The Heartlander: May-June 2009 (Full Text)

CLIMATE CHANGE CONFERENCE: MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

This just in! Heartland will host a Third International Conference on Climate Change on Tuesday, June 2, 2009 at the Washington Court Hotel in Washington, DC. For more information or to register, visit the conference Web site at http://www.heartland.org/events/washingtondc09.

The primary goal of the second International Conference on Climate Change, hosted by The Heartland Institute and 60 cosponsors in New York City on March 8-10, was to generate international media attention to the presence of scientists and economists who believe global warming is not a crisis. We achieved that goal ... and then some.

Press coverage was extensive and world-wide, with at least 124 articles mentioning the conference appearing in newspapers and magazines reaching 18 million readers, and 19 radio and television stations broadcasting about it. Major media outlets covering the event included Associated Press, New York Times, USA Today, Washington Post, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, CBS, BBC, Fox News, syndicated columnist Cal Thomas, International Herald Tribune, The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph, The Hindu (an Indian newspaper with circulation of 1.17 million), Le Monde, Washington Times, and American Spectator.

Online coverage also was extensive, with at least 394 original hits on Web sites, blogs, and online news portals. Often these hits generated scores or even hundreds of comments as people debated the pros and cons of global warming realism and alarmism. The Drudge Report, Huffington Post, American Thinker, Canada Free Press, AccuWeather.com, MSNBC.com, RedState.com, Zibb International, Congoo, and a long list of other prominent blogs and news portals used the event as a hook for provocative commentary and debate.

Much of the coverage, particularly by the mainstream press, was negative. But even articles with a negative spin reported the most important fact, that hundreds of global warming “skeptics” were filling a hotel in New York City demanding to be heard.

Other Goals Met

Other goals were to increase attendance from the 2008 conference; produce a high-quality program featuring distinguished speakers; strengthen the movement for global warming realism by bringing leading thinkers and activists together; and create new educational products (publications, videos, blog entries, and recordings) to support the movement. These goals, too, were met.

Nearly 700 people attended, including more than 100 journalists and bloggers. They came from more than 20 countries, including Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, Czech Republic, England, Finland, France, Hungary, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Poland, Russia, Spain, Sweden, United States, and Vietnam. This was a substantial increase from the 2008 conference, when 550 people attended, even though we provided fewer travel and lodging scholarships this year.

More than 80 speakers appeared on the program, including President Vaclav Klaus of the Czech Republic, Dr. Richard Lindzen, Dr. Arthur Robinson, Dr. S. Fred Singer, Dr. Patrick Michaels, Dr. Roy Spencer, Dr. Willie Soon, Dr. John Theon, Dr. John Sununu, John Coleman (founder of The Weather Channel), and many more superstars of the global warming realism movement. All the keynote speakers received standing ovations.

60 cosponsors were recruited to be part of the conference, including Americans for Tax Reform, Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow, Competitive Enterprise Institute, Congress of Racial Equality, George Marshall Institute, The Idea Channel, Science and Public Policy Institute, and The Heritage Foundation.

The International Climate Science Coalition used the conference to announce it is working with Roy W. Spencer, Ph.D., principal research scientist at the Earth System Science Center of the University of Alabama-Huntsville, to create a Climate Science Coalition of America focused on fostering public education about climate change science. Spencer has agreed to chair the coalition, and the international group will provide administrative support until the coalition is up and running on its own.

75 papers were delivered by some of the world’s leading scientists, climatologists, economists, policymakers, and opinion leaders, all supporting their view that human activity does not threaten to raise global temperatures to crisis levels. Many speakers presented new data and analysis of climate change affecting global temperatures, severe weather patterns, species survival, the integrity of temperature and climate measurements, and the economic and business impact of global warming policies. All of the presentations, including PowerPoints, are posted on Heartland’s Web site at www.heartland.org.

New educational materials released prior to the conference included two videos making fun of global warming alarmism created by The Heartland Institute and posted on our Web site and on YouTube, which generated tens of thousands of hits. Publications released at the conference included:

• CO2, Global Warming and Coral Reefs, by Dr. Craig D. Idso, a carefully documented 100-page book rebutting the latest claim by global warming alarmists, that man-made carbon dioxide emissions are causing ocean acidification;

• Carbon Folly: CO2 Emission Sources and Options, by Donn Dears, a 130-page book showing why it is impossible to reduce emissions by enough to actually change climate;

• “Global Warming: Emerging Science & Understanding,” a DVD produced by Sovereignty International and Environmental Perspectives, Inc. for use in classrooms;

• “Policy Peril: Why Global Warming Policies Are More Dangerous than Global Warming Itself,” a DVD produced by the Competitive Enterprise Institute; and

• Global Warming Petition, a 200-page book produced by The Petition Project containing the names of all 31,478 American scientists who signed a petition saying “there is no convincing scientific evidence that human release of carbon dioxide, methane, or other greenhouse gases is causing or will, in the foreseeable future, cause catastrophic heating of the Earth’s atmosphere and disruption of the Earth’s climate.”

New educational materials based on presentations made at the conference are being created and released, including audio and video of all the presentations available at Heartland’s Web site, PowerPoints and submitted papers, and new ads and videos using footage from the conference and one-on-one interviews conducted at the conference. Filming for at least two documentary films took place at the conference. A new effort to create a curriculum for K-12 students also was launched at the event.

A 2010 Conference?

The people who attended the New York conference were full of praise for the speakers, the size and quality of the audience, and even the food and hotel accommodations. Their comments are collected online at http://www.heartland.org/events/NewYork09/followup.html.

Discussion about whether to hold another conference in 2010 occurred throughout the conference. More than a dozen people asked Heartland to consider holding the next conference in their city or country--Brazil, Copenhagen, India, London, Nigeria, Prague, South Africa, and Washington DC all were nominated. Lord Christopher Monckton ended his concluding remarks with a plea that Heartland agree to host a third conference.

We would value your own opinion on whether a 2010 conference is a good idea and where it should be held, as well as an indication of whether you’d be willing to help fund it. Please contact Heartland President Joseph Bast at jbast@heartland.org, or 312/377-4000, with your thoughts on this important question.

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PRESIDENT’S COUNCIL RETREAT PLANNED

The 2009 President’s Council Retreat--a series of entertainment, educational, and networking activities--will take place in Chicago on Sunday, June 14 through Tuesday, June 16.

Meetings with public policy experts will take place at the historic and newly restored Blackstone Hotel, a luxury hotel located on Michigan Avenue opposite Millennium Park. The hotel was the site of the original “smoke-filled room” where Republican Party bosses decided Warren Harding should be nominated for President in 1920, ushering in one of the most corrupt administrations in U.S. history.

