Recent Policy Studies

• The Constitution/Civil Liberties
  

  Making the Case for Marriage: Representing DOMA in Court

  By The Heritage Foundation, The Heritage Foundation
  
  Fact Sheet, 02/25/2011
  

  On February 23, Attorney General Eric Holder sent a letter to Congress informing it that the Obama Administration will no longer defend DOMA in federal court. In so doing, the Obama Administration has cast marriage aside and demeaned the views of most Americans as irrational. Congress has the opportunity to side with Americans by ensuring that marriage is defended in court. Restoring government’s proper deference for this pre-political institution is an appropriate next step as new leadership responds to Washington’s recent chastening for ignoring the wishes of voters.

  
  
  
• Foreign Policy/International Affairs
  

  Help Libyans Liberate Themselves from Qadhafi

  By James Phillips, The Heritage Foundation
  
  WebMemo, 02/25/2011
  

  Libya’s long-suffering people have courageously risen in protest against Muammar Qadhafi’s regime and are paying a heavy price for it. The regime has vowed to fight “to the last bullet” and has massacred peaceful demonstrators with machine guns, warplanes, and barbaric foreign mercenaries recruited from other African states. The United States has a humanitarian interest in easing the suffering of Libyans and halting the regime’s criminal atrocities and a strategic interest in removing the anti-Western dictatorship that has unleashed terrorism at home and abroad. The Obama Administration should stop equivocating and call for Qadhafi to step down and depart Libya. Only a change of regime can halt the killing, give Libyans hope for a better future, and protect America’s long-term interests in North Africa.

  
  
  
• Health Care
  

  Negative Consequences of Health Law Force Health Insurers to Withdraw from Markets Across the Country

  By Grace-Marie Turner, Galen Institute
  
  Paper, 02/25/2011
  

  The negative consequences of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act already are cascading through the health sector, with millions of Americans in states across the country learning that their health insurers have withdrawn from the market, making it increasingly difficult for them to find affordable coverage. Even though most of the provisions of the health overhaul law don’t go into effect until 2014, its destructive impact already is being felt by senior citizens, children, small and medium-sized employers, and families and individuals trying to buy their own health insurance.

  
  
  
• Budget & Taxation
  

  Time to Restore Voter Control: End the Government-Union Monopoly

  By James Sherk, The Heritage Foundation
  
  Backgrounder, 02/25/2011
  

  With Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker attempting to rein in the unbalanced power of government unions, and given the fierce stranglehold that union members have on their ever-increasing taxpayer-provided benefits, now is a crucial time for Americans to understand the difference between private-sector and public-sector unions. Collective bargaining in the private sphere—where companies face competition—is a world away from collective bargaining in government—which faces no competition, and where unions have a legal monopoly. It is time to restore voter control over elected government.

  
  
  
• Economic Growth
  

  The Multi-Layered Hayek

  By Sinclair Davidson, et al., Centre for Independent Studies
  
  Occasional Paper, 02/25/2011
  

  Friedrich August von Hayek was one of the intellectual giants of the 20th century. His contributions ranged from economics to philosophy, from law to psychology. In 1974, he won the Nobel Prize in Economics, and his ideas had great influence on politicians like Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. At an event hosted by The Centre for Independent Studies in 2008, four academics delivered an assessment of Hayek’s contributions to different fields of research and analysed their relevance to contemporary debates. This collection of essays demonstrates how much a source of inspiration Hayek’s works still are.

  
  
  
• Crime, Justice & the Law
  

  Lawsuit Abuse Reform in the Volunteer State

  By Justin Owen, et al., Beacon Center of Tennessee
  
  Policy Report, 02/25/2011
  

  There is an increased discussion in the Tennessee General Assembly about implementing various reform measures to the state’s tort system in an effort to curb the negative consequences of lawsuit abuse. Proponents of these measures argue that reforms will lead to a fairer, more just system and also boost the state economy. This study focuses on various proposed reforms, including non-economic and punitive damages caps, collateral source rule reform, class action reform, and loser-pays. It outlines the legal and economic impacts these reforms have had in other states. When the figures are examined, it becomes clear that lawsuit abuse reform will dramatically boost the Tennessee economy.

  
  
  
• Elections, Transparency, & Accountability
  

  Standstill: Is Saint Louis Hindering Development by Waiting for Large-Scale Miracles?

  By Audrey Spalding, Show-Me Institute
  
  Policy Brief, 02/25/2011
  

  From a public policy perspective, offers to buy vacant city properties are win-win: The city has fewer vacant properties to maintain, and private individuals can take on the risk and profits of redeveloping some of Saint Louis’ most undesirable properties. Yet from January 2003 through December 2010, Saint Louis government has rejected offers to purchase more than 2,250 vacant city properties. The city of Saint Louis and its residents would be better off if the Land Reutilization Authority (LRA) were to sell more of its property. Every year that a city property sits vacant is another 12 months that nearby neighbors consider leaving, and another 365 days in which people who are thinking about moving into the city ultimately reconsider and choose somewhere else to live.

  
  
  
• Health Care
  

  What Will ObamaCare Cost Maryland?

