Recent Policy Studies

• Economic and Political Thought
  

  The Libertarian Vote in the Age of Obama

  By David Kirby, David Boaz, Cato Institute
  
  Policy Study, 01/21/2010
  

  We find that 14 percent of American voters can be classified as libertarian. Few of the voters we describe as libertarian identify themselves as such. But the Ron Paul campaign and the burgeoning opposition to President Obama’s big-government agenda suggest that small-government voters may be easier to organize than they have been in the past.

  
  
  
• Economic Growth
  

  Policy and Economic Performance in Divided Korea during the Cold War Era: 1945-91

  By Nicholas Eberstadt , American Enterprise Institute
  
  Book, 01/21/2010
  

  The Korean peninsula during the Cold War provided a cruel but historically unparalleled real-world “experiment” in the relationship between polity and material advance: an ethnically and culturally homogenous nation was, in 1945, suddenly divided by an arbitrary boundary line and then subjected to two radically different and adversarial political economies for successive decades on end. Assessing the competition between the North and South Korean economies from partition to the end of the Soviet era, Nicholas Eberstadt argues that the storyline is not quite as simple as the now-prevailing narrative suggests (that centrally-planned economies are doomed to fail against market-oriented alternatives). Rather, he suggests, the race for material progress was just that: a race, the results of which were far from preordained at the outset.

  
  
  
• National Security
  

  State Sponsors of Terrorism: Time to Add Venezuela to the List

  By Ray Walser, The Heritage Foundation
  
  Backgrounder, 01/21/2010
  

  The U.S. officially designates four countries as state sponsors of terrorism—Iran, Syria, Cuba, and Sudan. It is high time to add Venezuela to the list. Far from being merely a populist showman and bully, Hugo Chávez is a reckless leader who collaborates with Colombian narcoterrorists and Islamist terrorists, pals around with brutal Iranian dictator Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is a virulent anti-Semite, and is guided by a relentless anti-Americanism in everything he does. President Obama does not see Venezuela as a threat to U.S. national security. This view is not optimistic—it is dangerous.

  
  
  
• Foreign Policy/International Affairs
  

  Military Base Dispute Strains U.S.-Japan Alliance

  By Bruce Klingner, The Heritage Foundation
  
  WebMemo, 01/21/2010
  

  The Obama Administration must remain resolute on the need to implement the U.S.-Japan force realignment agreement.

  
  
  
• Natural Resources, Energy, Environment, & Science
  

  The EPA’s Global Warming Regulation Plans

  By Nicolas D. Loris, The Heritage Foundation
  
  WebMemo, 01/21/2010
  

  Congress should amend the Clean Air Act in order to prevent the EPA from bankrupting the nation.

  
  
  
• Budget & Taxation
  

  The Factors and Motivations of Fiscal Stability: A Comparative Analysis of 26 Countries

  By Christina Forsberg, Stefanie Haeffele-Balch, Maurice McTigue, Mercatus Center
  
  Working Paper, 01/21/2010
  

  There has been a rising academic debate on the sustainability of deficit spending and accumulated debt in governments across the globe. This correlates with a growing concern that excessive government deficits and accumulated debt will lead to unstable financial environments and a devalued quality of life for future generations. Varying economies with varying fiscal behavior have increased incentives to work toward more responsible fiscal behavior through reining in deficit spending and debt accumulation. We conclude that countries achieving “Success!” tend to either (1) have a history of stability and transparency or (2) have faced some crisis which motivated fiscal stability and other government reform. This research has illuminated the fact that countries which are making reforms in accounting and reevaluating the roles of government (to respond to a national crisis or to earn a competitive edge) have been able to achieve and sustain fiscal stability.

