The Heartlander: July-August 2009 (Full Text)

SAVE THE DATE!

Heartland will celebrate the 25th anniversary of its founding on Thursday, October 29 at the Hilton Chicago Hotel. For details as they are set, visit the event Web site at http://www.heartland.org/events/Benefit2009 or contact Membership Manager John O’Hara at 312/377-4000, johara@heartland.org.

PRESIDENT’S COUNCIL RETREAT

On Sunday, June 14 through Tuesday, June 16, The Heartland Institute hosted its second annual President’s Council Retreat for our most dedicated supporters and allies. More than 50 attendees from across the country gathered at the Blackstone Hotel on Michigan Avenue in Chicago for a variety of networking and social activities and substantive discussions of policy issues ranging from health care to the future of print media.

The retreat began on Sunday with a trip to Arlington Park Race Track, described as “the most beautiful track in America,” for a full day of thoroughbred horse racing. Chicagoans basked in the long-awaited sunshine after surviving a long and brutal winter, and the cool breeze and good conversation kept spirits high ... even if winnings were low.

After changing into evening attire, participants enjoyed a cocktail reception at the high-rise condominium home of Herb Walberg, chairman of Heartland’s Board of Directors, and then met for dinner at the Signature Room on the 95th floor of the John Hancock building. Walberg and Heartland President Joseph Bast delivered keynote presentations on the organization’s humble beginnings, growth, and accomplishments over 25 years. While guests dined on contemporary American fare, the sun set slowly on the Chicago skyline, which came to life with city lights glimmering on the lake’s surface.

Monday began with a series of panel discussions at the Blackstone. Addressing the most pressing legislative threats right up front, panelists took the bull by the horns, challenging both nationalized health care and global warming alarmism. The luncheon keynote address was delivered by Jonathan Hoenig of Capitalistpig Asset Management. Invoking Ayn Rand’s defense of selfishness, he led an impassioned discussion of the virtue of speculation.

Retreat-goers had the afternoon off to explore Chicago and then re-convened for dinner at Petterino’s, a local favorite known for its original drawings of actors who have performed in Chicago, seafood and steak, and mouth-watering raspberry chocolate tort. Geologist Harrison Schmitt, former U.S. Senator, astronaut, and Moon walker, took his audience on a trip to the Moon with a slide show of his Apollo landing and presentation on future space flight and energy diversity.

Our Tuesday program was jam-packed with intellectual rock-stars. University of Chicago law professor Richard Epstein, one of the most influential legal minds of our time, warmed up the audience with a breakfast keynote on classical liberalism in the age of Barack Obama. “Listening to Richard Epstein is like drinking from an intellectual fire hose,” said Bast. Guests were left saturated and ready for a day of heavy lifting of the mind.

Epstein’s keynote was followed by a panel on the future of print media with Brad Spirrison of the Chicago-Sun Times and Joe Cahill, editor of Crain’s Chicago Business, who addressed the growth and impact of new media and the business flight away from traditional news. The topic transitioned to bailouts, stimuli, free markets, and the role of the government in financial institutions with a panel featuring Randy Kroszner, former governor of the Federal Reserve, and two Heartland board members, James Fitzgerald of BankNote Capital Corp. and Jeff Madden of Iron Bridge Capital.

Chapman University professor Tibor Machan, a leading philosopher on individualism, addressed the core competence of our philosophy and founding principles in his luncheon keynote address, “Has Capitalism Been Invalidated?” Machan said the answer is “no” ... but he warned of serious challenges ahead in the short term.

As has become a Heartland tradition, the development department neglected to order good weather for the entirety of the President’s Council Retreat, in an attempt to add an air of mystery and wonder for those eager to sign up for the baseball game on the closing evening. Expecting a miracle despite the weather forecasts, a brave few headed to the Sheffield Baseball Club for what was to be the first game of the Windy City Showdown between the Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox. Torrential downpours caused a game postponement ... and much disappointment. But our rooftop tickets included ample space indoors with a dinner buffet and open bar. With full stomachs, wet shoes, and heavy hearts, those who made their way to Wrigley Field began their journeys home with hopes of earned karma for next year.

All in all, retreat guests walked away with smiles and new friends, armed with intellectual ammunition and re-energized for the fights ahead.

For more information about the President’s Council Retreat, please contact Lauren Chrissos at 312/377-4000 or lchrissos@heartland.org. Visit the event’s Web site at http://www.heartland.org/events/2009presidentscouncil/ for links to PowerPoint presentations delivered at the event and photo galleries!

SCIENTISTS, ECONOMISTS CHALLENGE ALARMISM

Global warming skeptics, who for a decade have emphasized hard-science evidence to refute doomsday predictions from alarmists, added new ammunition to their arsenal June 2 at the Third International Conference on Climate Change.

More than 250 people crowded into Washington Court hotel meeting rooms to hear a dozen scientists refute the claim that global warming is either man-made or would have harmful effects on the Earth. Heartland also recruited seven economists to focus on the devastating personal and broad economic impact of proposed carbon dioxide cap-and-tax legislation.

While the scientists reported on a vast array of peer-reviewed literature that cast doubt on the causes and severity of global warming, the economists produced data that showed the cap-and-trade scheme not only wouldn’t halt the release of greenhouse gases, but would add huge costs to business activity that inevitably would be passed along to consumers in the form of higher prices.

U.S. Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wisconsin), a veteran global warming skeptic, urged attendees to call the Waxman-Markey proposal a “cap-and-tax plan” that amounts to “unilateral disarmament in the economic sphere” for American businesses and workers.

Another long-time skeptic, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (D-California), provoked sustained applause when he declared the partisans of Waxman-Markey are “stampeding the public and elected officials in the biggest power grab in the history of human kind.”

Among the climatologists and scientists who challenged the science, causes, and severity of global warming were Dr. Richard Lindzen, MIT professor of meteorology, and Dr. Patrick Michaels, a Cato Institute scholar and research professor of environmental studies at the University of Virginia.

Lord Christopher Monckton, former science advisor to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who closed each of the two previous international climate conferences, once again brought the crowd to its feet in a cheering standing ovation when he concluded his typically witty speech, “... the highly placed conspirators who seek to ride the climate scare to world domination have reckoned without one thing. You. You are here, and you will not let the truth go.”

Proceedings from the conference, including video and PowerPoint presentations, is available online at http://www.heartland.org/events/WashingtonDC09/proceedings.html.

Press Coverage

Whether you were pleased with media coverage of the Third International Conference on Climate Change depended on what media you read.

Print media was disappointing, online coverage was broad and informed, and broadcast coverage was, well ... broadcast coverage.

