Endorsements
Dr. John A. Baden
President, Foundation for Research on Economics and the Environment
I find The Heartland Institute’s success truly remarkable, a tribute to intelligence, entrepreneurial skills, crazy ambition, perseverance, and insulation from political and business pressures. Its driving force is a dedication to liberty, small government, and the rule of law. It is highly sensitive to the abuse of political power. When times get tough, the classical liberal values expressed in America’s constitution are at risk. Fortunately, America finally has organizations with the will and the capacity to alert citizens of pending dangers and offer alternatives. Heartland stands out among them.
Morton Blackwell
President, The Leadership Institute
The Heartland Institute produces high quality publications, well researched and persuasively written in an attractive style. Joe Bast and his staff have more fun promoting liberty than many other think tanks.
Hon. Nancy Boettger
State Senator – Iowa
I think The Heartland Institute’s meetings are some of the best learning opportunities out there. I am always grateful for the opportunity to attend. Their educational publications are so valuable and useful to legislators. Thank you for all you do.
Hon. Jim DeMint
Chairman, Conservative Partnership Institute
Former President, The Heritage Foundation
For a quarter of a century, The Heartland Institute has valiantly promoted free market solutions to our nation’s problems, including parental choice in education and increased competition and personalization in health care. The Heartland Institute recognizes that if people are free to compete they do a much better job solving social problems and stimulating economic growth than any government bureaucracy.
In short, the Heartland Institute promotes individual liberty – a priceless, God-given right. Now more than ever we need to stand up against the socialist agenda threatening America. I applaud The Heartland Institute for its work to sustain our economy and culture. Thank you for supplying first rate ideas to our nation for the past 25 years and here’s to many years to come!
Hon. Jeff Essmann
State Senator – Montana
In a country whose political dialogue has been clouded with the lack of transparency created by conventional political thinking Heartland throws open the door to fresh and creative thought and discussion.
Hon. Paul J. Evans
State Representative – Illinois
I like the Ten Principle concepts. They are succinct and useful to convey fundamental – and vital – issues pressing upon our democracy today.
Peter Ferrara
Author, America’s Ticking Bankruptcy Bomb
The Heartland Institute has been heroic in its work on global warming, becoming a world leader on the issue. Indeed, its careful, objective, and scientifically oriented work is the globally recognized alternative to the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Heartland has also sponsored cutting-edge, path-breaking entitlement reform, offering the key to unlocking political viability. That is why these ideas are sweeping policy and political circles in Washington and elsewhere. Heartland has long been doing the same regarding state and local policy innovations and reforms, where it is also recognized as a national leader.
Ed Feulner
Former President, The Heritage Foundation
Joe and Diane Bast and the entire team have provided a great voice of freedom from the Heartland and from my home town of Chicago.
Whether it’s providing information to state representatives and local chambers, or bringing together consumer advocates for health care reform, or bringing scientists and academics together to discuss the truth about global warming, you’ve been on the front lines on so many issues providing the intellectual ammunition to win the battles. Yes, the fight continues and in fact each day the stakes seem so much higher. We’re proud at Heritage to partner with you and pleased to have you as good friends.
Dr. Milton Friedman
Nobel laureate
School Reform News is a reliable, well-written source of information on the exploding movement to reconstruct our educational system.
Hon. Pamela Gorman
Former State Senator – Arizona
Few organizations offer the depth of discussion Heartland does on the important issues facing my state today. They have become my first stop when seeking evidence-based arguments for solid public policy.
Hon. Tom Hansen
State Senator – South Dakota
I have found Heartland through its materials and workshops to be one of the most useful tools for me in my legislative participation.”
Hon. Kristin Hansen
State Representative – Montana
I used your “10 Principles on Federal Tax Policy” to get a study bill on the Montana income tax passed. Of 20 proposed studies, my study was ranked #1 with bi-partisan support. Your guide was excellent and concise and I relied heavily on it.”
