The Heartlander: September-October 2009 (full text)

HEARTLAND TO CELEBRATE SILVER ANNIVERSARY

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.

For a quarter-century Heartland has served the free-market movement as the Midwest think tank with the Beltway punch. Heartland grew out of Dave Padden’s Loop Libertarian League, a group that met monthly at the Union League Club in downtown Chicago to discuss politics and philosophy. The idea was to create a think tank in Chicago that would emulate larger D.C. think tanks--national organizations that produce excellent original research. Today, we no longer aim to emulate those think tanks. We serve a unique purpose in the free-market movement as the only think tank that directly markets free-market ideas to the nation’s legislators and opinion leaders.

Reception and Silent Auction

This year’s dinner takes place at the historic Hilton Chicago Hotel on Michigan Avenue in downtown Chicago. It is a world-class venue, one of the most beautiful public spaces in the country.

The evening will begin at 5:30 p.m. with a reception and silent auction in the Normandy Lounge. You’ll have the opportunity to meet other Heartland supporters, friends, and allies, chat with VIPs and politicians from around the country, and get to know Heartland’s dedicated staff and directors. The auction will include today’s hottest electronics, chocolates, sports tickets and memorabilia, wine tastings, restaurant gift certificates, and more!

If you have unused tickets or anything you, your family, or your company would like to donate for the auction, please contact Kristine Esposo, corporate relations manager, at 312/377-4000.

Terrific Speakers

Business and personal finance writer Terry Savage will serve as mistress of ceremonies and former astronaut and U.S. Senator Harrison Schmitt will deliver concluding remarks. Heartland President Joseph L. Bast and Chairman Emeritus David H. Padden will deliver keynote addresses, and we also will hear from libertarian and conservative legislators at the local, state, and federal level on how and why they find Heartland useful, and from allied think tank leaders on how they have worked with Heartland to positively affect public policy.

Join Us!

More information about the 25th Anniversary Benefit Dinner is available online at http://www.heartland.org/events/Benefit2009/. You can purchase tables or individual tickets online, or contact John O’Hara, membership manager, at 312/377-4000.

We look forward to seeing you on October 29!

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, a veteran health care policy analyst concludes in a new Heartland Policy Study.

Peter Ferrara explains that the Obama health care overhaul legislation would impose rationing, restrict consumers’ freedom of choice over doctors and hospitals, extend health care entitlements to new groups of consumers, and trigger sharply higher taxes.

“This all translates into a major decline in the standard of living for the American people,” writes Ferrara, director of entitlement and budget policy for the Institute for Policy Innovation in Texas. “Today Americans enjoy the most advanced, sophisticated, cutting-edge health care in the world. But under the Obama health regime, this will be replaced by the outdated, failed, throwback, socialized medicine policies of foreign countries that reflect their lower standards of living.”

Heartland released the study on July 31. The American Spectator published a synopsis at spectator.org on July 29, and we’ve been distributing to newspapers across the country several “spin-off” opeds written by Ferrara.

Media Coverage

Within minutes of our issuing a media release on the study, Ferrara, who served in the Reagan White House in the Office of Policy Development, was booked on a dozen radio programs. He was heard on stations from Charleston, South Carolina to Portland, Oregon, and on nationally syndicated programs hosted by Thom Hartman and Jerry Hughes.

The American Spectator’s online edition featured Ferrara’s synopsis of the study, “The Obama Health Plan: Rationing, Higher Taxes, and Less Care,” where it was cited by bloggers across the World Wide Web.

In print, the Ft. Wayne (Indiana) Journal-Gazette (circ. 64,304) was among the first to run an op-ed Ferrara wrote based on his study, “Proposed overhaul would kill health care choice,” followed quickly by papers throughout the nation, including the Provo (Utah) Daily Herald (circ. 30,910). Ken Johnson, a columnist for the statewide Wyoming Eagle Tribune (circ. 15,761), relied in part on Peter’s analysis for his August 16 column on whether individuals will be able to keep their employer-provided health insurance.

HEALTH CARE

August Health Care News

The August issue of Health Care News reports on the protests in Green Bay, Wisconsin against President Barack Obama’s health care plan and covers Pfizer’s free prescription drug program, comparative effectiveness and rationing, biologics, tobacco and the FDA, and more.

Scandlen on the Road

On July 8, Greg Scandlen, director of Consumers for Health Care Choices, briefed about 25 congressional staffers and media about the various health care overhaul plans. Greg’s focus was on the six worst ideas contained in the bills at the time.

On July 10, Greg keynoted a Tea Party Town Hall Meeting in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, at which representatives of the Commonwealth Foundation and Association of American Physicians & Surgeons also spoke. More than 75 people attended.

Greg spent an active day July 17 in Davenport, Iowa, where Don Racheter, president of Iowa’s Public Interest Institute, set up an editorial board meeting at the Quad City Times and booked Greg on Jim Fisher’s influential talk radio show on WOC-AM. Greg and other Hawkeye health care experts explained the benefits of consumer-driven health care to about 55 people at St. Ambrose University, mostly small business owners, physicians, and consumers anxious about protecting their health care choices. Unlike other such meetings Greg has addressed, the Service Employees International Union sent a couple of people to try to disrupt it. Concluded Greg, “The left is clearly getting nervous or they would not have bothered.”

On the Air

Greg was scheduled for 10 minutes July 1 on the Frank Beckman program on WJR-AM in Detroit to talk about the Canadian health care system (Windsor, Ontario is just across the Detroit River). The listener calls were so heavy Beckman kept Greg on the phone for 45 minutes.

On July 16, Greg appeared during morning drive-time with Sergio Sanchez on KURV-AM newstalk radio in McAllen, Texas. The two discussed the costs and implications of the health care overhaul proposals.

On July 20, Greg spent two hours (!) with Charles Butler on WVON-AM in Chicago talking about the health care overhaul proposals and taking questions from the station’s predominantly African-American listeners.