  
  
  
• Economic Growth
  

  Reducing Barriers to Entrepreneurship: Caveats on a Promising International Development Strategy

  By Paul Dragos Aligica, Johan van der Walt, Mercatus Center
  
  Working Paper, 01/21/2010
  

  As publication after publication, and organization after organization, are rushing to embrace the ‘entrepreneurship approach’ it is important to take into account not only the warning signals along the way but also the experience of previous episodes when one approach or another was embraced as ‘The Solution’ only to be discarded and forgotten as soon as it became obvious that the unrealistic expectations set up initially were disappointed. In other words, one will observe that this rhetorical escalation is not unique to this strategy and is part of a larger phenomenon in a field where new ideas that are offered as ‘The Solution’ come and go, often making a negligible impact.

  
  
  
• Economic Growth
  

  The New Holy Wars: Economic Religion vs. Environmental Religion in Contemporary America

  By Robert H. Nelson, Independent Institute
  
  Book, 01/21/2010
  

  “Economics and environmentalism are types of modern religions.” So says author Robert H. Nelson in this analysis of the roots of economics and environmentalism and their mutually antagonistic relations in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Questions about the proper relationship between human beings and nature have led to the growth of these public theologies, or secular religions, even while both avoid mentioning their derivation from Western Judeo-Christian sources. So while environmentalists regard human actions to warm the climate, expand human populations, and increase economic growth as immoral challenges to the natural order, economists seek to put all of nature to maximum use for the production of more goods and services and other human benefits.

  
  
  
• Family, Culture & Community
  

  The New Federal Wedding Tax: How Obamacare Would Dramatically Penalize Marriage

  By Robert Rector, The Heritage Foundation
  
  WebMemo, 01/20/2010
  

  Under the Senate bill, married couples would be taxed to provide discriminatory benefits to couples who cohabit, divorce, or never marry.

  
  
  
• Natural Resources, Energy, Environment, & Science
  

  Small Business Impact of the EPA Endangerment Finding

  By Ben Lieberman, The Heritage Foundation
  
  WebMemo, 01/20/2010
  

  While Congress continues to debate climate change legislation, the EPA has been moving forward with a process to regulate greenhouse gases.

  
  
  
• Education
  

  What Should School District Financial Transparency Look Like?

  By Benjamin DeGrow, Independence Institute
  
  Issue Backgrounder, 01/20/2010
  

  Colorado lawmakers have introduced new transparency legislation for consideration in 2010. Although House Bill 1036 would lead local education providers to post more financial information online, the introduced legislation falls short of ensuring the level of transparency that citizens deserve and that the state’s largest school district already has achieved. As proposals are debated and initiatives implemented and upgraded, both state and local policy makers can benefit by understanding the criteria of effective financial transparency.

  
  
  
• Budget & Taxation
  

  Mission Possible: Fully Funding Illinois’s State Pensions While Respecting Hardworking Taxpayers

  By J. Scott Moody, Dr. Wendy P. Warcholik, Illinois Policy Institute
  
  Policy Brief, 01/20/2010
  

  Whether you are a public employee worried about how your pension is going to be funded or an Illinois taxpayer concerned you will have to pay even higher taxes to fund pensions, we have a solution that will put your mind at ease. This plan will create a fair program to help the government honor its commitments while also honoring its responsibility to taxpayers. Better yet, it will launch a new period of growth in Illinois and a new era of government accountability, which, in turn, will create prosperity not seen in decades.

  
  
  
• Education
  

  Ahead of the Curve: An Introduction to Public Education Reform in Illinois

  By Collin Hitt, Illinois Policy Institute
  
  Policy Analysis, 01/20/2010
  

  Despite the $25 billion flowing into our public school system annually, a full 81 percent of people polled in Illinois would send their child to a school other than a traditional public school in order to receive the best possible education. “Ahead of the Curve: An Introduction to Public School Reform in Illinois” outlines three policy alternatives to Illinois’s current system of public education: charter schools, weighted student funding, and tuition tax credits. These reforms give parents the choice of schools they desire. They would give taxpayers a better understanding of where their money is going. Most importantly, they would give children the education they need to succeed in a rapidly changing world economy.