Hon. James Inhofe
U.S. Senator – Oklahoma
For two and a half decades, you have successfully worked to promote and develop solutions to some of the most challenging problems of your time. Your work is particularly important today as big government liberals rule the day in Washington. Let me say thank you for your hard work. There is no question that in the past few months that conservatives have been rallying together for smaller and more responsible government. The Heartland Institution is one of the reasons we are making a comeback.
Roy Innis
Chairman, National Chairman, Congress of Racial Equality
Heartland is the indispensable component in winning the fight against the extreme environmentalists.
Hon. Ted Kanavas
State Senator – Wisconsin
School Reform News is a tremendous resource for those of us making education policy on a daily basis. The breadth of the reporting is the publication’s best asset and I consider it a mandatory read.
David Keene
Former Chairman, American Conservative Union
I’ve followed the work of The Heartland Institute since its founding and I’m continually impressed by the quality and persuasiveness of the work it produces and the influence that work has had at the state legislative level. I don’t believe there are many who would argue with the fact that Heartland today is the most influential and, hence, indispensable free-market policy institute outside Washington.
Hon. Vaclav Klaus
Former President, Czech Republic
In the Communist era, the idea of a think tank didn’t really exist. It was an impossible institution. The Heartland Institute is one of the leading institutions of that kind. For me to discover Heartland and to get in touch with it two years ago was a revealing experience.
Hon. Eric Koch
State Representative – Indiana
Health Care News provides policymakers with a market-based, patient-centered analysis of what is working, what is not, and why.
Mark R. Levin
Radio talk show host, author of Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto
Those who fight for liberty and against tyranny have an invaluable ally in The Heartland Institute, which has been an ally in manning the front lines of the freedom movement for more than a quarter century. If you value the power of free-market capitalism and oppose statists and the Leviathan, then you need to know and support this excellent organization.
Bill McKibben
Founder of 350.org
“Bast is correct: This tiny collection of [skeptics] has actually been incredibly effective over the past years.”
Neal P. McCluskey
Policy Analyst, Cato Institute
School Reform News is essential reading for me. Without it I could never keep up with everything going on in the world of educational reform.
Chip Mellor
President, Institute for Justice
Changing the world requires two traits among all others, courage and tenacity. Since opening their doors 25 years ago, Joe and Diane Bast and the rest of The Heartland Institute have brought those traits to work every single day. The results speak for themselves. Congratulations Joe, Diane and everyone associated with the Heartland Institute.
Hon. Daryl D. Metcalfe
State Representative – Pennsylvania
The Heartland Institute is an invaluable resource for comprehensive, quality and up-to-date research on current legislative issues. I am pleased to be part of an organization that effectively promotes the free-market principles that are so vital to maintaining our constitutional republic.
Dr. Patrick Michaels
Senior Fellow, The Cato Institute
Heartland has been about getting the word out on this global warming alarmism for a long time. It’s been a leader. Their leadership is having a synergistic effect with the other think tanks and everyone is getting behind what these guys started.
Hon. Jonathan Miller
State Representative – West Virginia
Heartland’s work on health care issues has been invaluable to me as a legislator. I constantly use the information they provide to build my arguments for committee meetings, floor sessions, and media appearances. Heartland’s work ensures that the free-market perspective gets its piece in the public debate.
Steve Milloy
Founder and Publisher, JunkScience.com
Heartland’s outreach capabilities are unmatched by any think tank that I’ve worked with over the past 20 years – and I’ve worked them all. From organizing amazing climate science meetings to distributing educational materials for state and local politicians and officials, Heartland has been invaluable partner in the battle for public policy based on sound science and economics.
Susan Mitchell
President, Wisconsin Choice Alliance
School Reform News is a valuable asset because it has substance and style. It reinforces supporters – particularly legislators – who can find the ammunition they need about school choice to continue the struggle. This is a particularly important role because the traditional media is so frequently hostile.
Lord Christopher Monkton
Former policy advisor to Margaret Thatcher
The Heartland Institute speaks out, write papers and publish Environment & Climate News which is circulated to 75,000 people. Why is it important that the Heartland Institute and institutes like it do this? Because somebody had to argue for the truth when the politicians won’t.
Hon. Cindy Noe
State Representative – Indiana
The Heartland Institute is a treasure trove of timely information. They do a great job of getting the information to you with their broad array of publications.