  By Marc Kilmer, Maryland Public Policy Institute
  
  Maryland Policy Report, 02/25/2011
  

  The debate over the cost of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act has been obscured in Maryland by an overly-optimistic report put out by a council appointed by Governor Martin O’Malley. The governor’s coordinating council assumed the state’s high-risk pool will be fully funded by the federal government, contrary to the assumptions of other state governors as well as the Congressional Budget Office. The state’s Medicaid burden under PPACA is likely to increase substantially, contrary to the rosy scenario of the governor’s coordinating council. A round half of the “savings” found by the governor’s coordinating council are not savings at all, but rather are increased tax revenue from insurance being sold in the state. The real cost of this law to the taxpayers of Maryland is hard to estimate with any precision, but it will almost certainly be significant at both the state and federal level.

  
  
  
• National Security
  

  Next Generation Jammer: Essential Protection in the Digital Age

  By Loren Thompson, Lexington Institute
  
  Report, 02/25/2011
  

  Airborne jammers are essential to the successful conduct of most electronic warfare missions. The current jamming system has served the joint force well, but it cannot keep up with emerging dangers. As a result, the joint force is gradually losing its edge in electronic warfare. The Navy is leading a joint effort to develop a Next Generation Jammer that will remedy these deficiencies by providing greater power, agility, precision and reliability. The new jammer will be able to cover a wider range of threats and operate seamlessly with allied forces, while providing growth capacity for coping with new threats that emerge in the years ahead. Development of the Next Generation Jammer must be kept on track for initial operating capability in 2018 if the joint force is to continue providing adequate electronic protection to U.S. warfighters.

  
  
  
• Health Care
  

  How You’ll Pay for ObamaCare

  By Hadley Heath, Independent Women's Forum
  
  Policy Focus, 02/25/2011
  

  The health reform legislation passed in March 2010 was supposed to stop the rapid increase of health insurance prices and slow national spending on health care. Yet today many analysts believe that average insurance premiums will be driven higher and national spending on health care will increase faster because of the new law. ObamaCare takes us in the wrong direction toward higher prices and more government control. The government should repeal this counter-productive reform and embrace new legislation to empower patients and create a real health care market.

  
  
  
• Information Technology
  

  Ensuring Competition on the Internet: Network Neutrality and Antitrust

  By Randolph J. May, Free State Foundation
  
  Testimony, 02/25/2011
  

  Despite ongoing efforts by Congress to consider the creation of a new legislative framework for addressing broadband Internet service issues, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) imposed a network neutrality regulatory regime in December 2010. But the new regulatory framework for broadband Internet services is plagued by several serious legal problems and policy defects. Mindful of existing Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice authority to pursue antitrust violations by broadband internet service providers, the FCC should respect the rapidly advancing dynamic nature of the Internet marketplace by refraining from imposing regulation. It could instead observe market trends, monitor and investigate alleged violations of its Open Internet Principles, and bring public attention to areas of concern. At the very least, the FCC could work more closely with Congress to obtain proper authority to address matters involving broadband network management practices.

  
  
  
• Monetary Policy/Financial Regulation
  

  Housing Finance Reform: No Need for a New Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

  By David John, The Heritage Foundation
  
  WebMemo, 02/25/2011
  

  Given the task of producing a plan to develop a new housing finance system, the Obama Administration produced brief summaries of three very different ones. Of course, the actual effects of any of the three future alternatives that the Administration proposes for housing finance will depend on the details and implementation plan. Unfortunately, the report does not include details for any of the options. Eliminating Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is a major step in the right direction; however, it will do no good to eliminate them only to fill their places with some clone of the failed government-subsidized system that caused so much of the 2008 crash. The private sector is more than capable of creating mortgage-backed securities and pricing an appropriate guarantee. In the future, the housing finance system should not contain anything similar to Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac.

  
  
  
• National Security
  

  It’s Never Just the Economy, Stupid

  By Brian T. Kennedy, Hillsdale College
  
  Imprimis, 02/24/2011
  

  Whatever kind of self-deception has gripped the architects of our current defense policies, the American people have proved capable of forcing a change in direction when they learn the facts. Americans do not wish to be subjected to Sharia law, owe large sums of money to the Chinese, or be kept vulnerable to nuclear missiles. Having responded resoundingly to the economic and constitutional crisis represented by Obamacare, it is now time for us to remind our representatives of the constitutional requirement to provide for a common defense—in the true sense of the word.

  
  
  
• Education
  

  The ABCs of School Choice

  By Foundation for Educational Choice, Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice
  
  Studies, 02/24/2011
  

  This report provides all the basic information you need to grasp the state of school choice in the U.S., as well as specific details to update you on every school choice program across the country. The gains of recent years are heartening. Because families’ options are increasing, more kids are receiving the motivating, challenging, effective education they deserve. School choice has come a long way—but there is still much to be done.