Coverage by the Big Three national U.S. newspapers--The New York Times, USA Today, and The Wall Street Journal--was nonexistent, although Canada’s National Post columnist Peter Foster put the conference in political perspective with “Scary stories.” Several big regional U.S. papers covered the conference in advance, including the Washington Post (“Warming Skeptics Get Heard on the Hill”) and Orange County Register (“Cooling Down with Global Warming”). Post-conference coverage ran in the Boston Herald (“Cool it on Warming”) and St. Louis Post-Dispatch (“The Right Way to Prevent Global Warming?”).

The conference triggered a major print dust-up in Australia when an Aussie senator, Stephen Fielding, traveled to Washington on his own dime to attend the event and gather information. His vote will be crucial to passing his country’s proposed emissions trading legislation. Following the conference, Fielding expressed serious doubts about manmade global warming, and he alarmed climate alarmists with talk that such legislation was unnecessary. Not surprisingly, he and Heartland came in for scathing criticism and abuse from Austrialian media that is overwhelmingly in the alarmist camp.

Thanks to the presence of more than a score of bloggers and citizen journalists, online coverage was extensive, focusing primarily on the release of the 2009 report of the Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change. Coverage included the Christian Science Monitor, now totally online (“A Primer on Global Warming”). The heavily trafficked RedState.com ran a five-part series detailing the conference, while American Thinker ran a detailed account that was distinguished by its insightful political and scientific analysis.

Broadcast coverage included interviews of conference participants on the Michael Savage program (Christopher Monckton), Fox Business News (Harrison Schmitt), CBS Morning News (Roy Spencer), G. Gordon Liddy (Dennis Avery and James M. Taylor), and most disappointing, the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric. Couric's interview with Taylor--which took 90 minutes to set up in the Heartland offices--lasted less than six seconds on the air.

CLIMATE CHANGE RECONSIDERED

As Congress debated global warming legislation that would raise energy costs to consumers by hundreds of billions of dollars, The Heartland Institute published an 880-page book challenging the scientific basis of concerns that global warming is either man-made or would have harmful effects. The book was released on June 2 to coincide with the Third International Conference on Climate Change.

In Climate Change Reconsidered: The 2009 Report of the Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC), coauthors Dr. S. Fred Singer and Dr. Craig Idso and 35 contributors and reviewers present an authoritative and detailed rebuttal of the findings of the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), on which the Obama administration and Democrats in Congress rely for their regulatory proposals.

Heartland President Joseph Bast noted, “The scholarship in this book demonstrates overwhelming scientific support for the position that the warming of the twentieth century was moderate and not unprecedented, that its impact on human health and wildlife was positive, and that carbon dioxide probably is not the driving factor behind climate change.”

The authors cite thousands of peer-reviewed research papers and books that were ignored by the IPCC, plus additional scientific research that became available after the IPCC’s self-imposed deadline of May 2006.

An appendix to the book contains the names of more than 31,400 American scientists--nearly 10,000 of whom hold Ph.D.s in their fields--who have signed a petition to the U.S. government that declares, “There is no convincing scientific evidence that human release of carbon dioxide, methane, or other greenhouse gases is causing or will, in the foreseeable future, cause catastrophic heating of the Earth’s atmosphere and disruption of the Earth’s climate.”

Singer is an atmospheric and space physicist and one of the world’s most respected and widely published experts on climate. He is distinguished research professor at George Mason University and professor emeritus of environmental science at the University of Virginia. He directs the nonprofit Science and Environmental Policy Project.

Idso is founder and former president of the Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change and currently serves as chairman of its board of directors. He has published scientific articles on the seasonal cycle of atmospheric carbon dioxide, world food supplies, coral reefs, and urban carbon dioxide concentrations, the latter of which he investigated via a National Science Foundation grant as a faculty researcher in the Office of Climatology at Arizona State University.

Distribution

Copies of Climate Change Reconsidered were hand-delivered in mid-June to the Washington, DC office of every member of Congress, accompanied by a “dear colleague” letter from Texas Congressman Joe Barton.

More than 1,500 additional copies are being mailed to governors, EPA regional officials, state legislators with a special interest in environment issues, environment editors and reporters, talk radio show hosts, civic and business leaders, our think tank colleagues, and Heartland donors who in the past have supported our work on environment issues.

ENVIRONMENT UPDATE

Environment & Climate News

June was a scheduled skip month for Environment & Climate News. The July issue covers EPA regulation of greenhouse gases, nuclear power, renewable power, climate change, and more.

Endangerment Finding

Senior Fellow Maureen Martin coordinated preparation of Heartland’s comments, submitted June 22, on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed finding that carbon dioxide and five other greenhouse gases endanger human health or welfare and must be regulated as “pollutants” under the Clean Air Act.

Martin submitted Climate Change Reconsidered: The 2009 Report of the Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change, along with an 80-page comment addressing the legal framework for the submission, to demonstrate the fallacies in the scientific framework the agency is using to justify this massive regulatory scheme.

Martin notes, “It’s impossible to over-estimate the impact the EPA finding would have on life and liberty in America. EPA is proposing to regulate CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions from every source in America, from weed whackers in U.S. backyards to the biggest electric utility and manufacturing facility in America. EPA would become the arbiter of activity in homes, on farms, and at churches.”

Martin’s submission and those of allies are collected on the Heartland Web site at http://www.heartland.org/suites/environment/endangerment.html.

On the Road

On April 6, Local Legislation Manager Ralph Conner attended a seminar at the University of Chicago featuring Dr. Patrick Moore, founder of Greenpeace and now of Case Energy. Moore discussed the need to convert to a nuclear energy economy. He and Conner talked after the event, and Moore agreed to consider future participation in Heartland special events and conferences.

Senior Fellow James M. Taylor on April 13 wowed an audience of about 250 members of the National Coal Transportation Association. Taylor followed Frank Mulvey, President Barack Obama’s chairman of the Surface Transportation Board, who cleared up a mystery that has puzzled Taylor for months: why very few alarmist scientists will debate him. Mulvey said, “Even if a scientist on the other side of the issue has the superior data, he is still likely to be at a disadvantage in a debate with you. Not many scientists are trained debaters like you.”

Tom Canter, executive director of the association, later wrote to James, “Your presentation exceeded my expectations. My attendees were enthused to hear a cogent defense for those that are not buying anthropogenic global warming. Heartland is a great resource.”

On April 22, Earth Day, Taylor and several other climate experts, including a few alarmists, had dinner in Indianapolis with Gov. Mitch Daniels. All made presentations, but it looked like Taylor carried the day. “When shaking hands and saying our farewells,” Taylor reported, “Gov. Daniels told me he reads Environment & Climate News every month and thinks it is great. When I went to shake hands (with his alarmist opponents), they responded in a manner that one would expect from Hillary Clinton if she were forced to say ‘pleased to meet you’ to Monica Lewinsky.”

