The Heartlander: October-November 2008

SMASHING SUCCESSES!

On Thursday, October 2 -- after this issue of The Heartlander went to press but before it landed in your mailbox -- Heartland hosted its fifth annual Emerging Issues Forum and 24th Anniversary Benefit Dinner. We’re quite certain both events were smashing successes ... and we’ll report on that prediction in the next issue!

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PRESIDENT’S COUNCIL RETREAT

The inaugural President’s Council Retreat kicked off on Monday, August 4 with a night to remember!

Approximately 50 Heartland supporters watched the Cubs vs. Astros baseball game at Wrigley Field from Brixen Ivy Rooftops. Guests dined on ballpark favorites while five innings of pleasant weather came to an abrupt end, with high winds and torrential rain leaving visibility in the ballpark at nearly zero. Heartlanders rushed indoors as tornado sirens began to wail.

Locals seemed delighted by the turn of events, as they had never seen anything like this at Wrigley Field before! Undeterred by the weather, the Heartland crew continued to enjoy themselves for many hours on the various floors of the Brixen Ivy. Lightning flashed near Wrigley Field in the late innings as a few brave attendees watched and waited until the game was called at 11:51 p.m., with one out in the bottom of the eighth, giving the game to the Astros in a 2-0 finish.

The following day, August 5, the retreat’s opening lunch was held at Nick’s Fishmarket with a keynote presentation by David Padden, founder of The Heartland Institute and chairman emeritus of the board of directors. Visitors were then escorted to The Heartland Institute offices for an open house and presentations by Heartland staff. The day concluded with a boat tour of the Chicago River and Lake Michigan aboard Wendella’s Sunliner, with drinks and dinner catered by Harry Caray’s. The views were spectacular as the sun set and the lights of the Chicago skyline illuminated the lake.

The President’s Council Summit was held on August 6 at the Union League Club, hosted by Arthur Margulis, one of Heartland’s newest board members. Panel discussions on education reform, environmental extremism, philanthropy, and health care included speakers such as Herbert Walberg, chairman of the Heartland board; Dan Schmidt of The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation; Rich Collins, president of Golden Rule Insurance Company; and a remarkable keynote lunch presentation on global warming by John Coleman, a former Chicago weatherman and founder of the Weather Channel.

The festivities concluded with dinner at a Chicago landmark, Gibsons Bar & Steakhouse, featuring one of the architects and central figures of the conservative movement, Grover G. Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform and author of Leave Us Alone -- Getting the Government’s Hands Off Our Money, Our Guns, Our Lives. Bob Buford, a partner at Gibsons and a Heartland board member, hosted the event and gave opening remarks.

The President’s Council Retreat is expected to be an annual event exclusively for Heartland’s most dedicated supporters, featuring substantive discussions on free-market public policy issues and a variety of social and networking activities.

For more information about the President’s Council Retreat or other events at The Heartland Institute, please contact Vice President Lauren Chrissos at lchrissos@heartland.org or 312/377-4000.

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MARK YOUR CALENDAR!
MARCH 8-10, 2009
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON CLIMATE CHANGE

Planning is well underway for the 2009 International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC), to be held March 8-10 at the Marriott New York Marquis Times Square Hotel in New York City.

This year’s theme is “Global Warming Crisis: Cancelled. Was it ever really a crisis?” Heartland President Joseph Bast notes the theme “reflects (a) the shift in scientific understanding toward the skeptics’ perspective; (b) the defeat of the Lieberman-Warner cap-and-trade bill in the U.S. Senate; (c) rising public opinion opposing global warming alarmism; and (d) rising energy and food prices around the world.”

The purpose of the conference is to highlight the disintegrating “consensus” on the causes and severity of global warming. The surprising and decisive defeat of the Lieberman-Warner global warming bill in the U.S. Senate signals that the politics of global warming have shifted to the skeptic’s side.

The 2008 conference dramatized the view that global warming is not a crisis, that it is probably natural and not caused by human activity, and that computer models are unreliable guides to future temperature change. The 2009 event will focus on those areas where the alarmists have lost credibility and where skeptics are gaining.

We aim to generate international media attention, as we did with the 2008 event, including a major push to lure Internet bloggers to cover the conference and blog live on the scientific, political, economic, and social areas where the phony consensus has fallen apart, and to expose alarmists’ remedies as unnecessary and grossly ineffective.

Program

This year’s ICCC will feature four consecutive program tracks addressing paleoclimatology, climatology, the impact of climate change, and the economics and politics of climate change.

Nearly two dozen speakers are already on the program, among them:

Dennis Avery, Hudson Institute
Robert Bradley, Institute for Energy Research
Myron Ebell, Competitive Enterprise Institute
William Gray, Colorado State University
Craig Idso, Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change
David Legates, Center for Climatic Research
Marlo Lewis, Competitive Enterprise Institute
Christopher Monckton, Viscount of Brenchly
Jim O’Brien, Florida State University
Tim Patterson, Carleton University, Ottawa
Benny Peiser, Liverpool John Moores University
Paul Reiter, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France
Arthur Robinson, Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine
Joel Schwartz, American Enterprise Institute
S. Fred Singer, Science and Environmental Policy Project
Willie Soon, Science and Public Policy Institute
Roy Spencer, University of Alabama, Huntsville
Anthony Watts, SurfaceStations.org

More Information

Not surprisingly for an event of this magnitude, several Heartland staffers are involved in its planning and orchestration. Your two key contacts:

James M. Taylor, senior fellow, for information concerning the program and speakers, jtaylor@heartland.org

Nikki Comerford, events manager, for information concerning the hotel, cosponsorships, and exhibit opportunities, ncomerford@heartland.org

Further details, including online registration, are available on the 2009 conference Web site, accessible from http://www.heartland.org.

