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How Heritage analysis changed the debate

Ten years ago, the consensus in Washington held that Social Security is a great deal for current and future retirees. But today, many liberals who adamantly refuse even basic Social Security reforms nevertheless admit that the program is a bad financial deal for everyone.

Behind this changed consensus is the work of a small but critical department at The Heritage Foundation, the Center for Data Analysis.

Established ten years ago, the CDA today is a leader in the field of economic analysis and statistics. Its pioneering work allows lawmakers to see the real impact of proposed legislation—at a national or state level or even broken down by Congressional districts and zip codes.

» Find out more about the Center for Data Analysis at Heritage.org/CDA/.

Heritage members join tele-town hall meeting

More than 2,000 Heritage Foundation members joined Heritage President Ed Feulner last week for a telephone town hall meeting.

» Listen to a recording of the tele-town hall on MyHeritage.org

During the 45-minute call, Feulner spoke briefly about some of today’s most important issues, and then answered questions from Heritage members.

This experimental outreach technique, which was opened on this occasion to Heritage members on the East coast, proved to be a major success. We hope to make this a regular feature of membership for our supporters nationwide.

Red tape on the increase

The Bush administration is often portrayed as paring back government regulation. Many liberals, for example, blame lax regulation for the weakened economy.

But President Bush’s tenure has hardly been marked by decreases in the federal regulatory burden. In fact, reports Heritage’s James Gattuso, “net regulatory burdens have increased in the years since George W. Bush assumed the presidency.”

On President Bush’s watch, the government has dramatically increased the regulatory footprint. Here are a few statistics that should give us pause:

$28 billion—estimated cost of new regulations imposed during the Bush administration. Almost $12 billion was imposed in 2007 alone.

$17.9 billion—increase in spending on regulatory agencies, a 44 percent increase over 2001 levels, adjusted for inflation.

145,816—pages in the Code of Federal Regulations, the listing of government red tape, an increase of 4,500 pages over 2001.

72,090—pages in the 2007 Federal Register, a listing of proposed, new and revised regulations, rules and so forth.

72,000—number of new employees at regulatory agencies since 2001, a 41 percent increase.

There were some regulatory bright spots, Gattuso reports. Twenty-three major rule changes reduced the regulatory burden—but this is outweighed by the 74 major changes that increased the burden.

Gattuso concludes with a warning that regulations often increase during the last year of a presidency. “Policymakers should be on guard to prevent this surge in the short run,” he argues. “In the longer run, they should adopt sensible reforms to ensure that both new and old rules are thoroughly vetted to ease the burden of this regulatory tax on Americans.”

Other Heritage work of note

First Principles. A more limited government would reduce the impact of lobbying in Washington, Heritage Vice President Mike Franc argues. “The less a government does, the fewer reasons there are for individuals, businesses, universities, and state and local governments to petition their government for special favors,” he writes. “Big and intrusive governments,” by contrast, attract the attention of special interests that look to curry favors and subsidies from the lawmakers that hold the fate of entire industries in their hands.

Leadership for America. A study by the left-wing group Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting finds that The Heritage Foundation was the fourth-most-cited think tank last year.

Entrepreneurship. Heritage’s Ernest Istook reports on a troubling development that could mean a massive expansion of government. “Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., is leading a movement to spend billions of tax dollars to buy homes in foreclosure and convert them to public housing,” he writes in World Net Daily. “Using tax dollars to pay off private debt is a terrible idea. Using it to degrade our neighborhoods makes it even worse.”

Energy and Environment. Heritage’s Dani Doane points out one of the unintended consequences of the energy bill passed last year. The government will soon mandate the use of fluorescent light bulbs, which are easy to break and contain toxic chemicals that are costly to clean up.

In other news

French President Nicolas Sarkozy says he will send an additional 1,000 troops to Afghanistan.

Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson has said that the economic “stimulus” plan signed into law earlier this year will result in large employment increases. But the last time the government tried to boost the economy with taxpayer-funded “rebates,” in 2001, there was little economic impact.

Puerto Rico’s governor has surrendered to authorities. He faces federal corruption charges.

North Korea test-fired a flurry of short-range missiles on Friday. Negotiations over the communist regime’s nuclear programs have stalled.

Army Lt. Gen. Martin Dempsey will take charge of the military’s Central Command, which has responsibility for operations in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

Coming up at Heritage

To attend these or any other events at Heritage please RSVP at Heritage’s website. Or you can view these events live online. All times are Eastern.

On Monday, March 31 at 10:00 a.m. at the National Press Club, Heritage’s Stuart Butler joins experts from the Brookings Institution to argue that entitlement programs should be taken off auto-pilot.

On Thursday, April 3 at 11:00 a.m., scholar Andrew Busch discusses how America’s political parties use the Constitution in presidential campaigns.

Nathaniel Ward is the Editor of MyHeritage.org—a website for members and supporters of The Heritage Foundation. Chris Albright contributed to this report.