Registration

Attendance at the President’s Council is limited to donors at the President’s Council ($5,000) and
Silver/Gold/Platinum ($10,000) levels. To RSVP or for more information, contact Vice President Lauren Chrissos at 312/377-4000, email lchrissos@heartland.org, or visit the President’s Council Web site at www.heartland.org/events/2009presidentscouncil.

Before or during your visit to Chicago, be sure to take the Free-Market Walking Tour of Chicago’s Loop, developed by Jim Johnston, a member of Heartland’s Board of Directors. The virtual tour starts online at http://www.heartland.org/publications/looptour/looptour000.html, or you can download the tour in PDF format at http://www.heartland.org/publications/looptour/LoopTour.pdf.

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DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT

On the Road

In February the development department traveled throughout Maryland, Virginia, DC, and Texas to meet with members and allies. On February 26-28, Membership Manager John O’Hara and Corporate Relations Manager Kristine Esposo attended the American Conservative Union’s 2009 Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, DC.

Esposo attended the American Enterprise Institute Annual Dinner in Washington, DC on March 11. The dinner was attended by approximately two thousand guests. Charles Murray, who delivered the Irving Kristol Lecture, was recognized for his notable contributions to improved public policy and social welfare.

Tea Parties

On February 27, Esposo and O’Hara took part in a taxpayer tea party outside the White House. More than 300 people gathered to protest reckless government spending on the local, state, and federal levels.

Heartland joined a coalition of think tank allies and concerned citizens to form the New American Tea Party. The group created a Web site, www.NewAmericanTeaParty.com, that served as a hub for concurrent events across the country on February 27.

The events received extensive press coverage. The DC event alone was covered by the Washington Post, BBC, PBS, Reason.tv, PJTV, Fox News, and Fox Business Network, with O’Hara making appearances on a number of radio programs across the country, Fox News’ Your World with Neil Cavuto, and Fox Business Network’s Happy Hour.

On April 15 in Chicago, the Tax Day Tea Party organized by O’Hara and Assistant Government Relations Director Brian Costin was a phenomenal success. Heartland’s chairman emeritus, Dave Padden, attended the event and reported: “It was an amazing turnout and turn on. The speakers were fiery and blunt and the crowd responded raucously. The crowd was very orderly but was obviously filled with anger. And the signs were interesting, particularly with so many references to Ayn Rand. Someone said there were 4,000 present and that there were 700 similar parties around the country. As exciting as it was, I came to the realization that we need millions, not thousands, to scare the bejeezus out of our arrogant politicians. The crowd and the speakers were mostly unaffiliated individuals but IPI [Illinois Policy Institute] and AFP [Americans for Prosperity] representatives made speeches and were identified as members of their organizations. ... It was a great start.”

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ENVIRONMENT UPDATE

Environment & Climate News

The March 2009 issue of Environment & Climate News opens with news that President Barack Obama has selected known environmental alarmist John Holdren to direct the Office of Science and Technology Policy. Also in this issue: the Everglades, global warming, forestry, ethanol, Asian carp, and nuclear power.

The April issue reports on Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s renewable energy proposal, wetlands regulation, renewable power, endangered species, the Great Lakes, and more.

The Skeptic’s Handbook

The Skeptic’s Handbook can be downloaded in Adobe’s PDF format from Heartland’s Web site at http://www.heartland.org/books/SkepticsHandbook.html

At the International Conference on Climate Change in New York, Heartland released The Skeptic’s Handbook by Australian science educator Joanne Nova. Hundreds of copies were distributed at the event, and in April and May we will be distributing 150,000 copies to “influentials” in the United States: Heartland donors and members; local, state, and national elected officials; journalists and meteorologists; and business, civic, and think tank leaders among them.

Nova offers “the strategies and tools you need to cut through the red herrings and avoid the traps.” While acknowledging that the climate is complex, she notes the debate over climate change really isn’t: “The only thing that matters here is whether adding more CO2 to the atmosphere will make the world much warmer.”

In an entertaining, colorful, easy-to-read, and almost comic-book-like presentation, Nova offers readers a “surgical strike”--cutting to the core of what matters--for debating global warming; identifies “the only four points that matter”; and describes what qualifies and does not qualify as “evidence.” (Hint: Computer models are not evidence!)

Is the U.S. Surface Temperature Record Reliable?

Is the U.S. Surface Temperature Record Reliable? can be downloaded in Adobe’s PDF format from Heartland’s Web site at http://www.heartland.org/books/SurfaceStations.html

Also released at the New York conference--and scheduled for distribution to more than 150,000 influentials--Is the U.S. Surface Temperature Record Reliable? presents the results of the first-ever comprehensive review of the quality of data coming from the National Weather Service’s network of temperature-monitoring stations. Meteorologist Anthony Watts and a team of volunteers visually inspected and took pictures of more than 850 of these temperature stations. What they found will shock you:

“We found stations located next to the exhaust fans of air conditioning units, surrounded by asphalt parking lots and roads, on blistering-hot rooftops, and near sidewalks and buildings that absorb and radiate heat. We found 68 stations located at wastewater treatment plants, where the process of waste digestion causes temperatures to be higher than in surrounding areas.

“In fact, we found that 89 percent of the stations--nearly 9 of every 10--fail to meet the National Weather Service’s own siting requirements ...”

No wonder the U.S. temperature record shows warming during the twentieth century ... it’s measuring the temperature of air conditioners, parking lots, and wastewater treatment plants, not the real-world temperature!

In the News

Heartland Senior Fellow James M. Taylor is quoted twice in Mark Levin’s new book, Liberty and Tyranny, one of the best-selling books in the nation. Levin has a chapter on liberal environmentalism and twice cites a story Taylor wrote, “IPCC Author Selection Process Plagued by Bias, Cronyism,” from the September 2008 issue of Environment & Climate News. Credit is given to Heartland, Environment & Climate News, and Taylor specifically.

Small Property Owners of San Francisco, a grassroots organization with some 2,000 members dedicated to protecting the rights of small property owners through advocacy and education, reprinted in its April newsletter William Tucker’s article “Why Rent Control Won’t Go Away,” from the September-October 1997 (!) issue of Intellectual Ammunition.

On February 4, The Tennessean (circ. 174,073) reported that former Vice President Al Gore’s nonprofit The Climate Project is aiming to grow a national grassroots advocacy force to persuade policymakers to pass major climate legislation this year. The newspaper balanced that call to arms with this: “As the effort is mounted, some groups in this country insist that talk of climate change is alarmist. The Heartland Institute is sponsoring a conference, ‘Global Warming: Was it ever really a crisis?’ on March 8 in New York City.”