2008 Conference Audio

On March 2-4, 2008, more than 500 scientists, economists, and policy analysts from around the world met in New York City for the inaugural International Conference on Climate Change. Now, the audio recordings of all 103 presentations from all five tracks (paleoclimatology, climatology, impacts, economics, and politics) are available in an information-packed, 35-CD set that makes clear there is no scientific consensus on the causes and consequences of climate change.

Copies of the set have been sent to conference speakers as well as elected officials, donors, and fellow think tanks, and we plan additional distribution to teachers for classroom use. The complete set is available for $119 by calling administrative assistant Cheryl Parker at 312/377-4000. Individual topic-specific CDs can be ordered online at http://www.heartland.org/newyork08/proceedings.html.

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MORE ON CLIMATE CHANGE

Blue Planet, Green Shackles

Heartland distributed more than 16,300 copies of Blue Planet In Green Shackles, by Czech Republic President Václav Klaus, to local, state, and federal elected officials across the country.

Klaus’s book offers an in-depth look and fascinating commentary on the current global warming alarmism movement. He examines the threat to freedom and prosperity around the world posed by policies not supported by current science. Klaus explains how the alarmist movement, which he describes as “the ambitious, arrogant, unscrupulous ideology of environmentalism”:

• aims to restrict carbon-emitting human activities -- at any cost, be it economic development, freedom, or human rights;

• pursues an unrealistic utopian dream of “clean” energy, ignoring the skyrocketing costs of achieving it; and

• is “[t]he largest threat to freedom, democracy, the market economy, and prosperity ... of the 21st century.”

The book, published by the Competitive Enterprise Institute, is available for purchase on its Web site at http://cei.org/books/blueplanetingreenshackles

Gore in the Classroom

More than 16,000 local, state, and federal judges in the U.S. received a copy in August of the 2007 decision by a British High Court justice who found Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth to be so riddled with scientific errors and bloated with propaganda that he prohibited it from being taught in British classrooms, unless a rebuttal is included in the curriculum.

The case was brought to the British court by a disgruntled parent who resented what he called the “indoctrination” of his high school-age son in Mr. Gore’s global-warming alarmism.

Heartland recruited Joseph Morris, a well-known Chicago attorney and head of the Lincoln Legal Foundation, to write a cover letter explaining Sir Michael Burton’s decision to U.S. jurists. Judges are opinion leaders in their communities, and global warming is increasingly appearing in lawsuits. Justice Burton’s decision might help the American jurists keep an open mind on this crucial question.

Meanwhile, Heartland’s “Gore in the Classroom” project received a boost in October as more than 145,000 copies of a promotional brochure were polybagged with the October issues of Environment & Climate News and School Reform News. The brochure explains that Heartland will provide legal assistance to parents who want to insist their local school boards provide fair and balanced instruction where global warming information is presented.

A Victory for Sound Science!

On July 17, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issued a notice to the Federal Register of a Synthesis Report on climate change. The notice cited scientific studies that were inadequate and filled with data gaps and alarmist language, threatening to serve as a junk science-driven guide for climate change regulation.

Heartland Vice President Sandy Liddy Bourne and Senior Fellow Maureen Martin wrote a comment for the public record on August 14 citing violations of the Information Quality Act and Federal Advisory Committee Act. Many Heartland members and allies also sent comments.

In late August, NOAA essentially retracted its Federal Register notice, saying it will reissue the notice after the scientific studies have been completed, allowing a far-better informed public to comment on the matter.

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ENVIRONMENT

Environment & Climate News

The September 2008 issue of Environment & Climate News addresses “bias and cronyism” at the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and presents the third of a three-part bibliography of peer-reviewed studies that contradict global warming alarmism.

On page 1:

• The Environmental Protection Agency released an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for the purpose of regulating greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act. A 120-day public comment period opened on July 30.

• The Rhode Island Supreme Court unanimously ruled paint companies are not liable for $2.4 billion required to abate deteriorating lead pain in 240,000 privately owned residences.

• The Delaware Supreme Court ruled environmental activist groups have no basis for challenging horseshoe crab harvest guidelines enacted by the state Department of Natural Resources.

• The press for more offshore drilling has opened a rift among California environmentalists, many of whom are calling for increased oil recovery as a way to reduce natural oil seepage.

Also in this issue: public opinion on oil and gas recovery; nuclear, solar, and wind power; mercury; global warming and farmers; eagles and wolves in Michigan; and Science Director Jay Lehr’s review of The Deniers, which he says will “inspire you.”

In the News

In July reporting on efforts by Great Lakes states to regulate water use from the Great Lakes, The Wall Street Journal (circ. 2 million) relied on Heartland Science Director Jay Lehr to explain why eco-regulation will result in inefficient use of water and restrict property owners’ ability to protect their resources.

In a July 6 letter published by the Chicago Tribune, Legislative Specialist Zonia Pino responds to columnist Dennis Byrnes’ call for drilling in the Great Lakes.”While not-in-my-back-yard notions may tell us that it’s still preferable to drill for oil in Alaska and off of the coast of Florida, energy exploration in the Great Lakes truly is a great idea to be considered,” Pino wrote.