Government Relations Director Peter Fotos provided expert analysis and commentary July 22 on KTRH newsradio in Houston in the wake of President Barack Obama’s press conference on health care.

Arizona state Sen. Ron Gould hosted Peter on his local radio program July 24 for nearly an hour, analyzing the health care proposals spilling out of Congress.

Greg dominated the radio airwaves July 30 as he analyzed the shortcomings and dangers of the health care overhaul schemes. He was a guest on programs from WCNI in Lynchburg, Virginia and KTRH in Houston to KOGO in San Diego and KVI in Seattle, plus a handful of stations in between.

In Print

Heartland Policy Advisor William Snyder published an op-ed in the Omaha World-Herald (circ. 169,722) on the Obama administration’s health care proposals. He concluded, “An individual mandate wouldn’t necessarily expand access to care, improve quality of care, or ensure financial responsibility for care. That’s hardly a compelling case for giving up more freedom to those whom C.S. Lewis referred to as ‘omnipotent moral busybodies.’”

A July 2 report in Investor’s Business Daily (circ. 210,708), “Plan to Slash U.S. Health Costs May Be Tough Pill to Swallow,” quoted Greg: “It is often impossible to know ahead of time what is going to work and what won’t. The notion that a physician should only deliver services that he knows ahead of time will work ignores real-life conditions.” The article also was picked up by the yahoo.finance.com site.

The Quad City (Illinois) Times (circ. 53,522) July 12 featured an op-ed by Greg, prior to his presentation later that week in Davenport, that explained the value and power of consumer-driven health care.

Research Fellow Jeff Emanuel, managing editor of Health Care News, asked rhetorically in the July 29 Washington Times (circ. 100,258), “Who should have the ability to make medical decisions when it comes to your care--your family doctor or a bureaucrat ...?” The Times’ own editorial page referred to Jeff’s compelling argument.

Greg used the op-ed page of the Southtown Star in suburban Chicago (circ. 41,868) July 26 to point out that, “One of the most interesting aspects of the current health reform debate has been the bumbling role of the special interests.”

Business Insurance magazine (weekly circ. 51,000), not known to be open-minded on the issue of consumer-driven health care, published an article July 27 under the headline “Consumer-driven health plan enrollment growing quickly,” and turned to Greg to explain the trend.

Online

On July 16, Emanuel posted on RedState.com a lengthy analysis of the health care overhaul bill as it tumbled out of a Senate committee on a 13-to-10 vote. He followed up on July 21 with two additional RedState.com postings.

On July 30, the American Spectator’s online edition cited congressional testimony from Greg that explained why real competition in the health care industry is difficult when states pile on mandates for health policies. Remarkably, Greg’s testimony was from October 2007. He’s been in this battle a long time!

On July 31, the American Spectator published online an op-ed in which Greg proposed a two-point health care reform plan to counter the six-point, 10-point, and umpteen-point plans he has encountered over his many years at the forefront of health care reform. His plan for government reform of health care: Allow consumers to keep their own money, and get out of the way. OpposingViews.com, an online news and commentary clearinghouse, also ran Greg’s proposal, on July 30.

Roundtables

Against a background of costly proposals from the Obama administration and Congress to overhaul the health care system, Heartland and Consumers for Health Care Choices in May launched a series of roundtable discussions, “The Future of Health Care in America,” that will continue into the fall.

Nearly 500 people attended the first six roundtables in Milwaukee, Indianapolis, Grand Rapids, Atlanta, Dallas, and Chicago. The discussions focused on how to preserve the doctor-patient relationship, competition, and the effect of health information technology on patient safety, privacy, and costs.

The events attracted local and national legislators and staffers, insurance industry professionals, doctors, print, broadcast, and online media, and anxious constituents who want to protect their health care options.

Government Relations Director Peter Fotos and Assistant Director Brian Costin spoke with legislators from across the country at Heartland’s health care roundtable in Philadelphia. Many legislators, including state Rep. Nancy Barto of Arizona, expressed interest in having Heartland host roundtables in their home states.

In Philadelphia, the July 24 print edition of the Bulletin (circ. 70,000) headlined its coverage “Critics of Obama-care speak out” and reported, “A lineup of medical and government experts examined President Barack Obama’s health-care proposal Tuesday and reported that it may worsen what ails America’s medical-care system.” The article quoted Greg extensively.

Additional roundtables are being scheduled across the country. As details become available, they’re posted online at http://www.heartland.org/events/Roundtables/.

Outreach to Legislators

On July 16, the Pentagon rescinded its proposal to make the military a “tobacco-free institution” by 2020. The day before, Research Fellow Jeff Emanuel had published op-eds in USA Today (circ. 2.1 million) and on the Web site of CBS News (1.1 million hits/day) opposing the proposal as misguided policy and a government encroachment on the purchase and use of a legal product. The USA Today op-ed was republished by the Early Bird, a collection of news items distributed to government officials in the Pentagon and on Capitol Hill.

On July 28, Local Legislation Manager Ralph Conner sent Philadelphia city council members an article from local media covering the health care roundtable we held in their city. He also sent the latest edition of Consumer Power Report.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee took four weeks to mark up and pass HR 3200, the Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009, due to increasing public dissatisfaction and decreasing member comfort with the bill’s high-cost, big-government contents. Emanuel made dozens of contacts by phone and email with committee members about the contents of the bill and the need to make free-market health care reforms.

BUDGET & TAX

August Budget & Tax News

The August issue of Budget & Tax News reports California voters’ overwhelming rejection of “budget reform measures” offered by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the state legislature. The issue also addresses tax increase proposals in Illinois, income tax receipts in New Jersey, tax audits in North Carolina, proposals to tax sugar-sweetened drinks, and parking meter frustration in Chicago.

On the Air

WLS-TV, the ABC outlet in Chicago, reported July 1 on Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn’s threat to fire personnel in social service agencies unless legislators approved a big tax increase. The station turned to Legislative Specialist John Nothdurft for comment.

