Conservatives need to explain clearly and boldly what they stand for if they are to regain their electoral footing, Heritage Foundation President Jim DeMint tells Tim Stanley of Britain’s Telegraph.

“Republicans have been losing because they have been afraid to run on their principles,” he said in a podcast recorded last week.

DeMint’s segment, which includes discussion of immigration, the importance of limiting government, and government surveillance, begins at 16:55. Listen to the full podcast below:

As the Senate debates a version of immigration reform that would grant amnesty to illegal immigrants and fail to secure the border, Heritage Foundation experts have proposed a principled, conservative alternative.

The Heritage’s step-by-step plan solves the critical problems of immigration and border security without the need for a costly, complex, “comprehensive” bill that grants amnesty to illegal immigrants.

The plan includes five major elements: Continue Reading »

Ed Meese

Heritage Foundation scholar and former Attorney General Ed Meese, who was actively involved in the last major immigration bill in 1986, has a letter in today’s Wall Street Journal reminding lawmakers not to repeat the mistakes of the 1986 amnesty.

The Gang of Eight immigration legislation contains “pretty much the same ‘penalties and hurdles’” as the 1986 legislation, Meese writes. Reagan admitted the 1986 reform was amnesty.

That amnesty, Meese writes, had consequences today’s lawmakers should keep in mind: Continue Reading »

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) wears a Heritage necktie on the Senate floor Monday. (Photo: C-SPAN)

An eagle-eyed Heritage Foundation supporter noticed that Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) was wearing a Heritage necktie Monday on the Senate floor during his remarks on immigration.

He follows in the footsteps of his colleague Rand Paul, who has been seen several times on television sporting Heritage neckwear.

The next time you get up in public to speak for your beliefs, you can dress like Chuck Grassley. Order your own silk Heritage Foundation tie, specially produced for Heritage by Vineyard Vines, from the Heritage bookstore.

Heritage Foundation national security experts James Carafano and James Talent were in St. Louis yesterday for a special screening of “Veteran Nation,” a new documentary about the treatment of America’s veterans.

The St. Louis Beacon reports:

The nation and its communities need to keep that past in mind, says former U.S. Sen. Jim Talent, R-Mo., to make sure that veterans returning from Afghanistan and Iraq are treated correctly, particularly after more than a decade of combat.

“We’ve never had so many people in almost continuous combat for so long,” Talent said in an interview Tuesday…

“Every generation is different,” said James Carafano, a co-producer and co-writer. “How you treat veterans is a decision you make as a generation.” …

The St. Louis screening is the latest of about 100 showings in recent months, Carafano said. He emphasized that the aim was to help veterans and promote community awareness of their needs. Carafano also is president of a nonprofit group, “Esprit de Corps,” set up “to educate the public about veterans affairs.

Forty-five concerned citizens, including several local news outlets, attended yesterday’s screening in St. Louis.

Watch the trailer for the documentary, which is offered free to pro-veterans groups who want to host screenings:

Liberals are quick to argue that Europe’s economic stagnation proves spending cuts hurt growth. Heritage Foundation economist Salim Furth, though, points to a counterexample.

While he cautions “against drawing too much from a single example,” he notes that:

From 1995 to 1998, fiscal consolidation was heavily on the spending side, and growth accelerated to a smoking 3.6 percent, and the deficit turned to a surplus.

The fact that growth was strongest right after spending cuts preponderated and weakest when taxes increased most is an excellent exhibit of the case for preferring spending cuts.

What do you think? Should we cut spending as a way to boost the economy?

“America is built on the principle of ‘ordered liberty,’ which seeks to maximize both security and freedom at the same time,” Heritage Foundation national security expert James Carafano writes on National Review Online. “The art of governance, then, is to establish rules that let the good guys get the bad guys without infringing on the freedom of the people.”

The latest front in this struggle between freedom and security is the recently-exposed National Security Agency electronic surveillance program, through which the government allegedly captures e-mail and other data transmitted online.

Getting the balance right between security and freedom is critical, Carafano argues. “There is no question it can be done right,” he says. “In the case of battling transnational terrorism, Washington has honed instruments such as the Patriot Act and the FISA courts to do just that.” Continue Reading »

Reining in government spending, not more stimulus, will boost job growth and the economy, Heritage Foundation economist Salim Furth said yesterday in testimony before the Senate Budget Committee.

Furth, who testified alongside former Obama economic adviser Larry Summers and MIT economist Simon Johnson, also touched on the economic costs of entitlement spending. Read a summary of the hearing in the Seattle Times.

Watch the video of his testimony below. His remarks begin at 1:35.

Furth’s research has shown that spending cuts are superior to tax hikes as a means to reduce deficits and debt.

Do you think we should cut spending?

The farm bill currently being debated isn’t really a farm bill at all. It’s more than 80 percent food stamps.

But even the farm portions of the bill aren’t what they seem. Heritage Foundation experts made this infographic to expose the truth. Share it on Facebook!

This Memorial Day weekend, the Blaze TV will feature Veteran Nation, a documentary that honors the courage and heroism of our veterans from Bunker Hill to Baghdad.

Co-written and co-produced by Heritage Foundation vice president James Carafano, Veteran Nation reviews how those who served have been treated throughout history, the challenges they face returning home, and what we can do to serve them.

Watch the 30-minute documentary live or on demand this Saturday at noon Eastern, on the Blaze.