Also on April 22, Peter Fotos, director of government relations, spoke to the Republican Club of Evanston about global warming. The 50-plus crowd consisted of mostly Republicans/conservatives who were skeptics of global warming alarmism. Fotos’s speech lasted about 40 minutes with 20 minutes of Q&A after. He distributed The Skeptic’s Handbook to arm attendees with information for their own debates with global warming alarmists.

On April 28, Legislative Specialist Zonia Pino served as one of four speakers at an Americans For Prosperity event in Libertyville, Illinois. She spoke on the topic of cap-and-trade before an audience of nearly 500 people, including 40 state and local legislators. Among other speakers was Fred Barnes of the Beltway Boys on Fox News.

On May 7, Science Director Jay Lehr briefed 23 members of the Republican caucus of the Ohio House of Representatives in Columbus on a variety of environmental matters. Lehr reported, “I summarized my 30 years of study of climate change and my vast readings on the subject into a seven-page document of factoids” that he presented in a two-hour meeting. Heather N. Mann, associate legal counsel for the caucus, wrote later to thank Lehr for the factoids, noting, “It will be a great resource to us going forward. We look forward to working with you in the future on these issues.”

Taylor met May 18 with U.S. Rep. Don Manzullo (R-IL) during two separate meetings with constituents in northwest Illinois to assess the cost of Obama administration plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through a cap-and-tax scheme. The Northwest Herald reported on Taylor’s presentations. Lauren Airey, Manzullo’s senior legislative assistant, told us later, “The response was really terrific.”

Martin arranged for Dr. Willie Soon, an astrophysicist and geoscientist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, to lecture May 19 on his work linking climate change to solar cycles, rather than man-made emissions of carbon dioxide. Soon has been a speaker at all three of the International Conferences on Climate Change sponsored by Heartland.

The lecture took place in Martin’s hometown of Green Lake, Wisconsin. Martin and several local Heartland supporters worked to get the word out about the last-minute trip through hundreds of press releases, e-mails, and telephone calls. Local Legislation Manager Ralph W. Conner contacted the Milwaukee City Council and Milwaukee County Commissioners to encourage them to attend.

Soon’s lecture was attended by about 55 people. Martin worked with Adele Weeks--a Racine, Wisconsin-based Heartland supporter who has hosted Soon on three prior visits to Wisconsin this year--to promote the event. Weeks teaches high school chemistry to homeschoolers online through the Potter’s School, which has 65 teachers and about 1,800 students world-wide. Martin is working with Weeks on a climate change high school curriculum.

On May 20, Martin and Soon traveled to nearby Oostburg, where Soon spoke to students at the Oostburg Christian School.

In the News, On the Air

When The Wall Street Journal (circ. 2,011,999) urged readers to read the fine print in the Obama administration’s proposed cap-and-trade scheme to reduce emissions of carbon, Heartland Director Jim Johnston followed through, reporting April 14 in a letter, “I did as you suggest and I found more flaws” than the Journal’s initial editorial cited.

Senior Fellow Maureen Martin complimented the author of an article in the Oneonta (New York) Daily Star April 22 in a letter that added to the columnist’s point: “Hard-core environmentalists who advocate the world should be ‘natural,’ untouched by human hands, are essentially anti-human. Their advocacy of ‘green energy’ flies in the face of sound science--the carbon dioxide that humans exhale and that carbonates our sodas is a ‘pollutant,’ they say.”

Jeff Peace wrote to the Farmington, New Mexico Daily Times (circ. 19,329) on April 24, “Even though there is no proof that man-made emissions of carbon dioxide or other gases has caused global warming, and the fact there has been no warming for the past 10 years (please refer to “Nature, Not Human Activity, Rules the Climate,” by The Heartland Institute), Congress is pushing to get a bill passed this year to address climate change.”

Legislative Specialist Zonia Pino topped the op-ed page of the Chicago Sun-Times (circ. 313,176) April 25 with her analysis, “Cap-and-Trade Isn’t Worth Cost, Risks,” which concluded, “When Americans are struggling and bills are piling up, risky, expensive schemes such as cap-and-trade will only make things worse.” The Myrtle Beach Sun News (circ. 9,200) also ran the op-ed.

The Washington Examiner (circ. 260,181) ran an op-ed May 1 by Paul Chesser, Heartland’s special correspondent, that recalled then-Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama’s outline of his global-warming scheme: “Under my plan of a cap-and-trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket.”

Glenn Beck used his blog May 6 to cite Anthony Watts’ new report, Is the U.S. Surface Temperature Record Reliable? Wrote Beck, “Meteorologist Anthony Watts started looking into the quality of the temperature measuring stations across America, and couldn’t believe what he found.” Beck then linked to heartland.org and the PDF version of the report.

Mish Michaels, prominent meteorologist on WBZ-TV in Boston, featured Watts’ report on May 13 with an online news article and video presentation.

On May 13, Heartland President Joseph Bast told OneNewsNow, a television and online news network, he is “delighted that President Obama will not use the Endangered Species Act, as it pertains to polar bears, to fight climate change.” Critics were fearful that the listing of polar bears as endangered would be used as a back door to cap-and-trade legislation.

Chesser discussed the hypocrisy of the Sierra Club with Dave Elswick on KARN radio in Little Rock on May 13. Chesser noted the Sierra Club criticizes energy company spending, but in the three most recent fiscal years for which figures are available, the club and its foundation spent more than $170 million to promote, educate, litigate, and lobby on behalf of its agenda, much of which pushes the alarmism button on global warming and opposes more-affordable fossil fuel development and power generation.

OneNewsNow turned May 14 to Senior Fellow James M. Taylor to parse President Barack Obama’s shifting position on offshore drilling, which lately seemed to shift away from instituting a moratorium: “According to James Taylor of The Heartland Institute, Barack Obama never really took a strong stance for or against offshore drilling. ‘Depending on his audience, he has sometimes intimated that he would like to reinstate the moratorium. And at other times he has indicated that he is open to more oil and natural gas production,’ he notes. ‘So it’s not necessarily a reversal, but it is welcome news.’”

Science Director Jay Lehr was interviewed for 30 minutes on Investor’s Business Daily’s May 14 podcast as he walked host Matt Galgani through a series of highly readable talking points that address scientific evidence, economic factors, political realities, and philosophical considerations in the debate over climate change. Galgani responded later, “The interview was extremely informative.”

On May 19, Bast previewed Climate Change Reconsidered, the new report from the Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change, on OneNewsNow.com. Bast said, “It is an authoritative, detailed, and completely scientific rebuttal of the claim that global warming is a crisis.”