For an article addressing recent flooding in the Midwest, Pino was asked by a Kansas City Star reporter whether global warming was to blame. She explained that research does not appear to support a correlation between global warming and storms, and in fact many scientists have suggested warming could lessen the severity of storms.

In a July 10 letter to the editor of the Tulsa Beacon, Pino called on Democrats in Congress to allow for more drilling.

In a July 22 letter to the editor of The Hill, Pino criticized former vice president Al Gore for his unrealistic energy proposal. “Gore and the disciples of global warming need to cease the fear-mongering and use their collective zest to promote a cost-efficient, comprehensive energy plan that includes nuclear, coal, oil and even windmills; an energy plan, though, that won’t unduly burden hardworking American taxpayers,” she wrote.

The Phoenix (circ. 77,700) in eastern Pennsylvania ran Pino’s oped, “T. Boone Pickens’ plan is a windy boondoggle.” Pino was critical of the Texas oilman’s proposal to divert tax money into wind farms. The News in Ely, Nevada cited Pino’s skeptical analysis in reporting on Pickens’ plan, and in August, National Review (circ. 150,000) put in its endorsement: “The Heartland Institute’s Zonia Pino picks apart the Pickens Plan in a new op-ed that makes a property-rights argument worth emphasizing.”

In an August 5 letter to the editor of the Southern Illinoisan, Pino retracted her July 14 oped praising Senator Dick Durbin and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. “It is with great bemusement that I find myself having to respond to my own commentary, but unfortunately, my praise of ... was short-lived,” wrote Pino, noting the two Democrats have waffled on the issue of oil exploration.

In an August 16 oped in the Peoria Journal Star, Pino called for more oil exploration to improve the nation’s energy security. “Restrictions on the domestic petroleum industry that prevent exploring and drilling at home keep the U.S. dependent on imports from abroad, and dramatically increase the economic and environmental costs of energy,” Pino wrote. “To change that and meet our energy needs, we should increase our energy options by opening up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) and our coastal waters to environmentally safe exploration.”

On the Road

Heartland Science Director Jay Lehr spoke on world food production before 200 attendees at a meeting of the Kansas Wheat Association in Hutchinson, Kansas on August 5.

Salt Lake City and the Farm Credit Services meeting provided the venue for two presentations by Lehr: August 26 on globalization and the declining dollar, and August 27 on “World Energy Supplies and Can We Feed the World?”

A quick trip to St. Louis on August 28 brought Lehr before the annual meeting of the Illinois Community Bankers Association, where his topic was “The Future of Ethanol and Biodiesel on the Farm and at the Pump.”

On September 15, Lehr addressed 200 people at a meeting of the Farm Credit Association in Atlanta, Georgia, discussing the topic “Weather, Global Warming, and Agriculture.”

Lehr testified September 16 before a joint committee of Colorado legislators, urging the state to take advantage of the benefits of nuclear energy.

On the Air

On August 6, Pino appeared on WTTW’s Chicago Tonight public affairs television show as one of several panelists addressing the topic, “living green.” Pino spoke in favor of small measures that would help families save energy, but she insisted decisions regarding energy consumption should be left up to the individual’s or family’s discretion and should not come in the form of government mandates.

Research & Commentary

Pino wrote and distributed to elected officials a Research & Commentary addressing the work of global warming alarmist Nicholas Stern. Noted Pino, “Stern’s research is based on the Special Report on Emissions Scenarios produced by the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The IPCC’s scenarios--all of which assume global warming is anthropogenic (human-induced)--have been criticized by many of the leading voices in climate science and economics.”

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BUDGET & TAX

Budget & Tax News

The September 2008 issue of Budget & Tax News highlights research by the Institute for Truth in Accounting aimed at improving the transparency ... and accuracy ... of state budget processes.

On page 1:

• After spending $213, million, the City of Chicago has decided to suspend indefinitely construction of an underground “superstation” for express train service to and from the city’s major airports and downtown.

• Floridians might have the option this November to vote to cut property taxes by raising other taxes.

• Hundreds of citizens of Pittsburgh and surrounding Allegheny County have launched a campaign to place on the November ballot a referendum to remove a 10 percent tax on alcoholic drinks.

• The U.S. Supreme Court has struck down a California law that hampered employers’ ability to speak out about union organizing efforts in the workplace.

Also in this issue: unions, New York’s Internet sales tax, car rental taxes, phone taxes, Wisconsin dams, the “optimal” size of government, Chicago’s bottled water tax, the farm bill, and more.

In the News

Research Fellow Steve Stanek, managing editor of Budget & Tax News, tweaked the pro-tax lobby and argued in an oped that if Congress soaks the rich, “we’ll all get wet.” His piece was picked up by a variety of papers in July, including the Boonville Daily News (circ. 3,000), Camdenton, Missouri Lake Sun Leader (circ. 5,300), and Keokuk, Iowa Daily Gate City (circ. 5,000), among others.

On July 13, the Biloxi Sun-Herald (circ. 47,346) published Legislative Specialist John Nothdurft’s letter to the editor, “Cigarette taxes are deceptive and inefficient.” He explained, “Not only does cigarette tax revenue dry up easily, thereby causing other taxes to be increased, but cigarette taxes also unfairly burden low-income taxpayers and punish local businesses.”

On August 1, the suburban Chicago Daily Herald (circ. 151,190) published “State cannot keep spending on pork,” a letter to the editor by Nothdurft responding to the state’s budget deficit. He wrote, “It’s high time Springfield injects some real fiscal discipline instead of claiming the budget has a revenue problem that will cause Illinois residents and businesses to suffer if not fixed.”