  
  
  
• Budget & Taxation
  

  New Estimates of Effective Corporate Tax Rates on Business Investment

  By Duanjie Chen, Jack Mintz, Cato Institute
  
  Tax & Budget Bulletin, 02/24/2011
  

  A growing number of policymakers are recognizing that the U.S. corporate tax system is a major barrier to economic growth. The aim of corporate tax reforms should be to create a system that has a competitive rate and is neutral between different business activities. A sharp reduction to the federal corporate rate of 10 percentage points or more combined with tax base reforms would help generate higher growth and ultimately more jobs and income. Such reforms would likely lose the government little revenue over the long run. State governments also play an important role in business tax policy. Unfortunately, the average state corporate tax rate has not been cut in at least three decades, despite major reductions around the world since then. Furthermore, state retail sales taxes impose substantial burdens on capital purchases, which undermines investment and productivity. Thus, sales taxes should be reformed to remove taxation on business inputs.

  
  
  
• National Security
  

  Breaking an Ice-Bound U.S. Policy: A Proposal for Operating in the Arctic

  By James Carafano, James Dean, The Heritage Foundation
  
  WebMemo, 02/24/2011
  

  The United States is losing the race to protect its own interests in the Arctic region. It is important to create a sensible policy to field an adequate fleet of U.S.-owned ice-breakers. An adequate, competent, and sustainable fleet is the key to maintaining American presence in the region, protecting U.S. sovereignty, working with allies, and rebuilding the nation’s edge in global commerce. Making America more competitive at a time when Washington is looking to cut corners in federal spending requires creative solutions to demanding problems. The U.S. can jump-start its fleet by privatizing ice-breaker operations and using ships as platforms for national security and federal scientific activities. This initiative would save federal dollars by eliminating old, inadequate, and expensive-to-operate assets while greatly expanding U.S. capacity to operate in the Arctic.

  
  
  
• Education
  

  Accountability and Learning: Assessing the Seattle Families and Education Levy

  By Paul Guppy, Washington Policy Center
  
  Policy Brief, 02/24/2011
  

  Seattle school administrators are seeking approval of a fourth education levy in two years. Yet, education research shows spending more money will not improve learning for Seattle school children. If the Families and Education Levy is approved, school administrators will likely perceive it as a signal that no fundamental change is needed, and students in Seattle public schools will continue to experience poor educational results and a high drop-out rate. Academic measures based on state standards show that increased spending has not led to improved learning for public school students in Seattle. Failure of the levy, however, may prompt creative thinking inside the education establishment about how the current half-billion dollar budget is spent, and that could lead to real reform and improved learning outcomes for children.

  
  
  
• Health Care
  

  Insurance Commissioner Seeks to Expand the Power of His Office and to Lower Insurance Reserves

  By Roger Stark, Washington Policy Center
  
  Legislative Memo, 02/24/2011
  

  Health insurance is heavily regulated in Washington. Some level of state regulation is essential for insurance to be effective and to protect consumers against fraud. At the same time, too much regulation drives up prices, stifles competition and reduces choice and affordability for consumers. A bill proposed by the state Insurance Commissioner would increase the power of his office and weaken insurance companies by forcing them to lower their reserves. Expanding the power of the Insurance Commissioner and reducing reserves would weaken insurance companies financially and will not help consumers in the long run. Making insurance companies less financially stable will not bend the cost curve of health care down, but will put clients in jeopardy of personal financial harm.

  
  
  
• Health Care
  

  Medicaid Reform: Constructive Alternatives to a Failed Program

  By Arlene Wohlgemuth, Brittani Miller, Spencer Harris, Texas Public Policy Foundation
  
  Paper, 02/24/2011
  

  This paper proposes dramatic reforms to the way medical care and services are provided to low-income individuals, under a new assistance program: TexHealth. TexHealth offers a starting point for the discussion of reforming Medicaid into a free market based program.

  
  
  
• Elections, Transparency, & Accountability
  

  Annual Privatization Report 2010: State Government Privatization

  By Leonard Gilroy, et al., Reason Foundation
  
  Privatization Report, 02/24/2011
  

  This section of Reason Foundation’s Annual Privatization Report 2010 provides an overview of the latest on privatization and public-private partnerships in state government. Topics include: privatization initiatives in New Jersey, Louisiana and Puerto Rico; divesting state alcohol monopolies; public-private partnerships (PPPs) for state parks management; lottery privatization in Illinois; privatization of state workers compensation programs and economic development agencies; PPPs in higher education; and contracting for performance in child welfare privatization.

  
  
  
• Elections, Transparency, & Accountability
  

  Privatization and Public-Private Partnership Trends in Local Government

  By Leonard Gilroy, et al., Reason Foundation
  
  Privatization Report, 02/24/2011
  

  This section of the Reason Foundation’s Annual Privatization Report 2010 provides an overview of the latest on privatization and public-private partnerships in local government. Topics include parking privatization, zoo privatization, library privatization, public safety privatization, solid waste and recycling privatization, and animal shelter privatization.

  
  
  
• Monetary Policy/Financial Regulation
  

  The Fed’s Mandate

  By Robert McTeer, National Center for Policy Analysis
  
  Brief Analysis, 02/24/2011
  

  When the Federal Reserve was created in 1913, Congress did not give it a monetary policy goal as we understand that term today. The Fed’s monetary policy role evolved gradually, and congressional mandates – such as achieving full employment and price stability – came later. Now the question is back at the forefront: What should the Fed be doing? This Policy Analysis discusses different past and potential roles for the Fed.