On February 10, Newsmax.com, the big online news service, reported the typically alarmist predictions of new U.S. Energy Secretary Steve Chu (“We’re looking at a scenario where there’s no more agriculture in California. ... I don’t actually see how they can keep their cities going”), and then called on Senior Fellow James M. Taylor for reaction. Said Taylor, “He warns of global warming-caused drought in California, and the heavens reply with almost nonstop rains. Maybe somebody up there is trying to tell us something.”

Legislative Specialist Zonia Pino took the Hickory (North Carolina) Daily Record (circ. 20,065) to task on February 15 for allowing readers to politicize the debate over global warming. Alarmists, she wrote, “have turned global warming into a political issue when it should be a scientific issue. Politicians are using global warming scare tactics to justify raising taxes and tightening control over individuals.”

In a February 15 article in advance of the second International Conference on Climate Change, the New Mexican (circ. 23,637) interviewed one of the presenters, former astronaut Jack Schmitt. The article reported, “Schmitt expounded on what he called ‘indisputable facts’ that global warming is the result of natural, rather than man-made, causes.”

The article was linked on The Drudge Report and picked up by the Associated Press and hundreds of news programs, other syndicates, and newspapers, including Rush Limbaugh, the Aero-News Network for aviation publications, the Las Cruces (New Mexico) News-Sun (circ. 10,000), and Durango (Colorado) Herald (circ. 8,400).

The February 18 issue of the Illinois Manufacturers Association’s membership newsletter, Executive Memo, reprinted an Environment & Climate News analysis that exposed the weakness in a recent academic study purporting to show the Antarctic is warming.

S. Fred Singer, one of the 70-plus presenters at the second International Conference on Climate Change, was featured in a February 19 article in the Austin (Texas) Statesman (circ. 173,579). Miller was asked to comment on Singer’s reputation: “He is ‘regarded with reverence,’ said Dan Miller, a publisher at The Heartland Institute. ... ‘He has been in this battle, in the trenches for a long time. He’s a warrior of epic proportions on this issue.’”

A February 27 editorial in the Orange County (California) Register (circ. 278,507) found little to praise in President Barack Obama’s plan to install a cap-and-trade system to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. The paper cited a Heartland Media Advisory prepared by Senior Fellow Maureen Martin that concluded cap-and-trade “threatens the nation’s economy and citizens’ well-being” because, the newspaper wrote, “it effectively taxes all goods and services.”

The editorial was distributed through the McClatchy-Tribune Information Services syndicate and picked up by several other papers well into March, including the Odessa (Texas) American (circ. 25,140), Colusa County (California) Sun-Herald (circ. 20,588), Porterville (California) Recorder (circ. 9,267), Victorville (California) Daily Press (circ. 5,000), Panama City (Florida) News Herald (circ. 35,256), and Clovis (New Mexico) News Journal (circ. 9,835).

The brokerage firm RBC Dain Rauscher reprinted the editorial in its February investors’ newsletter.

Also on February 27, the San Diego Union-Tribune (circ. 278,379) reported that a panel of top analysts proposed a sweeping overhaul of federal climate change programs to help the public better understand global warming and move quickly to deal with its effects. Senior Fellow James M. Taylor warned, “Calling for more money to be spent on more research is questionable. We need to make sure that all this government money is investigating the true nature of the Earth’s climate rather than being used to prop up a global warming industry” of scientists and environmentalists.

The Somerset, Pennsylvania Daily American (circ: 13,771) turned to Pino to balance a March 23 interview with a local National Wildlife Federation activist who is pushing for cap-and-trade legislation to control carbon dioxide emissions.

Pino, a native of Florida, told the Orlando Sentinel (cir. 206,363) on March 26, “For the first time in my many years of reading the Orlando Sentinel, I finally found a topic that columnist Mike Thomas and I agree on: cap and trade.”

The March 29 issue of Miller-McCune--a new left-learning monthly that claims 100,000 circulation--heaped praise on the federal government’s plan to expand the list of U.S. Heritage sites for the first time since 1995. But Heartland Research Fellow Cheryl Chumley warned, “These are put forth as friendly labels, but the reality is, they open the door for the U.N. and the World Heritage Committee to sway land-use decisions that should be left at the local level. Private and local governments are being usurped. Most people aren’t aware that this goes on.”

Legislative Outreach

On February 23, Local Legislation Manager Ralph Conner assisted Todd Myers, who directs the Center for Environmental Policy at the Washington Policy Center, with planning for a “Stop the War on the Poor” presentation in Olympia.

Legislative Specialist Zonia Pino distributed to Pennsylvania state legislators a Research & Commentary on the carbon cap-and-trade system proposed for that state. She comments on the negative effects of cap-and-trade schemes, focusing on the likely effects in Pennsylvania and the history of cap-and-trade failure in Europe. Pino also distributed to more than 9,000 elected officials nationwide a Research & Commentary on President Barack Obama’s proposed cap-and-trade plan.

Climate Conference ‘Warm Up’

Thirty-eight supporters and friends of The Heartland Institute gathered for dinner at Petterino’s in downtown Chicago February 25 to hear one of the world’s leading global warming skeptics explain the basic science that is winning the political battle against alarmism.

Fred Goldberg, Ph.D., a professor at the Royal School of Technology in Sweden, ran through some 25 slides that demonstrated the connection between solar activity and climate change and the role greenhouse gases play in global temperatures. Using both humor and hard science, Goldberg ended his presentation to appreciative applause.

Among the guests at Petterino’s were Kerstin Lang, consul general of the Swedish consulate in Chicago, Heartland board members Dave Padden and Jeff Madden, and long-time supporters Philip and Regan Friedmann.

On the Road with Jay and James

Science Director Jay Lehr, Ph.D. spoke to 350 agricultural retail-store managers on February 10 in St. Paul, Minnesota. Lehr told the group--part of CHS Cooperatives, the largest agriculture co-op in the U.S.--that global warming is one risk they don’t have to worry about.

On February 11 Lehr spoke on environmental issues and climate change to 80 members of the million-dollar Ag Retailers Club in Napa Valley, California.

Senior Fellow James M. Taylor was the focus of a 60-minute radio interview on KGVO-AM in Missoula, Montana on February 20. Earlier in the month, Steve Running, a forestry professor at the University of Montana, smeared Heartland with the usual half-truths and falsehoods (“Heartland is financed by Exxon,” etc.). Taylor reported, “I pulled no punches calling him out, ridiculing his absurd alarmist claims, and chiding him for refusing to publicly debate the science. The KGVO host and the callers loved me.”

Lehr dissected the alarmist assertions about imminent doom from global warming as he spoke to about 100 members of the combined Arizona Farm Bureau and United Dairy Association February 27 in Tempe, Arizona.