  
  
  
• Information Technology
  

  Overregulating the Internet; “Net Neutrality” Would Discourage Investment and Innovation

  By Randolph J. May, Free State Foundation
  
  Perspectives from FSF Scholars, 01/20/2010
  

  In October, the Obama administration’s Federal Communications Commission unleashed a proposal to regulate a large swath of the Internet under a “net neutrality” regime. If adopted, this policy would likely discourage investment and innovation in broadband Internet networks, a particularly unwelcome development with the nation just emerging from a severe economic slump. Rather than jeopardizing continued progress, the FCC should jettison its proposal to impose new Internet regulation. It should concentrate instead on producing a plan that will help bring broadband to the remaining 5 percent of American households that are unserved.

  
  
  
• Health Care
  

  “Entrepreneurs’ Coverage”: An Alternative Health Policy Reform

  By Benjamin Zycher, Pacific Research Institute
  
  PRI Study, 01/20/2010
  

  This study examines the prospective implications of a national public policy allowing individuals, families, and smaller groups to purchase an “entrepreneurs” coverage policy free of the benefit mandates imposed by state laws. The study finds that if such plans were offered to the public, enrollment would be about 8 percent or 16.8 million individuals—approximately 13.6 million now covered by private policies and, conservatively, about 3.2 million now uninsured who are ineligible for government programs. At the state level, the projected entrepreneurs’ policy enrollment would range from a low of 1.6 percent of those insured privately or uninsured in Idaho, to a high of 11.9 percent in Rhode Island.

  
  
  
• Natural Resources, Energy, Environment, & Science
  

  The Copenhagen Conference: A Setback for Bad Climate Policy in 2010

  By Ben Lieberman, The Heritage Foundation
  
  Special Report, 01/20/2010
  

  Copenhagen failed for very legitimate reasons. A very bad deal for America and the world was avoided.

  
  
  
• Transportation/Infrastructure
  

  How Government Officials Increase Home Prices

  By Brandon Houskeeper, Washington Policy Center
  
  Policy Brief, 01/20/2010
  

  Policies that increase tax revenues and regulate the growth of communities have a direct impact on the cost of construction in our state. Lawmakers use a variety of tools to control growth and manipulate revenues, such as building, utility and impact fees, land use regulations and business taxes. The increased costs effect businesses ability to remain competitive, as well as the price that consumers must pay for the goods and services provided.

  
  
  
• Health Care
  

  The Massachusetts Health Plan: Much Pain, Little Gain

  By Aaron Yelowitz, Michael F. Cannon, Cato Institute
  
  Policy Analysis, 01/19/2010
  

  In 2006, Massachusetts enacted a sweeping health insurance law that mirrors the legislation currently before Congress. The law appears to have compressed self-reported health outcomes, without necessarily improving overall health. Our results suggest that more than 60 percent fewer young adults are relocating to Massachusetts as a result of the law. As in Massachusetts, there has been no effort to estimate the cost of the private health insurance mandates that legislation would impose on individuals and employers. The costs may therefore be far greater than legislators and voters believe, while the benefits may be smaller than the conventional wisdom about Massachusetts suggests.

  
  
  
• Labor
  

  Toward a Free-Market Union Law

  By Charles W. Baird, Cato Institute
  
  Cato Journal, 01/19/2010
  

  It is politically impossible, at this time in America, to repeal the Norris-LaGuardia Act and the National Labor Relations Act and replace them with any sort of free-market union law. Nevertheless, it is worthwhile to prepare the ground now for doing so in some future, more enlightened time. W. H. Hutt once wrote, “The Norris-LaGuardia and Wagner Acts will, I predict, come to be regarded by future historians as economic blunders of the first magnitude.”