Research Fellow Steve Stanek spent 30 minutes on Rocky D’s show on WTMA in Charleston, South Carolina May 20 to talk about fuel economy standards and economic and personal freedom. Stanek said, “Car makers ought to be able to sell any kind of car they think the public will buy. Instead, they will have to build whatever car the president tells them to build.”

On May 22, Pino was interviewed on OneNewsNow regarding President Barack Obama’s new fuel economy standards. “This just seems like another intrusion by the federal government,” Pino said. “This is something that hasn’t worked terribly well in California, and I don’t think it’s going to work on the federal level either.” Excerpts from the interview have been posted on several blogs.

REPORT CARD RANKS INSURANCE CLIMATES

Consumers in four U.S. states enjoy more attractive homeowners insurance at better prices than citizens in other states, according to a new report card jointly released by The Heartland Institute and Competitive Enterprise Institute.

Homeowners in Arizona, Idaho, Utah, and Vermont are charged lower premiums for broader and more predictable coverage, earning “A” grades on the Heartland/CEI report card, which updates a report the groups released last year. Consumers in Florida, Hawaii, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, and New York--states that earned “F” grades--pay more for homeowners coverage that is inferior to what’s available in states with positive insurance climates.

“On balance,” writes Eli Lehrer, the report’s lead author, “states with less-regulated insurance markets provide more consumer choice, more predictable rates, and insurance premiums that better reflect actual risk than do states with heavily regulated markets.”

The report card identifies 11 key variables and grades all 50 states according to how well (or poorly) they regulate their property and casualty insurance industries. Among the most important variables are the size of the state’s residual markets, level of political oversight, loss ratio stability, rate regulation, and territorial rating.

Distribution

More than 2,600 copies of the report card were mailed to state legislators in the five top- and bottom-ranked states; insurance committee legislators in the 10 top- and bottom-ranked states; and think tanks and civic and business leaders.

Legislative Specialist Matthew Glans sent advance copies to members of Heartland’s Legislative Forum.

Press Coverage

The Palm Beach Post (circ.134,350) on May 20 alerted Florida consumers to their state’s dismal performance on the report card. The newspaper reported, “Most Floridians and many Florida lawmakers have been itching for tighter control over the insurance industry. But the free marketeers at the Competitive Enterprise Institute and The Heartland Institute argue that stringent regulation is bad for everyone.”

The print and online versions of the Brockton, Massachusetts Enterprise News on May 28 reported, “Massachusetts consumers pay higher premiums than necessary because of unnecessary state regulations.”

FINANCE, INSURANCE, AND REAL ESTATE

Legislative Outreach

On May 4 Legislative Specialist Matthew Glans sent a Research & Commentary on the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), dubbing it “phantom nationalization,” to legislators in states with major financial institutions. “TARP funds should not be used as a tool to manipulate banks and move them towards nationalization,” Glans wrote.

On May 28, Glans sent a Research & Commentary on the use of credit scoring in insurance to legislators in Iowa, in response to a new study being conducted by the state’s insurance consumer advocate. “Actuarial studies demonstrate a link between the number of claims filed by an individual and the level of credit reliability achieved by a consumer through careful management of personal finances,” Glans noted.

Victories!

Legislators in Texas--a state that has received ongoing attention from Glans--proposed significant changes to the state’s residual insurance market.

In March, a coverage cap was implemented for policyholders under the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA). That move away from a dominant residual market was recommended by Glans in multiple windstorm and catastrophe insurance Research & Commentaries sent to the Texas legislature over the past year.

In April, the legislature voted to allow the rate for TWIA policyholders to increase over time in an effort to shore up a program weakened by hurricanes Dolly and Ike. Increasing the cost of an insurance policy in the residual market is a good thing, Glans notes, increasing competitiveness and giving private companies the opportunity to re-enter coastal markets.

In May, the legislature rejected a series of proposed changes to the TWIA. Efforts by coastal lawmakers to increase control over TWIA’s rates by reinstating prior approval were defeated, avoiding a backsliding toward more heavy-handed regulation of Texas’s insurance market. Glans had recommended against such backsliding in several Research & Commentaries sent to the Texas legislature over the past several months.

In April, legislators on Florida’s insurance committee, led by state Rep. Bill Proctor, proposed insurance reforms that would allow insurers to set rates actuarially, based on risk instead of political pressures. Glans recommended that course of action in multiple Research & Commentaries sent to Florida legislators over the past year. Glans also was published in several Florida newspapers, including the Miami Herald and St Petersburg Times, on the subject. In late April, the Florida legislature agreed to allow insurance premiums to rise by 10 percent a year, gradually phasing out policies in the residual market and reducing the burden on the state’s catastrophe fund. Florida has made considerable progress in reforming its property and casualty insurance market, opening it up to increased competition.

In May, the Obama administration rejected a plan to add windstorm coverage to the National Flood Insurance Program. That action was recommended by Glans in a Research & Commentary sent to legislators nationwide in March. An op-ed by Glans on the topic was published in the Grand Forks Herald and sent to legislators across the Midwest.

In early May, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin’s efforts to allow judges to “cram down” mortgages failed to pass through Congress. Glans had opposed the cram-down effort in several letters to the editor and an op-ed.

BUDGET AND TAX

Budget & Tax News

The June issue of Budget & Tax News introduced a new insert addressing finance, insurance, and real estate (FIRE) issues and addressed cigarette taxes, tax and expenditure limitations, card check, eminent domain, and more. The July issue addresses privatization, sales taxes, corporate taxation, mortgage cram-downs, stress tests, and more.

Legislative Outreach

In April, Legislative Specialist John Nothdurft sent personalized emails containing his Research & Commentary, “April Fool’s Day Tobacco Tax Hike--The Joke’s On States,” to members of the revenue and finance committees of several states, including California, Florida, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Nevada, following up with telephone calls.

On April 2, Local Legislation Specialist Ralph Conner focused on phone calls, emails, and faxes to members of two Florida State Senate committees concerning pending Taxpayers Bill of Rights (TABOR) debates in the state legislature. He made special outreach to elected officials on the Policy Steering Committee on Commerce and Industry and the Committee on Governmental Oversight and Accountability.

Nothdurft wrote a Research & Commentary in response to states seeking to raise "sin" taxes in order to fill budget holes. He warns, “such taxes are badly flawed and likely to do far more harm than good to a state’s economy.” Nothdurft suggests instead that “lawmakers who genuinely seek to get their budgets under control should avoid hiking sin taxes and instead focus on principled tax reform, cutting spending to more responsible levels, and reforming unfunded liabilities.” This Research & Commentary was sent on April 13 to 7,269 state legislators in all 50 states.