On July 13, Matt Patrick, morning drive-time host on WKDD in Akron, Ohio, talked to Research Fellow Steve Stanek, managing editor of Budget & Tax News, about a proposal by Sens. Max Baucus and Ted Kennedy to tax health benefits except those for union workers. The interview was triggered by a media advisory Heartland sent to talk-radio hosts around the country.

Also on July 13, KTRH radio in Houston called on Stanek to critique the stimulus/bailout package.

In Print

Legislative Specialist Matthew Glans argued in the July 12 Cape Cod Times (circ. 54,000) that the banking industry doesn’t require more regulation. The article was picked up July 14 by Rational Review, an online libertarian site.

Also on July 12, the Wichita Eagle (circ. 149,230) published Nothdurft’s letter praising a local legislator for demanding greater accountability in stimulus spending.

Nothdurft delivered a high-and-inside fast ball in the July 16 Miami Herald (circ. 228,.884) about the $2.4 billion publicly funded stadium for the Florida Marlins. Wrote John, “Such corporate welfare and outright fleecing of taxpayers for the sake of building an already-over-budget baseball stadium is especially dangerous during these foul economic times.”

Nothdurft warned in a July 21 op-ed in the Town Talk of central Louisiana (circ. 34,437) that higher taxes on the tourism industry, such as car rentals and airline fees, could strangle the business sector. The article also ran in the Dayton Legal News (circ. 1,300), the News-Herald of Panama City, Florida, and the Lake Sun Leader in Lake of the Ozarks (circ. 5,264). NewsBlaze, an online aggregator of news and opinion, picked up the article July 22, and from there, Auto Rental News (circ. 16,000) sent it to readers July 23.

Also on July 21, Nothdurft appeared in the Daily Californian (circ. 15,500) warning that Illinois, New Jersey, and New York appear to be frontrunners in the stakes to become “America’s next California.” Just not in a good way.

Economist John Skorburg, a Heartland policy advisor, ridiculed Illinois’ “belt-tightening and stable budget” of $26 billion in a July 24 letter to the editor of the Chicago Tribune (circ. 516,032).

Online

On July 22, the American Spectator’s online edition published Special Correspondent Paul Chesser’s report about a North Carolina brake manufacturer that received a state subsidy to open a factory. The same company recently closed a factory 60 miles away and eliminated 90 jobs. So, net-net, the company, Continental Brake, will receive $3.7 million in subsidies to move 90 jobs 60 miles. Paul turned to his colleague, Research Fellow Steve Stanek, for this pithy analysis: “North Carolina has never met a targeted tax break it didn’t like.”

On July 30, National Review online cited Budget & Tax News, which carried a report on cities and counties that raise taxes for “essential services.” As BTN reported, oftimes the “essential service” is a subsidy to a new sports stadium, ballpark, convention center, aquatic center, theater, or other tourist attraction.

Outreach to Legislators

On July 16, Nothdurft sent all local and state elected officials in the Miami-Dade County, Florida area an email with his letter to the editor published in the Miami Herald. The letter addressed tourism taxes and taxpayer-funded stadiums.

On July 27, Nothdurft sent a Research & Commentary on the damaging effects of tourism taxes to 11,894 state and local elected officials. “Too many politicians see these taxes as an easy way to tap additional revenues from non-voting visitors and avoid backlash from their own constituents,” Nothdurft writes. “But such tax hikes have serious consequences for residents, even in locations that don’t have a vibrant tourism industry.”

On July 29, Nothdurft sent emails to Connecticut’s governor and state legislators reminding them about the dangers of increasing taxes during a time of recession.

TOBACCO

On July 2, Legislative Specialist John Nothdurft sent an email alert on “sin” taxes to members of the New Mexico Legislature. He included an article from the Los Alamos Monitor, which heavily cited his work on the issue, and links to his Research & Commentaries on tobacco and other sin taxes.

During the first week of July, Nothdurft called elected officials in North Carolina following up on information he had sent about sin taxes. At the time, Gov. Mike Easley was pushing for alcohol and tobacco taxes to help shore up the state’s budget.

On July 10, Nothdurft sent his Budget & Tax News article on soda taxes to Congressional tax aides in response to the prospect of a federal excise tax on sugar-sweetened beverages.

On July 15, Research Fellow Jeff Emanuel, a U.S. Air Force veteran, took the “Opposing View” in USA Today (circ. 2.2 million), which editorialized in favor of banning tobacco sales on military installations. Jeff wrote a longer version that ran on CBSnews.com and tobaccofacts.net.

Also on July 15, Conner sent the 11 members of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors Nothdurft’s Research & Commentary on sin taxes.

On July 28, Conner sent information on marijuana decriminalization efforts across the country to members of the Cook County Board of Commissioners and the Chicago City Council’s Police and Fire Committee.

FINANCE, INSURANCE, AND REAL ESTATE

August FIRE News

The August issue of FIRE News, an insert in Budget & Tax News, covers taxpayer subsidies to mortgage lenders, congressional efforts to regulate credit card companies, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, and more.

In Print

The Galveston Daily News (circ. 25,734) showed a lot of courage July 26 when it published an op-ed by Legislative Specialist Matthew Glans under the headline, “Storm insurance is irresponsibly cheap.” The essay is reprinted on page 2 of this Heartlander.

Outreach to Legislators

On July 7, Glans sent his Research & Commentary on the failures of smart growth to elected officials in Arizona, California, and Oregon. Glans examines the downfalls of smart growth policies and their effects on home prices and the local economy.

Glans also worked with Local Legislation Manager Ralph Conner to distribute the Research & Commentary to local elected officials in Chicago, Houston, Portland, and San Francisco, all hotbeds for smart growth policies. The piece was published in the Bellingham Herald on July 6.