  
  
  
• Labor
  

  Unions, the High-Wage Doctrine, and Employment

  By Lowell E. Gallaway, Cato Institute
  
  Cato Journal, 01/19/2010
  

  The high-wage doctrine still lives. The belief that unemployment is the result of less spending and by raising the wages of employees the shortfalls of unemployment will be alleviated. In all probability, this persistent adherence to an incorrect doctrine once again will prove to be detrimental to the U.S. economy, just as it was in the 1930s.

  
  
  
• Labor
  

  Unions, Protectionism, and U.S. Competitiveness

  By Daniel Griswold, Cato Institute
  
  Cato Journal, 01/19/2010
  

  A return to the era of more closed and regulated markets should be strongly resisted. Although labor leaders may have seen that period as a golden era, it extracted a heavy price on Americans in the form of lost consumer welfare, product innovation, and freedom. The preferable policy alternative is to allow competition to work in labor markets just as it has been allowed to work more fully in product markets.

  
  
  
• Labor
  

  Right-to-Work Laws: Liberty, Prosperity, and Quality of Life

  By Richard Vedder, Cato Institute
  
  Cato Journal, 01/19/2010
  

  The proportion of Americans living in right-to-work states has risen noticeably over the years, and only a small part of that is driven by new states adopting such laws. People move in extraordinary numbers to right-to-work states from states where union pressure has prevented the adoption of such laws. Moreover, the greater flexibility for workers and employers offered where right-to-work exists has contributed to higher rates of economic growth rates in the right-to-work environment. Although the United States seems to have been in roughly a stable political equilibrium regarding these laws in recent decades, if the past trends toward the right-to-work population growing in a relative sense persists while union membership continues to fall as a proportion of the labor force, a threshold point should be passed where the political equilibrium should tip toward making right-to-work laws universal for the entire American population.

  
  
  
• Education
  

  The Effects of Teachers Unions on American Education

  By Andrew J. Coulson, Cato Institute
  
  Cato Journal, 01/19/2010
  

  Since both U.S. and international research indicates that achievement and efficiency are generally higher in private sector— and particularly competitive market—education systems, the public school monopoly imposes an enormous cost on American children and taxpayers (Coulson 2009). We are paying dearly for the union label, but mainly due to union lobbying to preserve the government school monopoly rather than to collective bargaining.

  
  
  
• Labor
  

  Prevailing Wage Laws: Public Interest or Special Interest Legislation?

  By George C. Leef, Cato Institute
  
  Cato Journal, 01/19/2010
  

  The purpose and effect of prevailing wage laws is to eliminate competition on labor costs on government construction projects. Bidders may search for the least-cost combination of other factors, but labor costs are fixed by decree. This suppression of competition is a substantial benefit to a small segment of the population, chiefly construction unions and workers, at the expense of the rest of society, which must pay more than would otherwise be necessary for projects subject to prevailing wage mandates.

  
  
  
• Economic Growth
  

  Unions and the Decline of U.S. Cities

  By Stephen J. K. Walters, Cato Institute
  
  Cato Journal, 01/19/2010
  

  It is easy to be pessimistic about the future of the American city. Much of Detroit is in ruins; its median household income, once 29 percent above the national figure, is now 44 percent below it; its poverty and crime rates are over three times the nations. All told, about 5.5 million people exited America’s largest cities in the second half of the 20th century, and many of those who remained experienced declining economic and social well-being on many dimensions. The good news is that there are some policies that have demonstrably improved the environment for investment in the kind of physical capital that can fuel growth and enhance employment opportunities in cities. The lesson is that increased capital-friendliness is a necessary condition for a successful, enduring, and organic urban redevelopment strategy.

  
  
  
• Budget & Taxation
  

  Public Sector Unions and the Rising Costs of Employee Compensation

  By Chris Edwards, Cato Institute
  
  Cato Journal, 01/19/2010
  

  Public sector unions are some of the most powerful special interest groups in the nation. The problem with public sector unions is not just that they block compensation reforms, but that they use their privileged status to control broader policy debates. Americans need higher-quality government services at lower cost to avert a fiscal crisis in state and local governments. Public sector compensation—and benefit plans in particular—need to be overhauled to ensure financial sustainability. And the whole area of public sector unionism needs to be reexamined given the need for greater flexibility and more restraint in public finances.