On April 28, Nothdurft sent an FYI email containing his Artesia (New Mexico) News op-ed on taxes to the New Mexico Legislature. He also sent personalized FYI emails containing a published letter to the editor in response to the idea of raising the state's cigarette tax. Those emails were sent to members of the House Human Services Committee, Revenue and Finance Committee, and House leadership in Illinois.

On May 7, Nothdurft sent to Pennsylvania senators a personalized FYI email linking to his Detroit News op-ed on government worker pensions.

On May 8, Nothdurft called New York elected officials on the House Governmental Employees Committee, Senate Pension Committee, and in leadership concerning the state’s expensive public pension system.

On May 14, Nothdurft sent Minnesota representatives his Research & Commentary on the best and worst budget practices along with a personal note describing Heartland’s Legislative Forum program. He followed up with phone calls to more than 40 state representatives’ offices. Minnesota was trying to figure out how to fill a large budget deficit and was considering tax increases on alcohol, cigarettes, and high-income earners. Gov. Tim Pawlenty has since vetoed that tax-increasing budget proposal.

Successes!

On April 14, Nothdurft sent personalized emails containing his “sin” tax Research & Commentary to House Ways and Means Committee members and Senate Tax and Revenue Committee members in Indiana. On April 15 the Indiana Senate removed language from a bill that would have doubled the statewide tax on alcohol.

The Illinois legislature rejected Gov. Patrick Quinn’s proposed 50 percent income tax hike by a 42-74 vote. Twenty-six members of Quinn’s own Democratic party voted against the proposal. On March 27, Nothdurft called legislators after sending them his Research & Commentary titled “Illinois Cannot Afford Gov. Quinn’s Budget.” On February 23, Nothdurft sent the Illinois legislature his Research & Commentary on the best and worst ways to eliminate a budget deficit.

In the News

Research Fellow Steve Stanek, managing editor of Budget & Tax News, ripped the Obama administration in an April 4 op-ed in the Chicago Sun-Times (circulation 313,176) under the provocative headline, “Obama’s Moves a Step Toward Fascism.” He cited the firing of General Motors’ CEO and Tim Geithner’s statement that some banks must take federal bailout funds, even if they don’t need or want them. Stanek concluded, “These recent actions amount to a fundamental move away from individual rights and toward state corporatism--better known as fascism.”

Stanek’s analysis caught the eye of Mancow Muller, host of Chicago’s top-rated morning talk radio show on WLS-AM and syndicated in a dozen markets. Mancow--a one-time shock jock with strong libertarian leanings--talked to Stanek for several high-energy minutes on April 8, asking whether Obama was a fascist. Stanek replied, “In most ways he is very left-wing, but by taking control of companies while leaving them privately owned, he’s closer to a fascist economic model than a socialist one.”

Stanek’s article also was picked up by the Hillsboro (Ohio) Times Gazette (circ. 5,500), and the National Center for Policy Analysis featured the article on its April 8 broadcast email to thousands of conservative activists.

Nothdurft told readers of the Detroit News (circ. 178,280) April 29 and the Hillsboro (Ohio) Times-Gazette (circ. 5,500) that the next federal bailout may be given to state and local government employees’ pension funds. Wrote Nothdurft, “Without an overhaul of these unsustainable pension systems, American taxpayers will be forced once again to bail out governments for their foolish, shortsighted decisions.”

Stanek explained in Investor’s Business Daily (circ. 210,785) on May 5 that President Barack Obama erred in trying to demonize Chrysler for standing up for its debt holders. Stanek wrote, “The money managers at these firms ... rightly stood up for their shareholders and investors, who include government pension funds, school endowments, and corporate and individual retirement investors.”

Policy Advisor Bill Snyder used Mother’s Day, May 9, to publish an op-ed in the Omaha World-Herald (circ. 169,722) warning mothers not to let their children grow up addicted to stimulus programs and deficit spending. Snyder concluded, “And think of it this way, mothers: If your children aren’t saddled with a crushing tax burden left by our generation, they can be whatever they want--even cowboys--and still have enough money to buy things like Mother’s Day gifts.”

Writing in the May 17 Sacramento Bee (circ. 253,249), Local Legislation Manager Ralph Conner wryly noted, “Once tax-salivating legislators and federal and state bureaucracies legalize marijuana, how long will it be before they employ the tobacco strategy: Enlist the health care industry to mandate FDA-approved pot and start raising more onerous taxes on weed to discourage use by youths and adults?”

USA Today (circ. 2,011,999) on May 20 ran a letter from Heartland Publisher Dan Miller taking issue with the media’s eagerness to blame the ominous deficits in Social Security and Medicare on the current recession. Miller noted, “The crisis began long ago as benefits were enriched and beneficiaries were expanded. And the crisis will continue until Congress allows individuals to divert their Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes to personal savings accounts so we can protect our retirement nest eggs from federal government pillage.”

On May 22, Conner was published in the Detroit News outing Rev. Jesse Jackson for his radical call for civil rights intervention in the General Motors financial train-wreck. Conner noted, “[I]t was government policies that diminished this industry: Minimum wage laws, defined benefit pension funds, workplace rules, environmental mandates, and fuel efficiency standards combined to make American-made cars a losing proposition. To organize civil rights leaders and unions to forestall ultimate bankruptcy for this industry is to celebrate living in the past.”

The Wall Street Journal (circ. 2,011,999) on May 23 ran Nothdurft’s letter critical of “health advocates” aiming to levy a new federal “sin tax” on sugary drinks. “It is simply wrong to use tax policy to discriminate against users of certain legal products, distorting a market already rich with both sugar-filled and sugar-free drink options,” he wrote.

On May 24, Conner was a guest on the public policy forum Beyond the Beltway, where he discussed the need for state pension funds to consider moving in the direction of defined-contribution pension plans for all new employees as a partial remedy for future state budget deficits.

Stanek vented in the pages of the Chicago Sun-Times (circ. 313,176) May 31 about a pending tax increase in the Land of Lincoln. “Tax increases simply enable more of the corrupt and wasteful spending that plagues this state,” Stanek wrote. “Tell the conniving manipulators who run Illinois no more tax increases!”

SMOKING BANS, TOBACCO TAXES

Victories!

On May 13, Nothdurft sent the Texas and Wisconsin legislatures a copy of his Research & Commentary on smoking bans and property rights. Wisconsin passed its smoking ban proposal, but Texas’s was defeated. The Amarillo Globe-News editorialized in celebration of the bill’s defeat. Nothdurft has been contacting state legislators regularly on the issue since September 2008.