  
  
  
• National Security
  

  US Civil-Military Relations After 9/11: Renegotiating the Civil-Military Bargain

  By Mackubin Thomas Owens, Continuum
  
  Book, 02/24/2011
  

  Civil-military relations in America have essentially been a bargain to determine the responsibilities and prerogatives of the civilian leadership on one hand and the military on the other. Circumstances, be they political, social, or other, may render the terms of the bargain obsolete, resulting in tensions that call for their renegotiation. Such debates bring on new answers to the four questions that lie at the heart of civil-military relations: 1) Who controls the military and how? 2) Who serves? 3) What is the appropriate role of the military? and 4) What degree of military influence is appropriate in a liberal society? US Civil-Military Relations After 9/11 examines the answers to these questions in their historical context, both pre- and post-9/11.

  
  
  
• Budget & Taxation
  

  State-Local Tax Burdens Fall in 2009 as Tax Revenues Shrink Faster than Income

  By Mark Robyn, Gerald Prante, Tax Foundation
  
  Special Report, 02/23/2011
  

  Taxpayers pay taxes not only to the state and local governments where they reside but also to out-of-state governments, both naturally and by design. Nationwide, over a quarter of all state and local taxes are collected from non-residents, and a true measure of the tax burden on the residents of any state must take this into account. This paper attempts to quantify the tax shifting across states and how it affects the distribution of state and local tax burdens.

  
  
  
• Budget & Taxation
  

  States Target Cell Phones for Stealth, Burdensome Taxes

  By Joseph Henchman, Tax Foundation
  
  Fiscal Facts, 02/23/2011
  

  Making cell phone calls and using wireless services for additional purposes may be getting easier, but paying cell phone taxes is not. State and local governments should not single out one product for stealth tax increases, as they are doing with wireless services. Such actions distort market decisions and risk slowing investment that contributes to economic growth. Cell phone users are overtaxed relative to consumers of other goods, and at risk of double taxation. Finally, the wide number of taxing authorities and the wide variety in rates makes tracking problematic and burdensome.

  
  
  
• Budget & Taxation
  

  Wasteful Spending Does Not Stop at Earmarks and Overpayments

  By Veronique de Rugy, Mercatus Center
  
  Testimony, 02/23/2011
  

  In the face of ballooning government spending, Congress must focus on where and when the federal government should spending money. This testimony focuses on three types of systemic spending waste that must be addressed: federal spending on functions that should be reserved for the states, federal spending on functions that should be reserved for the private sector, and federal spending on things that government has no business doing in the first place. Real fiscal reform will require not just a change in the trajectory of government spending, but also a change in the political (or parochial) priorities of elected officials. All parts of the budget must be on the table for review and potential cuts. Failure to do so will jeopardize the goal of addressing our fiscal problems.

  
  
  
• Economic Growth
  

  Erase Artificial Barriers: Focus On Entrepreneurship

  By Eileen Norcross, Mercatus Center
  
  Testimony, 02/23/2011
  

  California’s Enterprise Zone (EZ) program has not had the impact on local economic development envisioned by those who designed the program. Where results have been achieved, they have been small relative to the cost borne by the state. However, the broad goals of the EZ—to encourage economic development and socially-beneficial entrepreneurship—can be met without direct intervention or a loss of revenue. In fact, there is much work ahead for California policy makers to accomplish the goals articulated by EZ policy. In the coming months and years, these must be reformed through the application of general principles of neutrality, stability, sustainability, and transparency. By establishing predictable and stable rules based on pro-growth policies, California will signal to residents and investors that the state is a place where individuals, businesses, and communities can thrive.

  
  
  
• Economic Growth
  

  Out with the BRICs, Time for the TIMBIs

  By Jack Goldstone, Mercatus Center
  
  Working Paper, 02/23/2011
  

  China and Russia are facing fundamentally different demographic trajectories and technical and trade opportunities than the TIMBIs. (The BRICs are Brazil, Russia, India, and China and the TIMBIs are Turkey, Indonesia, Mexico, Brazil, and India.) China and Russia will not continue to grow economically to the same extent as will the TIMBIs. For the next two or three decades, the major shifts in the world’s economic rankings are liable to come from sustained growth in the democratic and entrepreneurial economies of Turkey, India, Mexico, Brazil and Indonesia. These are the countries now following the path of rapid industrialization combined with a demographic dividend that brought China, and before them Japan and South Korea, sustained rapid growth. Though smaller, they should collectively outpace China in economic output and growth in the near future. Thus the BRICs are out, and the TIMBIs will lead the next major surge in global economic growth.

  
  
  
• Information Technology
  

  Public Interest Comment on Federal Trade Commission Report Protecting Consumer Privacy in an Era of Rapid Change

  By Adam Thierer, Mercatus Center
  
  Public Interest Comment, 02/23/2011
  

  This publication is a public interest comment on the Federal Trade Commission report, Protecting Consumer Privacy in an Era of Rapid Change. It goes without saying that privacy is a highly subjective and ever-changing condition. Unsurprisingly, therefore, attitudes about targeted online advertising are evolving. Importantly, nothing in the Federal Trade Commission’s proceeding has thus far demonstrated that online data collection and “tracking” represent a clear harm to consumers, or that any “market failure” exists here. Such a showing would be difficult since using data to deliver more tailored advertising to consumers can provide important benefits to the public. In sum, the Commission should avoid calls to untether privacy regulation from a harms-based analysis, which tests whether concrete, tangible harms exist and then weighs the benefits of regulation against its costs. It is unlikely the vast majority of online advertising and data collection activity would meet this test.