  
  
  
• Labor
  

  Unions and Discrimination

  By Paul Moreno, Cato Institute
  
  Cato Journal, 01/19/2010
  

  The problem of racial discrimination in organized labor in America was less solved than it was outgrown. The story of racial discrimination in the American labor movement confirms the view that unions act as cartels that attempt to limit the supply of labor and raise its price. An easily identified and culturally disfavored minority group provided a convenient category for exclusion. But most unions were unable to succeed without state power, and by the time that they acquired such power, blacks had already fought their way into the industrial workforce. Discrimination within, rather than exclusion from, unions then became the chief problem—one that spawned the policy of “affirmative action.” Finally, the macroeconomic costs of unions decimated the ranks of private sector unions. The syndicalist phase of American unionism appeared to have come to an end, and organized labor turned its attention to the public sector, where different economic and historical factors obtained.

  
  
  
• Budget & Taxation
  

  Why Project Labor Agreements Are Not in the Public Interest

  By David G. Tuerck, Cato Institute
  
  Cato Journal, 01/19/2010
  

  By one estimate, Public Labor Agreements add 12–18 percent to the cost of public projects. They are motivated by a desire on the part of the construction unions to shore up the declining union wage premium against technological changes and other changes that make traditional union work rules and job designations obsolescent. The public has no interest in an arrangement that forces taxpayers to accept an uncompetitive bidding process for the sake of getting a project done.

  
  
  
• Labor
  

  Unions, the Rule of Law, and Political Rent Seeking

  By Armand Thieblot, Cato Institute
  
  Cato Journal, 01/19/2010
  

  The influence and involvement of trade unions in government policy decisions has surged to unprecedented levels. If unions are successful in perfecting political rent seeking to the degree that they formerly perfected economic rent sharing they will be in the position of being able to alter the rule of law and write their own rewards without restraint by competition or economics. The first section of this article covers the relationship between unions, the rule of law, and economic rents from the origin of the union movement through the changing patterns of the three phases of its growth cycle as measured by membership. The second section discusses this more recent, self-substituting union movement that grew from the change in union orientation away from private industries and away from dependency on traditional organizing and financing measures towards a unionism wholly interrelated with government and politics.

  
  
  
• Economic Growth
  

  Unions, Economic Freedom, and Growth

  By Randall G. Holcombe, James D. Gwartney, Cato Institute
  
  Cato Journal, 01/19/2010
  

  The concept of collective bargaining is consistent with economic freedom, but the developments of 20th century labor law have compromised economic freedom, and the powers given to unions have limited the rights of workers and employers. In the future, the largest impact of unionization in the United States will come from public sector unionization. The burden of generous retirement benefits will crowd out other government expenditures, will be a force for higher taxes, and will impose an increasing burden on the private sector of the economy that pays those taxes.

  
  
  
• Budget & Taxation
  

  Choosing the Nation’s Fiscal Future

  By Joseph Antos, et al., National Academies Press
  
  Paper, 01/19/2010
  

  Choosing the Nation’s Fiscal Future describes the United States’ fiscal outlook, asserting that the present budgetary path is unsustainable. If today’s policies, particularly those regarding entitlement programs, are left unchanged, Americans will face either substantial erosion in their standard of living or an extremely severe crisis. The authors propose a choice of four policy paths that the United States could and should pursue to get itself back on track.

