead items and attracted scores of comments.
Real Estate
On November 19 and 23, Matt sent to legislators nationwide a new Research & Commentary on the Federal Housing Administration’s dwindling cash reserves. He discusses how FHA policies have led to its growing deficits and outlines the negative effect government subsidies can have on the housing market. It’s available online at http://www.heartland.org/article/24612/.
Victories
On November 19, the House Financial Services Committee voted to approve legislation presented by Texas Congressman Ron Paul that would require government audits of Federal Reserve monetary policy, in addition to requiring the Fed to reveal how much it lends to specific banks. Upon introduction of the measure by Paul, Matt sent a Research & Commentary and followed up with phone calls to members of the committee.
Legislative proposals have begun to emerge advocating a tightening of FHA lending standards, including a proposal by New Jersey Congressman Scott Garrett to raise the minimum down payment from 3.5 percent of home value to 5 percent. In January 2009, Matt predicted FHA would be facing cash reserve problems and began to write a series of Research & Commentaries and FIRE News articles on the topic. He notes the pending legislative proposals, while not perfect, are a step in the right direction.
Eli led broad efforts to oppose the Castor backstop amendment, voted down in the House Rules Committee on December 9.
Per Eli and Christian’s recommendations, an insurance reform bill was introduced in Florida that embodies the type of wide-open competition and choice that Heartland favors. The bill is a sizeable improvement over similar, but narrower, legislation proposed last year.
Terrible automobile insurance reform legislation proposed in the Michigan House, on which Heartland commented extensively, appeared to die in the state Senate.
In the News
On November 3, Matt responded to an editorial in The Press of Atlantic City (circ. 67,916) that castigated banks for raising overdraft charges. Wrote Matt, “The endless quest by government to regulate away personal responsibility is alarming. Regulators should work with banks to make overdraft programs more transparent and let the customer decide whether the service is worth having.”
The trade journal National Underwriter (circ. 95,310) reported November 23 about an effort to push for natural disaster policy reform by providing incentives, quoting Eli, “This proposal is ... worth careful consideration. In the long term, however, risk-based insurance rates will provide the best incentives for consumers, governments and businesses around the country.”
On December 10, the Gulf Coast Business Review (circ. 2,000) reviewed windstorm insurance in Florida and found the market a mess. It quoted Eli to explain why rates were high, including rate suppression, excessive mandated discounting for hurricane-proofing buildings, and alleged inspection fraud.
Christian took the Orlando Sentinel (circ. 206,363) to task December 13 when he wrote, “The Sentinel is wrong to say that supporters of market-based property-insurance reform would ‘sacrifice’ homeowners to keep a single insurer (‘Don’t sacrifice homeowners,’ November 30). In fact, Florida’s current property-insurance system is unsustainable, and keeping it will harm the same homeowners the Sentinel says it wants to help.”
Matt explained in the December 18 Washington Times (circ. 100,258) why Citigroup was so eager to pay back its TARP bailout fund: “TARP recipients like Citi have discovered that government bailouts always involve more regulatory control and more political influence over lending. Bailouts and increasingly onerous regulations are woefully ineffective at solving the root causes of the current crisis. They succeed only in propping up failing companies.”
Matt chastised the Battle Creek (Michigan) Enquirer (circ. 20,854) December 28 for its lopsided reporting of legislative changes in the state’s auto-insurance regulations. The proposed legislation “would essentially eliminate insurers’ ability to react to risks and write sound auto policies. Accurate rates ensure that one consumer does not end up subsidizing another’s risky behavior,” Matt wrote.
On December 30, the influential trade publication The Insurance Journal (circ. NA) cited a report by Eli and allies at Louisiana’s Pelican Institute weighing in on a state panel’s recommendation to phase out the state-run insurer-of-last-resort, Citizens Property Insurance Corp. Eli acknowledged that reforms to Citizens are needed but urged the legislature not to undo progress made by Citizens in stabilizing the property insurance market in Louisiana.
The Boston Globe (circ. 264,105) published Matt’s December 31 letter urging Bay State legislators not to back off from auto-insurance reforms despite complaints from special interests. Matt wrote, “Insurers need to be able to react to risk and charge premiums that allow them to remain solvent. Massachusetts’ old auto insurance system - that of the government setting rates for companies - is one that every other state in the union abandoned years ago. It didn’t work in Massachusetts. It should stay dead.”
On the Air, Online
Eli dinged the Texas insurance commissioner in the December 1 edition of the Insurance & Financial Advisor online newsletter. The commissioner rejected a rate increase in the state’s Fair Access to Insurance Requirements Plan, a government-mandated, rate-controlled mechanism that sells property insurance to high-risk property owners. “This is an anti-consumer action,” Lehrer wrote, “Without adequate rates in the FAIR Plan, someone else is going to end up picking up bills for people in the plan.”
BNET, an online resource for private-sector business managers, reporting December 3 on a package of bills in the Michigan state house that would severely restrict auto insurers’ pricing, turned to Eli for analysis. He noted, “If [these bills] produce votes for their backers, they’ll spawn imitators throughout the country.” One bill would send insurance executives to jail for showing “bad faith” in denying coverage to some drivers.
The Property & Casualty National Underwriter online December 8 quoted Eli extensively as he warned that a law proposed in Florida could force financial firms to bail out the state’s troubled government-run property insurer of last resort, Citizens Property Insurance Corp.
Writing December 10 in The Hill, an influential online newspaper for political junkies, Eli and David Conrad of the National Wildlife Federation noted no truly large storms made landfall in the United States in 2009 and, for the first year in at least a decade, not a single American family lost its home to hurricane damage.
The double-byline article noted, “While our two organizations have often approached a variety of issues as polar opposites, this is one area where we can truly agree: Many of the problems with hurricanes stem from deliberate government action. Many people moved into hurricane zones because governments encouraged them to buy buildings there, often providing the infrastructure that makes it possible. Governments at all levels should look long and hard before they offer a dime of taxpayer assistance--roads, schools, power lines or anything else--for any new development that doesn’t sit well away from likely hurricane impact areas.”