Stanek warned, in an August 8 oped in the Iowa Gazette, that Iowans who are being urged to surrender more money for rebuilding roads and bridges should resist until the tax money they already are sending to Des Moines is spent where it should be spent: on roads and bridges.

On August 20, the Louisville Courier-Journal (circ. 218,796) published Nothdurft’s letter to the editor responding to Gov. Steve Beshear’s call for a 70-cent cigarette tax increase. Nothdurft wrote, “While the approach may be appealing at first glance, historically cigarette tax increases are notoriously unpredictable and often lead to higher overall tax rates.”

The Hawaii Reporter on August 21 liked the hard-nosed analysis in Budget & Tax News of Chicago’s super-railroad station under the Loop that would link the city’s two major airports to downtown via high-speed rail. Stanek’s news story in the Reporter concluded, “Committing to such enormous investment in a downtown station raises questions about the city’s spending priorities. It’s discouraging so much has been spent on a complex station design when that station contributes relatively little to the overall passenger experience.”

Research & Commentary

Nothdurft sent a Research & Commentary on cigarette taxes to Kentucky legislators, followed up by personal phone calls. “The general decline in tobacco use nationwide, cross-border shopping, Internet sales, smuggling, and other factors have caused tobacco tax revenue streams to flatten, thereby forcing legislators to find revenue elsewhere to fill the gap. A legislature unwilling to fundamentally fix a budget using fiscal restraint places an unnecessary strain on Kentucky businesses and residents,” Nothdurft noted.

On July 9, Nothdurft emailed a Research & Commentary on TABOR, the taxpayer’s bill of rights, to more than 2,000 state and federal legislators nationwide. Personal follow ups were made to Florida and Texas, where the issue has most recently come up. http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=23496

On July 17 and July 24, Nothdurft sent Research & Commentary emails addressing deficits facing California, Illinois, and Washington. Nothdurft advised, “Before raising income taxes and eliminating important deductions, a fiscally responsible government needs to trim wasteful spending, enact sensible spending limits, and work with the private sector towards implementing more free-market solutions to pressing public policy problems.” http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=23532 and http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=23574

Nothdurft blanketed Virginia with educational emails and phone calls addressing Virginia Governor Tim Kaine’s attempt to raise more than a billion dollars in vehicle, sales, gas, and real estate taxes to reduce traffic. Kaine’s proposal was ultimately defeated. The Washington Times (circ. 102.258) published a letter by Nothdurft after the defeat.

In his Washington Times letter, Nothdurft highlighted Senior Fellow Wendell Cox’s work on freight rail, noting, “If Virginia’s government officials are serious about solving the transportation conundrum, they should unshackle the freight rail industry from excessive regulation and encourage private investment through public-private partnerships and tax incentives.” A similar letter was published on July 28 in the Virginia Daily Press (circ. 83,000).

Nothdurft also followed up by sending a Research & Commentary to Illinois and Virginia, explaining how expanding freight rail could substantially reduce commuter’s time in traffic and fuel costs. He cited Cox’s study findings: “by shifting 25 percent of freight from trucks to rail by 2026 ... on average each commuter would save 41 hours of drive time, $985 in congestion costs, and 79 gallons of fuel each year.” http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=23490

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WELFARE REFORM

Heartland’s July policy study examining states’ progress in “ending welfare as we know it” over the past 10 years continues to attract attention and motivate change.

“Welfare Reform After Ten Years: A State-by-State Analysis” ranks the 50 states and the District of Columbia, grading them by the success of their anti-poverty efforts and by the reform policies they adopted in 1996 thanks to a Clinton administration initiative. The research project was directed by Gary MacDougal, author of Make a Difference: A Spectacular Breakthrough in the Fight Against Poverty.

Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine cited what he called The Heartland Institute’s “comprehensive study” on August 22 as he pledged to continue the effective policies that earned Virginia a grade of A on the report card.

The Democratic governor’s remarks were picked up by the ABC outlet in Richmond, WHSV-TV, and the NBC affiliate in Roanoke, WSLS-TV.

Shortly after the report was issued in July, Missouri State Rep. Cynthia Davis called to ask author Gary MacDougal to appear as an expert witness later this year when a bi-partisan committee on welfare reform convenes in the Missouri state capitol.

The report card has garnered a surprising amount of radio and TV broadcast coverage--unusual for a topic that doesn’t involve stranded polar bears or crime. Among MacDougal’s broadcast interviews on news and talk shows were WYOU-TV, the CBS outlet in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, for 20 minutes, and the JR Snider Live and Local program on WSJS-AM in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

The positive results of the study also have been widely reported by print media, including a lead editorial in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (circ. 150,200), which concluded, “Pennsylvania could make short work of its welfare problem” by following the best-practices policies laid out in the report.

Also citing the policy study were the Vero Beach (Florida) Press-Journal (circ. 33,300) and Palm Beach Post (circ. 175,500), both of which lamented Florida’s grade of F. The Grand Forks Herald (circ. 36,700), Honolulu Advertiser (circ. 141,100), Minot (North Dakota) Daily News (circ. 25,800), and Schenactady (New York) Daily Gazette (circ. 60,600) also wrote about the report.

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FINANCE, INSURANCE, REAL ESTATE

Research & Commentary

On July 2, Legislative Specialist Matthew Glans emailed a policy update examining Louisiana’s efforts to cut back government controls over the property and casualty insurance market. The update was sent to legislators in Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Texas.