Lehr wowed 750 members of the Indiana Farm Bureau in Indianapolis on March 12. We know he wowed them because Joni Wallman, administrative secretary to the bureau, wrote, “He was GREAT!!” and left them standing on their feet cheering.

Wallman spread the word among farm bureaus, and the Delaware County (Indiana) district office asked permission to distribute a facsimile of Lehr’s Heartland business card, which on the reverse side lists 10 global warming truths.

Lehr distributed 250 copies of Environment & Climate News to members of the National Association of Printers Ink Manufacturers at a March 23 meeting in Orlando. He explained environmental impediments to the use of printing ink on packaging around the world.

The Fluoride Wars

Lehr’s newest book--The Fluoride Wars: How a Modest Public Health Measure became America’s Longest-Running Political Melodrama--was published by Wiley. Billed as “a lively account of fluoridation and its discontents,” the book “presents a witty and detailed social history of the fluoridation debate in America, illuminating the intersection of science and politics in our recent past.”

The book is available for purchase in Heartland’s webstore, www.heartlandstore.org. Congratulations, Jay!

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BUDGET AND TAX

Budget & Tax News

The March 2009 issue of Budget & Tax News exposes Congressional Democrats’ plan to triple the cigarette tax in order to fund an expansion of SCHIP and also reports on federal infrastructure spending, state budget deficits, and more.

The April issue leads with a report on the federal economic stimulus bill and also addresses the federal cigarette tax, cap-and-trade, stadium subsidies, and public employee pay.

On the Road

On March 14, Research Fellow Steve Stanek, managing editor of Budget & Tax News, was a panelist at the Young America’s Foundation Midwest Conference in suburban Chicago, a two-day event attended by nearly 200 college and high school students from 24 states. Stanek and his panel discussed free-market principles and the bailout/stimulus activities. He was joined on the panel by John Tillman, chief executive of the Illinois Policy Institute, and Jack McHugh, legislative analyst at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy in Michigan.

Stanek reports, “I said the free market is all of us making decisions on what to buy or sell, how much to pay or charge, and creative people taking chances on providing new products or services. So individuals drive the free market, and the more government interferes, the less freedom and fewer choices we have, because businesses cannot respond to us or innovate as much.

“I also said the government has been manipulating interest rates and money supply since the creation of the Federal Reserve in 1913, creating booms and busts and devaluing the dollar, which benefits debtors and punishes savers. I said it is really central planning of the economy by a handful of individuals who utterly failed to anticipate the current economic crisis and who now want us to trust them to fix the problems their policies helped create.”

Heartland Publisher Dan Miller was a panelist March 18 on Chicago Tonight, a popular public policy program airing on local PBS station WTTW Channel 11, to discuss hefty tax and fee increases in a fiscal 2010 budget proposed by Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn (D). Miller noted Illinois’ budget deficit is worse on a per-capita basis than California’s, Illinois effectively is broke, the national and local economies are in dire straits, and a tax increase in that kind of environment is foolhardy.

Media Relations

Continuing his work on exposing the faulty economics of movie-making as economic development, Legislative Specialist John Nothdurft was quoted at length in the February issue of Chicago magazine (circ. 165,000), which reported in depth on “The Dark Knight,” the acclaimed Batman movie filmed mainly in Chicago. (Key scenes were shot in front of Heartland’s offices at 19 South LaSalle.) The movie was made thanks to incentives granted by the depleted Illinois state treasury. Nothdurft provided a dose of reality in the article, saying, “I don’t think we should be subsidizing a very lucrative business at all.”

Responding to a worshipful profile of Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm and her plan to convert factories into sound stages for commercial motion pictures, Nothdurft told readers of The Wall Street Journal (circ. 2,011,882) on February 9, “That states should be engaging in corporate welfare in these tough economic times by handing out film tax credits is dismaying. ... No amount of film subsidies will compensate for the jobs lost as a result of her administration’s tax-and-spend policies.”

The San Angelo (Texas) Standard Times (circ. 29,391) on February 13 ran Research Fellow Steve Stanek’s feisty op-ed that warned, “Soon after signing a $787 billion economic ‘stimulus’ bill that has little actual stimulus in it, President Barack Obama announced a $75 billion plan the chief aim of which apparently is to turn millions of homeowners into squatters.”

The Worchester (Massachusetts) Telegraph & Gazette (circ. 96,036) on February 26 ran Legislative Specialist Matthew Glans’ warning to consumers that the FDIC may lack the resources to back up deposits in online banks that fail: “Consumers should seek banks that are well-capitalized and not overburdened by debt; online banks may not have the same security and stability as bricks-and-mortar banks.”

Nothdurft used the pages of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (circ. 72,300) on March 6 to advise Harrisburg that the state’s deficit-ridden pension funds should consider switching to a defined-contribution pension plan as private-sector firms have done. “This allowed firms to eliminate open-ended liabilities and offer workers more pension portability and individual control,” Nothdurft wrote.

The Oregon Statesman Journal (circ. 46,826) ran a letter from Nothdurft on March 25 noting that a proposed new tax on beer likely will convince beer buyers to shop outside the state for their brew.

Nothdurft rapped the Maryland legislature on March 26 in the Washington Times (circ. 100,258) as it approved higher taxes on liquor and pledged to use the money to aid alcohol addicts and the physically disabled. Wrote Nothdurft, “The proposed 300 percent tax increase on alcohol has little to do with helping the disabled or addicted. It is merely a way for the legislature to tap yet another revenue source in order to increase spending and expand the burden on taxpayers.”

Glans came to the defense of capitalism in the March 27 Miami Herald (circ. 342,432), writing, “The true danger of the current economic crisis lies not in some inherent deficiency in the capitalist system, but in the growing greed for government subsidies.”

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (circ. 230,220) opened its op-ed space on March 29 to Nothdurft, who analyzed Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle’s new-tax-laden budget and concluded, “Wisconsin’s high taxes are shoving business owners out of the state. That means job losses and higher deficits to come. Doyle’s budget will choke the state’s economy even further.”

On March 30 Nothdurft reviewed in the Deming (New Mexico) Headlight (circ. 3,336) enormous unfunded liabilities in public employee pension funds and warned, “Without an overhaul of these unsustainable pension systems, American taxpayers will be forced once again to bail out governments for their foolish, shortsighted decisions.”

Successes!

A Fox Rasmussen poll released March 8 showed only 18 percent of Minnesotans support spending taxpayer money to construct a new stadium for the National Football League Minnesota Vikings, while 76 percent of respondents opposed taxpayer funding. On March 3, Nothdurft had sent a Research & Commentary to state elected officials identifying the “best and worst” ways to eliminate budget deficits. Among the best, Nothdurft noted: “Cut spending and eliminate so-called ‘economic development’ schemes, including film tax credits, government-owned golf courses, and publicly financed stadiums.” On January 7, Nothdurft had contacted Minnesota legislators with the message, “taxpayer funding of a new Vikings stadium lacks economic sense.”

