Podcasts

Three famous economists - Arthur B. Laffer, Ph.D., Stephen Moore, and Erwin J. Antoni, Ph.D - present their new paper for The Heartland Institute titled "Will the Last Taxpayer in Illinois Please Turn Out the Lights: An Economic Assessment of the Illinois ‘Fair Tax’." The report:

www.heartland.org/_template-assets…airTaxReport.pdf

The economists’ research says passage of the so-called "Fair Tax" ballot initiative, which voters will decide on November 3, would:

 hit small businesses with annual profits as low as $250,000;

 slow job growth by an estimated 566,000 over the next decade, effectively eliminating about one in 10 current jobs;

 result in 1.4 million people leaving Illinois for better economic opportunities, setting outmigration from Illinois at about nine times faster than the current alarming rate;

 reduce the state's GDP by $20.5 billion over the next decade;

 reduce home value appreciation by about 10.4 percent over the next decade;

 make Illinois one of the five highest tax jurisdictions in the world, with only New Jersey and some Third World nations having a higher tax on corporations.

In this episode of the Heartland Daily Podcast, Ed and Heartland Institute Vice President Jim Lakely discuss the importance of celebrating human ingenuity, some of the giants of human achievement, the conditions that allow both to thrive, and the importance of teaching that to America's youth.

Visit: https://humanachievementalliance.org/

With the rise of K-12 history curricula that fail to teach children about American history and the foundations of Western Civilization and often actively undermine students’ appreciation of their national heritage, the authors of a new report propose a 490 B.C. Project to redress the balance.

Morgan E. Hunter, research fellow at the Independent Institute, joins Jenna Robinson, president at The James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal, to discuss the shortcomings of modern education. Hunter addresses two issues. First, that teaching content, in general, has been pushed aside in favor of focusing on skills in our K-12 schools. And second, the high school history curriculum includes very little Greco-Roman history or reading in the classics.

Read more here: https://heartlanddailynews.com/2020/10/scholars-offer-490-b-c-project-to-bolster-history-education/

Tm Benson explains the benefits of School Choice. Private school children are less prone to drug abuse and violence problems. Benson also talks about how tax credit programs help parents and even public schools. The conversation also veers towards the gas and oil industry and how it produces good paying jobs for non-college graduates.

Lennie Jarratt, director of the Center for Education Opportunities, was a guest on The Monica Jaye Show on 99.1FM Talk in Reno Nevada. Jaye and Jarratt discussed the Research & Commentary: More Education Funding Does Not Improve Education Outcomes. Jarratt shared how more spending does not equal better performance, the remediation required for college students, what the real effects of taxing the rich are, how money is going to support staff instead of the classroom, and the myths teachers and legislators claim education choice drains money from public schools. Jarratt and Jaye discussed how education choice is the only solution to stopping the never ending requests for more money and the anti-capitalism indoctrination happening in government run schools.

Reason Foundation’s Policy Analyst Jacob Rich joins The Heartland Institute’s State Government Relations Manager Lindsey Stroud to discuss Reason’s latest Policy Study Does Menthol Cigarette Distribution Affect Child or Adult Cigarette Use?

In this episode, Jacob and Lindsey discuss the results of the study, specifically noting that Reason’s analysis found states with “more menthol cigarette consumptions relative to all cigarettes have lower rates of child smoking.” The findings of the study are included into a broader discussion on menthol bans and their effects on cigarette consumption and other policy implications.

You can find Reason’s study here.  You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @jacobjamesrich and at jacobrich.com.   

Education project manager Lennie Jarratt invites Keri Rodrigues and Alma Marquez, co-founders of the National Parents Union (NPU), onto this edition of the School Reform News podcast. The two discuss how parents are coming together in the NPU to ensure parents have a voice in supporting their children against the massive lobby of the teachers’ unions and those interested in the status quo. Learn about the five goals of the NPU and how you can help assist in their efforts at nationalparentsunion.org. 

Illinois Rep. Caulkins discussed the importance of the 55 words from the Declaration of Independence that he proposes should be memorized in public schools because it highlights how our rights don’t come from government with hosts Lennie Jarratt and Chris Talgo. In addition, we discuss he discussed how the “education system has lost sight of its purpose,” and how these words are a common thread for all Americans. 

The required #55Words:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”

In 2017, over 420 New Hampshire residents died due to an opioid overdose. Further, the epidemic has cost the New Hampshire economy $6.6 billion between 1999 and 2015.

To address the issue, New Hampshire State Representative has introduced House Bill 1563 which would reform the state’s criminal asset forfeiture laws. Under the proposed bill, proceeds that are seized after a criminal conviction would be dispersed to a Governor’s council to use to fund medication, rehabilitation and other programs to address the opioid epidemic.

Rep. Spillane discusses his legislation, its importance and the battle it may face in the 2020 session. Rep. Spillane also highlights what can be expected from New Hampshire in this year’s session. You can track the legislation here. You can contact Rep. Spillane at [email protected]

Bill Wikstrom, president of the Mississippi Vaping Advocacy Association joins The Heartland Institute’s State Government Relations Manager Lindsey Stroud to discuss Mississippi’s recent 2019 gubernatorial election and vaping issues in the Magnolia state. Wikstrom is a retried combat veteran and owns two companies including 13 vape shops and an e-liquid distribution company.

