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.
Jim Lakely, Somewhat Reasonable
Five weeks have passed since our friends at the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) were served a subpoena for their climate thought crimes. To the displeasure of the group of attorneys general, they are not rolling over. In fact, CEI and a coalition of supporters are fighting back harder than ever. A full-page ad in this week’s New York Times, which included Heartland’s public support, makes it clear this legal action is an affront to free speech and will not be taken lightly. READ MORE
In recognition of National Mental Health Awareness Month, The Heartland Institute has constructed a page containing all recent Heartland news, research, and commentary related to this important subject. These articles seek to promote innovation in reaching and treating those with mental illness and improving the quality of care they receive, as well as identifying solutions to public policies that obstruct innovation and the delivery of mental health services. READ MORE
Combining riveting tales from history with powerful policy arguments, Merchants of Despair provides scientific refutations to environmentalists’ pseudo-scientific claims, including its tirades against nuclear power, pesticides, population growth, biotech foods, resource depletion, industrial development, and, most recently, fear-mongering about global warming.Merchants of Despair exposes this dangerous agenda and makes the definitive scientific and moral case against it. ORDER A COPY
In a move that puts appearance ahead of practicality, two state representatives from Hawaii have introduced legislation banning from the state vehicles powered by gasoline and diesel fuel. Dr. Keli’i Akina, president of the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, joins The Heartland Daily Podcast to explain how bad this wacky idea really is, and why the government should stand aside and let the free market pick winners and losers in the energy sector. LISTEN TO MORE
Heartland Library Book Shelf of the Week – Economics
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Join us and fellow lovers of liberty for the second part of our special series of Heartland Movie Nights, in which we’re showing each part of the Atlas Shrugged trilogy on three Wednesdays in a row – May 18, May 25, andJune 1. Based upon the enormously influential 1957 novel by Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged: Part 2 follows the struggles of Dagny Taggart, a railroad heiress trying to maintain her integrity and keep her family’s railroad alive in the midst of a rapidly decaying world. Doors to Heartland’s Andrew Breitbart Freedom Center open at 5:30 p.m.Film starts at 6:00 p.m.Group discussion follows. SEE UPCOMING EVENTS HERE
Logan Pike and Matthew Glans, Orlando Sentinel
Even before the implementation of Obamacare, many states were suffering from doctor shortages. Now the problem is even worse. Florida alone may need an additional 4,600 primary-care physicians by 2030. Proposed in this article are several solutions that would help increase access to care without increasing costs or decreasing quality. READ MORE
H. Sterling Burnett, Climate Change Weekly
Donald Trump’s views on climate change and energy production differ radically from those held by Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. Trump, a climate change skeptic, has said he will reverse regulations issued by the Obama administration’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to limit access to and use of fossil fuels, regulations he says harm the economy for little or no environmental benefit. READ MORE
Michael Hamilton, Consumer Power Report
Patients and taxpayers won two important battles against the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, in court this week. The U.S. Supreme Court, in Zubik v. Burwell, instructed multiple courts of appeal to reconsider the constitutionality of a mandate the federal government admits needlessly violates employers’ First Amendment rights. In a separate U.S. District Court case, the judge ruled against unlawful spending under Obamacare for which no funds were appropriated. READ MORE
Power-hungry bureaucrats in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration are about to put electronic cigarettes – a relatively new and increasingly popular smoking cessation product – through a long and arduous federal approval process, potentially putting thousands of small companies out of business. Cynthia Cabrera, president of the Smoke-Free Alternatives Trade Association, joins The Heartland Daily Podcast to talk about how the new regulations will take many products off shelves and effectively promote smoking traditional cigarettes.READ MORE
Joy Pullmann, School Choice Weekly
Regardless of one’s views about transgender issues, it’s clear the Obama administration’s edict last week Friday – requiring all 13,506 U.S. school districts to give transgender children access to the bathrooms, locker rooms, showers, and sports teams of their choice – proves the federal government has too much power over American schools. What fuels the culture war like perhaps nothing else is putting the force of government behind one side. READ MORE
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
Invest in the Future of Freedom! Are you considering 2016 gifts to your favorite charities? We hope The Heartland Institute is on your list. Preserving and expanding individual freedom is the surest way to advance many good and noble objectives, from feeding and clothing the poor to encouraging excellence and great achievement. Making charitable gifts to nonprofit organizations dedicated to individual freedom is the most highly leveraged investment a philanthropist can make. Click here to make a contribution online, or mail your gift to The Heartland Institute, One South Wacker Drive, Suite 2740, Chicago, IL 60606. To request a FREE wills guide or to get more information to plan your future please visit My Gift Legacy http://legacy.heartland.org/ or contact Gwen Carver at 312/377-4000 or by email at [email protected].
Donald Kendal
Donald Kendal is a graphic designer for The Heartland Institute, a research fellow for Heartland’s Socialism Research Center, and the host of Heartland’s In the Tank Podcast and Stopping Socialism TV.