On July 20, in response to the pending approval of rate hikes for Texas Windstorm Insurance Association policyholders, Glans wrote and distributed a Research & Commentary about the agency. “The real problem with the Texas property insurance market lies not with any deficiency in the regulatory system but in the state’s reliance on a residual market to cover its windstorm risk. By reducing the risks involved with owning a coastal home, the government is rewarding risky behavior and instilling a false sense of security.”

On July 24, Glans sent an email to Texas legislators with his Galveston Daily News op-ed and a link to the TWIA Research & Commentary.

Victories

In July, the Louisiana legislature voted to stop municipalities from imposing accident response fees, also known as accident taxes. Glans had addressed the topic in an article for the July issue of Budget & Tax News, sent to every state legislator in the country, and he emailed the article to legislators in targeted states, including Louisiana, in response to proposed legislation.

Also in July, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal vetoed a bill that would have expanded workers compensation benefits, leading to increased costs for employers and the increased possibility of fraud and abuse. In November 2008, Glans had sent a Research & Commentary on workers compensation insurance reform to Louisiana elected officials.

Also in July, Connecticut Gov. Jodi Rell signed legislation extending the state’s flex-rating law to 2011. Glans had sent multiple informational packages about flex-rating, including the 2008 and 2009 Property and Casualty Insurance Report Cards, to legislators in the state.

EDUCATION

August was a scheduled skip month for School Reform News.

Legacy for Freedom Luncheon

More than 80 people lunched at Petterino’s in Chicago’s Loop on July 31 to celebrate the 91st anniversary of Milton Friedman’s birth. Four speakers addressed the group.

John Tsarpalas, president of the Sam Adams Alliance, urged guests to seek inspiration from Friedman’s persistence and achievements, and to run for elected office or teach part-time using Friedman’s scholarship. John Tillman, chief executive of the Illinois Policy Institute, challenged guests to become “marketing-centric” and use Friedman’s ideas to sell liberty to a broader public, not just to the converted.

Heartland President Joseph Bast used anecdotes and his personal relationship with Friedman to explain the Nobel laureate’s durability as a thinker, educator, economist, friend, and champion of liberty. Illinois political activist Dan Proft illustrated how Friedman’s insistence on school choice has informed Proft’s own campaign and ideas. (Click here to play a video of Proft's presentation in a popup window.)

In Print

Senior Fellow Robert Holland found much to praise in two communities whose newspapers ran his supportive letters to the editors on July 6. Bob wrote in the Jacksonville, North Carolina Daily News (circ. 21,430), “Genuine school choice via public charter schools or private scholarships would help diminish disputes” over non-essentials such as uniforms and vending machines. In the Reno, Nevada Gazette (circ. 67,268), Bob praised the work of a social studies teacher who established a charter school against stiff odds.

On July 14, Bob noted in the Naples (Florida) Daily News (circ. 70,000) that a local charter school will institute a physical education program, something lacking in most public schools because school officials decided kids really don’t need exercise. Noted Bob, “Part of the beauty of charter schools is that they can offer families choices contrary to the prevailing orthodoxy.”

Bob came to the defense of Caterpillar Inc. Chairman Glen Barton in a July 18 letter to the Peoria Journal-Star (circ. 65,320). Barton came in for sharp criticism when he suggested in an earlier news article that schools need to supply businesses like Caterpillar with a flow of technologically competent workers.

On July 27, the Fort Wayne (Indiana) Journal-Gazette (circ. 46,067) allowed Bob to respond to teachers who fear the introduction of charter schools in the area: “The state teachers union’s lobbyist worries that virtual charter schools will grow and take money from the conventional public schools. No doubt many parents would welcome that kind of expansion of choice, the union’s worst nightmare, even though the Indiana legislature limited the new cyber-charter enrollment to 200 in the coming school year and 500 in the next one.”

CLIMATE CHANGE RECONSIDERED

Media Coverage

Media coverage of Climate Change Reconsidered: The 2009 Report of the Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC) continued in July, following a complex path from print to online to broadcast and back.

The Victorville (California) Daily Press (circ. 30,169) July 10 cited Heartland’s work and Climate Change Reconsidered in an editorial that concluded, “At this point in the debate, Americans are starting to feel deceived, as they should, and scientists are speaking out. In the face of the skepticism, of course, Waxman-Markey marches on in true liberal tradition, i.e., we don’t care what you think, or what the facts are, we’ve got the votes so we’re going to do as we please.”

Also on July 10, the Bloomington (Indiana) Herald-Times (circ. 27,102) reported on a June 16 study from the White House that “sounded what is becoming a familiar drumbeat for Indiana and other Midwestern states: If global temperatures continue to rise as a result of manmade emissions of heat-trapping gases such as carbon dioxide, there will be widespread consequences.”

The newspaper also reported on the publication of Climate Change Reconsidered, noting, “The 800-plus page document of the Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change boasted two authors--S. Fred Singer, Ph.D., and Craig D. Idso, Ph.D., both well-known contrarians in the greenhouse gas debate, as is the free-market think-tank The Heartland Institute, which was listed as the report’s publisher.

“Their assessment of published scientific research couldn’t have been more oppositional to the White House group’s findings, concluding that scientists who see calamitous consequences in higher global temperatures and elevated levels of carbon dioxide are wrong about nearly everything.”

The Herald-Times (in print and online) then provided readers with online addresses where both reports could be viewed, compared, and contrasted.

On July 14, John Stossel, ABC News’ co-anchor of “20/20,” took New York Times columnist Paul Krugman to task for his shrill global warming alarmism and mindless support of the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. In the lengthy string of comments that followed, reader Brad Powell noted that on June 2, “the ‘second opinion’ scientific forum NIPCC released a report that included a petition signed by over 31,000 scientists who have concluded--based on peer-reviewed research--that humans do NOT cause climate change.”