The super-lefty Daily Kos offered unmitigated praise for Eli on December 18 for his clear-headed analysis of AIG’s ongoing federal bagathon: “‘Kill AIG now’ has been said before, but seldom as coherently as it’s expressed by Eli Lehrer, director of the Center on Risk, Regulation and Markets.”
Writing in National Review Online, Eli agreed with former New York governor Eliot Spitzer and two co-authors, who in The New York Times argue that AIG should open its corporate e-mail servers to public scrutiny. “They’re right,” Eli wrote. “More than a year after AIG became a taxpayer ward, nobody has a clear picture of why and how the company collapsed.”
The Insurance & Financial Adviser, a Web-based trade journal, quoted Christian as saying delays in holding hearings are the latest attempt by the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation to prevent State Farm, the state’s largest private-sector insurer of homeowners, from leaving the state’s homeowners insurance market. Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty continues to enact policies that will force insurance companies to stop writing business in the state, Christian noted.
Fire, Insurance, & Real Estate News
The December 2009 issue of Fire, Insurance & Real Estate News, an insert in Budget & Tax News, features a report on mitigation discounts for homeowners insurance in Florida. The issue also addresses a proposed federal Consumer Financial Protection Agency, auditing the Federal Reserve, “swipe” fee limits, the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act, and more.
On November 2, Legislative Specialist John Nothdurft sent a new Research & Commentary, “Why the U.S. Should Cut its Corporate Tax Rate,” to 6,613 federal and state elected officials. John contends, “Reducing our corporate tax rate to a more competitive level would be the fastest and most efficient way to jumpstart our economy. This would not be just a onetime boost, but instead would foster long-term economic growth by bringing more capital into the private sector.” He followed up with personal emails to Pennsylvania elected officials; the state has the second-highest combined corporate tax rate in the U.S., and the legislature has been considering lowering the tax. The R&C is available online at http://www.heartland.org/article/26329/.
On November 6, John made calls to Congress to follow up on the corporate tax rate Research & Commentary and to update our contact list for congressional tax staffers.
On November 11, John sent personalized emails with a Massachusetts-specific Research & Commentary, “Why Massachusetts Should Cut its Corporate Tax Rate,” to members of the state legislature. He points out, “twenty-four states including Massachusetts have a combined federal and state corporate tax rate exceeding that of top-ranked (and depression-wracked) Japan. An OECD study affirms that ‘corporate taxes are found to be most harmful for growth.’”
On November 12, Local Legislation Manager Ralph W. Conner sent City of Chicago aldermen the complete Legislative Principles booklet series in response to recent debates about privatization of the city’s parking meter system. He followed up with phone calls to discuss policy matters and recruit membership in the Legislative Forum.
On November 17, John sent an email to members of the Colorado legislature with his Denver Post letter to the editor on soda and candy taxes and links to more in-depth research on sin taxes. He followed up with phone calls to offer more research and assistance on the issue. One representative commented, “I read your other article John and enjoyed it thanks so much. This whole soda tax thing is something the Dems think is going to help them w/funding for K-12. I think we simply sink further into a nanny state.”
On November 18, John sent members of the Iowa legislature personalized FYI emails with links to several Research & Commentary collections addressing ways to balance state budgets.
On November 20, John distributed an essay describing how “States Put Public Safety and Taxpayers at Risk.” The article outlines the dangerous trend of states raiding dedicated funds, such as 911 or road funds, in order to shore up their budgets. “If these dedicated funds have so much ‘extra’ revenue,” he writes, “legislators should reduce the taxes, not raid the funds. Diverting these taxes from their original purpose turns these dedicated funds into slush funds for big-spending politicians.”
On December 8, John sent a new Research & Commentary, “SunRail Will Produce Few Benefits and Cost Millions,” to 148 state legislators in Florida. He points out, “In 2008 America’s predominant passenger rail service, Amtrak, lost an average of $32 per passenger. High gasoline prices meant ridership on Amtrak was up, but the system did not even manage to break even, much less make money. Hundreds of millions of tax dollars are used every year to keep Amtrak afloat.” It’s available online at http://www.heartland.org/full/26494/.
Victories
Newly elected New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) vowed to veto any tax increase proposal that might land on his desk in 2010. He made the pledge almost as soon as he won the election.
The Louisiana Transportation Department has proposed giving control of more than 5,000 miles of highways to local governments. This is likely to result in better upkeep of the roads. Local governments would receive funding from the state, and the state pledges to reduce its own highway budget proportionally.
On the fourth try, the Cook County, Illinois board of commissioners successfully reduced the county’s retail sales tax, which applies in Chicago and surrounding suburbs and unincorporated areas of the county. The county portion of the sales tax is now set to fall from 1.75 percent to 1.25 percent on July 1. Consumers are expected to save about $195 million a year in lower sales tax payments.
The Federal Reserve in December reported that consumer credit card debt levels and payment delinquency rates are falling. This indicates consumers are doing a better job of managing their finances, paying bills on time, and saving more money.
In the News
The Iowa City Press-Citizen on November 6 ran a letter to the editor from a local reader who urged the city council “to read a recent article by John Nothdurft, the budget and tax legislative specialist at the Heartland Institute in Chicago (‘The best and worst ways to eliminate a budget deficit,’ available at www.heartland.org). The main premise of the column is that the No. 1 worst way to eliminate a budget deficit is to increase taxes.”
Research Fellow Steve Stanek ridiculed the politics and economics of the Cash for Clunkers program in the Boston Herald (circ. 167,506) on November 6. “Most Americans do not own cars or trucks worth $24,000, yet that’s how much American taxpayers spent to subsidize each new vehicle sold because of the Cash for Clunkers program, according to auto industry analysts at Edmunds.com,” he wrote, adding, “The $3 billion was borrowed, which means we will be paying for it for years to come.” Steve’s thinking was reflected in a November 9 editorial in the Orangeburg, South Carolina Times & Democrat (circ. 17,324), “Taxpayers take a hit in clunkers.”
The Northwest Herald (circ. 37,232), serving suburban Chicago, turned to Steve on November 12 for insight on a news story reporting on big increases in salaries for state and local government employees. He said, “We’ve had millions of people lose jobs, and those who still have jobs have seen their incomes not grow at all or actually decline. In government, they’re still hiring, and they’re still getting raises, and they still have lavish health benefits and retirement benefits.”