On March 10, a proposal for a TABOR-like tax-and-expenditure cap passed the Florida Senate’s Community Affairs Committee by a 6-4 vote. Before the vote, Nothdurft had sent legislators Research & Commentaries on TABOR and on how to fix budget deficits.

Legislative Outreach

On February 5, Nothdurft sent a Research & Commentary, “What a Smoking Ban Would Mean to Indiana,” to the state legislature. He warns, “At stake for the Hoosier State are not only tax revenues, tourism, and jobs in a sluggish economy, but also the state’s attitude toward basic property rights.”

On February 10, Nothdurft sent an email to the Colorado state legislature’s finance committee with research on film tax subsidies and his published letter to the editor on the issue. His Research & Commentary on film tax credits was included in the committee’s record and referenced by several committee members.

On February 12, Nothdurft emailed Pennsylvania legislators with his Philadelphia Inquirer letter to the editor on cigarette taxes as well as research links.

On March 7, Nothdurft sent the Research & Commentary on the best and worst ways to eliminate a budget deficit along with a personal note to the Minnesota legislature. He also called budget committee members and leadership members in Georgia to offer his assistance on that state’s budget deficit.

On March 11, Nothdurft contacted Pennsylvania legislators about pension reform with an email reprinting his Pittsburgh Post Tribune letter to the editor and a Research & Commentary comparing defined contribution and defined benefit pension systems. He advised, “Following the private sector’s lead and switching the state and local workers’ pension system to a defined-contribution structure would prevent Pennsylvania from being burdened by the future liabilities of a pension crisis and make budgeting more predictable.”

On March 27, Nothdurft contacted Wisconsin legislators about the state’s budget problems. He included his Milwaukee Journal Sentinel oped and the Research & Commentary addressing the best and worst ways to eliminate a budget deficit. The oped encourages the legislature to “eliminate wasteful ‘economic development’ subsidies, privatize non-core functions of government, reform unfunded pension and health care liabilities, and enact sensible tax and spending limits.”

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FINANCE, INSURANCE, REAL ESTATE

In the News

National Review Online, in its February 4 “Must Read” section, cited Legislative Specialist Matthew Glans’ analysis of why State Farm pulled out of Florida. Glans was quoted in a Media Alert from Heartland, noting state regulators and Gov. Charlie Crist are forcing insurers to keep rates below their costs.

The Kansas City Star (circ. 260,724) lamented March 6 that “Homeowners fall further behind mortgage payments” and cast about for a scapegoat. But Research Fellow Steve Stanek, managing editor of Budget & Tax News, put the blame where it belonged: “Government manipulation to keep interest rates artificially low and various kinds of ‘liar loans’ helped drive up housing prices, causing a bubble that burst.”

Policy Advisor William Snyder pointed out in the Omaha World-Herald (circ. 184,150) on March 10 that employers who are required by state mandate to provide unnecessary insurance (such as obstetrics coverage for senior citizens) only add to employee costs and worsen the business environment.

Glans wrote March 15 in the Deming (New Mexico) Headlight (circ. 3,336) that the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation is over-extended and sending a false sense of security to depositors. “The FDIC should be raising the rates it charges to the banks whose deposits it insures,” Glans advised. “Doing so would address more adequately the risk the nation’s taxpayers are obligated to cover and would rebuild dwindling Deposit Insurance Fund reserves.”

Legislative Outreach

On February 9, Glans distributed a Research & Commentary on state mandates for health and auto insurance. He writes, “Once government has decided to mandate coverage, it must then define what that coverage shall include. Then, because it cannot require people to buy what they cannot afford, it must control the price and subsidize the purchase for a large number of people. Then, because it cannot require people to buy something that isn’t available, it must require insurers to offer the coverage it is mandating. All of this requires massive regulations, subsidies, penalties for non-compliance, and intrusions into the lives of people and business--none of which actually improves health care.” The Research & Commentary was published in the online journal eMaxHealth.

On February 17, Glans sent to Illinois, Nebraska, and North Dakota elected officials a Research & Commentary on the use of credit scoring in insurance. He comments on the value of credit scoring for both insurers and consumers, citing a Texas Department of Insurance study that found credit scores were an actuarially sound predictor of risk.

On March 3 and March 25, Glans distributed a Research & Commentary on the use of credit scoring to legislators in North Dakota and Florida, respectively. “A consumer’s credit score is one of dozens of factors an insurer takes into account when determining the risk involved with writing a new policy,” Glans writes. “Actuarial studies demonstrate a link between the number of claims filed by an individual and the level of credit reliability achieved by a consumer through careful management of personal finances.”

On March 10, Glans sent a Research & Commentary on worker’s compensation insurance to legislators in Oklahoma. He describes how different states approach the issue and some of the failures and successes they have encountered.

On March 17, Glans sent legislators in the Washington Times’ circulation area--including Washington, DC, Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware--his letter to the editor on student lending and a link to a Research & Commentary addressing that issue. “One of the primary causes of the rapid increase in the cost of higher education is the growing addiction to debt spending in colleges nationwide,” Glans writes.

On the Road

From February 23 to 25, Glans attended the Florida Chamber of Commerce’s Property and Casualty Insurance Summit in Orlando, Florida. The summit addressed the importance of solvency in a risky insurance environment, possible solutions to Florida’s flagging property and casualty insurance market, and ways to reduce reliance on Florida’s residual market and its catastrophe fund.

From February 26 to 27, Glans attended a Competitive Enterprise Institute event announcing the release of the 2009 Property and Casualty Insurance Report Card, a state-by-state ranking of property and casualty insurance environments. The report card was produced jointly by CEI and Heartland.

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TOBACCO

In the News

Ralph Conner, local legislation manager, wrote in the Boston Globe (circ. 360,695) on February 5: “Citing health care statistics, the governor and state legislators claim they are only trying to wean people off unhealthy lifestyle choices by reducing the number of smokers and drinkers. But at the same time they depend on the revenues from these habits to balance the state budget? That’s an unhealthy policy, to be sure.”

Legislative Specialist John Nothdurft told readers of the Philadelphia Inquirer (circ. 338,260) on February 7 that “Gov. Rendell is living in a pipe dream if he really believes a 10-cent-per-pack cigarette tax hike will bring $50 million to state coffers ... Tobacco taxes have never been the revenue boon advocates claim them to be.”