Citizenlink.com, the online news service for Focus on the Family, reported July 17, “Good News: Comprehensive Report Challenges Global-Warming Alarmism,” and led a review with, “An authoritative new book draws on thousands of peer-reviewed research papers and books, plus additional scientific research, as it challenges popular concerns that global warming is either man-made or would have harmful effects.”

In the Schools

We received this report from meteorologist Art Horn:

“Thanks for sending the batch of NIPCC reports. I have been distributing them to the teachers at the schools I’ve been speaking at here in Connecticut. Thursday and Friday I presented ‘Understanding Global Warming’ to some 650 high school freshmen in eight separate presentations at Southington High School. The teachers got the NIPCC reports. The feedback from the teachers was interesting.

“Among other things they said the kids were talking a lot about what I had to say. So it seems to have generated some ‘buzz’ among the kids and that’s what I had hoped for. Also the teachers were happy to have the kids and themselves exposed to a completely different point of view on the subject. As always when giving the program I am aware that it’s not just the kids I’m educating. They were very pleased and I think they will have me back next year to do it again, after another year of global cooling.

“I could really use another batch of NIPCC reports. I’ve got several more schools to visit before the summer break. Anything you can send would be great. Just the NIPCC reports would be fine. Hope all is well.

“Joe D’Aleo and I did a live one-hour cable program up in Danvers, Massachusetts three weeks ago. The host said he got some very interesting feedback both pro and con. That is Ed Markey territory so you would expect a lot of ignorance and intolerance and that is what we got from some.”

Horn later reported,

“I was at the Torrington, Connecticut library last night speaking on global warming. Having the NIPCC reports to hand out was great! We had a nice crowd of about 75 folks. All the reports were taken. Thanks for the support and at some point I’ll be asking for more. Also handed out several at East Lyme high school last week where I gave my program ‘Global Warming Update: What the news media and your government won’t tell you’ to members of the faculty. After the program one of the teachers said ‘I’m going home and burn my Al Gore movie.’”

SKEPTIC’S HANDBOOK

Censorship Exposed

Michael Kundu, a whale photographer and school board president in Marysville, Washington, received from Heartland a copy of The Skeptic’s Handbook (http://www.heartland.org/books/SkepticsHandbook.html) by Australian science communicator Joanne Nova. The 16-page booklet challenges conventional wisdom about the causes and extent of global warming in an easy-to-read but scientifically rigorous fashion. Copies of Nova’s booklet were sent to nearly 14,000 public school board presidents across the U.S. accompanied by a letter from climate scientist Bob Carter, a professor at James Cook University in Queensland, Australia.

Kundu responded to the mailing by sending a blistering email to other school board presidents, on which he copied Carter. “I would encourage all of you to stuff that junk mail directly into the recycle basket,” Kundu wrote.

Carter and Heartland President Joseph Bast exchanged emails with Kundu (available online at http://www.heartland.org/full/25573/), reminding him of his responsibility, as Carter wrote, “to encourage informed discussion on controversial matters of the day, rather than to denigrate in ignorant fashion one aspect of a complex, multi-sided argument of which you happen to disapprove.”

When Kundu responded with even more vitriol, Bast said, “One has to wonder if parents, teachers, and taxpayers in Marysville, Washington know how ill-informed and biased their school board president is. I suspect some of them would be quite alarmed to learn about this.”

Thus began Heartland’s “Kundu project,” as we set about exposing his opposition to sound science.

John Barnes, a writer for examiner.com--a citizen-journalist Web site--picked up the Kundu story July 17 under the headline, “Marysville school board president Michael Kundu wants to talk about science in his classrooms--as long as you agree with him.”

Red County, a Washington-state Web site for political activists, picked up Barnes’ column July 21 under its own headline, “School Board Prez Equates Global Warming Skeptics to White Supremacists.”

On July 18, DemocraticUnderground.com carried James M. Taylor’s Environment & Climate News article about the dust-up.

Heartland Senior Fellow Maureen Martin penned an op-ed, “Political Brainwashing Endangers Marysville Schools Funding,” (http://www.heartland.org/article/25777/) that was published August 4 by the Marysville Globe (circ. 19,500) and Arlington Times (weekly circ. 13,000). Maureen quoted Washington state education standards that require 6th through 8th graders to be taught “Science advances through openness to new ideas, honesty, and legitimate skepticism.”

With the online publication of the op-ed, readers--including Kundu himself--posted more than a dozen responses, some criticizing Kundu’s censorship and others supporting it.

Legislative Specialist Zonia Pino sent copies of the op-ed to 15 Washington state school board members and 23 Washington state legislators who are on education-related committees.

In Australia

Joanne Nova, author of The Skeptic’s Handbook, reports a better reception for her work in Australia.

“The copies of the Handbook are just getting around Australia, so I should send you that fan mail too. I’ve heard from two politicians, done an ABC radio interview, got a mention on Andrew Bolt’s site, and am now getting an average of 1,000 [Web site] visitors a day.

“Talking to members of our conservative party here yesterday I’m getting the sense that there are a lot of closet sceptics, even close to the top.

“I think what they need more than anything is the confidence to come forward and declare their suspicions. If what I’m hearing is right, there could come a phase transition -- a point where enough people declare their hand so that all the others join the wave.

“I’m fortunately doing a short speech at a very in-house closed shop event in a few weeks which includes movers and shakers from politics and business -- possibly even the leaders of both parties. (They usually attend I’m told).

“My theme: Bullying in science (obviously and explicitly climate-science).”

MORE FROM DOWN UNDER

In June, Australian Senator Steve Fielding attended Heartland’s third International Conference on Climate Change in Washington, DC. And Heartland Science Direct Jay Lehr, Ph.D. returned the favor in August, traveling across Australia for 15 days for a series of meetings to discuss global warming. He was featured on ABC-TV’s LateLine program on August 12. A brief transcript of the program appears on Heartland’s Web site at http://www.heartland.org/full/25837/.

