The Heartlander: September-October 2009 (executive summary)

Celebrating 25 Years

On Thursday, October 29, Heartland will celebrate the 25th anniversary of its founding with a reception, silent auction, and gala dinner at the Hilton Chicago Hotel.

Obama Health Plan Demystified

The health care overhaul bills championed by the Obama administration and congressional Democrats would result in less health care for consumers and higher taxes for all, Peter Ferrara concludes in a new Heartland Policy Study.

Health Care

• The August issue of Health Care News reports on health care reform, Pfizer’s free prescription drug program, rationing, and biologics.

• Greg Scandlen, director of Consumers for Health Care Choices, spoke to audiences in Washington, DC, Pennsylvania, and Iowa. He and Government Relations Director Peter Fotos appeared on more than a dozen radio talk shows.

• Heartland spokespersons were published or quoted by Investor’s Business Daily, the Washington Times, and Business Insurance magazine and appeared on RedState.com, Spectator.org, and OpposingViews.com.

Budget and Tax

• The August issue of Budget & Tax News covers California’s budget crisis and income tax news in Illinois, New Jersey, and North Carolina.

• Heartland spokespersons appeared on television and talk radio in Akron, Chicago, and Houston and were published or cited by USA Today and newspapers from Florida to California. The online editions of American Spectator and National Review cited Heartland work.

Finance, Insurance, Real Estate

• The August issue of FIRE News, an insert in Budget & Tax News, covers taxpayer subsidies to mortgage lenders, efforts to regulate credit card companies, Sarbanes-Oxley, and more.

• The Galveston Daily News published an op-ed by Legislative Specialist Matthew Glans on windstorm insurance.

Education

• More than 80 people joined Heartland at a luncheon to celebrate the 91st anniversary of Milton Friedman’s birth.

• Heartland Senior Fellow Robert Holland was published by newspapers in Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Nevada, and North Carolina.

Environment

• Media coverage of Climate Change Reconsidered continued in July.

• After attempting to reason with an alarmist school board president, Heartland has been working to expose his bias.

• Heartland Science Director Jay Lehr spent the first two weeks of August in Australia on a whirlwind speaking tour. Australian lawmakers rejected legislation aimed at capping greenhouse gas emissions.

• The August issue of Environment & Climate News reports on cap-and-trade, Great Lakes water levels, bisphenol-A, and more.

• University students in Connecticut, Illinois, and Singapore are getting exposure to climate realism through The Skeptic’s Handbook and Anthony Watts’ “Is the U.S. Surface Temperature Record Reliable?”

• Heartland spokespersons appeared on online news shows and radio talk shows in Chicago, St. Paul-Minneapolis, Denver, and Bozeman.

• Heartland authors were published in or cited by newspapers in Georgia, Indiana, and Mississippi and appeared online at the American Thinker and Investor’s Business Daily.

InfoTech and Telecom

• The August issue of InfoTech & Telecom News discusses the proposed “cybersecurity czar,” health information technology, cell phone signal-jamming, Craigslist, and more.

• CommsDay.com cited IT&T News in warning about the likely failure of a broadband rollout subsidized by the Australian government. were released in July.

• Legislative victories were recorded in California, Hawaii, New York, and Pennsylvania.

Legal Reform

• Two issues of Lawsuit Abuse Fortnightly

• The nomination hearings for Sonia Sotomayor kept Senior Fellow Maureen Martin busy with opeds and talk radio interviews.