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.
Greenpeace Under Fire – Again
H. Sterling Burnett, Somewhat Reasonable
According to a lawsuit filed on May 31, Greenpeace is “a global fraud” that has “fraudulently induced people throughout the United States and the world to donate millions of dollars based on materially false and misleading claims about its purported environmental purpose and its ‘campaigns’ against targeted companies.” The suit says “maximizing donations, not saving the environment, is Greenpeace’s true objective.” We’ve been reporting that for years. READ MORE
Answering the John Birch Society’s Questions about Article V
Michael Farris, Heartland Policy Brief
The John Birch Society (JBS) is one of the most vocal opponents of convening a convention of the states to amend the U.S. Constitution. Michael Farris, a legal advisor for the Convention of States Project, addresses and debunks 16 objections by JBS, writing, “Only a Convention of States will give us effective solutions to the abuse of power in Washington, D.C. It is our moral obligation to protect liberty for ourselves and our posterity.” READ MORE
Naomi Oreskes Warps History
Ron Arnold, LeftExposed
Socialist historian Naomi Oreskes took what amounts to climate skeptic vanilla pudding and labeled it as deadly poison in a book titled Merchants of Doubt that became her meal ticket for life. But she never bothered investigating the original source documents and made no effort to interview the clearly named involved parties. That breaks every rule of journalistic ethics, not to mention scholarly historiography. READ MORE
Featured Podcast: Peter Ferrara: Examining Obamacare Repeal and Replace Options
After years of false starts, 2017 may be the year Congress finally repeals Obamacare. Heartland Senior Fellow Peter Ferrara, author of Power to the People, joins Michael Hamilton, managing editor of Health Care News, to talk about the proposed plans for replacing the Affordable Care Act. Ferrara and Hamilton discuss universal health insurance tax credits (UHITCs) and the idea of block-granting Medicaid to the states. LISTEN TO MORE
Heartland Library Book Shelf of the Week – Health Care
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Coming Next Week to Arlington Heights: Funding Education Choice
On Wednesday, June 8, the Cato Institute’s Jason Bedrick will be at The Heartland Institute’s Andrew Breitbart Freedom Center in Arlington Heights, Illinois to explain how your tax dollars can be better used to educate your children. A week later, a panel of experts will discuss our Second Amendment right to bear arms and how the government challenges that right. We hope to see you here in Arlington Heights, but if you are unable to attend in person, the events will be live-streamed and archived on Heartland’s YouTube page.SEE UPCOMING EVENTS HERE
FDA’s Hasty, Irresponsible Regulation of E-Cigarettes Will Harm Consumers
David S. D’Amato, Investor’s Business Daily
Government’s role in ensuring consumer safety should extend to barring fraud and false or misleading advertising, while otherwise leaving producers and consumers free to bargain and exchange. FDA’s rush to over-regulate e-cigarettes reveals how today’s consumer needs protection from government, not companies offering innovative alternatives to tobacco.READ MORE
Trump Would Renegotiate Paris Climate Agreement
H. Sterling Burnett, Climate Change Weekly
One piece of good news to come out of the presidential campaign so far is presidential candidate Donald Trump’s bold and uncompromising dissent from global warming alarmism. Trump has said global warming ranks low on the list of problems facing the world, and he would renegotiate the climate agreement that came out of COP-21 in Paris in December. He also said he does not expect China, the world’s top carbon dioxide emitter, to adhere to the toothless and nonbinding pledge. READ MORE
Schools Seek to Reduce Emphasis on Test Scores
Joy Pullmann, School Choice Weekly
New requirements from the Every Student Succeeds Act are now leading states to judge public schools against “non-academic” criteria. Instead of relying heavily on test scores, new factors may include attendance rates and student perceptions of teacher “warmth.” But if bureaucrats can’t manage a few criteria well, why should they seek to manage more – and why should we allow them to do so? READ MORE
Bonus Podcast: Lennie Jarratt: Nation’s Report Card Shows Falling Education Scores
The latest results of the “Nation’s Report Card,” the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scores, show yet another decline in student achievement. Lennie Jarratt, project manager for The Heartland Institute’s Center for Transforming Education, joins theMorning News Watch Radio Show to talk about these test scores, some of the first seen during the Common Core era. While it may be too early to lay all the blame on Common Core, Jarratt points to a study showing scores fell most dramatically in states that embraced Common Core. READ MORE
AGs Delegated Powers to Predatory Lawyer in Suit Against ExxonMobil
Ron Arnold, Left Exposed
A group of state attorneys general, calling themselves “AGs United for Clean Power,” declared they planned to “creatively and aggressively” use their powers to harass and intimidate ExxonMobil, think tanks, and individuals who dare to criticize the Obama administration’s war on fossil fuels. One of their tactics is to contract with an infamous trial lawyer, Linda Singer, known for her use of “questionable tactics to win lucrative cases.” READ MORE
States Ought to Remove Barriers to Telehealth
Michael Hamilton, Consumer Power Report
More than half the states restrict telemedicine-provided services. This fact, along with the stigma surrounding mental health, has served to limit treatment for those most in need. A key step toward increasing access to mental health services is to remove already-in-place barriers. If digital access to mental health services were expanded, patients would be allowed to obtain preventive and maintenance services from the convenience and comfort of their own homes. 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.