When the Minnesota legislature adjourned on May 18, three separate cigarette tax bills died. Gov. Tim Pawlenty also vetoed several other tax-hike proposals, including income, Internet, and alcohol taxes. In April and May, Nothdurft sent state elected officials Research & Commentaries on excise tax increases and the “best and worst” ways to eliminate budget deficits.

Also dying after a late push in the Illinois legislature was a $1 per-pack cigarette tax increase proposal. Nothdurft had done extensive work on the issue, including placing a letter to the editor in the Springfield Journal-Register on April 23, calling the tax increase both unreliable and regressive. He was quoted by the Northwest Herald as saying “governments look to such taxes for a quick fix that allows them to avoid trimming the fat out of their budgets.” He also sent several emails, including Research & Commentaries addressing tobacco tax hikes and budget deficits, and followed up with phone calls to legislators.

The South Carolina Senate rejected a 50-cents-a-pack cigarette tax hike. Nothdurft has been sending research and commentary on the issue to state legislators since February.

In the News

The Bellefontaine Examiner in Ohio (circ. 30,000) ran an op-ed by Nothdurft April 3 under the headline: “The Joke Is on the States.” Nothdurft wrote, “A 62-cent increase in the federal excise tax on tobacco products, intended to fund the expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, went into effect April 1. The joke was on state budgets--and ultimately taxpayers--because tobacco taxes are not the revenue boon advocates claim them to be.” The piece also appeared on the online Hawaii Reporter.

The Northwest Herald in Illinois (circ. 37,232) reported April 20 that Illinois lawmakers who expect to reap millions from a hike in cigarette taxes are destined for disappointment, quoting Nothdurft. “Nothdurft in an April 1 paper stated that only 16 of the past 57 state tobacco tax hikes met or exceeded revenue estimates, and at least one, New Jersey, lost money. ‘I would be absolutely shocked if [Illinois] made that amount of money, considering the federal tax increase,’ Nothdurft said.”

Nothdurft on April 28 penetrated the State Journal-Register in Springfield, Illinois (circ. 57,659), whose pages have been closed to Heartland staffers for at least the past couple years. Nothdurft wrote to agree with a J-R editorial that Illinois Gov. Patrick Quinn is relying too heavily on a higher cigarette tax to finance a deficit-ridden Medicaid budget.

Nothdurft used the pages of the Miami Herald (circ. 210,884) May 22 to rap Gov. Charlie Crist for green-lighting a new tobacco tax and calling it a surcharge. Nothdurft wrote, “Crist’s attempt to establish political cover for breaking his no-tax pledge and avoid being labeled a tax-raiser will not fool anyone.”

HEALTH CARE

Health Care News

The June issue of Health Care News reported on reform measures in Utah, rationing in Oregon, individual insurance mandates, health information technology, and more. The July issue covers inter-state purchase of insurance policies, Medicaid, prescription drugs, health insurance exchanges, medical malpractice, and more.

Roundtable: The Future of Health Care in America

More than 80 people attended a day-long roundtable on May 8 at the Milwaukee Athletic Club to discuss “The Future of Health Care in America.” U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan cancelled his keynote to attend services for the late Jack Kemp, but Republican state Rep. Leah Vukmir filled in with an excellent presentation that was informed and feisty. Heartland Senior Fellow Greg Scandlen, director of Consumers for Health Care Choices, and Peter Fotos, Heartland’s government relations director, also addressed the state elected officials, staffers, medical professionals, and industry representatives in the audience. Topics discussed included the public option scheme in the Obama administration’s health care reform proposal, competition among hospitals, health information technology, and entitlement reform.

Heartland is hosting a series of roundtable discussions across the country in cooperation with state and local think tanks and associations. Discussion leaders will include representatives of some of the most innovative organizations and thought leaders in American health care today, including small business owners, physicians, and health care experts.

On the Road

On April 21, Scandlen touted the success of consumer-driven health care before the Congressional Health Caucus on Capitol Hill at an event set up by U.S. Rep. Michael Burgess, MD. About 40 attended the conference, “Fixing Health Care Without Government.” Scandlen said policymakers either could implement a top-down approach, granting power to a “health care czar,” or a bottom-up approach, stressing preventive medicine and rewarding people for controlling the costs of their own care through such techniques as health savings accounts and high-deductible health plans.

On May 17, Research Fellow Jeff Emanuel, managing editor of Health Care News, met with a 15-member delegation from the Georgia House of Representatives to discuss the state’s growing Medicaid debt, the prospect of an individual health insurance mandate, and market-friendly solutions to the state’s health care-related budget issues.

On May 27 and 29, Emanuel participated in conference calls with sponsors of the Patients’ Choice Act of 2009, a health care reform alternative sponsored by two Republican Congressmen and two Senators.

In the News, on the Air

Senior Fellow Maureen Martin warned in an op-ed Americans should “be afraid, be very afraid” as Congress approved President Barack Obama’s computerizing of “health information” records in his fiscal stimulus bill. “Health information,” Martin warned, “is not just what our doctors and nurses know but also information from any source that is known to our employers, schools, and universities, which are now all defined as ‘health care providers.’ The government, through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is to arrange for this information to be shared not only with direct health care providers but also with ‘the government’ and ‘other interested parties.’” The op-ed ran April 2 on the NetworkWorld Web site, was reprinted by The Industry Standard April 4, and was cited throughout the blogosphere. Opposing Views, an online aggregator of a wide variety of opinions left and right, also published the analysis on April 22.

The Denver Post (circ. 210,585) on April 6 reported that some insurers are assisting consumers in reducing their prescription drug bills by cutting their pills in half, with one even offering a plastic, razor-edge pill splitter for free. The article read, “The way consumer advocate Greg Scandlen sees it, insurance companies should send cash back to customers willing to split pills. While a customer can save on a $20 co-pay, the insurance company is saving on a $150 bottle of pills, said Scandlen, president of Consumers for Health Care Choices in Maryland.”

Dr. Robert F. Hamilton, a trustee with the Illinois State Medical Society and a senior fellow at Consumers for Health Care Choices, came up with a brilliant characterization of nationalized health care in an op-ed published on April 30 by the Belleville News-Democrat (circ. 51,920): “The Obama administration has made health care reform an urgent, high priority. In spite of the complexity involved, the most important issue is, ‘Who will control your health care, you or the government, i.e. Fanny Med?’” The op-ed also ran in the Alton (Illinois) Telegraph (circ. 26,968).

On May 11, representatives of the American Medical Association, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, American Hospital Association, and others pledged to reduce growth in health care spending by about one-fifth over the next decade. Emanuel and Scandlen swung into action.

Emanuel recruited six free-market experts for a media advisory sent to health care reporters, talk radio hosts, and op-ed editors. Two of the experts--Scandlen and Michael Cannon, director of health policy studies at the Cato Institute--were quoted in yahoo.finance.com coverage that reaches an audience of millions. CNN.fin.com also picked up Scandlen’s analysis.