On November 18, John warned readers of the Denver Post (circ. 340,949) that Gov. Bill Ritter’s plan to transfer $132 million in taxpayer money into the government’s coffers by increasing taxes on soda, candy, and Internet purchases “will have little effect on public health, but ... will have a strong negative effect on the economic health of Colorado.”
The North American Press Syndicate sent out John’s November 20 oped warning that higher taxes on alcohol “will not reliably address state budget gaps because with each tax hike, less revenue is generated. This is because tax hikes discourage use of a product, encourage consumers to cross state lines, or drive consumers into the black market.”
Also on November 20, John gave a pat on the back in the Tallahassee Democrat (circ. 51,285) to state Sen. Mike Fasano, who proposed legislation that would substitute a defined-contribution pension plan for a defined-benefit plan. “Switching new employees into this system, along with higher worker contribution rates and reasonable tweaks to the payment structure in order to offset general workforce trends, would help create a more secure and predictable system,” John wrote.
On November 22, Steve published a tongue-in-cheek oped, “Why Stop at Health Insurance?” in the Waxahachie Daily Light (circ. 5,900) in Texas. He suggested, “If the government has the power to force us to buy health insurance, surely it can make us buy houses, cars, clothing, and anything else. Imagine the boost to the economy if the government simply orders us to buy stuff!”
The Bourbonnais (Illinois) Herald (circ. 35,000) ran John’s oped December 1 explaining “Why Illinois should be wary of tobacco taxes.” Regular readers of John’s budget analysis across the country know that cigarette taxes seldom--very seldom--produce the revenue projected by budgeteers.
The Chicago Gazette (circ. 17,000), a hard-copy monthly serving central Chicago businesses and consumers, covered on December 4 the financial woes afflicting the city’s premier meetings-and-convention site, McCormick Place, and Navy Pier, which were hurt this fall by the defection of several large trade shows to out-of-state venues. The newspaper turned to Steve to articulate the key roadblock to financial stability: “Many believe the restaurant tax in particular is unreasonable. ‘What they’re trying to do is export the tax burden onto tourists, but it hits many locals too,’ said Steve Stanek, a research fellow at The Heartland Institute. ‘It doesn’t work, and it makes Chicago less competitive because it makes doing business in Chicago more expensive and harder. If I had to hold a convention and I had an option between Chicago and Orlando, I’d have to pick Orlando because I know [attendees] wouldn’t like to have to pay a huge bill for lunch and transportation.’”
The controversy over college football’s Bowl Championship Series isn’t one of Heartland’s core competencies, but Steve stood up for limited government on Houston news radio KTRH on December 10. The station reported efforts in Congress to establish a BCS playoff process that would recognize smaller teams, such as undefeated and bowl-less Texas Christian University. Said Steve, “Congress has no business injecting itself into this. I mean, where’s it going to end? Is there no aspect of American life that Congress will not leave alone?”
The Wall Street Journal (circ. 2,011,999) December 12 ran a letter to the editor from Steve in support of an oped critical of the Federal Reserve Board’s central planning, Soviet style.
On December 15, the Chicago Tribune reported on the brutal price-gouging by union workers setting up trade shows at the city’s popular venues. The reporter wrote, “The Chicago-based Heartland Institute, a nonprofit that promotes libertarian values, peddles its publications at several trade shows and conventions around the country each year.
“Among the past expenses that incense Nikki Comerford, the events director, is a shipping bill she received several years ago, when Heartland exhibited at the Pittcon lab-science show at McCormick Place. The bill was for sending a compact, 60-pound box of exhibit materials back to Heartland’s downtown offices, a five-mile trip.
“‘It was almost $350,’ she said. ‘I called show management and said, ‘I could have put it in a limo for less money.’‘”
The West Michigan Business Review (circ. 15,000) editorialized December 16 against the legislature raising already-high state taxes on cigarettes, and it quoted a Research & Commentary by John: “Many studies have shown that smoking bans have hurt small businesses, especially in the hospitality and gaming industries. In Ohio, for example, the Department of Job and Family Services predicted a 10,000-job gain for the state’s hospitality and leisure industry prior to the ban’s implementation. In reality, during the first 12 months of the smoking ban, the industry lost 5,400 jobs.” The Saginaw News (circ. 38,000) later re-ran the editorial.
Steve exposed the business fallacy of municipally subsidized sports stadiums in the Northwest Herald (circ. 36,594) in suburban Chicago December 30. Steve wrote that investing tax dollars in a developer’s proposed project that requires subsidies to get off the ground “is as stupid as investing our personal dollars in one. And if a developer asks for subsidies because he wants taxpayers to lower his costs to boost his profits, then the project does not need subsidies. Either way, there is never a good reason to subsidize private projects such as this sports complex.”
On the Air, Online
OneNewsNow, the online news syndicate, asked Steve what he thought about a California proposal to permit insurance companies to charge consumers by miles driven. Steve, a former auto insurance executive, contends that miles driven and the area in which one drives most often are already factors in auto insurance policies--and that those who drive the most in higher-risk areas, such as large cities, are typically charged more.
On November 8, Assistant Communications Director John O’Hara discussed the national tea party movement on WYDE’s Michael Hart Show in Birmingham, Alabama.
TownTalk.com, serving central Louisiana, on November 12 published Legislative Specialist John Nothdurft’s commentary that began, “What the U.S. economy needs more than another pork-filled stimulus plan or massive new spending proposal is a cut in the corporate tax rate.”
On November 23, KTRH in Houston turned to Government Relations Director Peter Fotos for analysis of the non-existent cities and towns that supposedly benefitted from the federal government’s stimulus plan. In Texas, the feds identified at least six congressional districts that simply don’t exist. Observed Peter, “I hope it’s a clerical error--because then you might be able to excuse it a little bit--because if they were trying to put one past the American people, they failed miserably.”
In reporting on the enduring popularity of the tea party movement, Slate.com December 7 asked John O’Hara for analysis. Slate reported: “If anything, the uncertainty about their actual numbers benefits the Tea Partiers. As John M. O’Hara, author of the upcoming book ‘A New American Tea Party,’ puts it: ‘In a way, the inability to pin down an exact number speaks to the broad appeal of this movement.’”
