If you don’t visit Somewhat Reasonable and the Heartlander digital magazine every day, you’re missing out on some of the best news and commentary on liberty and free markets you can find. But worry not, freedom lovers! The Heartland Weekly Email is here for you every Friday with a highlight show. Subscribe to the email today, and read this week’s edition below.
Heartland Opens Michael Parry Mazur Library
At a grand opening event attended by Thomas Hayes, mayor of Arlington Heights, and Dr. John Mazur, brother of the late Michael Parry Mazur, among others, The Heartland Institute formally announced the opening of the best collection of books about liberty in the Midwest and dedicated it to the memory of Michael Parry Mazur. Read all about it at the new webpage describing the collection and how to use it. Got books? Donate them to Heartland and get a tax deduction! READ MORE
Climate Realists Fight Back Against State AGs
H. Sterling Burnett, Climate Change Weekly
In April, politicians and environmental activists made good on their threats to abuse the legal system in order to silence climate realists. A subpoena was served on the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) by the attorney general of the U.S. Virgin Islands. The subpoena gave the organization only four weeks to produce 10 years of publications, correspondence, emails, statements, notes, drafts, and other documents relating to climate change. Calling it “an affront to our First Amendment rights of free speech,” CEI is fighting the subpoena. READ MORE
Featured Podcast: Kent Lassman: CEI Subpoenaed on Climate Change Dissent
On the front lines of the war on climate realists is Kent Lassman, president of the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI). Lassman joins the Heartland Daily Podcast to talk about the group of state attorneys general attempting to intimidate CEI and other skeptics of man-made climate change into silence. Lassman recounts how CEI was subpoenaed on his second day as the new president of CEI, quite a rude welcome! He explains how litigation has a chilling effect on public debate on many issues, not only climate change.LISTEN TO MORE
Bonus Podcast: Hans von Spakovsky: Nonprofit Organizations and Donor Privacy
Hans von Spakovsky, senior legal fellow at The Heritage Foundation, joins the Heartland Daily Podcast to talk about the fallout from California Attorney General Kamala Harris’ attempt to force Americans for Prosperity, a national nonprofit organization advocating for fiscal responsibility in government, to reveal its donors. Von Spakovsky explains how lawmakers often propose donor disclosure laws to suppress speech and harass those who support groups that criticize an over-reaching government. LISTEN TO MORE
Heartland Library Book Shelf of the Week – F.A. Hayek
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Coming Next Week to Arlington Heights: Ryan Yonk discusses Nature Unbound
If you love discussions about liberty, you will not want to miss the great series of events Heartland has lined up through the spring and summer. On Wednesday, May 11, Ryan Yonk, executive director of Strata Policy, comes to Heartland to discuss his new book, Nature Unbound: Bureaucracy and the Environment. We hope to see you here in Arlington Heights, but if you are unable to attend in person, our events are live-streamed and archived on Heartland’s YouTube page. SEE UPCOMING EVENTS HERE
It’s Time to Dump Detroit Public Schools
Lindsey Stroud, Detroit News
The Detroit Public School system is floundering. From 2000 to 2015, DPS closed 195 schools, and saw an enrollment decline of 71 percent, and the problems are only getting worse. If parents are given the power to put their children in safe, successful schools – public or private – kids now suffering in a failing system would have much greater access to a quality education, and DPS would be forced to be more efficient and more accountable, and to create a better education system that better serves the needs of its students. READ MORE
Ohio Medicaid Expansion Failures
Matthew Glans, Heartland Research & Commentary
Few states demonstrate the failure of Medicaid expansion better than Ohio. The expansion of Medicaid by Gov. John Kasich (R) is already beginning to hemorrhage expenses the state’s budget may not be able to withstand. Medicaid expansion, at its core, builds on a failed model whereby the national government dictates multiple aspects of the insurance plan and the beneficial aspects of real market competition are lost. Once expansion occurs, it is extremely difficult to roll back. READ MORE
Is Government Responsible for Illinois’ Rising Suicide Rate?
Justin Haskins, Chicago Tribune
Multiple factors have been linked to climbing suicide rates, including drug and alcohol abuse, mental illness, and family history. Research also shows one cause of suicide is lack of access to mental health services. In this op-ed published by the Chicago Tribune, Heartland Executive Editor Justin Haskins discusses the need to repeal “certificate of need” laws that artificially constrain the supply of health care services. READ MORE
Liberalism Will Never Fix Our Broken Health Care System
Justin Haskins, Consumer Power Report
One of the greatest problems with giving government even the smallest amount of control over an industry is the fact that control often expands enormously. In a recent New York Times op-ed, two university professors described the failures and shortcomings of Obamacare, but instead of conceding that the industry should embrace free-market reforms, they suggested government seize even more control over the health care system. Justin Haskins sets them straight. READ MORE
National Test Scores Dip Yet Again
Joy Pullmann, School Choice Weekly
The latest results of the “Nation’s Report Card,” the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scores, are in and they show yet another drop. Just 37 percent of U.S. twelfth graders performed well enough in math and reading to indicate they would do well in college, a dip from the last round of scores in 2013. Education Secretary John King says the dip is due to teachers still “retooling their classroom practices to adapt” to Common Core State Standards. Really? American children have now spent nearly half their school careers being Common Core’s guinea pigs. READ MORE
Bringing Education Freedom to Native Americans
Lennie Jarratt, Deseret News
Native American students are being left behind, educationally, in great numbers. This minority population is at the highest risk of any group of students in the nation for not receiving a proper education. Native American students deserve access to a quality education – just like every other student. Help is on the way. U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona) recently proposed the Native American Education Opportunity Act, which would direct the Bureau of Indian Affairs to reimburse states that fund education savings account (ESA) programs that allow Native American students to attend a school of their choice. READ MORE
Help Us Stop Wikipedia’s Lies!
Joseph L. Bast, Somewhat Reasonable
Many people rely on our profile on Wikipedia to provide an objective description of our mission, programs, and accomplishments. Alas, the profile they find there is afake, filled with lies and libel about our funding, tactics, and the positions we take on controversial issues. Wikipedia refuses to make the changes we request. It even deletes and reverses all the changes made by others who know the profile is unreliable. We need your help! READ MORE
Donald Kendal is Director of The Heartland Institute’s Socialism Research Center. Kendal is also the host of Heartland’s In the Tank Podcast.