The Kansas City Star (circ. 260,724) enthused February 15 about the expansion of the federal SCHIP program financed through higher tobacco taxes. But the paper also balanced its cheerleading: “Raising taxes unfairly penalizes low-income people, who are more likely to smoke, said John Nothdurft of The Heartland Institute, a conservative Chicago think tank.”

Stockbroker/researcher RBC Dain Rauscher liked Nothdurft’s analysis, too, and on February 17 distributed it to its thousands of clients.

The Press of Atlantic City, New Jersey (circ. 67,916) ran Nothdurft’s letter on March 16, “The cost of lighting up.” He explained that costs will rise as tobacco taxes rise, but tax revenues are more likely to decline as smokers make their purchases in lower-tax jurisdictions.

Legislative Outreach

On February 3, Local Legislation Manager Ralph Conner jump-started the Chicago Tobacco Group, a coalition of smokers’ rights allies in the Chicago metro area. Conner is calling for a push-back conference to be held at Cigars and Stripes on Route 66 in Berwyn, Illinois this summer. Conner sent each member of the growing coalition a copy of Legislative Specialist John Nothdurft’s Research & Commentary on the fallacy of smoking bans.

Success!

On February 4, Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine’s proposal to double the state’s cigarette tax to fund health care was rejected by the Senate Finance committee. On January 18, Legislative Specialist John Nothdurft had sent a Research & Commentary, “Virginia Needs Spending Reform, Not Higher Cigarette Taxes,” to the state legislature.

On February 27, the Deseret News (circ. 68,000) reported, “Senators pull $1.50 cigarette tax off table.” (http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,705287895,00.html) In mid-September 2008, Nothdurft had sent a Research & Commentary, “Utah Cigarette Tax Is More than Meets the Eye,” to members of the state legislature’s Revenue Committee and Health Committee, as well as to the full legislature and other selected government officials.

On March 25, the Associated Press reported, “Ind. bid for state smoking ban may be up in smoke.” On February 5, Legislative Specialist John Nothdurft had sent a Research & Commentary, “What a Smoking Ban Would Mean to Indiana,” to the entire state legislature. In it he warns, “At stake for the Hoosier State are not only tax revenues, tourism, and jobs in a sluggish economy, but also the state’s attitude toward basic property rights.” He later followed up with phone calls to appropriate committee and leadership members. On February 12, the Times of Northwest Indiana published his oped, “A Hoosier Smoking Ban? What For?”

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HEALTH CARE

Health Care News

The March 2009 issue of Health Care News reports the results of a new study of overcrowding in emergency rooms and addresses taxpayer-funded health insurance in Vermont and Washington, Medicaid and SCHIP programs, a looming shortage of physicians, and more. State legislators receiving the issue also received the Council for Affordable Health Insurance’s booklet, 2009 State Legislators’ Guide to Health Insurance Solutions.

April was a scheduled “skip month.”

In the News

The National Youth Leadership Forum, which develops and manages educational, career-specific programs for high-achieving students, will conduct a National Youth Leadership Forum on Medicine this summer. The program, offered to high school students from across the United States, will include workshops and a printed handbook: the 2009 Journal on Medicine, which will serve as background for the students as they study topics in public health, medical ethics, and medical research. Nine thousand copies of the handbook will be printed ... and it will include an article from the June 2008 issue of Health Care News, “Universal Health Care Is the Wrong Prescription,” by Brian Schwartz.

Investor’s Business Daily (circ. 172,618) analyzed the stimulus bill on February 5 and found a provision that would subsidize COBRA premiums and, in some cases, substantially extend the time limit former employees would be entitled to the benefit. The paper quoted Greg Scandlen, director of Consumers for Health Care Choices, who noted the hidden costs to employers and added, “the administrative burden of trying to keep track of workers and their families even decades after they work for you is huge. Employers are not set up to do that.”

Scandlen ripped the American Hospital Association in an op-ed picked up on February 5 by the Dowagiac (Michigan) Daily News (circ. 2,318). “America’s general hospitals have forgotten how to compete, so they enlisted their congressional buddies from both parties to defend them against physicians who want to provide superior service,” wrote Scandlen.

On February 19, Investor’s Business Daily (circ. 172,618) noted the wide range of criticism of Massachusetts’s statewide health care program, from the left to the right. The Yahoo! Finance Web site picked up the story and spread it through the world. IBD noted Public Citizen and Physicians for a National Health Program called the program flawed due to its cost, lack of access to care, and the remaining number of uninsured. It added, “Free-market experts have been making many of the same points for years. ‘I completely agree with their critique,’” Scandlen was quoted as saying.

Scandlen wrote a scathing analysis of President Barack Obama’s justification for his radical reorganization of the U.S. health care system. On February 27, AOL News, one of the world’s largest news services online, cited Scandlen’s work and reported, “The numbers Obama cited to make the case for his health care plan are wildly exaggerated. ... [Scandlen] fact-checked the president’s assertions, and found three of them to be demonstrably false, while a fourth was highly questionable.”

On March 3, the Tucson (Arizona) Citizen (circ. 44,695) and Wilson (North Carolina) Daily Times (circ. 16,520) were among the print publications that ran Scandlen’s fact-checking of Obama’s health care plan.

Also on March 3, the online Washington (DC) Examiner ran Scandlen’s scathing op-ed, “You will accept our help or else.” Scandlen criticized the federal government’s rule that senior citizens forfeit their Social Security benefits if they don’t enroll in Medicare.

Success!

On February 20, Scandlen authored a Research & Commentary on health information technology. He writes, “Far more likely is that every penny of the $20 billion will be wasted on systems that don’t work and can never be implemented. The danger is that massive federal intrusion will bring innovation to a screeching halt.” The Research & Commentary was sent to 7,244 legislators at the state and federal level and public policy experts across the country. It was published on the Health Care Renewal Blog at http://hcrenewal.blogspot.com/2009/02/heartland-institute-research-commentary.html.

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INFOTECH and TELECOM

InfoTech & Telecom News

The March 2009 issue of InfoTech & Telecom News leads with a New York judge’s rejection of a legal challenge to a law requiring out-of-state companies to collect sales taxes for the state. The issue also covers proposed regulation of television sets in California, text-messaging while driving, Sarbanes-Oxley, cyber-bullying, and more.

The April issue addresses the Fairness Doctrine, free wi-fi in Central Park, health information technology, Internet sales taxes, video games, and more.

Ten Principles of Telecom Policy

“Ten Principles of Telecom Policy” can be downloaded in Adobe’s PDF format from Heartland’s Web site at http://www.heartland.org/full/24780/Ten_Principles_of_Telecom_Policy.html Heartland donors and members may also request printed copies by calling administrative assistant Cheryl Parker at 312/377-4000. Others may purchase individual copies for $3.95; for bulk purchase discounts, call!