During his “Sorting Fact from Fiction on Climate Change” speaking tour, Lehr delivered more than two dozen presentations in Melbourne, Victoria, Perth, Sydney, Brisbane, the Gold Coast, and the Sunshine Coast. He presented the evidence about carbon dioxide and how much warming it can and cannot cause to the planet. He outlined many assumed (and often incorrect) ideas about carbon dioxide with evidence from the top scientific bodies in the world. And he explained why the science of carbon dioxide means most government plans to address climate change simply cannot work.

Heartland friend Kenneth G. Telford wrote, “Just to let you know, I had the privilege of meeting and hearing your Science Director Jay Lehr, whilst he was in Geelong Victoria AU. A gifted man, who is simply explaining the facts about this fraudulent, hypothecated, climate change debate. I thank him sincerely for the truth.”

Victory!

Toward the tail end of Lehr’s whirlwind speaking tour, The Wall Street Journal reported on August 13:

CANBERRA, Australia -- Lawmakers Thursday rejected legislation aimed at capping greenhouse-gas emissions in Australia, in a widely-expected move that could be used by the center-left Labor government to justify an early election if it can’t convince key conservatives to back the plan in coming months.

Labor’s plan to introduce a carbon trading program in July 2011 -- similar to a European one in place since 2005 -- was defeated by 42 votes to 30 in the Senate, where Labor doesn’t have a majority, and needs the support of the main conservative opposition, or other smaller parties, to pass laws.

The government may be able to revive some form of climate program in future months. But it would likely have to agree to further concessions to win enough support from key Senators from the conservative Liberal-National coalition.

Climate Change Minister Penny Wong said earlier Thursday that the government is willing to negotiate with opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull over any “serious and credible” amendments.

ENVIRONMENT

August Environment & Climate News

The August issue of Environment & Climate News reports on a Congressional Budget Office study that pegs the cost of the Waxman-Markey cap-and-tax bill at nearly $850 billion over the next decade. It also addresses climate change, Great Lakes water levels, bisphenol-A, and more.

Heartland on Campus

Prof. Laurence Gould of the University of Hartford, a speaker at Heartland’s international conferences on climate change, is using Joanne Nova’s The Skeptic’s Handbook and Anthony Watts’ “Is the U.S. Surface Temperature Record Reliable?” in a course on global warming.

Prof. Richard Schultz, who’s doing a similar course, has invited Watts to give a presentation at the University of Elmhurst in Chicago on October 15.

Joanne Nova reports,

“I’ve just been asked by university students in Singapore to do an interview with them. They wrote:

“‘We are a group of independent student researchers from Hwa Chong Institution, Singapore making our first foray into the realm of sociology. Our research pertains to the means through which mass movement ideologies are propagated in the 21st century, with climate change as a central pillar of investigation. We are attempting to understand why climate change as an ideology has taken such a strong foothold in society today.’

“So that’s three university groups (at least) looking at the way the global warming debate has become an ideology ...

“There will be PhD theses written in the coming decades.”

On the Air

Heartland Policy Advisor John Dale Dunn, M.D. was interviewed July 1 for 30 minutes on satellite-and-online news show One News Now about the effect of higher auto-mileage standards in California.

A trio of Heartland staffers spent two hours July 1 discussing sound science, cap-and-trade, and economics with Milt Rosenberg on Extension 720, WGN radio’s evening talk fest that is broadcast nationally. President Joe Bast, Publisher Dan Miller, and Local Legislation Manager Ralph Conner handled callers from Atlanta to Seattle.

KKMS radio, serving St. Paul-Minneapolis, was so impressed with Senior Fellow James M. Taylor’s grasp of environment issues that it stretched a scheduled 30-minute interview July 7 into an hour-long segment ... and invited him back.

Science Director Jay Lehr, Ph.D. talked sound-science for 30 minutes July 8 with Chuck Harder, whose daily radio program is syndicated nationally.

On July 17, James discussed the causes and severity of global warming with Clean Skies TV anchor Susan McGinnis.

Special Correspondent Paul Chesser was a guest July 22 on KLZ radio in Denver with morning host Jim Pfaff discussing Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter’s testimony before a Senate committee, during which he refused to endorse the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade measure.

On July 23, Paul and Henry Kriegel, afternoon drive-time host for KMMS radio in Bozeman, Montana, discussed Waxman-Markey and Paul’s investigation into behind-the-scenes support of the alarmist Western Climate Initiative by some members of the Western Governors Association.

In Print

The Indianapolis Star (circ. 244,796) on July 5 prominently displayed a letter from James as he disputed an article that naively quoted an EPA report that temperatures in Indiana have risen 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit over the past century. “This is clearly not true,” James rebutted, citing federal temperature readings. “Indiana temperatures have significantly fallen during the past 80 years.”

Ashby M. Foote III, a columnist for the Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, Mississippi (circ. 97,421), warned July 26 that the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill could “sink a big chunk of the U.S. economy.” He noted, “The Heartland Institute’s exhaustive analysis of the IPCC’s most recent report entitled ‘Climate Change Reconsidered’ includes this critique.”

The Athens (Georgia) Banner-Herald (circ. 27,500) and Gwinnett Gazette (circ. 25,700) each ran a column July 26 by Benita M. Dodd of the Georgia Public Policy Foundation, who warned local temperatures anywhere in the U.S. depend on where the local weather station has set up shop, citing Anthony Watts’s report, “Is the U.S. Surface Temperature Record Reliable?” (http://www.heartland.org/books/SurfaceStations.html).

Online

In a letter to constituents, U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk attempted to explain his support of the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill. Kirk--one of only eight Republicans who voted for the bill--wrote the lengthy apologia after he faced several angry constituents at a town hall meeting in his district. Heartland President Joseph Bast dissected Kirk’s letter, and the Chicago Daily Observer, an online newspaper, ran the item-by-item critique on July 17. The Illinois Review, an online newsletter, also ran Joe’s critique in full.

Within a week, Kirk attempted to distance himself from his vote--not fully retracting the vote, but clearly undergoing intense retraining on the issue.