  
  
  
• Elections, Transparency, & Accountability
  

  Reform in an Age of Networked Campaigns

  By Norman J. Ornstein, Anthony J. Corrado, Michael J. Malbin, Thomas E. Mann, American Enterprise Institute
  
  Studies, 01/19/2010
  

  The political world has been arguing about campaign finance policy for decades. A once rich conversation has become a stale two-sided battleground. One side sees contribution or spending limits as essential to restraining corruption, the appearance of corruption, or the “undue influence” of wealthy donors. The other resists any such limits in the name of free speech. This report seeks to change the ongoing conversation. Put simply, instead of focusing on attempts to further restrict the wealthy few, it seeks to focus on activating the many. The first half surveys current conditions; the second contains detailed recommendations for moving forward. They aim to promote equality and civic engagement by enlarging the participatory pie instead of shrinking it.

  
  
  
• Education
  

  Liberating Learning: Technology, Politics, and the Future

  By Terry M. Moe, John E. Chubb, Center of the American Experiment
  
  Studies, 01/19/2010
  

  At the risk of making technological marvels sound like magic potions, a very good case can be made —or more precisely, Terry Moe and John Chubb have made it in their very good book—that the most potent force for fundamentally changing such patterns of mediocrity and worse is higher and higher technology, as it can accomplish what politics and bureaucracies are encoded to block. It’s not just about technology transforming what happens in the classroom. It’s about technology freeing the schools from the iron grip of special interests and making it possible for the nation—for the first time in modern history, really—to do what’s best for children, for schools, and for quality education.

  
  
  
• Health Care
  

  Concierge Medicine: Convenient and Affordable Care

  By Devon Herrick, National Center for Policy Analysis
  
  Brief Analysis, 01/19/2010
  

  Concierge physician practices come in many forms–all designed to meet different patient needs. Some medical societies and states discourage doctors from having practices that offer exclusive access in return for an annual fee. However, these models offer convenient and affordable services for the uninsured, as well as supplementary care for the insured. Physicians should be free to experiment and create innovative practices that better meets the needs of patients.

  
  
  
• Labor
  

  FMLA Benefits for Part-Time Workers Would Hurt Those They Are Supposed to Help

  By Carrie L. Lukas, Independent Women's Forum
  
  Policy Brief, 01/15/2010
  

  Part-time workers typically receive fewer benefits than full-time workers, and are not covered by some labor laws that apply to full-time workers. Some suggest that this is unfair to part-time workers, and urge the federal government to extend federal laws, such as the Family and Medical Leave Act, so that part-time workers receive the same benefits as others.

  
  
  
• Foreign Policy/International Affairs
  

  Russia’s Iran Policy: A Curveball for Obama

  By Ariel Cohen, The Heritage Foundation
  
  Backgrounder, 01/15/2010
  

  Russia’s interests in Iran fundamentally diverge from those of the U.S. Russia considers Iran a partner and de facto ally in its plans to reshape the power balance in the Middle East and dilute U.S. influence in the region. The U.S. should expect only token assistance from Russia in countering the Iranian nuclear threat. Instead, the U.S. needs to develop a broader policy that convincingly argues that Iran will lose—even if it obtains nuclear weapons and that clearly demonstrates to the Russians that the risks of betting on Iran outweigh the potential rewards.

  
  
  
• Foreign Policy/International Affairs
  

  An Israeli Preventive Attack on Iran’s Nuclear Sites: Implications for the U.S.

  By James Phillips, The Heritage Foundation
  
  Backgrounder, 01/15/2010
  

  Iran’s nuclear weapons ambitions are ominous in light of its hostile foreign policy and longstanding support for terrorism. But Iran’s repeated threats to annihilate the state of Israel while it develops the world’s most dangerous weapons have created an even more explosive situation. If diplomatic efforts to defuse the situation fail, Israel may see no other choice than to launch a preventive strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities. This paper maps out the likely results of an Israeli attack, outlines Iran’s probable reaction, and explains why it is now crucial that the Obama Administration take action to mitigate and defend against Iran’s response to an Israeli strike.

  
  
  
• Labor
  

  The RESPECT Act: The Heritage Foundation 2010 Labor Boot Camp

  By James Sherk, The Heritage Foundation
  
  WebMemo, 01/15/2010
  

  Bringing internal union politics into business by decisions including supervisors in bargaining units would impede business competitiveness. This can cost jobs.