  
  
  
• Budget & Taxation
  

  Protecting Families and Businesses: A Plan for Fiscal Balance and Economic Growth

  By Joseph Coletti, John Locke Foundation
  
  Spotlight, 02/23/2011
  

  Higher spending since the 1990s has not translated into better returns on investment for North Carolina taxpayers. This budget proposal for North Carolina would spend $18.4 billion and return spending to the same levels, adjusted for population and inflation, as in the mid-1990s. In addition to ending the temporary sales tax and income tax surcharges, this budget would reduce the tax rates on personal and corporate income, setting the stage for future tax reform. Ultimately, this budget proposal saves more than $3 billion from projected spending, ends targeted tax breaks for selected companies and industries, and sets North Carolina state government on a fiscally sustainable path.

  
  
  
• Education
  

  A Chronology of School Choice in the U.S.

  By Krista Kafer, Independence Institute
  
  Issue Paper, 02/23/2011
  

  School choice predates American nationhood. Until the mid-19th century, families chose from among a variety of autonomous schools and home schooling. Today, parental choice in education continues to benefit the individual, the community, and the school system. Students reap academic benefits while choice acts as an incentive for system-wide improvement. The chronology of choice is the struggle to give every child the chance to attend a good school.

  
  
  
• Budget & Taxation
  

  The Wisconsin Shoot Out on Public Unions

  By Richard A. Epstein, Hoover Institution
  
  Defining Ideas, 02/23/2011
  

  The road to economic growth and fiscal order requires ending all collective bargaining arrangements in all states. Operating in their current pampered legal environment, unions have extracted extravagant settlements that are unsustainable in the long run and the short run. Wisconsin Governor Walker’s politically courageous move against collective bargaining actually falls short of the ideal. Cutting back on the union’s ability to bargain for pensions and benefits is only a half-measure. These heroic political efforts to return sanity to the area of union pensions and benefits could be enormously aided if courts awoke from their unpardonable pro-union slumber. All that it takes is for them to realize that the same rules that rightly limit all other forms of government/private interactions also apply to government/union contracts, where those rules are ever so much more needed.

  
  
  
• National Security
  

  Imperiled By Innovation

  By Benjamin Wittes, Hoover Institution
  
  Defining Ideas, 02/23/2011
  

  Technology aids national security while increasing vulnerability. Over the past several decades—in a trend that is sure to accelerate rapidly with continued innovation—the United States has developed a category of non-military technologies outside of government hands and control that, when misused, can threaten extreme harms of various types, harms which the executive lacks clear power, authority, or even the simple capability to prevent. This class of technologies will have a profound impact on US law, one that touches the very structural arrangements of power in American life. It stands to bring about a substantial erosion of the government’s monopoly on security policy, putting in diffuse and private hands for the first time responsibility for protecting the nation. Ultimately, over time, the law will need to evolve to require that companies take on the national security responsibility their businesses enable.

  
  
  
• Regulation & Deregulation
  

  Fire the FDA Now

  By Richard A. Epstein, Hoover Institution
  
  Defining Ideas, 02/23/2011
  

  Congress should strip the FDA of its gatekeeper role for new drugs. The FDA excessively relies upon double-blind clinical trials. Sensible people take information from any place they can get it: off-label uses, overseas uses, past practice, or whatever is available. The FDA scorns information that has value equal to or greater than that to which it shows its allegiance. Its defects are both cognitive and bureaucratic. The only solution is to strip it of its gatekeeper function. If Congress wants to invest in clinical trials, it should give the FDA a budget to conduct those on whatever drugs or devices it sees fit. But unless Congress makes big changes quickly, the exodus of drug and device manufacturers from this country will proceed apace, wreaking havoc on the well being of the patients that they are now unable to serve.

  
  
  
• Foreign Policy/International Affairs
  

  China’s Midterm Jockeying: Gearing Up for 2012 (Part 4: Top Leaders of Major State-Owned Enterprises)

  By Cheng Li, Hoover Institution
  
  China Leadership Monitor, 02/23/2011
  

  As the Chinese flagship state-owned companies become increasingly assertive in both the domestic and international economy, so too are the chief executive officers (CEOs) of these firms becoming more aggressive in their jockeying for power in the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Compared with the three elite groups (provincial chiefs, cabinet ministers, and military leaders) that have long constituted the principal components of the CCP Central Committee and its Politburo, the proportion of CEOs of China’s large enterprises in the national leadership is still relatively small. But it is evident that younger, business-savvy, politically connected, and globally minded Chinese CEOs have recently become a new source of the CCP leadership.

  
  
  
• Foreign Policy/International Affairs
  

  Splits in the Politburo Leadership?

  By Alice L. Miller, Hoover Institution
  
  China Leadership Monitor, 02/23/2011
  

  Several events in recent months—remarks by Premier Wen Jiabao on political reform, foreign travels of party security chief Zhou Yongkang, and the elevation of Xi Jinping to a key military policy-making post—have prompted conjectures about splits among China’s top leadership. This article assesses the evidence for these speculations.