Stroud and Wikstrom discuss the election results, including the impact of vapers turning out to the polls, as well as the current e-cigarette regulations in Mississippi, the Mississippi Vaping Advocacy Association, and what to expect in 2020. You can find more information about the Mississippi Vaping Advocacy Association at msvaa.org.

The Classing Learning Test (CLT) is an alternative to the Common Core aligned ACT and SAT. It is designed to be a rigorous test that measures quality of knowledge and understanding instead of being a watered down cursory review aimed at making students feel good about themselves. Jeremy Tate, president and CEO of CLT, and Keith Nix, head of the Veritas School in Richmond Virginia and CLT board member, discuss the importance of the test and the release of first Top 25 High Schools, ranked by median CLT scoring. See the list (https://blog.cltexam.com/2019-high-school-rankings/)  and learn more about the CLT (cltexam.org).

Policy Analyst Tim Benson discusses how over half of West Virginia teachers are chronically absent each school year and more than 10 percent miss more than 20 days. In essence, if students miss the same number of days parents can be fined or go to jail, while teachers continue to get paid.

This chronic absenteeism harms students education by reducing “‘instructional intensity’ by creating ‘discontinuities of instruction.’” Test scores bear this out with “only 46 percent tested to grade level in reading, while just 39 percent did so in mathematics.” When compared to charter schools, over a third less teachers were marked with chronic absenteeism.

For more information on this topic, visit: https://heartland.org/publications-resources/publications/research--commentary-west-virginia-public-schools-suffer-because-teachers-are-always-absent

The Chicago Teachers Union strike is a political gambit to reward the abject failure the CTU to educate the children of Chicago. Only about three in 10 district students are proficient in math and reading. They demand outrageous benefits such as affordable housing and a charter school moratorium. These completely skirt the democratic process around the democratic process on top of being completely unnecessary.

If Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Chicago Public Schools cave, average teacher salary would rise to $100,000 per year, force major tax hikes with the city, and a call for a bailout from every citizen across Illinois. 

In this episode of Voices of Vapers, Matt Culley joins The Heartland Institute’s State Government Relations Manager Lindsey Stroud to discuss a recently proposed flavor ban in Montana.

Culley, quit smoking seven years ago after being diagnosed with oral cancer. Culley and Stroud discuss his journey, Montana Gov. Steve Bullock’s recent vaping ban and address the media fearmongering surrounding vaping-related hospitalizations, which are being linked to the use of black market vaping products containing tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).

You can find Culley’s YouTube page here.

According to a recent Axios poll, just 40 percent of Millennials and Generation Z have a favorable opinion of capitalism, 61 percent have a positive reaction to the word “socialism,” and half say they’d prefer to live in a socialist country. This is because socialism is sold as “compassionate.” As the right thing to do. As caring about the welfare of your fellow man – especially those struggling economically. How does the right battle that false perception? How do they communicate that socialism means the surrender of your liberty?

Despite the trends, Copeland explains why he is optimistic about the future, and why socialism does not have to be the future of America.

Stefan Didak, founder of Not Blowing Smoke, and currently operating the public affairs firm Ignyter joins State Government Relations Manager Lindsey Stroud to discuss the history of flavor bans in California, LA’s recent flavor ban and how these have spread to other states, including Michigan, New York and Rhode Island.

Stefan and Lindsey talk about solutions to the issue of youth use of e-cigarettes and vaping devices, how “Big Tobacco” did not create vaping products as a gimmick to attract kids, what to expect in the coming months and the consequences of inaction.

You can contact Stefan on Facebook and Twitter.

Gregory Conley is an attorney in New Jersey and president of the American Vaping Association (AVA). The AVA is a nonprofit advocacy organization that champions the use of vapor products and electronic cigarettes to help smokers quit. AVA has testified in over a dozen states and localities, on behalf of vapor products and his work has been featured in in outlets in several countries and Greg has spoken at dozens of conferences and conventions

Conley joins Heartland State Government Relations Manager Lindsey Stroud to discuss the various legislative actions that happened across the states in 2019, including taxes and banning flavors. The two then address the recent media alarmism concerning vaping-related hospitalizations, which are continuing to be linked to black market vaping products. 

You can find out more information about the American Vaping Association at www.vaping.org. 

Heartland’s Donald Kendal sits down with Education Policy Expert Lennie Jarratt in the first episode of the In The Tank Podcast’s subseries “Deep Dive.” Jarratt and Kendal go in depth into the topic of education policy. Jarratt talks about the shortcomings of the public education system, the power and influence of teachers unions, and how education choice options empower parents and leads to better academic outcomes.

Watch the interview on YouTube.

Paul Blamire is a major vaping advocate in Australia. Paul helps educate people in his own country and the United States on the major health effects of vaping. A former 30 year smoker, Paul first tried vaping in 2014. Since then, Paul has created his own e-liquid line and is a major contributor to the do-it-yourself community. The do-it-yourself community is useful for countries like Australia, as their regulations on liquid nicotine are even more restrictive than the United States’.

Paul joins The Heartland Institute’s State Government Relations Manager Lindsey Stroud to discuss vaping in Australia, the impacts of Australian law on other countries and what we can expect for the future of tobacco harm reduction. You can find more information at Legalise Vaping Australia and the Australian Tobacco Harm Reduction Association (AHTRA).