Grover Norquist
President, Americans for Tax Reform
The Heartland Institute puts out legitimate research and does serious work, but it also understands that putting out research in a book or a study and putting it in a drawer doesn’t accomplish anything.
Heartland has tremendous credibility because they have a very good track record of 25 years. People who want to contribute to moving freedom forward should include Heartland in their portfolio as one of the groups that they should focus on.
Heartland has been very generous in letting staff writers at Americans for Tax Reform, some of our policy people, to write pieces that are directed at state legislators about cost of government debt and to help promote the taxpayer protection pledge. One of the ways some state legislators first learn about the tax payer protection pledge and its power is reading about it in Heartland’s publications. So anyone who wants to speak to state legislators and get good ideas in front of them should be partnering with Heartland.
Becky Norton Dunlop
The Heritage Foundation’s Ronald Reagan Distinguished Fellow
We love The Heartland Institute! You’ve done a fabulous job of leading on the climate change issue and many other issues.
David Nott
President, Reason Foundation
The Heartland Institute takes the best research from throughout the free market movement and puts it into the hands of policymakers. You can see that with their International Conference on global warming and you can see it in their many publications. My favorite project from the Heartland Institute was PolicyFax, where policymakers could get the research they wanted delivered directly to their office by fax.
Dr. James R. Otteson
Professor, Philosophy and Economics, Yeshiva University
The Heartland Institute is non-profit think tank in Chicago that produces first-rate research and policy analysis exploring free-market-oriented solutions to pressing social, economic, and political needs. Its research has been influential in areas as diverse as environmental legislation to health care.
Hon. Bill Owens
Former Governor – Colorado
The Heartland Institute is one of the country’s best free-market think tanks. I used Heartland publications all the time when I was a state senator and continue to read and cite them as Governor. This kind of reliable and timely research on important public policy issues is invaluable to us here in Colorado and, I’m sure, to elected officials on other states.
Hon. Mike Pence
Vice President
The Heartland Institute is an organization I have admired and followed for years. The Heartland Institute is the very picture of American innovation. The institute’s rapid growth in size and stature is a testament to its founder David Padden, now chairman emeritus and its first employee, my friend Joseph Bast, now the President. They played an integral part in building one of the most important voices in the national public policy debate.
Hon. Mary Pilcher Cook
State Senator – Kansas
Technology today is moving at break-neck speed and it is imperative legislators keep a watchful eye to ensure citizens’ liberty is protected. With my background as a software engineer, I am confident Infotech & Telecom News gives clear information to keep important issues from falling through the cracks. If you want to stay on top of information technology, read Infotech & Telecom News.
Sally C. Pipes
President & CEO, Pacific Research Institute
Joe and Diane Bast are true heroes when it comes to support of the free market principles we all hold so dear to our hearts. Their unstinting efforts to create a better world for all Americans is first rate.
Since establishing the Heartland Institute over 25 years ago, they have transformed a small truly state-based think tank into a national treasure. Their work, particularly in health care and the environment, is renowned and I rely on it a great deal in my own efforts in these two areas.
Dan Proft
AM 560 The Answer Host Dan Proft
The work that The Heartland Institute has done to advance free minds and free markets and a free society – from Chicago, but for this country – over the last three decades is remarkable, it’s frankly without peer. Joe and Diane are patriots, they are real heroes for individual liberty in this country, and I just want to express my appreciation for what they did and Heartland does.
Hon. Dana Rohrabacher
Congressman – California
I want to congratulate the Heartland Institute on its 25th Anniversary. So here you have had over two decades of kicking around all those people in Washington DC who have all the wrong ideas and who would do terrible things to humanity. I especially congratulate you on your defense of the people and attack on the notion of global warming, which was a great threat to the national security of our country and the well-being of our people. So thanks a lot for all you’ve done on all the issues you have taken on in these last 25 years.
Hon. Chip Rogers
State Senator – Georgia
The Heartland Institute is a true guidebook for legislators who want principle based ideas and answers. The free market approach championed by Heartland is working in our state. I along with many other Georgia legislators look first to Heartland for ideas and solutions.