  
  
  
• Foreign Policy/International Affairs
  

  Political Reform Was Never on the Agenda

  By Joseph Fewsmith, Hoover Institution
  
  China Leadership Monitor, 02/23/2011
  

  In August 2010 Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao went to the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone, which was approaching the celebration of its 30th anniversary, and gave a speech that, among other things, called for political reform. What exactly Wen meant by his remarks, and whether he differed significantly from General Secretary Hu Jintao, who gave an official and less enthusiastic address in Shenzhen two weeks later, have become topics of intense media speculation. Whatever distance may or may not lie between the general secretary and his premier, it is safe to assume that Wen was not crossing swords with Hu and that significant political reform—meaning reform that would challenge the Chinese Communist Party’s monopoly on power—was never on the agenda. There is, on the contrary, good evidence that the CCP is continuing on a trajectory of limited, inner-party “democracy” that it set on some time ago.

  
  
  
• Foreign Policy/International Affairs
  

  What Price Continuity?

  By Barry Naughton, Hoover Institution
  
  China Leadership Monitor, 02/23/2011
  

  The Fifth Plenum of China's 17th Party Congress in October 2010 sent a strong message of continuity. In economic policy, continuity was proclaimed with the official Communist Party “Suggestions” on the forthcoming 12th Five-Year Plan (2011–2015), which basically restated the principles enunciated in the ending 11th Five-Year Plan (2005–2010). However, this ideal of continuity is challenged by two questions: First, what changes would be needed in order to implement those parts of the 11th Five-Year Plan’s “rebalancing” program that still have not been realized? Second, how likely is it that growing inflationary pressures will blow China’s economic policy off its supposedly steady course? By the end of December 2010, China was barely beginning to face some of the difficult choices that were deferred at the Fifth Plenum.

  
  
  
• Foreign Policy/International Affairs
  

  Xi Jinping and the Central Military Commission: Bridesmaid or Bride?

  By James Mulvenon, Hoover Institution
  
  China Leadership Monitor, 02/23/2011
  

  In the runup to China's 18th Party Congress, speculation has been rife about the promotion schedule for purported heir apparent Xi Jinping. After he was not promoted to the vice-chairmanship of the Central Military Commission (CMC) at the Fourth Plenum of the 17th Party Congress in fall 2009, some analysts opined that Xi’s ascension was in jeopardy, since it was not following the exact pattern of his predecessor. But Xi’s appointment to the post at the Fifth Plenum has refocused attention on Hu Jintao’s intentions to give up the CMC chairmanship at the 18th Congress. This article examines Xi Jinping’s leadership run, and assesses the implications of the current situation for party-military relations.

  
  
  
• Foreign Policy/International Affairs
  

  Cross-Strait Relations: Setting the Stage for 2012

  By Alan D. Romberg, Hoover Institution
  
  China Leadership Monitor, 02/23/2011
  

  Various developments throughout the latter half of 2010 and the early weeks of 2011 have begun to set the stage for changes in both Taiwan and on Mainland China leading up to 2012. Despite the remarkable improvement in cross-Strait relations over the past 32 months, potentially clashing policy trends will test the durability of what has been achieved. This essay addresses the political situation in Taiwan in recent months, including the jockeying for position in terms of Mainland policy, in the context of the PRC’s own efforts to nudge things toward more explicit acceptance of “one China” while seeking to win hearts and minds on the island. It also touches on emerging issues that will likely grow in importance for cross-Strait relations over the next year.

  
  
  
• Foreign Policy/International Affairs
  

  China’s Assertive Behavior—Part One: On “Core Interests”

  By Michael D. Swaine, Hoover Institution
  
  China Leadership Monitor, 02/23/2011
  

  The single most dominant theme in Sino-U.S. relations of the past year or more has been the emergence of a more “assertive China.” This article assesses whether, to what extent, and in what manner Beijing is becoming more assertive in several major areas of relevance to the United States. These are: first, in defining and promoting the concept of “core interests”; second, with regard to U.S. political and military behavior along China’s maritime periphery; third, concerning a variety of economic, trade, and finance issues, from so-called indigenous innovation to global standards regarding reserve currencies; and fourth, with regard to several issues related to international security, from counter-proliferation to climate change.

  
  
  
• Crime, Justice & the Law
  

  Keeping Americans Safe: Best Practices to Improve Community Policing and to Protect the Public

  By George L. Kelling, Catherine M. Coles, Goldwater Institute
  
  Policy Report, 02/23/2011
  

  During the 1990s, New York City achieved stunning drops in crime from the “broken windows” community policing strategy. This report takes the broken windows approach to the next level by showing how to institute high-performance policing. This report consolidates the best practices adopted by the nation’s most innovative police departments and provides a framework for policing that is consistent with community values and priorities; makes a commitment to the ultimate objective of keeping people safe; and produces more measurable outcomes. It recommends private sector concepts of benchmarks to track the use of best practices and to report quantifiable outcomes for comparison against other departments, and the balanced scorecard, which counts outcomes such as reducing crime and victimization and also assesses police relationships with community members, partners, and other groups. These recommendations should be institutionalized through appropriate statutes, ordinances or management directives governing policing agencies throughout America.