  
  
  
• Labor
  

  The Employee Free Choice Act: The Heritage Foundation 2010 Labor Boot Camp

  By James Sherk, The Heritage Foundation
  
  WebMemo, 01/15/2010
  

  Passing EFCA means fewer jobs and less economic growth.

  
  
  
• Labor
  

  Unemployment: The Heritage Foundation 2010 Labor Boot Camp

  By James Sherk, The Heritage Foundation
  
  WebMemo, 01/15/2010
  

  Congress should not pass legislation such as the health care bill, cap and trade, card-check, or tax increases that will raise business costs and make enterprises more likely to fail.

  
  
  
• Labor
  

  Public Safety Employer Employee Cooperation Act: The Heritage Foundation 2010 Labor Boot Camp

  By James Sherk, The Heritage Foundation
  
  WebMemo, 01/15/2010
  

  Different states and local governments have different needs and should be free to fit their policies to their individual needs. Collective bargaining does not work everywhere.

  
  
  
• Labor
  

  The Paycheck Fairness Act: The Heritage Foundation 2010 Labor Boot Camp

  By James Sherk, The Heritage Foundation
  
  WebMemo, 01/15/2010
  

  Under the Paycheck Fairness Act, government and the courts dictate business practices to employers.

  
  
  
• Health Care
  

  Expanding Medicaid: The Real Costs to the States

  By Edmund F. Haislmaier, The Heritage Foundation
  
  WebMemo, 01/15/2010
  

  The Medicaid expansion provisions in the health care bills would impose significant costs on state government budgets and state taxpayers.

  
  
  
• Labor
  

  Mandatory Paid Sick Leave: The Heritage Foundation 2010 Labor Boot Camp

  By James Sherk, The Heritage Foundation
  
  WebMemo, 01/15/2010
  

  Abuse of the leave granted by Healthy Families Act would reduce productivity, thus increasing the cost of business while decreasing incentive for capital investment. This would cost jobs.

  
  
  
• Labor
  

  Extended Unemployment Insurance Benefits: The Heritage Foundation 2010 Labor Boot Camp

  By James Sherk, The Heritage Foundation
  
  WebMemo, 01/15/2010
  

  By reducing the need to look for new work, extended unemployment insurance benefits cause unemployed workers to take longer to find new work.

  
  
  
• Labor
  

  Davis-Bacon Act Extensions: The Heritage Foundation 2010 Labor Boot Camp

  By James Sherk, The Heritage Foundation
  
  WebMemo, 01/15/2010
  

  Despite the proven flaws in Davis-Bacon, proponents of the act continue to call for its expansion to private-sector construction projects.

  
  
  
• Health Care
  

  The Real Budgetary Impact of the House and Senate Health Bills

  By James C. Capretta, The Heritage Foundation
  
  WebMemo, 01/15/2010
  

  A closer look at the health care bills indicates that both spending and the federal debt will go up much more than advertised the bills’ supporters.

  
  
  
• The Constitution/Civil Liberties
  

  When the Government Takes Your Home: Eminent Domain Abuse and Washington’s Community Renewal Law

  By Jeanette M. Petersen, Washington Policy Center
  
  Policy Brief, 01/15/2010
  

  The Community Renewal Law, also known as eminent domain, gives state and local governments the authority to label land as “blighted” and force homeowners to sell against their wishes. Often the land is then transferred to private corporations as part of mandatory economic development plans. The study finds that since 2000, officials have tried to use the Community Renewal Law to impact the private property rights of more than 71,000 Washington citizens. Of these, the homes, businesses and properties of more than 48,000 Washington residents have been subject to official action that involved the threat or use of eminent domain power to transfer land to private developers. In almost all cases, the result of using the Community Renewal Law was to generate profits for developers, while increasing tax revenues for local officials.