John favorably reviewed Obamanomics by Timothy Carney December 18 on BigGovernment.com, writing, “Obamanomics reads like an encyclopedia of corporatism in the age of Obama. ... Obama has stacked his administration with industry insiders, political operatives, and former lobbyists – all pros in the game of corporatism.” The review was picked up by several other sites on the Web.
Budget & Tax News
The December 2009 issue of Budget & Tax News offers a photo feature on the September 12 Taxpayer March on DC. Nearly one million people rallied on behalf of fiscal responsibility and free markets. The issue also covers the so-called Amazon tax, video gambling, bailouts for trial lawyers, and more.
A New American Tea Party
In A New American Tea Party, released in January 2010 by Wiley, Heartland’s assistant communications director, John O’Hara, chronicles the birth and rapid growth of the Tea Party movement, from the first modern-day tea party in February 2008 to the million-person march on Washington, DC in September. O’Hara, who helped organize one of the first tea party events, comments on policy battles and how the movement will grow in response to them.
The book is available for purchase in the Heartland Webstore at http://heartlandstore.org/A-New-American-Tea-Party-The/A/0470567988.htm.
Responding to a news article “Educators Wary of Federal Grants” in the Modesto Bee (circ. 81,833), Senior Fellow Robert Holland tweaked teacher unions--typically reliable supporters of federal intervention when it comes to education funding--in a letter published November 20. Wrote Bob, “President Obama’s ‘Race to the Top’ grant competition for public school systems has only recently released its guidelines, but already it appears to have brought about a miracle: It has turned teacher unions and other elements of the education establishment into Tenth Amendment conservatives who decry federal meddling in schools.”
On November 29, Bob defended merit pay for teachers in the Des Moines Register (circ. 135,056) when he wrote, “educators can use test data in assessing teachers’ work while being fair to the teachers. In fact, a value-added approach could be a particular boon to teachers who start with underachieving students and help them gain year to year. Unions do no favors for their members when they stand in the way of recognizing and rewarding such exemplary work.”
Bob took Indiana’s education director to task in the Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette (circ. 86,049) December 6. Bob responded to the director’s oped that the state should increase funding for “teacher preparation” and argued, “Real reform would abolish the education degree and require teachers to have a well-rounded liberal arts education with a major in their chosen discipline, as do most private-school teachers. Beginning teachers could learn the schoolhouse nitty-gritty in summer workshops or under the wing of a savvy mentor.”
Bob used the Dallas Morning News (circ. 338,933) December 14 to urge the Texas legislature to lift the cap on charter schools in the state. Long lists of parents seeking to place their children in the limited number of charter schools “show the existence of pent-up parental demand for educational choices not being provided in regular public schools. If not through charter schools, how should that demand for better education be met?” wrote Bob.
Bob warned in a late December oped that the national PTA launched a well-funded campaign to sell the Obama administration’s Common Core State Standards as a prescription for what ails K-12 education in America. “A federal takeover of K-12 education is no less a peril to freedom than socialized medicine,” Bob noted in his oped. The piece was widely reprinted, including in papers in the four states where the PTA blitz was rolled out. Hits December 22 and 23 included the Apex (North Carolina) Herald (circ. 2,025), Holly Spring (North Carolina) Sun (circ. NA), and Garner (North Carolina) News (circ. 3,500), and on the stateofohioeducation.com blog.
Bob gave kudos to the Los Angeles Times (circ. 1,231,318) December 23 for its report on the woes of public education in Los Angeles. Bob wrote, “It is unfortunate that many principals give new teachers only a cursory evaluation, as your investigative report clearly established. But what is truly a shame is that L.A.’s union rules oblige teachers to serve only two years on probation before being granted tenure, the practical equivalent of lifetime employment.”
Victories
Republican school choice advocates were elected governor of New Jersey (Chris Christie) and Virginia (Bob McDonnell) on November 3.
In Massachusetts, a bill allowing more charter schools to operate in the worst-performing districts statewide passed a key committee on November 10 and cleared several more legislative hurdles in November.
Arizona’s scholarship tax credit program is saving $44 million to $186 million a year, according to expert testimony. The Arizona Republic carried a front-page story on November 17, explaining that one in four scholarship recipients would otherwise be educated at a public school at a far greater cost to taxpayers.
A report released November 20 by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction shows the number of children using vouchers through the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program rose 4 percent over the past year, even though more-stringent state controls mean the number of schools participating in the program and the amount of funding per voucher fell. The voucher program is now nearing its cap of 22,500 full-time equivalents (21,062 students are now participating). Meanwhile, Milwaukee Public Schools enrollment dropped from 85,369 students in 2008 to 82,444 students, as parents in the city are clearly desperate to give their children a better education.
California state Sen. Gloria Romero (D-Los Angeles) introduced SB 742--a bill to identify by name 10 of the worst-performing public school districts in the state, including at least three with high dropout rates, and require the community to come up with restructuring plans for those schools. The idea is to let parents know their schools are awful so they can demand takeover or other changes at a grassroots level.
Connecticut’s state board of education voted to lift caps on charter school growth statewide.
The Michigan legislature passed a package of reform bills that will allow it to compete for Race to the Top funding. Under the new rules, high-quality charter schools will be able to open others, the dropout age is raised to 18, and a state turnaround czar can close down or seize control of failing schools.
The Texas Public Policy Foundation released a report showing that the number of students on charter school waiting lists in the state more than doubled from last year, now totaling 40,813 students.
School Reform News
The December 2009 issue of School Reform News reports a task force has been named by the Arizona legislature to investigate whether scholarship-granting organizations are playing by the rules or gaming the system. The issue also covers a potential mayoral takeover of Milwaukee’s public schools, polls, online higher education, and charter schools.
Climategate Exposed
Heartland policy experts played a key role in the media as Climategate unfolded in November. Fox News online led its international Web page December 1 with a succinct report: “The trustworthiness of the scientific community’s global warming data pool is being called into question as the scandal over climate data continues to unfold.”