On July 10, Glans sent a payday lending Research & Commentary update to legislators in Oregon, commenting on the effects of its payday lending ban two years after its implementation. “It is more difficult to get a loan today than at any time in recent memory,” noted Glans. “The payday loan ban exacerbates these difficulties for many borrowers by cutting off a viable source of credit.” The Research & Commentary was emailed to Oregon legislators.

On July 15, Glans sent a Research & Commentary on the National Flood Insurance Program. He comments on the negative effects of the government-run insurance program, focusing on its effects on the overall insurance market and its deleterious effect on homebuilding in flood-prone areas. “The 40-year-old NFIP has not lived up to expectations,” noted Glans. “While originally designed to be self-sustaining, a Congressional report found in 2004 that NFIP cost taxpayers up to $200 million annually through properties with repetitive losses.” Glans used the Research & Commentary in letters to the editor in many of the targeted states, and the piece was published online at the Rational Reviews Web site. http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=23516

On August 2, Glans distributed a policy update on the student lending “crisis,” commenting on the misguided efforts of some legislators to pump government aid into federal student loan programs that do not need the aid. The update examines the argument that the crisis was a ploy by the lending industry to increase government subsidies for their programs and examines the retreat of private lenders from the student loan market. “A bailout of the student loan industry places additional financial risk on taxpayers and only serves to reinforce the underlying spending addiction in higher education,” Glans wrote.He noted, “The [National Flood Insurance Program] was designed to reduce the cost of natural flood disasters and promote mitigation efforts in flood-prone areas. The NFIP ... is instead encouraging new construction in flood-prone areas, where the number of homes has soared over the last 10 years and flood damage costs have increased by almost $3.4 billion.”

In response to the rising number of bank closures and federal seizures, Glans composed and distributed on August 11 a Research & Commentary on the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). He commented on FDIC’s reserve requirements, compared to those of its member banks, criticizing FDIC for being ill-prepared. He also examined possible avenues for privatization of deposit insurance. “With the recent increase in bank failures, and more losses predicted in the future,” Glans wrote, “it is clear steps need to be taken to improve the stability of American banks. A free-market privatization and deregulation plan to reform the banking system is an increasingly attractive alternative to the beleaguered FDIC system.” The Research & Commentary was sent to legislators in all 50 states and members of Congress, with a special outreach to legislative aides in the offices of legislators on banking committees. http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=23629

In the News

On July 17, a letter written by Glans on flood insurance was published by the Christian Science Monitor.

On July 23, the suburban Chicago Daily Herald published a letter by Glans on payday lending. Glans noted payday loans “are risky but clearly more desirable than the alternative, bounced checks and late fees, which only further damage a blemished credit history.”

On August 8, the suburban Chicago Daily Herald (circ. 151,190) printed a letter by Glans commenting on Illinois’ property and casualty insurance regulatory system. Noted Glans, “Competition among insurers benefits consumers and improves the market as a whole. Illinois provides the best market for insurance in the country, providing a wide variety of products to consumers at competitive prices and earning an ‘A’ grade in Heartland’s study.”

On August 20, the Palm Beach Post (circ. 175,500) published a letter written by Glans on Florida’s intervention in the property and casualty insurance market. “The recent rejection by regulators of State Farm’s rate increase request is a strong example of Florida’s misguided management of private insurers. Blaming insurers for high rates and not allowing them to adjust for risk and profitability is a political maneuver that ignores the realities of the industry. Insurers need to be able to react to risk and charge premiums that allow them to remain solvent,” Glans noted.

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HEALTH CARE

Health Care News

The September 2008 issue of Health Care News compares the health care plans being offered by presumptive presidential candidates Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain. On page 1:

• New taxes to support Dirigo Care, the Maine state government’s attempt at providing “universal” health care, have so angered Maine residents that a coalition dedicated to repealing the tax increases was able to collect nearly twice as many signatures as required to put a repeal referendum on the state’s ballot this November.

• The number of Texas physicians willing to take on Medicare patients is declining. Only 58 percent are currently taking new Medicare cases.

• The newly launched South Carolina Health Information Exchange has made 800,000 medical histories of Medicaid enrollees available to physicians, clinics, and hospitals.

• The Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council was almost entirely done away with at the beginning of July when Gov. Ed Rendell laid off 38 members of the 44-person board.

Also in this issue: Medicare price controls, retirement planning, medical home systems, consumer-driven reforms under attack in Georgia and Florida, mandated insurance benefits, cancer research, drug prices in Canada, workers’ compensation reform, and more.

Consumers for Health Care Choices

Small business owners and employee-benefit managers of mid-sized companies received training in reducing and controlling health care costs September 3 as Consumers for Health Care Choices kicked off its series of cross-country educational workshops in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Greg Scandlen, director of CHCC, led the three-hour workshop with help from Events Manager Nikki Comerford and CHCC Assistant Robin Knox. Attendees were advised on how to buy health insurance, the legislative and regulatory environment, how to manage health savings accounts, and how to shop for medical services.

Future workshops are scheduled for Chicago and Austin, Texas.

Scandlen arranged a meeting with Susan Dentzer, the new editor of the influential Health Affairs magazine, and a dozen free-market individuals to discuss consumer-driven care health in Bethesda, Maryland, September 4.

On September 25, Scandlen keynoted The Health Wealth Summit in Miami, and three days later he spoke at the Doctors United meeting sponsored by Sermo in Cambridge, Maine.