The American Thinker, a daily Internet publication devoted to the thoughtful exploration of issues of importance to Americans, ran Joe’s review of British socialist Michael Hulme’s new book, Why We Disagree About Climate Change on July 17. Joe warned that despite the title, the book is “the musings of a British socialist about how to use the global warming issue as a means of persuading ‘the masses’ to give up their economic liberties.”

On July 29, Marc Moreno’s Climate Depot blog recounted the intense opposition that surfaced to an editorial in Chemical & Engineering News, the house organ of the American Chemical Society. The editorial dismissed global warming skeptics and The Heartland Institute in vitriolic, insulting terms, and readers responded by the score, chastising the editor who subsequently conceded he was “startled” by the response. Moreno’s report and a selection of letters spread throughout the Web and many print outlets, including the Orlando Sentinel (circ. 206,363). The one we liked best came from atmospheric chemist Roger L. Tanner: “I have very little in common with the philosophy of The Heartland Institute and other ‘free-market fanatics,’ and I consider myself a progressive Democrat. Nevertheless, we scientists should know better than to propound scientific truth by consensus and to excoriate skeptics with purple prose.”

Investor’s Business Daily online interviewed James Taylor July 30 about the bias uncovered in Anthony Watts’s Heartland-published report, “Is the U.S. Surface Temperature Record Reliable?” The interview was put on IBD’s podcast service and posted on IBD’s Facebook page, where it attracted even more attention.

On the Road

Science Director Jay Lehr, Ph.D. talked to 300 folks at the Saskatchewan Chicken Farmers Conference in Saskatoon, Alberta on July 15, and 300 farm equipment retailers for Kinze Manufacturing at its headquarters in Williamsburg, Iowa two days later.

The Illinois Farm Bureau hosted Jay in Springfield on July 29. He spoke to 260 members of the organization and distributed copies of Environment & Climate News. A Farm Bureau staffer assured Jay the farmers will fight cap-and-trade legislation in Congress.

Outreach to Legislators

On July 20, Local Legislation Manager Ralph Conner sent materials debunking climate change to city council members in Los Angeles, Richmond, San Diego, and San Jose--communities identified as “green cities” by Sen. Barbara Boxer during her cap-and-trade hearing on Capitol Hill.

Legislative Specialist Zonia Pino has been in regular contact with key members of the House and Senate to provide information about the ramifications of proposed cap-and-trade legislation. She has focused her efforts on senators from 10 states expected to be hardest hit should emissions trading legislation be enacted.

Victory

The Tennessee Valley Authority has announced plans to build a third nuclear power plant. Pino has been in contact with state legislators there about the benefits of nuclear energy and has spoken to staffers in the office of U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, who is a major proponent of nuclear energy in Tennessee.

INFOTECH & TELECOM

InfoTech & Telecom News

The August issue of InfoTech & Telecom News opens with a discussion of President Barack Obama’s proposal for a new cabinet-level “cybersecurity czar.” The issue also covers health information technology, Bing, cell phone signal-jamming, online cigarette sales, and Craigslist.

Online

CommsDay.com, a huge Web site for telecom news and analysis in Australia and Asia, on July 22 cited InfoTech & Telecom News in warning about the likely failure of a massive broadband rollout subsidized by the Australian government. “The American free market think tank The Heartland Institute also says that municipal and other government-owned broadband networks in the U.S. have been a financial failure,” the site reported, and then quoted from a recent IT&T News article.

Outreach to Legislators

On July 30, Research Fellow James G. Lakely, managing editor of InfoTech & Telecom News, sent an email alert to legislators and local government officials in California about the folly of the state’s defense of a law banning the sale of “violent” video games to minors. Lakely augmented his message with a recent IT&T News story outlining how several courts have deemed such laws a violation of the First Amendment.

Also on July 30, Lakely sent an alert to legislators and local government officials in North Carolina about how Salisbury, North Carolina officials are “irresponsibly risking” taxpayer money on a $30 million fiber-optic cable system. Lakely included a recent IT&T News story outlining how the investment will waste taxpayer money, be unable to compete with services provided by the private sector, and eventually drive out private competition--thus driving up prices for all area residents.

That same day, Lakely sent an email alert to legislators and local government officials in New York about how New York City was going to waste taxpayer money on a “free” public wi-fi system in city parks. Lakely included an IT&T News story describing how similar municipal wi-fi schemes have failed not only in New York City, but in scores of cities across the country.

On July 31, Lakely issued a statement about the introduction of the Internet Freedom Protection Act of 2009. He warned that giving the concept of “network neutrality” the force of law would change everyone’s Internet experience for the worse, noting the measure would shift control of the Internet away from individuals and private firms and into the hands of government bureaucrats.

Victories

Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in July vetoed budgets that would have imposed the constitutionally dubious “Amazon Tax,” which forces out-of-state retailers to collect sales taxes from in-state consumers. Amazon.com has pulled its affiliates out of states that force the costly collection of these taxes, which harm the local economy. IT&T News has published several stories opposing such a tax.

Three bills in Pennsylvania that would preserve individual privacy in the electronic age moved from the Senate Communications and Technology Committee to the Senate Appropriations Committee: SB 621, which would reject the Real ID Act of 2005; SB 622, which would prevent the use of data scanned from driver’s licenses to create a mailing list or to use it for financial gain; and SB 623, which would prohibit any government agency from denying a right, license, or privilege if an individual refuses to provide biometric data. IT&T News has covered the privacy issue in several articles.

A federal judge in California threw out the sentence of Lori Drew, who was convicted of violating the Computer Fraud & Abuse Act for actions described as “cyberbullying” that caused a 13-year-old girl, Megan Meier, to commit suicide. While Drew’s actions were horrible and the results tragic, the judge’s decision was correct. IT&T News has extensively covered this issue, explaining that cyberbullying laws and convictions threaten the liberty of everyone who communicates on the Internet. Better parental guidance and education are the best ways to address cyberbullying.