Senior Fellow James M. Taylor was quoted at length in the article, which noted that many in the environmental policy community are outraged. Noted James, “The scientific process has become so appallingly corrupted.” Internationally respected physicist Willie Soon, a frequent speaker at Heartland climate change conferences, said, “This is a shameful, dark day for science.”
Fox also noted that Heartland had produced three international meetings on climate change over the past two years, bringing the message of sound science to the fore.
Heartland President Joseph Bast observed in a November 27 oped in Investor’s Business Daily (circ. 175,000), “The IPCC email scandal makes this a good time for reporters and other opinion leaders to take a serious look at the skeptics’ case in the global warming debate and perhaps move to the middle, where serious journalists and honest elected officials should have been all along. A good place to start is The Heartland Institute’s Web site devoted to global warming realism, http://www.globalwarmingheartland.org. It’s not too late to regain some of the native skepticism that Average Joe relied on all along to see through the global warming scam.”
Other print publications, including the Concord (Massachusetts) Monitor (circ. 21,920), ran articles that cited or quoted Heartland personnel.
Special Correspondent Paul Chesser was one of the most prolific Heartland staffers on Climategate from the moment the as-yet-unnamed whistle blower put the incriminating emails online. Paul blogged almost daily on his popular blog at American Spectator, including these highlights: “Get That Hacker a Pimp Coat,” November 20; “Presto! Alarmist Emails Not Such a Big Deal,” focusing on The New York Times’ Andy Revkin’s downplaying of the scandal, November 21; “The 12 C’s of Climate Alarmism,” November 23; “CNN: Climategate Never Happened,” November 23; “Mann’s Mad Money,” December 2, which followed the formidable money trail of funding leading to notorious alarmist Michael Mann at Penn State University; and “Dear Ben Santer: Resign,” referring to the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory scientist prominently and embarrassingly mentioned in emails, December 3.
Talk radio also tapped Paul’s expertise, including afternoon drive host Ron Smith on WBAL in Baltimore on November 23; Amy Oliver on KFKA in northern Colorado on November 24; Dave Elswick of KARN in Little Rock on December 3; David Boze on KTTH in Seattle on December 1; Jim Pfaff on KLZ in Denver; and Raubin Pierce and Megan Mosack on WIBW in Topeka.
OneNewsNow, the online and satellite news channel, asked James for an unusual perspective: a glimpse into the character of the Climategate alarmists. James responded that he was particularly disturbed with an e-mail exchange celebrating the death of a noted Australian climate change skeptic, John Daly. “The response from one of the alarmists in these e-mails was that [Daly’s death] is something to be celebrated,” James said. “And I found that to be completely repugnant.”
As the story broke, a BBC broadcast crew was in Chicago covering the city’s green-building initiative and interviewed Executive Vice President Dan Miller December 8 on its worldwide morning program, carried by many U.S.-based National Public Radio outlets. Dan noted the Climategate emails played a major role in the unraveling of the Copenhagen climate conference as the more-principled alarmists distanced themselves from the radical green partisans preaching imminent destruction.
Chicago’s local Fox News morning program hosted Dan on the same topic on December 11.
Agence France-Presse, the French international news service, quoting Canadian sources, reported December 12 that “business interests and U.S. partisan politics are behind the furor over leaked emails that have whipped up a controversy at the Copenhagen climate talks.” The article was posted online and published in scores of newspapers. One source cited Heartland as having been “at the core of a decade-long campaign to delay government action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.” The article quoted Dan alleging the British scientists whose emails were disclosed had felt “so threatened by skeptics’ contrary findings that they deleted or manipulated their own data.”
The English version of Al Jazeera, the Arabic-language news network, picked up the French news service’s drum beat December 16, reporting, “Many of the sceptics are lobbyists for oil and gas interests, or free-market economics advocates who believe any efforts to regulate greenhouse gases will be a financial disaster.” It cited as an example The Heartland Institute, “a non-profit research group which promotes free-market ideas.”
Policy Advisor Peter Ferrara wrote a devastating 2,000-word analysis in The American Spectator December 16, “The Great Hoax,” confronting the claim by the media and others that the Climategate emails are insignificant in the global warming debate.
Science Director Jay Lehr tried to explain the motivation of the scientists caught in the Climategate memos in the Philadelphia City Paper December 21. The paper quoted Jay saying, “More than anything, it’s about money, it’s about research grants, it’s about power, it’s about socialism. ... The incentives to do this are huge. It’s absolutely the neatest thing if you want to have bigger government and greater control.”
Legislative Outreach
During the week of November 16, Local Legislation Manager Ralph Conner sent an email to elected officials in cities identified by Forbes magazine as “toxic”: Jacksonville, Florida; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Houston, Texas; and Atlanta, Georgia. Ralph included links to research and commentary on environment issues and asked elected officials to consider how environmental stewardship does not have to punish economic development and private-sector job creation.
Victories
The Oregon Department of Energy released new rules cutting back the state’s subsidies for wind, solar, and other alternative energy industries. The lucrative subsidies contributed to a growing budget deficit that threatened more-necessary government services.
San Bernardino, California County Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt took on the solar power industry, opposing a heavily subsidized solar project planned for his county. Mitzelfelt argues the project will threaten desert wildlife while failing to deliver on its economic promises.
The state of Wyoming filed a federal lawsuit challenging the Obama administration’s decision to cut by more than half the number of snowmobiles that may enter Yellowstone Park. Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal (D) said the Obama plan continues an “unacceptable pattern of limiting public access to the public’s lands.”
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) and the secretaries of the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources and Louisiana Economic Development Department filed objections with U.S. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson regarding potential EPA plans to regulate carbon dioxide emissions.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry asked the U.S. EPA to withdraw its finding that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases threaten public health and welfare. Perry emphasized that the recent Climategate scandal shows EPA’s assumptions are based on manipulated and faulty science.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture released its determination that genetically modified alfalfa would pose no significant environmental harm.
Reversing course on a policy strongly supported by environmental activists, Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski (D) announced his support for cutting runaway subsidies for wind and solar power projects in the state.