Scandlen will co-chair the Consumer Driven Health Care Summit in Washington, DC, October 20-21 and address the Ed Annis Awards Dinner in Orlando, Florida, October 21.

For more information about the activities of Consumers for Health Care Choices at The Heartland Institute, contact Knox at 312/377-4000, email rknox@heartland.org, or Scandlen at scandlen@heartand.org.

Update: Dual-Tracking for Drugs

Last year, Heartland published More Choices, Better Health: Free to Choose Experimental Drugs, a booklet by Bartley J. Madden that proposes a dual-tracking system that would give informed patients and their doctors easier access to experimental drugs. Madden reports the booklet has attracted attention from think tanks and policy analysts in the U.S. and around the world:

CIVITAS London-based Civitas: Institute for the Study of Civil Society (www.civitas.org.uk) sent me the following email: “ ... If you are visiting the UK we would be delighted to organize a seminar for you to present your idea. We would bring together people interested in the subject from the pharmaceutical industry, the regulators, government, consumer groups, and academics. A follow-up publication could emerge from the discussion.” I indicated November would work for me. My emails have been with Robert Whelan and David Green.

JAPAN Masaru Uchiyama, president of Japanese for Tax Reform, has started a translation of the booklet and is developing a detailed proposal for introducing dual-tracking in Japan.

SWITZERLAND Had a dinner meeting July 23 with Alphonse Crespo, research director of Institut Constant De Rebecque (www.institutconstant.ch) and founder and director of Medicine & Liberty (www.medlib.ch). I have read some of his papers and consider him to be an intellectual leader in the convergence of medicine, ethics, and economics. Near-term, he has offered to coordinate French and German translations of the booklet for distribution throughout Switzerland and publication of an overview of dual-tracking in a Swiss medical journal at year-end. Due to his long career in promoting a free-market approach to medicine, Alphonse has developed relationships with industry leaders who support a free-market approach to medicine. He plans to review dual-tracking with IFPMA (International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association) and propose that IFPMA endorse and distribute the Heartland booklet (not an easy sell). Alphonse indicated that a dual-tracking seminar in Switzerland in 2009 should be considered.

SCOTT RICCIO Scott has a deep understanding of how dual-tracking could be the needed long-term solution to FDA’s monopoly on drug access. My latest paper was significantly improved due to Scott’s suggestions. Scott is widely respected for his knowledge and communication skills. He has done significant work with politicians and their staffs in Washington to gain support for passage of the ACCESS Act to speed access to new drugs. He is currently organizing a not-for-profit organization that brings together thought leaders to accelerate progress in cancer research and to improve the regulatory process.

COMPETITIVE ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE Met with Fred Smith July 23 and discussed CEI’s work on FDA reform (Sam Kazman and Greg Conko) plus the dual-tracking proposal. Fred is not as enthusiastic as I am about the potential to change the U.S. political landscape for FDA reform by securing a foreign implementation (or major field trial) of dual-tracking. He argues that creative marketing and emotional hooks to the public are the most important missing element in gaining support for free-market proposals. Fred suggested that a group should meet and assemble a pro/con assessment of all the outstanding proposals for FDA reform, including dual-tracking.

VERNON SMITH Vernon’s not-for-profit research organization is the International Foundation for Research in Experimental Economics (IFREE). In IFREE’s President’s Spring-Summer Update, Vernon summarized the major initiatives in progress. One of IFREE’s projects is “FDA Dual Tracking,” which Vernon summarized as follows:

Stephen Rassenti and Dan Houser teamed with Bart Madden to propose experiments on the novel “Dual Tracking” approach Madden advocates for reforming the FDA drug approval process. While the FDA currently has absolute control of access to drugs, Madden’s idea is to provide an access-to-drugs path to supplement the traditional FDA approval process. In this path patients, advised by their doctors, would take responsibility for deciding if late-stage experimental drugs offer a better opportunity for them compared to FDA-approved drugs. The aim of the team’s research proposal, as noted by the IFREE Proposal Evaluation Committee, is to evaluate why and how dual tracking might improve patient welfare. The research team has developed sophisticated software that places participants within a complex dynamic system that allows experimenters to discover relationships between information flows and health-related decisions. In this laboratory environment participants make choices under a rich set of representative uncertainties regarding disease progression and treatment. The ultimate goal of this investigation is to provide scientific evidence on how changes in drug approval processes might improve the human condition.

GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY Dan Hauser and Stephen Rassenti are currently getting the final bugs removed from the software used to run the dual-tracking experiment. I’ll be at GMU August 15 to see how this experiment works. This experiment should: (1) provide insights about the workings of a dual-tracking system, (2) give added credibility to the concept, and (3) provide a means to better communicate the dual-tracking proposal to top government officials.

CHINA Feng Xingyuan is a leading Chinese scholar in promoting free-market capitalism in China and a strong supporter of dual-tracking. He organized the Chinese translation of the Heartland booklet and the posting of it on major Chinese Web sites. Arrangements for Feng to visit GMU for two months are currently in progress.

On the Road

Senior Fellow Richard Dolinar, M.D., a clinical endocrinologist with a practice in Phoenix, Arizona and a highly regarded expert on health care reform, made several presentations on treating Type 2 diabetes in August in Prescott and Peoria, Arizona.

Dolinar was a featured presenter August 23 in Minneapolis at the Socioeconomic Workshop for the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists on “Health Care As a Right: Who Defines Overutilization and How Do We Prevent It?”