Golden Gate Ferries is moving forward with plans for a free wi-fi service on board the ferries it operates between San Francisco and Sausalito as well as Larkspur in the California Bay Area. No taxpayer funds will be used for the project, but the ferry will allow the wi-fi operator to charge for the service. IT&T News has published many stories warning governments not to get into the wi-fi provider business, but to leave it to the private sector.

New York Congressman Edolphus Towns announced in July that he plans to introduce a bill to bar peer-to-peer software from government and government contractor computers and their networks. Viruses and security breaches on federal government computers have been traced back to bureaucrats using such services on their publicly funded machines. Other members of Congress have suggested cracking down on the peer-to-peer industry, but Towns’ proposal is the safest and most freedom-preserving course. IT&T News has published several stories on this topic.

LEGAL REFORM

Lawsuit Abuse Fortnightly

Two issues of Lawsuit Abuse Fortnightly were released in July.

Among the stories reported in Volume 8, No. 13 (released July 13):

• Putting the letters “WWJD” on a debt collection letter was “offensive” to a Minnesota couple, so they’ve filed a class-action lawsuit against the debt collection agency sending the letter.

• A Los Angeles judge has approved a class-action lawsuit settlement of about $100,000 but is hesitating to approve legal fees for the plaintiffs’ lawyers of about eight times that amount.

• A judge has tentatively approved a $510,000 settlement in a class-action case brought against the Oakland A’s Major League Baseball team for discriminating against men during a Mother’s Day giveaway.

In Volume 8, No. 14 (released July 27):

• An Egyptian hotel resort is being sued by a Polish woman who claims her teenage daughter was impregnated by a “stray sperm” in the hotel’s swimming pool.

• One way to reduce lawsuit abuse is to reduce the number of lawyers. A New York blogger is helping out with this project by documenting the “top eight reasons not to go to law school.”

• Apple is being sued for $14.2 million by a Missouri man who claims the company put illegal listening devices in his iPod Shuffle and iPod Mini, enabling the Mafia to send him death threats.

• Environmental activists in California are suing to block construction of suicide barriers on a 400-foot-high bridge near Santa Barbara from which at least 48 people have jumped to their deaths since 1963.

Sotomayor Nomination

The nomination hearings for Sonia Sotomayor kept Senior Fellow Maureen Martin busy. Her 1,800-word analysis (http://www.heartland.org/policybot/results/25673/) of Sotomayor’s attempt to rewrite her background was published July 15 at The American Spectator online. She also talked about Sotomayor’s nomination and its implications with talk show host Paul Molloy on WTAN radio in Tampa Bay and nationally syndicated host Jerry Hughes.

Earlier, on July 3, Maureen discussed the nomination and affirmative action on WHON radio, serving Indiana and Ohio.

URBAN AFFAIRS

In support of a Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership (JPFO) initiative sponsored by a Heartland donor, Local Legislation Manager Ralph Conner and Kevin Fitzgerald, vice president - programs, developed graphics, text, and a list of ethnic media contacts for a direct mailing campaign supporting the Second Amendment in Illinois. The flier highlighted social problems created when the right to bear arms is abridged or infringed.

On July 17, Conner contacted Kristin Woellmer, Human Resources Committee liaison for the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania, on behalf of Make a Difference author Gary MacDougal. The association is considering welfare reform measures at the local level. Heartland is coordinating a trip by MacDougal to brief members of the committee before the association’s annual meeting in Lancaster.

Conner was a guest on WTTW-TV, Chicago’s leading public affairs program, on July 23 to discussed the racial aspects of events leading to the arrest of Henry Louis Gates Jr. by Cambridge police.

On July 24, Conner sent the mayor and city council of Cambridge, Massachusetts the latest issue of Lawsuit Abuse Fortnightly in the aftermath of the Gates controversy.

On July 30, Conner and representatives of the Illinois State Rifle Association and Illinois Chapter of Second Amendment Sisters (Dr. Paula Bratich, state coordinator) attended the Expo for Today’s Black Women Conference at the McCormick Place Convention Center in Chicago. Conner staffed a booth providing Second Amendment policy information.

Also on July 30, Conner confirmed that the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship had selected instructors from the Cook County Juvenile Detention Temporary Detention Center who will be trained in the NFTE curriculum to begin to teach high-risk youth about capitalism and new business creation in the inner city.

FACE-TO-FACE

From July 14 to 18, several members of the Heartland team attended the American Legislative Exchange Council’s 2009 annual meeting in Atlanta, Georgia. More than 225 people attended the Ice Cream Social we hosted, along with former Heartland staffer Sean Parnell’s Center for Competitive Politics, on July 15.

• Legislative Specialist Matthew Glans, a voting member of the Commerce, Insurance and Economic Development Task Force, debated model legislation with legislators and private-sector members.

• Research Fellow James G. Lakely met with dozens of state legislators, talking about the importance of preserving individual choice and freedom of expression in the technology sector. He followed up with personal emails to legislators he met from Alabama, California, Kentucky, New Hampshire, Ohio, South Carolina, Texas, and several other states.

• Legislative Specialist Zonia Pino spoke to more than 70 legislators about global warming, cap-and-trade, nuclear energy, and general environmental issues. She helped distribute several DVDs and books, including Climate Change Reconsidered, at the Heartland booth and during Lord Christopher Monckton’s presentation to the meeting.

From July 20 to July 24, Assistant Government Relations Director Brian Costin and Legislative Specialist John Nothdurft attended the annual meeting of the National Conference of State Legislatures in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They spoke with legislators from across the country and invited them to join the Legislative Forum. More than 300 guests, including at least 80 legislators, attended Heartland’s seventh annual NCSL Ice Cream Social on July 22. Heartland promotional materials were available and Costin gave a short presentation about the Legislative Forum and Heartland accomplishments over the past year.