“Ten Principles of Telecom Policy” is the most recent in Heartland’s Legislative Principles Series of booklets presenting a set of principles central to the debate about a major public policy issue.

In the new booklet--the fifth in the series--authors Hance Haney and George Gilder of the Discovery Institute describe the importance of regulatory reform in the highly competitive environment that is today’s telecommunications industry. Among other things, they encourage policymakers to:

• Repeal discriminatory taxes and fees on telecom services;

• Oppose “network neutrality” regulations; and

• Minimize government’s role in broadband deployment.

Copies of the booklet were distributed at the February 17 Technology and Telecom Reform Forum, described below, and polybagged with the March issue of InfoTech & Telecom News.

Legislative Outreach

On February 16, Legislative Specialist John Nothdurft sent a Research & Commentary on Georgia’s Universal Access Fund to members of the state legislature’s Telecom Committee. “The hidden tax also created by funding the UAF generates distortions in the marketplace and ultimately serves as a bailout for companies which are not as competitive.”

Along with Technology for Ohio’s Tomorrow, Heartland hosted a Technology and Telecom Reform Forum on February 17 at the Hyatt on Capitol Square, Columbus, Ohio. Some of the nation’s leading free-market experts on telecom reform discussed tax fairness and the case for regulatory reform.

Heartland’s new “Ten Principles of Telecom Policy” was unveiled at the event. A copy was given to all in attendance and copies were sent to all 132 state legislators in Ohio.

The event was emceed by Brian Costin, assistant director of government relations. Speakers were:

• Hance Haney, J.D., director and senior fellow of the Technology & Democracy Project at the Discovery Institute in Washington, DC.

• James G. Lakely, research fellow at The Heartland Institute and managing editor of InfoTech & Telecom News.

• Jerry Ellig, Ph.D., a native Ohioan and a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University since 1996.

• Brandt Hershman, majority whip in the Indiana State Senate. In 2006, Hershman introduced legislation that revamped the state’s regulatory framework for telecommunications.

Success!

In March, Legislative Specialist John Nothdurft sent a Research & Commentary on Universal Access Fund reform to Telecom Committee members in Georgia, Missouri, South Carolina, and Congress. On March 10 the Georgia House passed by a vote of 123-42 a bill that will eliminate the state’s Universal Access Fund.

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EDUCATION

School Reform News

The March 2009 issue of School Reform News opens with a report on California’s continuing budget crisis and also covers charter schools, spending and student achievement, Florida’s voucher program, and more.

The April issue reports on the ongoing battle over school choice options in Arizona, tax credits, predatory teachers, and more.

In the News

Research Fellow Bob Holland turned back an opponent’s argument against charter schools by using the opponent’s own reasoning in a February 2 letter to the editor of the Hattiesburg (Mississippi) American (circ. 24,975): “No wonder the Mississippi school superintendent says he doesn’t support charter schools because there is ‘no research’ showing these independently managed public schools out-perform conventional public schools. ... After all, Mississippi has only one charter school (out of some 4,500 charters nationwide); thus, there is no in-state foundation for comparative research.”

Holland praised the Nashua (New Hampshire) Telegraph (circ. 28,299) on February 4 for running an op-ed that reported on a charter school with remarkable success in reducing dropout rates of students who transferred in from public schools. “It is heartening to read,” Holland wrote, “how this school has helped former dropouts earn their high school diplomas and even go on to college, while also convincing potential dropouts to stay the course.”

The Detroit News (circ. 202,029) alerted readers on February 5 with a letter from Karla Dial, managing editor of School Reform News, that warned “don’t use federal stimulus aid for schools.” Dial wrote, “The fact is that public schools in general--and Detroit’s in particular--are immensely disappointing and in dire need of reform. But if they get a cash cow of $100 billion from taxpayers nationwide, that’s simply not going to happen.”

Dial used the pages of the Hattiesburg American (circ. 24,975) on February 5 to praise state Sen. Michael Watson (R-Pascagoula) for sponsoring a bill to allow new charter schools to open in Mississippi.

On February 10, Dial praised an editorial in The Oklahoman (circ. 216,441) for “pointing out that a pair of bills currently pending in the legislature wrongly assume home-schooling parents are guilty of a crime until they can prove otherwise. Leveling new regulations on families who legitimately home school their children will have little impact on the rare ones who enable truancy.”

Holland debuted in the Juneau (Alaska) Empire (circ. 7,100) with a letter February 13 that praised the Alaska newspaper for its “articles on community involvement in local charter schools. ... Education experts agree that parental involvement is an important factor in a child’s success in schools. It seems Juneau has a lot of that going on.”

Legislative Specialist Matthew Glans had nothing good to say March 13 in the Washington Times (circ.100,258) about a proposal to increase funding for the depleted Pell Grant fund. Wrote Glans, “Government subsidies may provide an illusion of fiscal health and political cover for politicians, but they do little to solve the systemic problems in America’s higher-education system,” such as the surge in higher-ed debt as colleges borrow to finance student aid..

When voters in Davenport, Iowa rejected a scheme to dedicate a portion of the local sales tax to providing guaranteed college scholarships for future high school graduates residing in the city, Holland praised their decision. In a March 29 op-ed in the Cedar Rapids Gazette (circ. 68,153), he concluded, “Localities in at least 22 states are considering Promises; they ought to look instead at how they can better deliver on promises already made to kids from ages 5 to 18 to enable them to compete on their own merits at the next level.” The Davenport plan would have benefited mostly wealthier families, with the taxes to come largely from lower-income ones.

Holland rebutted false criticism of school choice programs by a columnist for the Culpeper (Virginia) Star Exponent (circ. 6.458). In the March 30 edition, Holland shot down with facts the assertion that Virginia parents have choice in education for their children. He added, “Clearly, [the columnist] detests the idea of publicly funded scholarships or tax credits giving children choices beyond the government-controlled schools. Fair enough. But he ought to get his facts straight about what choices are--and are not--available within the public system.”

Legislative Outreach

On March 11, Assistant Government Relations Director Brian Costin sent a Research & Commentary on Georgia school vouchers to 3,636 state and local elected officials nationwide. Costin describes the crisis in Georgia education--“Student achievement in Georgia is simply awful, and the state’s high school dropout rate puts it near dead-last in the country on this measure as well.”--and then proposes vouchers as a solution: “An education voucher gives parents, instead of politicians, the ability to determine what schools and educational methods are most appropriate for their children.”

The introduction to the Research & Commentary was published as an oped by the Dalton, Georgia Daily Citizen (circ. 13,826).