In the News

Ralph Conner, Heartland’s local legislation manager, explained in a letter published in July by the Chicago Sun-Times (circ. 496,000) why state health insurance mandates drive up premiums.

Jeff Emanuel, managing editor of Health Care News, similarly explained why mandates raise the cost of insurance for all consumers in an oped that ran July 20 in the Peoria Journal-Star (circ. 73,900).

“One-third of the uninsured are chronically ill” was the conclusion of a new study from a doctors’ trade group. U.S. News & World Report (circ. 2.2 million) turned to Greg Scandlen, director of Consumers for Health Care Choice at The Heartland Institute, for analysis. When the study was picked up by a national broadcast wire service, HealthDay, Scandlen’s comments were included. More than 50 broadcast outlets used the story and his analysis.

Scandlen also explained to Chicago Sun-Times (circ. 496,000) readers, in an August 19 oped, why buying drugs from Canada makes even less sense today with a weak dollar.

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INFOTECH & TELECOM

September was a scheduled “skip month” for InfoTech & Telecom News.

In the News, On the Air

The New York Times (circ. 1 million) in August sought Heartland President Joseph Bast’s take on the city council’s proposal to outlaw text-messaging while driving. “It’s foolish to drive a car and try to text message at the same time, but to criminalize all stupid behavior is fruitless,” Bast said. “I suppose it’s just a matter of time before they try to ban smoking while driving.”

Josh Treviño, outgoing managing editor of InfoTech & Telecom News, rebutted claims that cell phone use can cause cancer, appearing on July 24 on The Rutherford Show, CHQR-AM in Calgary, Canada.

Jim Lakely Joins Heartland

James G. Lakely has joined Heartland as managing editor of Infotech & Telecom News, after stints covering The White House and Congress for The Washington Times, writing editorials and columns for newspapers in Virginia and California, and serving as senior business editor for a trade magazine based in Los Angeles.

A native New Yorker, Lakely considers Pittsburgh (where his family resides) his adopted home town. A graduate of the University of Pittsburgh, he is an avid follower of his alma mater’s sports teams and a die-hard Pittsburgh Steelers fan. Lakely and his wife make their home in Pasadena, California with an adopted racing greyhound and two cats.

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EDUCATION

School Reform News

The September 2008 issue of School Reform News highlights homeschooling, charter schools, and school choice legislative efforts in California. On page 1:

• The No Child Left Behind Act dominated the first debate between representatives of the two presumptive presidential party nominees, Sen. John McCain and Sen. Barack Obama.

• Rhode Island has re-opened the door to more public school choice and competition, as a moratorium on the creation of new charter schools was allowed to expire.

• Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland’s veto of a special-needs scholarship bill last year isn’t stopping supporters from making another attempt to provide scholarships for disabled students.

• New Orleans’ new $10 million needs-based voucher program may bring back some families who fled the city when Hurricane Katrina arrived three years ago.

Also in this issue: the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program, Arizona’s voucher programs, teacher performance pay, charter schools, No Child Left Behind, a Chicago scholarship program, preparing teachers for math, Milwaukee’s voucher program, and more.

In the News

Heartland scored a two-fer on July 9 when the Oklahoman (circ. 216,500) published letters from two Heartland experts on the same topic: praise for school choice. One letter came from School Reform News Managing Editor Karl Dial, and the other from Senior Fellow Bob Holland.

Holland also scored that day with an oped, titled, “Do America’s School children understand what unites us?” published in the Gulfport, Mississippi Sun-Herald (circ. 14,200).

Later that month, on July 26, another two-fer, as the Tyler (Texas) Morning Telegraph (circ. 44,000) ran two opeds by different authors who relied on research from two Heartlanders, President Joseph Bast on expanding sources of energy and Senior Fellow George Clowes on the success of Milwaukee’s voucher plan.

Some Florida officials cited the high cost of fuel as justification for halting bus service for parents who used vouchers to send their children to schools away from their neighborhoods. Bob Holland, Heartland senior fellow for education, weighed in with an oped, “Don’t let fuel prices put the brakes on school choice,” which was picked up August 2 by the Naples Daily News (circ. 70,000) and August 3 by the Bonita Daily News (circ. 70,000).

The Iowa City Press-Citizen (circ. 15,100) ignited a firestorm August 17 when it ran an oped by local resident Deborah Thornton lamenting that local students were being force-fed Al Gore’s highly discredited An Inconvenient Truth as part of the basic curriculum. She noted in her oped that Heartland is ready to assist disgruntled parents in suing their local school boards to inject some balance into the classroom.

Scores of letters poured into the paper on both sides of the issue, and talk-show host Steve Deace on 50,000-watt WHO-AM asked Senior Fellow Maureen Martin to provide details on August 22. Meanwhile, Press-Citizen Editor Jeff Carlson asked Martin to write an oped explaining just what’s wrong with the global warming alarmists’ arguments.

On the Road

Heartland Senior Fellow George Clowes participated in an August 1 roundtable discussion, convened in Chicago by the White House, to discuss faith-based initiatives in education.

Clowes also lent his expertise to the September 25 Participation in School Choice Conference at Clemson University, South Carolina.

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URBAN AFFAIRS

On August 14-16, Heartland Senior Fellow Lee Walker attended a meeting and conference of the Amistad Commission, hosted by Illinois State Rep. Monique Davis. The commission was created to provide assistance and advice to schools in the State of Illinois with respect to the implementation of education, awareness programs, textbooks, and educational materials concerned with the African save trade, slavery in America, the vestiges of slavery in this country, and the contributions of African-Americans to American society.

