Latest posts by Donald Kendal (see all)
- In The Tank (ep204) – Climate “Contrarians” Blacklisted? Red Flag Laws - August 16, 2019
- In The Tank (ep203) – Bernie Sanders on Joe Rogan Podcast: A Response - August 9, 2019
- In The Tank (ep202) – Craziest Proposals From Democratic Candidates - August 2, 2019
If you don’t visit Somewhat Reasonable and the Heartlander digital magazine every day, you’re missing out on some of the best news and commentary on liberty and free markets you can find. But worry not, freedom lovers! The Heartland Weekly Email is here for you every Friday with a highlight show. Subscribe to the email today, and read this week’s edition below.
James Taylor and Jim Lakely, U.S. News & World Report
The pontiff’s heart is in the right place when it comes to his concern for the world’s poor and for God’s creation, but Pope Francis’s special knowledge and insight pertain to matters of faith, not science. The best available information indicates Francis’s prescribed agenda on climate change would dramatically worsen economic well-being, achieve few environmental benefits, and assign the poorest of the world to greater poverty and misery. READ MORE

Justin Haskins, Consumer Power Report
Obamacare was designed from the very beginning to slowly move the nation toward a government-controlled health insurance system, but President Barack Obama and his allies in Congress understood at the time the Affordable Care Act was being debated that the American people strongly opposed a single-payer model. Hillary Clinton’s proposals are just another step in that direction. READ MORE

Charlie Kirk, founder and executive director of Turning Point USA, will join us on Thursday, October 8 to celebrate the 31st anniversary of The Heartland Institute. Turning Point USA is a national student movement dedicated to educating, empowering, and mobilizing young people on behalf of the principles of fiscal responsibility, free markets, and limited government. READ MORE

Niger Innis, national spokesperson for the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), joins Environment & Climate News Managing Editor H. Sterling Burnett to discuss how President Barack Obama’s anti-fossil-fuel energy policies disproportionately harm minorities, the poor, and persons on fixed incomes. LISTEN HERE

The Heartland Institute’s 31st Anniversary Benefit Dinner will take place Thursday, October 8 at The Cotillion, 360 South Creekside Drive in Palatine, Illinois. This year’s theme is “The Heartland versus The Ruling Class,” featuring keynote speaker Angelo Codevilla, Ph.D., author of The Ruling Class: How They Corrupted America and What We Can Do About It. Donald J. Devine, Ph.D., will receive this year’s Heartland Liberty Prize. Join us for dinner, drinks, great conversation, and fellowship in liberty! MORE INFO HERE

Heather Kays, Reno Gazette-Journal
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Nevada, once again subordinating its professed devotion to civil rights to the agenda of public teachers unions, has filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Nevada’s education savings account (ESA) program. The ACLU claims the Nevada ESA program furthers a religious and sectarian purpose by allowing parents to choose religious educational options for their children. The truth, however, is not on the ACLU’s side. READ MORE

Isaac Orr, Grand Forks Herald
Conventional wisdom had pegged the break-even cost for oil wells using horizontal hydraulic fracturing, aka “fracking,” to be between $65 and $85 per barrel. However, advances in drilling and well-completion technology, such as multi-well drilling pads and walking rigs, have made oil and natural gas production far more efficient. READ MORE

Jesse Hathaway, Washington Times
Research by Ohio University economics professor Richard Vedder suggests right-to-work (RTW) laws remove a significant impediment to the growth of state economies and individuals’ incomes. In a 2014 study, Vedder modeled the economies of states with and without RTW worker protections and found “the overall effect of a RTW law is to increase economic growth rates by 11.5 percentage points. … [The effect] is significant at the 99 percent confidence level.” READ MORE

Hosts Donny Kendal and John Nothdurft return in Episode 4 of “In the Tank,” a weekly podcast featuring interviews, debates, roundtable discussions, stories, and light-hearted segments on current events from Heartland’s libertarian perspective. In this edition, featuring Heartland investigative reporter Emily Zanotti, Donny and John talk about bans on miniskirts, the U.S. fall in rankings of economic freedom, and the second GOP debate. READ MORE

Matthew Glans, Research & Commentary
Wyoming’s civil asset forfeiture laws give law enforcement agencies significant financial incentives to seize people’s property. The Institute for Justice argues Wyoming’s civil forfeiture laws are particularly bad because they allow the government to seize and keep property merely by establishing probable cause to suspect the property was connected to a crime. READ MORE

Ashley Bateman, The Heartlander
“A bureaucracy by nature will standardize and systematize,” said presidential candidate Carly Fiorina. “They won’t standardize goals; they will standardize methods. … Common Core may have started out as a set of standards, but what it has turned into is a program that honestly is being overly influenced by companies that have something to gain – testing companies and textbook companies.” READ MORE

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