Hon. Todd Rokita
Congressman – Indiana
As Indiana Secretary of State and now, as a Member of the House of Representatives serving my beloved state of Indiana, I’ve depended upon certain resources for accurate facts and research on policy issues. The Heartland Institute is at the top of that list, providing accurate, thorough, and unquestionable facts, figures, and historic research on taxation, budgets and spending; environmental protection; education reform; health care; and Constitutional reform. Their information bank is created and backed by over 200 experts across the country. It is published in a variety of formats available to all elected officials in federal, state, and local government. I can testify that most people in such positions with whom I’ve worked have been as dependent as I have been on the accuracy and usefulness of Heartland’s information and the expert scholars and leaders who have created it. In fact, I have used the Heartland Institute’s research to refute assertions that humans are responsible for climate change during private and public meetings. I’m proud to say, “Thank you, Heartland, and keep up the great work for our country!”
Harrison “Jack” Schmitt
Former U.S. Senator, Apollo 17 astronaut and moonwalker
The Heartland Institute demonstrates a knack for zeroing in on the most important public policy issues of our time while it brings common sense and free-market principles to bear on state and national politics. Most importantly, Heartland has emphasized the human value in educational choice and school reform; the critical need to add patient choice and constitutional principles as counterweights to the nationalization of healthcare; the role of realistic science into the political debate on the cause of climate change; and the need for proven economic principles in addressing budget and tax questions. Support for The Heartland Institute means support for intrinsic human rights on whose foundation America’s success always will rest.
Hon. Lamar Smith
Congressman (R-TX)
Americans are tired of scare tactics and misleading misinformation. We should focus on good science, rather than politically correct science. Fortunately, the Heartland Institute provides a fact-filled and evidence-based perspective that benefits the public and informs scientific debate. … With your help, we can ensure that sound science is the core of the EPA’s mission. And that legitimate science underlies all actions at the agency, from research to regulations. We couldn’t do it without the Heartland’s heartfelt help and support, so thank you.
Fred Smith
Former President, Competitive Enterprise Institute
The Heartland Institute is a national policy group based outside of Washington DC that specializes in marketing the message, getting the free market message out, and finding creative ways to do it. They are not afraid to be innovative and to experiment.
Grace-Marie Turner
Founder and president, Galen Institute
Heartland stands tall among the nation’s leading free-market think tanks with its strong and unwavering defense of liberty and for its extraordinary ability to arm leaders in every corner of the country with facts and solid analysis to help them advance policies that promote freedom. Joe and Diane Bast are powerhouse leaders who push ideas and analysis through Heartland’s dynamic media marketing and outreach programs, reaching political and opinion leaders every month with publications on health care, school choice, climate change, and telecom policy, and a wide range of other key issues. Heartland creates a community of informed leaders who are armed with information to shape the policy conversation around the principles of liberty, freedom, and free-markets.
Virginia Walden Ford
Executive Director, D.C. Parents for School Choice
School Reform News has been a vital source of information for us to keep up with what’s going on all over the country. D.C. Parents for School Choice has received so much good attention and it been a wonderful “diary” of the work we’ve done here in the District. We appreciate all the support and encouragement we’ve received in our efforts.
Hon. Ralph C. Watts
State Representative – Iowa
The Heartland Institute is an excellent source of high quality and up-to-date research on legislative issues. I cite them all the time.
Elizabeth Yore
International Child Legal Counsel
Heartland has been the leader in celebrating freedom and educating the public on our beautiful and treasured Constitution. Heartland serves as a shining beacon of hope in this very troubled state of Illinois. I have no doubt that the spirit of Andrew Breitbart, coupled with the courage of Heartland, will imbue Illinois and inspire her citizens with a renewed sense of hope and liberty.
Notes
Titles and affiliations were accurate at the time the endorsement was made or have been updated, and appear here for identification purposes only. Some of these endorsements are taken from video salutes produced for The Heartland Institute’s 25th anniversary in 2009. Milton Friedman passed away in 2006 and is sorely missed.