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URBAN AFFAIRS

In the News

On the eve of Black History Month, National Review Online asked a variety of prominent race-relations leaders what one book on the black experience every American should read. Noting that a century ago Booker T., Washington was the most powerful and influential black man in America, Senior Fellow Lee Walker suggested Booker T. Washington: A Re-Examination, a Heartland publication based on a conference Walker helped organize.

While many pundits were agonizing over the lack of African-Americans in the U.S. House and Senate relative to their percentage of the U.S. population (9 percent of Congress, for a minority group comprising 12 percent of the population), Local Legislation Manager Ralph Conner explained the reason in a February 5 op-ed in the Chicago Sun-Times (circ. 496,030). It isn’t racism, wrote Conner, “but racial gerrymandering, in which black voters are concentrated in congressional districts where blacks predominate, instead of designing districts to follow more natural geographical and institutional boundaries,” where a more diverse voter base and candidates can emerge.

CORE Partnership

We distributed nearly 26,000 copies of CORE Freedoms, a newsletter on energy and environment issues, to black ministries nationwide in March.

Conner has been participating in conference calls developing a strategy for helping formerly incarcerated persons in Illinois to start their own businesses in areas in need of commercial development in the inner-city.

The project is a favorite with Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, whose office announced the state would be filing an application for a Second Chance Grant to help fund programs for the formerly incarcerated. Jeff Houch, Madigan’s legislative liaison, sought Conner’s assistance, through CORE-Chicago, to identify nonprofit social service organizations who were interested in participating in the grant application--a “Re-Entry Taskforce,” as required by the Second Chance Grant program.

Conner helped Houch assemble a master-list of key contacts and, once Houch had developed the format and schedule for conference calls about the matter, sent out notices to the taskforce and other groups working in the state to address the problems of re-entry and recidivism. Conner coordinated Q&A during the conference call and has been assisting with follow-up.

On March 19, Conner notified the 50-member CORE Prison-Re-Entry Task Force that the state legislature passed state Rep. LaShawn Ford’s plan to provide grants for formerly incarcerated Illinoisans to start their own businesses.

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DEFENDING THE UNDEFENDABLE

Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich

Attorney Maureen Martin, Heartland’s senior fellow for legal affairs, stirred up a huge controversy over the arrest of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich with her December 12 op-ed in the Chicago Tribune (circ. 541,663) and syndicated to other Tribune-owned dailies, including the Orlando Sentinel (circ. 226,854). Even the alternative Chicago weekly The Reader (weekly circ. 134,090) wrote about Martin’s “intriguing” analysis.

While expressing her revulsion at the behavior of the now-former governor, who on April 14 was arraigned on and pleaded not guilty to 16 counts of criminal corruption, Martin counseled, “not all crimes are federal crimes.” She noted, “the U.S. Constitution does not allow every local bribery incident to be classed as a federal crime. The states retain that power.”

Hundreds of comments were posted at www.tribune.com by Tribune readers, some of whom confused Martin’s principled questioning of the case against Blagojevich with a defense of his reprehensible actions. Some even accused The Heartland Institute of being a liberal group tied to the Chicago Democratic Organization. Yikes.

MSNBC host Rachel Maddow put Martin’s argument to best-selling author Scott Turow on December 16, and while Turow agreed not all crimes are federal crimes, he added, “the commerce clause threshold has been defined in such a way that virtually all conduct in American society passes that [commerce clause] test.” Martin says Turow is wrong about that, according to the U.S. Supreme Court.

One good result of all this: The op-ed stimulated a debate over the difference between a libertarian and a conservative.

Hog Farmers

Ed Murnane of the Illinois Civil Justice League reported in February about a legal case that was decided in favor of a downstate Illinois hog farm. Defending the hog farm was Gary Baise, a farmer himself and long-time Heartland donor. Murnane reports:

“[T]he jury, and the other neighbors who supported the farm, considered the law, they considered the evidence ... and they ruled in favor of the hog farm.

“Baise saw more in the case than just a victory for the hog farmers. He saw a signal for the business community to ‘take note of the jury’s ability to make correct decisions when the issue is presented in a competent and non-biased manner.’”

Heartland President Joseph Bast said, “I would count this as a victory for common-sense law.”

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LEGAL AFFAIRS

Gun Control Amicus Brief

“Guns save lives.” That’s what Maureen Martin, Heartland’s senior fellow for legal affairs, and Dave Kopel, director of the Independence Institute’s Second Amendment Project, told the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in January in their amicus brief supporting plaintiffs seeking to strike down gun ban ordinances in Chicago and Oak Park, Illinois. In addition to Heartland and the Independence Institute, the amicus brief also was submitted on behalf of law enforcement. The main case was filed by the National Rifle Association, Illinois State Rifle Association, Second Amendment Foundation, and other plaintiffs.

The case followed the ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court last year holding a federal law in the District of Columbia was unconstitutional under the Second Amendment. The Chicago/Oak Park case addresses the unresolved constitutional issue whether the Second Amendment applies to laws enacted by states and their municipal subdivisions. A ruling is expected later this year or in early 2010. Whichever way it goes, the case is likely to reach the U.S. Supreme Court.

Public Nuisance Theory

Like whack-a-mole, cases based on the amorphous legal doctrine of public nuisance keep rearing their ugly heads. An op-ed written by Martin describing this disturbing trend was published on March 1 in the Cleveland Plain Dealer (circ. 334,195). (See the full text on page 2.) Links to the piece were posted on the Manhattan Institute’s Point of Law blog and also on Jane Genova’s Law and More blog. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal Reform sent an e-mail alert to its members and supporters with a link to the op-ed.

Martin congratulated the Ohio Attorney General for dropping his suit against paint companies who stopped selling lead-based paint more than 50 years ago. Nevertheless, Martin noted, the theory is spreading. The City of Cleveland is suing 21 investment banking firms alleging subprime loans are public nuisances. And the State of North Carolina just won a suit against the Tennessee Valley Authority claiming emissions of air pollutants amount to a public nuisance, a ruling that will cost TVA a billion dollars in new equipment to eliminate them.

Stimulus Bill

Martin decoded the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, otherwise known as the stimulus bill, in an op-ed calling it a full employment bill for lawyers. Ed Crane and Amy Lewis, hosts of the morning drive time show on Talk Radio KFBK in Sacramento, invited Martin to discuss those points with their audience.

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WALTON LEAVES BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Thomas Walton, a long-time economist for General Motors who recently retired, stepped down from The Heartland Institute’s Board of Directors at a quarterly meeting on April 28. Walton expressed his “heartfelt best wishes for Heartland’s continued success and thanks for all you continue to do. Lovers of liberty need you now more than ever!”

“Tom was a model Board member,” said Heartland President Joe Bast. “He will be missed, and we wish him all the best.”