On the Road
Science Director Jay Lehr received a standing ovation on November 2 in Tunica, Mississippi from 100 dealers attending the national sales meeting of AutoFarm, a high-tech company selling farmers equipment to operate their farms from satellites and computer programs. Jay spent 40 minutes debunking global warming alarmism and answering questions from the receptive audience.
Also on November 2, at a Heartland-sponsored lunch in Chicago, more than 30 people heard Craig Loehle dissect alarmist warnings of deadly increases in sea levels and global temperatures. Loehle, principal scientist at the National Council for Air and Stream Improvement, explained the insidious influence of politics on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and then shredded the arguments underlying predictions of melting ice caps, increased incidence and severity of extreme weather, and the muddled concept of a global warming tipping point.
On November 7, Special Correspondent Paul Chesser appeared on a global warming panel in Raleigh, North Carolina during State Policy Network’s annual meeting and explained, “How to Expose Your Local Alarmists.”
Jay evoked cheers from an audience of about 100 at the Texas Bankers Association meeting in Austin on November 13 when he explained “the global warming hoax” and outlined reasons why the proposed cap-and-trade emission-trading scheme should be defeated in Congress.
Jay was interrupted by applause three times during a 45-minute presentation on December 2 to the Ohio Farm Bureau annual meeting in Columbus. Jay distributed copies of Heartland’s sound-science-based global warming literature to the audience of about 400, and then challenged the ag community to talk to one non-farmer in their community every month about the sham of global warming. Jay told the group, “If not you, then who will set the record straight on agriculture, which is so distorted by environmental zealot groups and animal activists?”
Senior Fellow James M. Taylor and climate-fear promoter Dr. Steve Running, a professor of forestry at the University of Montana, reprised their October debate at Colorado State University on December 4 at the Western Stockmen’s annual meeting in Denver. Debating in a rodeo arena before an audience of about 150, Running regurgitated his basic warming presentation and James targeted new information for the predominantly agriculture attendees on topics such as drought and the United Nations’ targeting of livestock for heavy regulation.
Policy Advisor John Dale Dunn, MD spoke December 6 to an Americans for Prosperity group in Austin, Texas about the harmful impact of a proposed cap-and-trade system. John was followed by a screening of “Not Evil, Just Wrong,” a film exposing the high cost of global warming hysteria.
Jay wowed an audience of 200 in Dallas December 12 at the annual meeting of the Farm Credit Council Services Council by doing double-duty. Jay was set to be one of two speakers, but when the other failed to show, Jay stepped in for a two-hour session on global warming. He began with the science and ended with the economics, warning the audience that cap-and-trade legislation pending in Congress “would be the most detrimental thing happening to agriculture since the dust bowl.”
In the News
The Stanford Review, the weekly newspaper of conservative students at Stanford University in California, took on the politically correct assumptions of catastrophic global warming in a November 6 article, “The Man-Made Myth.” The authors rebutted several myths, including: “Another myth in the ‘science’ of climate change is the claimed consensus. In response to the [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s] report (which was initiated and backed by the United Nations), independent scientists on the Non-Governmental International Panel on Climate Change created a comprehensive reply examining the errors in the IPCC’s report. This reply is called Climate Change Reconsidered ...”
On November 7, the Springfield, Illinois Journal-Register (circ. 57,659) published an op-ed by Executive Vice President Dan Miller under the headline, “CO2 Curbs Would Be Devastating.” The op-ed warned, “Regulations and mandates that force nationwide cuts in carbon dioxide emissions offer only speculative environmental benefits, if any, as a switch to wind and solar power will certainly cause more harm than good to the environment.”
Canadian Senator Bert Brown of Alberta, a member of the senate Energy, Environment and Natural Resources Committee, on November 9 cited Anthony Watts’ perceptive “Is the U.S. Surface Temperature Record Reliable?” published by The Heartland Institute, to warn his countrymen to beware of alarmist claims of imminent disaster from global warming. The report is available online at http://www.heartland.org/books/SurfaceStations.html.
On November 10, Chicago Tribune (circ. 516,032) columnist Dennis Byrne cited Heartland-published Climate Change Reconsidered in dampening alarmist warnings about a crisis in the climate. Byrne referred to several findings in the report and concluded, “An honest examination of the science will reveal perhaps the only indisputable fact in this entire argument: The science is not settled and claims of a scientific consensus are an exaggeration, if not a deception.”
Senior Fellow James M. Taylor turned the tables on a key bureaucrat who leads the United Nations’ global warming alarmist choir, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, in a November 18 oped in the Washington Times (circ. 100,258). James noted the apparatchik called scientists at the India Ministry of Environment and Forests “arrogant” for producing a 60-page study concluding there is insufficient evidence to say global warming is causing a retreat of Himalayan glaciers. James concluded, “What is arrogant beyond measure is for the bureaucrat heading IPCC to try to silence genuine scientists who have studied a pressing public issue and published their objective scientific findings.”
The Winston-Salem Journal (circ. 81,900) ran a letter December 15 from a North Carolinian reader who objected to the Copenhagen climate conference and cited Climate Change Reconsidered, published by The Heartland Institute, to show the science on global warming isn’t settled in favor of the alarmists.
On the Air
On November 2, James spent an hour talking to and taking calls with Charles Butler, a black conservative radio talk-show host on WVON in Chicago.
In one of the fairest mainstream media reports on global warming Heartland has monitored in years, Sky News out of Australia reported December 4 on the defeat of the ruling liberal party and an end to a proposed cap-and-trade carbon-emission scheme. Sky News online credited Aussie Sen. Stephen Fielding with playing a key role in the debate after he returned in June from Washington, DC where he attended the Third International Conference on Climate Change and became an uncompromising global warming skeptic. Reported Sky News, “Don’t call them deniers - to some that’s an offensive term. They’d rather be referred to as sceptics. Sceptics who are questioning the science that links rising carbon emissions with hotter global temperatures.” Well said.
Heartland Policy Advisor John Dale Dunn, MD guested with host George Butler on WOAI-AM in San Antonio December 6 to discuss the problems with climate-control bills pending in Congress.
Popular television journalist John Stossel, newly installed with his own weekly program on Fox Business Channel, wrote in his blog that follows his program, “Earlier this year, The Heartland Institute released an 880-page critique of the IPCC’s latest report, ‘Climate Change Reconsidered.’ Written by 40 scientists, it offers a detailed account of dissent from the IPCC position. ... It makes several excellent points, including those on the IPCC’s use of ‘projections’ rather than scientific forecasts.”