Scandlen jousted with Vinny DeMarco, a big single-payer proponent, on WYPR-FM, the public radio outlet in Baltimore.

Emanuel fielded calls from editorial writers for Associated Press, AOL News, the Washington Times, and the Washington Examiner, all of whom leaned on his insights and information for their editorials on the subject. He also wrote a brief op-ed that was published in The Politico (http://politico.com), one of the three major Capitol Hill newspapers, and at http://RedState.com, a news and analysis Web site heavily trafficked by Members of Congress and their staffers.

News broke on May 12 that the Social Security Trust Fund is headed for insolvency within nine years, motivating KTRH-AM all-news radio in Houston to call Government Relations Director Peter Fotos for advice on how to fix the system.

At a recent meeting of the Atlas Economic Research Foundation, Heartland Policy Advisor Bart Madden presented his plan for dual-tracking of prescription drug approval through the labyrinth of the federal Food & Drug Administration. Syndicated columnist Deroy Murdock detailed the plan, writing, “Madden, a policy advisor to Chicago’s free-market Heartland Institute, promotes Free-to-Choose Medicine, a common-sense reform that could stop thousands of preventable deaths annually among the terminally ill and comfort potentially millions more who experience serious ailments.” The May 15 column ran in scores of publications, including the Washington Times (circ. 100,258), Orange County Register (circ. 236,270), Salt Lake City’s Deseret News (circ. 73,954), San Angelo (Texas) Standard-Times (circ. 29,391), Boston Herald (circ. 167,506), and Dickenson (Alabama) Press (circ. 7,946), and online at National Review Online, the KyPost.com, and more.

On May 21, CBS News published an op-ed by Emanuel on the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision that the state of Georgia could overrule an attending physician’s orders for the purpose of Medicaid budgeting.

On May 30, online news and opinion site PajamasMedia.com published an op-ed by Emanuel on the Patients’ Choice Act.

IT and TELECOM

Infotech & Telecom News

The June issue of Infotech & Telecom News addressed cybersecurity, file-sharing, social networking, net neutrality, and more. The July issue addresses sales taxes on Internet commerce, online gambling, traffic cameras, cell phones in prison, and more.

In the News

Research Fellow James G. Lakely, managing editor of Infotech & Telecom News, warned in the May 17 San Francisco Chronicle (circ. 339,430), “A perfect storm is brewing that could end the days of the Internet as a relatively tax-free zone, threatening to wash away one of the last remaining redoubts of economic enterprise in the United States.” The op-ed was picked up and analyzed by the Indiana Law Blog and published on May 19 by Telecommunications Online.

Lakely topped the editorial page of Investor’s Business Daily (circ. 156,882) May 19 with “Intel a Victim of European Commission’s Market Ignorance.” He wrote, “European regulators don’t seem to understand the purpose of antitrust law: to benefit consumers. The latest example is the European Commission’s staggering fine on California-based microchip maker Intel Corp.”

Lakely has written several letters to the editor countering reporting and editorials that favored government regulation over the market. Publications that received letters included The Wall Street Journal, explaining that federal regulators do not need to regulate the speech of bloggers; the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, describing how taxing drivers by the mile with mandatory electronic monitors is a violation of privacy; the St. Paul Pioneer-Press, arguing state efforts to regulate online gambling are bound to fail; and the Detroit Free Press and Denver Post, countering efforts in the states to ban using a cell phone while driving.

Lakely also sent letters to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel and Wisconsin State Journal criticizing the governor and legislature for reneging on a promise to sunset a tax on cell phones and not returning the surplus from that tax.

SCHOOL REFORM

School Reform News

The June 2009 issue of School Reform News reported on a May 6 rally that attracted some 2,000 people to the nation’s capital, where parents and children alike expressed support for the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program. The issue also addresses tax credit scholarships, federal stimulus funds for schools, charter schools, virtual schooling, and the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program. July and August were scheduled skip months.

In the News

Legislative Specialist Matthew Glans appeared in the April 8 Boston Herald (circ. 167,506) with a warning that Massachusetts’s $300 million infusion into the Massachusetts Educational Financing Authority is risky business: “By giving government a more active role in student lending agreements, the reforms place a great deal of new financial risk on state coffers, allocating taxpayer dollars to prop up a market that is currently highly unstable.”

Senior Fellow Bob Holland rapped Education Secretary Arne Duncan in a letter to the Denver Post (circ. 210,585) April 14 for torpedoing the Washington, DC voucher program, despite data showing its effectiveness. “However,” Holland wrote, “it is still less than 100 days into the new administration, and Duncan could redeem himself by urging Congress to reauthorize a school choice program that produces documented results.”

The Chatanooga Times Free Press (circ. 41,152) published a letter from Glans April 21 that warned against the paper’s support of the Obama administration’s plan to nationalize student lending. Glans noted, “private student loan providers (such as Sallie May) are a source of waste and a key factor in increasing the cost of higher education.”

The Brooklyn Paper (circ. 10,000) ran Holland’s letter praising its school choice coverage: “Kudos to Gersh Kuntzman for describing the parental demand for charter schools more vividly than big-city dailies typically do. ... More than 400 children seeking just 37 available kindergarten slots--that’s a higher degree of selectivity than exists at Harvard and other Ivy League institutions.”

Karla Dial, managing editor of School Reform News, on May 13 praised an op-ed in the Sacramento Bee (circ. 253,249) that supported tax credit scholarships to students. “Margaret Bengs is absolutely correct: California has been pouring ever more resources into public education for decades, with only declining test scores and rising dropout rates to show for it. Money is not the answer, no matter how much teachers unions might want you to believe it is. School choice is.”

In the May 21 Washington Examiner (circ. 260,181), Local Legislation Manager Ralph Conner castigated D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty for his half-hearted support of school vouchers. The mayor would allow current voucher students to receive voucher aid until they graduate, but says no new vouchers should be provided to their younger siblings.

Dial used the op-ed page of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel (circ. 230,220) May 23 to urge the Wisconsin legislature and Gov. Jim Doyle to abolish the cap on the number of Wisconsin students who can enroll in virtual schools. Dial wrote, “It’s time for Doyle to tune out the lobbyists ... and listen to Wisconsin parents who are clearly demanding more choices than what the government currently offers.”

Working with Allies

Local Legislation Manager Ralph Conner is working with Lauren McLaughlin of the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) to file an application for federal grant assistance on behalf of the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center, which houses the Nancy Jefferson Alternative High School. The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention of the U.S. Department of Justice is offering Second Chance Act Youth Offender Reentry grants. Funding would defray the cost of training teachers how to teach the entrepreneurship curriculum prepared by NFTE to expose high-risk youth to capitalism and free-market concepts and the need for new business creation in the inner city.

