Heartland Weekly – Why the U.S. Has Suffered the Worst Economic Recovery Since the Great Depression

Published August 8, 2016

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.


Video: Dr. Barry Poulson – How Fiscal Rules Can Fix the American Government
America’s annual budget deficits under President Barack Obama have routinely exceeded $1 trillion, and the national debt has nearly doubled on his watch to just short of $20 trillion. Congress’s response to this fiscal crisis has been to continually raise the debt ceiling and spend even more. Dr. Barry W. Poulson, former professor of economics at the University of Colorado and architect of Colorado’s Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, spoke at The Heartland Institute on Wednesday to discuss why the federal government desperately needs new structural fiscal rules to fix the debt crisis and prevent a financial collapse. You can watch the entire presentation at Heartland’s YouTube page. WATCH IT NOW


Turnabout Is Fair Play: Climate Subpoenas Issued to Green Groups
H. Sterling Burnett, Climate Change Weekly

File this story under “reaping what you sow.” After several Democratic attorneys general abused their power by issuing subpoenas to ExxonMobil and a climate realist organization, House Science, Space, and Technology Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX) issued some subpoenas of his own to Greenpeace, 350.org, and other extremist environmental groups. The move follows up on evidence of a coordinated effort to deprive organizations such as The Heartland Institute of their First Amendment rights. LEARN MORE


Why the U.S. Has Suffered the Worst Economic Recovery Since the Great Depression
Peter Ferrara, Heartland Policy Brief
President Barack Obama says his economic policies have been a success because the economy is better today than it was at the depth of the recession he inherited nearly eight years ago. This theme was pushed at the Democratic National Convention, as well, but does Obama really have reason to brag? He does not, according to a new Heartland Policy Brief by Senior Fellow Peter Ferrara. America’s recovery from the financial crisis and recession near the end of President Bush’s second term was already overdue when Obama took the oath of office, but the president’s failed Keynesian policies created the conditions for the worst economic recovery since the Great Depression. READ MORE


Featured Podcast: Roberta Walls: Sand Mining Poses Little Threat to Air and Water Quality
Opponents of fracking for oil and natural gas attack it on multiple fronts, including the alarmist claim that frac sand mining poisons the air and water. Roberta Walls, the point person for industrial sand mining at the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, joins Heartland Research Fellow Isaac Orr on our podcast to talk about a new report showing frac sand mining has minimal impact on the environment. LISTEN TO MORE


We were happy to see the Trump campaign issue a graphic this week that
pulls information from Peter Ferrara’s latest Heartland Policy Brief titled
“Why the United States Has Suffered the Worst Economic Recovery Since
the Great Depression.”


Come See P.J. O’Rourke at the Heartland Institute’s 32nd Anniversary Benefit Dinner!

On Thursday, September 15, The Heartland Institute will celebrate its 32nd anniversary with a reception and dinner at The Cotillion, a fine banquet hall in Palatine, Illinois. Our keynote speaker will be political satirist and author P.J. O’Rourke, who will deliver an incisive and funny address about the 2016 election and the state of politics and culture in America today. Morton Blackwell, founder and president of The Leadership Institute, will accept this year’s Heartland Liberty Prize. Seats are filling up fast, so don’t hesitate. Reserve your table or tickets today! READ MORE


Shamelessly Uninsured Self-Pay Patients Pay Themselves
Michael Hamilton, Consumer Power Report
Nothing wipes the smile off the face of a doctor’s office receptionist faster than a patient proudly stating he has no insurance. But there’s no reason to frown. Heartland’s Michael Hamilton belongs to a growing minority of Americans who eschew traditional and inefficient insurance plans to become self-pay patients. Hamilton explains the benefits – for both consumers and health care providers – of going the self-pay route.LEARN MORE


Nevada Supreme Court Considers Biggest School Choice Program Ever
Joy Pullmann, School Choice Weekly
Late last month, the Nevada Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case challenging the Silver State’s education savings account program, which has never been implemented because of the lawsuit. If or when it gets off the ground, the program would apply to nearly all K–12 children in the state. That would make it both the nation’s largest school choice plan, and a significant test for the workability of education savings accounts.LEARN MORE


Minimum Wage Hikes Hurt the Poor. There’s a Better Way
Matthew Glans, Arizona Republic
In a one-size-fits-all, consequences-be-damned approach to helping low-income workers, Arizona, Maine, and South Dakota are considering ballot measures that would substantially increase the minimum wage. Doing so would result in higher food prices and raise the barrier to entry-level jobs, depriving young working-age Americans of the workforce experience they need to succeed in life. If voters and policymakers want to help the poor find and keep jobs, they should oppose raising the minimum wage. LEARN MORE


Bonus Podcast: Steve Buckstein: Oregon May Become One of the Worst Places to Do Business
The election in November will feature a large number of ballot initiatives in many states. One of those measures could render the state of Oregon one of the worst places in the country in which to do business. Steve Buckstein, senior policy analyst with the Cascade Policy Institute in Portland, joins the podcast to talk about the creation of a gross receipts tax, which Buckstein calls “a sales tax on steroids.”   LISTEN TO MORE


Ravitch Right on Common Core, Wrong on Everything Else
Teresa Mull, American Spectator
Diane Ravitch, a well-known school choice opponent, has gotten something right: “The Common Core Costs Billions and Hurts Students.” The quote comes from the title of Ravitch’s recent New York Times article, but while her thesis holds true — Common Core has been a disaster — her arguments are supported by neither the facts she presents, nor her own credo. LEARN MORE


Help Us Stop Wikipedia’s Lies!
Joseph L. Bast, Somewhat Reasonable
Have you visited Heartland’s Wikipedia page recently? The good news is that it is more complete than it was just a couple months ago, after leftists took it over and trashed it. Most of the new information is accurate and unbiased. But the lies and libel about our positions on smoking and climate change remain. Other conservative and free-market sites suffer, too. Wikipedia refuses to make many of the changes we request and deletes and reverses the changes made by others. We need your help! READ MORE


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