Policy Advisor Peter Ferrara talked to Norm Jones on WTCM-FM, serving Michigan and Canada, for 30 minutes December 18, in the final hours as the Copenhagen conference wrapped up and imploded in disagreements and finger-pointing.
In early November, James G. Lakely, codirector of Heartland’s Center on the Digital Economy and managing editor of InfoTech & Telecom News, sent local officials and state legislators in Colorado a Research & Commentary describing how municipalities put taxpayer funds in peril when they get into the broadband communications business. The city of Longmont, Colorado had put on the November ballot a question to voters: Should the city get into the broadband delivery business? Jim had previously written op-eds and letters to the local Longmont newspaper.
On November 10, Jim authored a Research & Commentary outlining the many reasons why Alabama Revenue Commissioner Tim Russell’s call for taxing Internet purchases is unwise. The piece was sent to thousands of Heartland contacts on IT and telecom issues, and Lakely followed up with personal emails and phone calls to Alabama legislators. The R&C is available online at http://www.heartland.org/article/26345/.
On November 19, Jim wrote an op-ed criticizing a decision by the California Energy Commission to outlaw 25 percent of all televisions starting in 2011. He wrote, “Televisions account for only about 5 percent of the state’s electricity use. But as all Californians know, there is no ‘problem’ so small it can’t be remedied with a sledgehammer by the state.” The op-ed was sent to hundreds of legislators in California, as well as other select legislators across the country.
Jim contacted hundreds of state and federal legislators about network neutrality and other tech issues, advocating free-market approaches and arguing against further government regulation. He also targeted many state legislators with stories from the December and February editions of InfoTech & Telecom News that covered issues specific to their states.
Jim has written numerous letters to the editor countering reporting and editorials that favored government regulation over the market. Publications that received letters included The Financial Times, supporting the right of NewsCorp to delist its news articles from Google and enter into a search agreement with Bing; The Hill, pointing out the absurdity of the Obama administration’s deputy chief technology officer’s definition of net neutrality; The Boston Globe, supporting the liberty of adults to gamble online if they wish; and The Seattle Times, warning about possible violations of privacy inherent in the ORCA public transit card.
Jim spoke at a Heartland Institute Health Care Roundtable in San Diego, California on December 15. He informed the audience about the latest developments in the health information technology field, with an emphasis on warning against heavier government involvement and mandates. The free market, the private sector, must be allowed to experiment and develop the best health IT solutions.
Victories
On Election Day, November 3, voters in Longmont, Colorado soundly rejected a ballot measure that would have allowed the city to get into the telecommunications business. The ballot question, Measure 2C, lost overwhelmingly: 57 percent to 43 percent.
In November, the city of St. Cloud, Florida announced it was shutting down the municipality-owned and -operated free wireless broadband service. Once touted nationwide as a success, St. Cloud invested $2.6 million in taxpayer money to build the network, known as CyberSpot, in 2006. With the city facing a $1.3 million budget shortfall as 2010 approaches, the city council voted to pull the plug on free public access, saving taxpayers about $30,000 in monthly maintenance and operating costs.
The city government of Burlington, Vermont is embroiled in controversy now that the public has discovered the staggering amount of taxpayer money lost in a failed municipal broadband project. The mayor reportedly tried to hide the fact the Burlington Telecom project is approximately $50 million in the red. He is being forced to come clean, and the city is beginning to revisit a plan that was launched with much fanfare and promise four years ago.
Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) moved closer than ever to legalizing gambling on the Internet. From his perch as chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, Frank has been working on a bill to allow U.S. residents to gamble as easily on their computers as they do at casinos in Nevada, New Jersey, Indian reservations, and riverboats floating off the shores of cities across the nation.
The city of Concord, California in December considered bringing back municipal wi-fi, but unlike other failed programs, this system will be used only for public safety and other municipal purposes and won’t compete for customers with private-sector wi-fi services.
Altoona, Pennsylvania has created a citywide wi-fi service, but unlike scores of such schemes that have failed in recent years, Altoona’s will be for city use only and will not attempt to provide free service to the public.
Protecting online privacy has become one of the hottest topics in Washington, with members of Congress, federal regulators, White House staffers, and the biggest Internet companies offering proposals to balance security with commerce and freedom on the Web. U.S. Reps. Rick Boucher (D-VA), Cliff Stearns (R-FL), and Bobby Rush (D-IL) are working on different bills to protect online privacy. The Federal Trade Commission held its first and long-awaited privacy roundtable December 7, and the Federal Communications Commission prepared to address the issue in its national broadband recommendations due to Congress in February.
In the News
Several newspapers in the McClatchy chain cited Jim in an editorial opposing net neutrality policies pushed by the FCC. The East Valley Tribune (circ. 72,000) on November 3 reported, “‘The investments and technological breakthroughs that made the digital era possible were the result of risk-taking in an environment defined by private property rights and the freedom to innovate,’ wrote James G. Lakely, a former journalist who is co-director of the Center on the Digital Economy for the Heartland Institute, a free-market think tank. ‘If the products of that market process are separated from the property rights and freedom to innovate that made them possible, they soon would no longer be produced, the ‘pie’ would shrink, and we would all be less happy and less free.’”
In a November 9 letter to the editor of the Chicago Sun-Times (circ. 313,176), Jim rebutted an editorial favoring net neutrality on the Internet. He wrote, “The debate over net neutrality hinges on a simple question: Should individuals making choices in a free market determine Internet policy, or shall bureaucrats micromanage such a complex technical and economic system through ad hoc decisions in Washington?”
The influential trade journal Communications Daily (circ. NA) reported December 10, “The fight over net neutrality rules is being waged in a new lobbying arena, pitting traditional corporate lobbying tactics against the well-honed social networking that helped win the election for President Barack Obama.” It cited Heartland as a key opponent and target of the lefty social networks.