Walker is one of 11 members of the commission, including radio talk show host and former Chicago alderman Cliff Kelley and the Reverend Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr., Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama’s former pastor.

On the Air

Roy Innis, author of Energy Keepers, Energy Killers and head of the Congress of Racial Equality, appeared August 1 on WSJS-AM in Winston-Salem, North Carolina on “JR Snider Live and Local” to explain why energy and carbon emissions are the civil rights issues of the twenty-first century.

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FOLLOWING UP

Freight Rail

The top trade publication in the railroad industry, Progressive Railroading (monthly circ. 25,000), in its July issue praised Heartland Policy Advisor and author Wendell Cox for his perceptive policy study addressing freight rail traffic and gridlock on America’s highways. Other publications followed Progressive Railroading’s lead, with stories appearing on the editorial page of the Los Angeles Times (circ. 780,000) and in the San Antonia Business Journal (circ. 9,000), New York Business Review (circ. 9,700), Truck News (international circulation), Tyler Morning Telegraph (circ. 44,000), and Arizona Republic (circ. 382,400).

Second Amendment

Senior Fellow Maureen Martin scored big-time with her explanation of why Florida’s laws supporting the Second Amendment and the rights of gun owners have in fact saved lives in the Sunshine State. Her oped was published by the High Plains (Kansas) Journal (circ. 54,112), Stuart (Florida) News (circ. 35,100), and Vero Beach (Florida) Press Journal (circ. 33,000), among others.

Smoking Bans

On July 15, Break a Leg -- an online magazine dedicated to performance arts in Chicago -- interviewed Nothdurft for an article about the play Jersey Boys, which was forced to go non-smoking because of Chicago’s strict smoking ban. Nothdurft said the smoking ordinance is a “liberty-intrusive ban” and “even the most ardent secondhand smoke alarmists would be hard-pressed to claim such trace amounts caused by Jersey Boys could be harmful to its audience.”

Darrell Moore, Heartland’s data entry specialist and the pleasant young man who answers calls to Heartland and directs callers to the right staffer, scored two letters to the editor in August, both of them correcting misinformation about second-hand smoke. His “Freedom of Choice” letter ran in the Salt Lake City Deseret News (circ. 68,000) on August 8, while his “Not OUR choice” ran in the Concord (New Hampshire) Monitor (circ. 21,900) and concluded, “People are not quitting because they choose to. They are quitting smoking because of legislation.”

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WEB SITE NEWS

Extreme Makeover

Heartland announced in September the launch of its new-and-improved Web site at http://www.heartland.org .

The top-to-bottom makeover, nine months in development, was guided by Executive Editor Diane Bast. The new site offers user-friendly navigation and a bold new graphic design by Heartland Vice President Kevin Fitzgerald.

“The Heartland Web site offers remarkably wide and deep coverage of public policy issues,” said Heartland Executive Vice President Dan Miller. “With the new site design, we wanted to make that information easy to find, in a format that’s graphically engaging. I believe visitors to the site will find we’ve accomplished both.”

The site features:

• home-page access to PolicyBot™, Heartland’s free online research database, with more than 22,000 studies and commentaries from hundreds of think tanks and advocacy groups, browse-able by topic and search-able by keyword and other facets.

• fully integrated Issue Suites addressing education, environment, health care, information technology, law, budget and taxes, and tobacco. The suites identify what’s new on the site for that topic, direct Web visitors to key Heartland personnel who address the topic, and provide one-click access to thousands of PolicyBot™ documents addressing that topic.

• enhanced FAQs, including the Truth Squad.

• home-page access to Heartland’s new weekly podcast series, launched in September; the reinvigorated From the Heartland blog; and a new online store powered by Amazon.com.

Back-end improvements will make it easier for Heartland’s in-house staff, as well as editors and senior fellows from California to Maryland, to become content contributors to the site. The new site is powered by SiteExecutive, a Web content management system offered by Systems Alliance, a systems integration and IT consulting firm based in Sparks, Maryland.

Truth Squad

The Heartland Institute often is the target for misinformation, misdirection, and outright lies about its mission, funding, donors, members, and staff. The attacks come from a variety of sources seeking to undermine Heartland’s education and research efforts in a variety of areas, including the environment, education, and health care.

Heartland’s new Truth Squad page, http://www.heartland.org/about/truthsquad.html, rebuts the most common attacks. We welcome alerts from allies about other attacks that should be confronted with facts. Please contact Dan Miller, executive vice-president, at dmiller@heartland.org.

Podcasts, Blog

Heartland rolled out the first in a weekly podcast series in September, with the focus on education.

Each of the 10 podcasts runs five minutes and examines one of the “10 Principles of School Choice,” written by Heartland President Joseph Bast and Chairman Herb Walberg. The series is read by Alan Crane, well-known golden-voiced former radio personality in Chicago.

Next on the podcast agenda: “Ten Principles of State Fiscal Policy.” The podcasts can be downloaded from the multimedia center at www.heartland.org.

New Media Specialist Kelly Drukala re-launched Heartland’s blog, http://fromtheheartland.org/, in September. The blog gives Heartland a new doorway into the blogosphere, where our brand of discovering, developing, and promoting free-market solutions to social and economic problems can find new audiences. Less formal and more feisty than our Web site, fromtheheartland.org also will help Drukala respond to attacks on our reputation and policy proposals.