LEGAL REFORM

Four issues of Lawsuit Abuse Fortnightly were released in May and June. They are available online at http://www.heartland.org/publications/lawsuit%20abuse/.

Public Corruption

Senior Fellow Maureen Martin and attorney Paul Fisher, a member of Heartland’s Board of Directors and partner at McGuire Woods LLP and head of its Chicago real estate department, collaborated on an op-ed on Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez’s bogus explanation about why she can’t prosecute crooked politicians. Alvarez, who’s spent the past 22 years in the state’s attorney’s office--with 12 of those years in charge of public corruption prosecutions--campaigned on a promise of “zero tolerance” for public corruption. But in the wake of the indictment of former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich, Alvarez claimed she can’t get evidence on these crooks because she lacks the wiretapping tools federal prosecutors have.

“Alvarez is either clueless about the law or bent on continuing her office’s hallowed tradition of pretending public corruption doesn’t exist,” Martin and Fisher wrote. “She already has wiretapping powers virtually identical to what federal prosecutors have.”

Public Nuisance Suits

On April 27, Martin filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the California Supreme Court, arguing on behalf of Heartland that public bodies in California should be barred from hiring private contingent-fee plaintiffs’ firms to prosecute public nuisance cases. The suit was brought against former manufacturers of lead-based paint by certain California cities and counties, with contingent fee outside counsel doing the bulk of the legal work.

The suit seeks to force the companies to fund abatement of lead paint from all buildings in California. The California case is the last one left standing after courts in Illinois, Missouri, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin have tossed cases out of court.

Martin’s brief was posted on Jane Genova’s Web site, Law and More, and also on the Manhattan Institute’s Point of Law Web site. It was referenced in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal Reform’s “Legal Reform News Daily” e-mail alert and was the subject of stories on publicnuisancewire.com.

CORE PARTNERSHIP

Roy Innis, chairman of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), has approved the participation of CORE-Chicago in an Internet movie project sponsored by Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership (JPFO) and featuring Ralph Conner, Heartland’s local legislation manager, in a commentator role. The movie, titled “No Guns for Negroes,” is 20 minutes long and has been “YouTubed” into two 10-minute mini-movies, which have attracted postings on scores of Second Amendment and gun-rights blogs. The movie was released on May 27 to rave Internet reviews and is posted on the CORE-Chicago blog (http://corechicago.wordpress.com/).

The partnership between CORE and JPFO began in January 2009 when Conner journeyed to the Milwaukee studios of producer Aaron Zelman for the first of several sessions to tape “No Guns for Negroes,” the ultimate historical account of the racist roots of gun control in America.

On April 3, Conner participated in a CORE-Chicago “Stop the War on the Poor” event coordinated with grassroots organizations committed to affordable housing for residents of the Bronzeville neighborhood in Chicago. The rally was organized by Bobbie Johnson, South Side coordinator of the Save the Rosenwald Coalition.

On April 9, Conner arranged and participated in a meeting to discuss a possible pilot program that would teach financial literacy and entrepreneurship to natural “risk-takers” who are incarcerated juveniles, in an effort to reduce recidivism. Also at the meeting were representatives of the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) and Marva Whaley Anoba, principal of Nancy Jefferson Alternative High School, located at the Cook County Temporary Juvenile Detention Center in Chicago.

On May 30, Conner attended the Third Annual Summit on African Immigrants and Refugees at Malcolm X College, sponsored by the United African Organization, an advocacy coalition of African national community associations dedicated to the unity and empowerment of African immigrants and refugees in Illinois. CORE-Chicago was instrumental in recruiting attendees from the local African immigrant community. Cheryl Jackson, chair of the Chicago Urban League, delivered the luncheon keynote address.

REDISCOVERING BLACK CONSERVATISM

On April 15, Heartland Chairman Herb Walberg hosted a reception for about 30 people at his high-rise Chicago condo for Senior Fellow Lee Walker on the occasion of the publication of Walker’s book, Booker T. Washington: A Re-Examination.

Later that evening, Walker joined Michael Steele, chairman of the Republican National Committee, at radio station WVON in Chicago, where an audience of about 150 engaged in a Q&A with the two men.

Walker has kept busy since stepping down last year from daily Heartland duties. He mentors young black men every working day at Montefiore School in Chicago and is a leader in the Chicago chapter of Sigma Pi Phi, the oldest black male fraternity in America and one of the largest with about 5,000 members nationally. Members of Sigma Pi Phi are college graduates and well respected in their communities based on their characters and achievements.

On May 13, Local Legislation Manager Ralph W. Conner promoted Rediscovering Black Conservatism on WBZ NewsRadio in Boston.

CONGRATULATIONS!

Jillian Melchior

Jillian Melchior, a 2007 intern at The Heartland Institute, was awarded a 2009 Robert L. Bartley Fellowship, named in honor of the late Bob Bartley, who guided editorial opinion at The Wall Street Journal for nearly 30 years through 2002. He died in December 2003.

Melchior, from Cheyenne, Wyoming, graduated this spring from Hillsdale College, where she majored in political science and worked on the student newspaper.

She interned last summer on the editorial page of the Detroit News. In 2007 she was a National Journalism Center intern at Heartland, for which she continues to write. She is also a part-time copy editor at The Wall Street Journal Classroom Edition. She will work at The Wall Street Journal Asia in Hong Kong, reporting to Editorial Page Editor Mary Kissel.

“These fellowships are awarded to young men and women whose views are broadly consistent with Bob’s beliefs in economic and political liberty and who aspire to careers in journalism,” said Paul A. Gigot, editor of the Journal’s editorial page.

Competitive Enterprise Institute

The Competitive Enterprise Institute celebrated its 25th anniversary with a gala event on June 11. In a congratulatory email, Heartland President Joseph Bast noted,

“Both CEI and The Heartland Institute got started in 1984, and Fred [Smith] and I are both celebrating our 25th years as founders and presidents of our respective organizations. As I think Fred would say, ‘Oh well, I guess that’s something!’

“More seriously, I owe Fred a large debt of gratitude for being one of the first movement libertarians I ever met. I was hugely impressed by his energy, intelligence, and wit, and over the years I have never stopped viewing him as a role model and source of inspiration. Running a think tank is hard work, and our two organizations have worked side-by-side, growing (and not growing) at approximately the same pace for many of those 25 years, and arriving at strategies and insights that are often quite similar.

“So I extend my sincere congratulations to Fred and everyone at CEI for having reached this important benchmark, and best wishes for many more years of effective advocacy on behalf of individual freedom.”