  
  
  
• National Security
  

  Medium Extended Air Defense System: Continued Funding Needed

  By Baker Spring, Michaela Bendikova, The Heritage Foundation
  
  WebMemo, 02/23/2011
  

  According to the most recent news, the U.S. Department of Defense has decided to stop funding for the Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS), a ground-based terminal ballistic missile defense (BMD) system developed jointly by the United States, Italy, and Germany. The proposed curtailment of funding is a mistake because it undermines allied cooperation in missile defense at a time when NATO has declared missile defense to be a core competency of the alliance. The United States should reverse its decision and provide funding for production of MEADS to replace the Patriot and Hawk systems. A more advanced capability is essential for addressing the growing ballistic missile threat and expanding alliance cooperation in addressing this threat.

  
  
  
• Family, Culture & Community
  

  When Marriage Disappears: The Retreat from Marriage in Middle America

  By W. Bradford Wilcox, Paul Taylor, Chuck Donovan, The Heritage Foundation
  
  Lecture, 02/23/2011
  

  In high-rent urban neighborhoods and the prosperous suburbs of the nation’s major cities, divorce is down, marital satisfaction remains high, and non-marital childbearing is still an exotic activity. It is not upscale America but Middle America that is experiencing marital troubles: From small towns in the heartland to working-class suburbs outside the nation’s major cities, divorce, marital dissatisfaction, and non-marital childbearing are on the rise. In a word, marriage is in much better shape among Whole Foods regulars than it is among Wal-Mart shoppers. To fix this problem, our public policies must strengthen the employment opportunities of high school–educated Americans, cultural reforms must seek to reconnect marriage and parenthood for all Americans, and we must try to strengthen religious and civic institutions that lend our lives meaning, purpose, and a regard for our neighbors.

  
  
  
• Natural Resources, Energy, Environment, & Science
  

  Trade and Green Jobs

  By Chris Horner, Competitive Enterprise Institute
  
  Testimony, 02/22/2011
  

  The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee is considering the idea that the United States might become a world leading exporter of politically selected technologies and that this path might be blazed by mandating or otherwise expanding government (taxpayer) support schemes for those goods. However, as experience shows, this is highly unlikely, and is in fact very likely to cause great harm.

  
  
  
• Budget & Taxation
  

  The Stimulus Bill and Government Spending

  By Chris Edwards, Cato Institute
  
  Testimony, 02/22/2011
  

  Federal spending has soared over the past decade. Two years after the passage of the $821 billion stimulus package, it appears to have been a very expensive failure of Keynesian fiscal policy. Overall state and local government spending has not been slashed. In short, the state budget crises lie in the long-term problem of soaring debt and unfunded obligations in state retirement plans. Federal policymakers should avoid any further bail-outs of the states because that would simply reward the mismanaged states at the expense of the others. State policymakers have the power to solve their own fiscal problems without federal intervention.

  
  
  
• International Trade/Finance
  

  Trade Agreement Would Promote U.S. Exports and Colombian Civil Society

  By Juan Carlos Hidalgo, Daniel Griswold, Cato Institute
  
  Free Trade Bulletin, 02/22/2011
  

  A free-trade agreement with Colombia would achieve a number of worthy U.S. policy objectives. An agreement would reduce significant barriers to U.S. exports to a major Latin American market, moving the United States closer to meeting President Obama’s goal of doubling U.S. exports by 2014. It would remove uncertainty over Colombia’s access to the U.S. market, aiding that country’s efforts to develop its economy and reduce poverty. And it would strengthen civil society in Colombia, reinforcing the efforts of the country’s new reform-minded government to reduce violence even further and to bolster the nation’s already robust democracy in the face of antidemocratic forces in the region. Such an agreement would “keep faith” not only with American workers but also with our national interest in promoting peace and prosperity in our own hemisphere.

  
  
  
• Budget & Taxation
  

  Public Safety Employer–Employee Cooperation Act

  By James Sherk, The Heritage Foundation
  
  WebMemo, 02/22/2011
  

  The Public Safety Employer–Employee Cooperation Act (PSEECA)would require all state and local governments to collectively bargain with public safety employees—police officers, firefighters, and emergency medical personnel. The act would end local control and flexibility by forcing the minority of states that have chosen not to collectively bargain to do so. By forcing collective bargaining on cash-strapped state and local governments, the PSEECA imposes an expensive unfunded mandate on them. Additionally, the PSEECA may deter or even eliminate the formation of volunteer firefighter organizations.

  
  
  
• Labor
  

  Paycheck Fairness Act

  By James Sherk, The Heritage Foundation
  
  WebMemo, 02/22/2011
  

  Currently, under the Equal Pay Act, once employees have provided prima facie evidence of sex discrimination in compensation, the burden of proof shifts to the employer to show that the difference in wages results from “any factor other than sex.” The Paycheck Fairness Act would eliminate the “any factor other than sex” defense and replace it with a “bona fide factor other than sex” defense. Employers can use this “bona fide factor” defense only if they demonstrate that business necessity demands it. Thus, under PFA, if employees can find an alternative business practice that does not result in a pay disparity, employers must adopt it. Under the PFA, government and the courts dictate business practices to employers. Ultimately, the PFA would facilitate lawsuits and cost jobs.