On the Air, Online
Delaware News Overview, an online publication that contains reviewed, quoted, news, syndicated excerpts, comments, features, and advertising, cited a media advisory in the wake of New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s suit against Intel on November 5: “Heartland Institute Experts See Cuomo Grandstanding.” Senior Fellow Maureen Martin and Research Fellow Jim Lakely were the experts cited.
InfoTech & Telecom News
The December issue of InfoTech & Telecom News reports members of Congress, both Republicans and Democrats, are expressing growing concern about plans by the Federal Communications Commission to impose network neutrality regulations. Also in this issue: Google Books, broadband stimulus funds, privacy regulation, municipal wi-fi, regulation of bloggers, and an exclusive interview with Larry Downes, author of The Laws of Disruption: Harnessing the New Forces That Govern Business and Life in the Digital Age.
In November, a second edition of Senior Fellow Lee Walker’s book, Rediscovering Black Conservatism, was distributed to more than 29,000 black ministries and 15,000 state, local, and federal elected officials across the U.S. Local Legislation Manager Ralph Conner is receiving requests for additional copies and speaking engagements for Lee to talk about his book.
On November 13, Ralph addressed the 150 delegates to the Constitutional Congress, held in suburban Chicago. The purpose of the congress, sponsored by We The People, was to provide “remedial instructions to federal and state legislatures for them to fix present violations of the Constitution.” Ralph addressed Second Amendment rights and received this rave review from an attendee: “Your speech was great! I don’t know of anyone who could’ve conveyed the true essence of the 2nd Amendment better than you! You clearly stated the unalienable right to self defense and the commonality among all Americans no matter their race.”, “Scare Tactics Meet Government Health Scare,” and followed up with phone calls inviting membership in the Legislative Forum.
On December 1, Ralph sent the 17 members of the Cook County Board of Commissioners individual emails including links to Heartland research on health care policy. Conner also sent a copy of his letter to the editor of the Chicago Sun-Times
On December 2, Ralph forwarded to several members of the Los Angeles, California City Council James G. Lakely’s oped, “California’s New TV Regulations Deserve Booby Prize.”
On December 3, Ralph sent a personal email to members of the Denver, Colorado City Council about their proposed enactment of a tax on soda. The email included Legislative Specialist John Nothdurft’s oped on the issue.
Ralph worked with the Rosenwald Commons Community Land Trust to sponsor a December 18 event at McCormick Place for historic preservation. He secured the artwork for a Booker T. Washington T-shirt and brochure the organization is developing. The project’s theme is: “Up From Slavery: Rosenwald Commons – Reaching New Heights With Booker T. Washington.”
Three issues of Lawsuit Abuse Fortnightly were released in November and December. Among the stories covered:
- More than 550 lawyers were smiling when a federal district court ruled the federal government is liable for Hurricane Katrina damages in parts of New Orleans.
- Two college students were arrested and dragged off to jail in handcuffs after being charged for theft in a Bethlehem, Pennsylvania restaurant. Their crime? Failing to leave a tip.
- The Service Employees International Union is threatening the city of Allentown, Pennsylvania with a grievance filing because it allowed a 17-year-old Boy Scout to clear growth to create a biking and walking path in a local park.
- An 81-year-old New York man claims a bar’s “pet-friendly” environment is to blame for the loss of his sex life with his wife.
- A Chicago divorce lawyer who’s trying to call herself the “Lawyer of Love” is being sued by Playboy over rights to that moniker.
- An Iowa City woman is suing a beauty college after a shampoo bottle was dropped on her head while she was receiving beauty services.
- A Manhattan foot-and-hand model is suing the co-op building where she lives for $10 million in damages, claiming residents are treating her as a social outcast because she married the doorman.
- An amateur herpetologist in Georgia was acquitted of criminal charges of illegally possessing about 500 turtles. About 300 of them died while in the supposedly protective custody of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.
Online
The Public Nuisance Wire, an online newspaper for lawyers, cited Senior Fellow Maureen Martin when it reported December 1 that the Chicago gun-rights case, McDonald v. Chicago, could be a bigger landmark case than last year’s Heller decision. A ruling in favor of gun rights could block future lawsuits by gun-control advocates, while an unfavorable ruling would be a serious setback. The newspaper quoted Maureen: “In the Heller case, the District of Columbia (federal) ordinance, very similar to Chicago’s, was declared unconstitutional. The Court said, however, that some reasonable regulation is constitutionally permissible but not a total ban. Since that 2008 ruling, the District has been pushing the boundaries, trying to continue a ban.” If the Court again rules in favor of gun rights, however, future revisions are unlikely even with a liberal majority, said Martin.
As part of the Government Relations Department’s membership drive for the Legislative Forum, department staffers Peter Fotos, Brian Costin, John Nothdurft, Matt Glans, Ralph Conner, and Robin Knox have been making phone calls to selected state elected officials from across the United States.
In November and December, the following elected officials became new members of the Legislative Forum:
Sen. Sylvia Allen - State of Arizona
Rep. Cecile Bledsoe - State of Arkansas
Rep. Dennis Lake - State of Idaho
Rep. Randy Borror - State of Indiana
Rep. Carl Gatto - State of Alaska
Special Correspondent Paul Chesser was invited by the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity to participate in an all-expenses-paid week-long investigative reporter training workshop in Washington, DC for the week of January 11-15. The center has established many state watchdog reporting organizations across the country.
Lauren McCann, vice president for development, has taken a position with the National Association of Manufacturers as Field Division Director.
Brian Costin, assistant government relations director, has taken a position with the Illinois Policy Institute as Director of Outreach.
John M. O’Hara, assistant director of communications, has taken a position with IPI as Assistant Director of Development.
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On the Blog
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The Heartland Institute at CPAC
February 09, 2012, 12:26 PM -
An Expensive Solution In Search of a Problem
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Trendy Environmentalism Means Stepping in ‘Rivers of Urine’
February 03, 2012, 7:48 PM -
Heartland Institute’s Weekly Podcast
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Obama’s Anti-Keystone Pipeline Decision: The Latest in Unconstitutional Moves in Energy Policy
January 31, 2012, 2:59 PM
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The Heartland Lunch Series: Bob Chitester
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Maggiano’s,516 North Clark Street,Chicago,IL60654December 08, 2011, 11:30 AM
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