  
  
  
• Labor
  

  Understanding Mandatory Paid Sick Leave

  By James Sherk, The Heritage Foundation
  
  WebMemo, 02/22/2011
  

  The Healthy Families Act (HFA) and similar legislation before Congress would require employers to provide employees with paid sick leave benefits. The HFA would require employers to provide at least seven days of paid sick leave. However, the vast majority (86 percent) of full-time workers are already provided paid leave, which they can use if they fall ill. The HFA would not increase workers’ total compensation and would encourage irresponsible employees to game the system. Ultimately, abuse of the leave granted by HFA would reduce productivity, thus increasing the cost of business while decreasing incentive for capital investment. This would cost jobs.

  
  
  
• Budget & Taxation
  

  Federal Compensation: Why Government Pay Is Inflated

  By James Sherk, The Heritage Foundation
  
  WebMemo, 02/22/2011
  

  The average federal employee earns 57 percent greater cash pay and 85 percent greater total compensation (which includes benefits) than the average private-sector worker. Taxpayers should not sacrifice so that federal employees can enjoy better pay and benefits than they could hope to receive in the private sector. Additionally, the General Schedule does not connect pay and performance. Workers automatically receive step and grade increases in pay whether they work diligently or not. It is almost impossible to fire an underperforming federal employee. This reduces the productivity of federal workers. It would be better to scrap the General Schedule and move to a performance pay system with federal pay tied to market rates and market signals of labor demand. Ultimately, reducing federal pay to market rates would save taxpayers approximately $47 billion a year.

  
  
  
• Labor
  

  Extended Unemployment Insurance Benefits

  By James Sherk, The Heritage Foundation
  
  WebMemo, 02/22/2011
  

  States provide unemployment insurance (UI) benefits to involuntarily unemployed workers. UI benefits typically replace 35–40 percent of a worker’s weekly income. Normally, states provide UI benefits for up to 26 weeks. Workers in states with high unemployment rates may collect “extended benefits” (EB) for an additional 13 weeks for a total of 39 weeks. The federal government and the states normally split the cost of these extended benefits. However, Congress has modified and extended both the UI program and the EB program. By reducing the need to look for new work, extended UI benefits cause higher an longer unemployment. Ultimately, extended UI benefits act as an ineffective stimulus and have a negligible wage effect.

  
  
  
• Labor
  

  Why the Davis–Bacon Act Should Be Repealed

  By James Sherk, The Heritage Foundation
  
  WebMemo, 02/22/2011
  

  The Davis-Bacon Act (DBA) requires federal construction contractors to pay at least the wage rates prevailing on non-federal construction projects in the same locality. In most cities, DBA wages bear no resemblance to prevailing market wages. In some cities, DBA rates are more than double market wages. In other cities, DBA rates are below the minimum wage. The DBA increases the cost of federally funded construction projects by 9.9 percent. Repealing the DBA restrictions would allow the government to build more infrastructure and create 155,000 more construction-related jobs at the same cost to taxpayers and would save the federal government $10.9 billion on construction costs in 2011.

  
  
  
• Labor
  

  Secret Ballot Protection Act

  By James Sherk, The Heritage Foundation
  
  WebMemo, 02/22/2011
  

  The Secret Ballot Protection Act (SBPA) guarantees workers the right to vote by secret ballot before joining a union. It prevents companies from negotiating with a union that does not receive the support of a majority of workers in a secret ballot vote. Requiring secret ballots protects workers, and secret ballots enable workers to make an informed choice. Additionally, the SBPA will result in more investment and jobs and in fewer corporate campaigns.

  
  
  
• Labor
  

  Rewarding Achievement and Incentivizing Successful Employees (RAISE) Act

  By James Sherk, The Heritage Foundation
  
  WebMemo, 02/22/2011
  

  The Rewarding Achievement and Incentivizing Successful Employees (RAISE) Act would allow employers to pay individual workers more than the union contract specifies. This is currently illegal without first bargaining with the union. The RAISE Act is needed because currently union contracts set both a wage floor and a wage ceiling. The RAISE Act would allow unionized employers to give performance-based pay to deserving workers. Economic research shows that the average worker’s earnings rise 6–10 percent when the pay is performance-based. This is an average figure—industrious and enterprising workers will earn larger raises while lazy employees earn less. Ultimately, performance pay allows workers to become more productive.

  
  
  
• Information Technology
  

  Internet “Kill Switch”: Mapping Out Government’s Proper Role in Cybersecurity

  By Paul Rosenzweig, The Heritage Foundation
  
  WebMemo, 02/22/2011
  

  Once again, Congress has begun consideration of a comprehensive cybersecurity bill. Most of the provisions of the bill that eventually emerges from Congress will be uncontroversially good—better education is never wrong. But one aspect of the bill now making its way through the Senate deserves a great deal more public debate and consideration: the scope and extent of the government’s role in defending the Internet from external threats and, in particular, the extent to which the government can order private-sector actors to take action (including disconnecting from the Internet) in times of cyber emergency. Ultimately, policymakers should be very leery of any proposal that grants the President plenary authority over the Internet.