The Heritage Foundation released a pivotal report today  which calculates that granting amnesty to illegal immigrants will cost taxpayers $6.3 trillion.

Some highlights from the report:

• If amnesty is enacted, the average adult unlawful immigrant would receive $592,000 more in government benefits over his lifetime than he would pay in taxes.
• The lifetime fiscal deficit of amnesty — benefits minus taxes — would be $6.3 trillion, and that’s a conservative estimate.
• When those granted amnesty retire and collect Social Security, they would draw $3.00 out of the pot for every $1.00 they paid in.
• In 2010, the average unlawful immigrant household received around $24,721 in government benefits and services while paying some $10,334 in taxes. That means that each illegal immigrant household today costs taxpayers $14,387 per year. Amnesty would provide unlawful households with access to over 80 means-tested welfare programs, Obamacare, Social Security, and Medicare. The fiscal deficit for each household would soar.

In their 93-page report, Heritage welfare expert Robert Rector and domestic policy scholar Jason Richwine break down the cost of amnesty to the U.S. taxpayer. Even accounting for the phased approach to implementing government benefits that some amnesty advocates favor, the long-term cost is astronomical. Continue Reading »

Heritage Foundation President Jim DeMint joined Heritage’s John Fogarty last week for a conversation with Heritage members about the future of the conservative movement and how Heritage plans to lead the charge.

During the teleconference, DeMint said the conservative movement must refocus on core principles and messaging those principles to all Americans. And he said Heritage will play a leading role in this process.

You can listen to the audio of the event online in MP3 format.

Ed Feulner built The Heritage Foundation from a scrappy startup in 1973 into the powerhouse it is today.

Conservative historian and Heritage scholar Lee Edwards tells the story of how Feulner built Heritage in the book “Leading the Way.”

Edwards and Feulner recently sat down with Heritage members to discuss the book and his legacy.

That interview will air on C-SPAN 2′s Book TV on Sunday, April 14 at 6:45 pm.

Get more information about the interview on Booktv.org and purchase your copy of Leading the Way.

All Americans have the right to live as they choose, but no one has the right to redefine marriage for all of us.

Next week, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in cases that challenge the constitutionality of the federal Defense of Marriage Act and California’s Proposition 8.

Marriage is the fundamental building block of all human civilization. That is why 41 states and the federal government agree that marriage is between a man and a woman.

In a recent video, Heritage Foundation President-Elect Jim DeMint explained:

The institution existed long before government to provide children with mothers and fathers. Marriage strengthens civil society and limits government. As our marriage culture weakens, big government grows. Just look at how the welfare state got bigger and bigger as the unwed childbearing rate skyrocketed from single digits in the 1960’s to over 40% off all births today.

Heritage’s Ryan Anderson further explains how marriage strengthens civil society:

Redefining marriage does not simply expand the existing understanding of marriage; it rejects these truths. Marriage is society’s least restrictive means of ensuring the well-being of children. By encouraging the norms of marriage—monogamy, sexual exclusivity, and permanence—the state strengthens civil society and reduces its own role. The future of this country depends on the future of marriage. The future of marriage depends on citizens understanding what it is and why it matters and demanding that government policies support, not undermine, true marriage.

Heritage has produced a short pamphlet making the case for marriage in everyday language. It helps you articulate what your heart knows. And it walks you through the most frequently asked questions—the things you’re likely to hear from neighbors and friends. You can read and download the pamphlet online.

How are you joining the fight to protect marriage?

Madison Fellows are Capitol Hill staffers selected to attend exclusive Heritage Foundation briefings.

For many members of Congress and Capitol Hill staffers, their first introduction to The Heritage Foundation is through our Government Studies department.

Headed by Capitol Hill veterans Mike Franc and Dani Doane, Government Studies coordinates Heritage’s outreach to Congress, one of the most important audiences for our research.

Just last month, more than 60 members of Congress attended weekly Heritage-sponsored events and meetings. And hundreds of Congressional staffers attended Heritage training sessions, luncheons and briefings. This is made possible by Heritage’s proximity to the Capitol, which allows legislators and their staff to participate regularly in our events.

In all, Heritage hosted 63 separate events for lawmakers and Capitol Hill staff in February. This fits into a broader strategy of innovative outreach to Capitol Hill: Continue Reading »

Yesterday, Senator Rand Paul literally stood on his principles.

Paul led a 12 hour and 54 minute hour filibuster, delaying confirmation of John Brennan as Director of the CIA. Brennan is a marginally-qualified candidate with a history of promoting what The Heritage Foundation’s Steven Bucci calls “the overuse of drones.”

“I will speak until I can no longer speak,” Paul began. “I will speak as long as it takes, until the alarm is sounded from coast to coast that our Constitution is important.”

This was the ninth-longest speech in the Senate’s history. Paul filled the nearly 13 hours by speaking out against drone strikes and especially the administration’s recent claims that it could use drones domestically.

Bucci says Paul was right to critique the domestic use of drones: Continue Reading »

This week, Congress passed the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act, known inside the Beltway as VAWA.

Nobody can deny that violence against women is unacceptable. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle can agree that domestic violence cannot be tolerated. But the bill passed by the House of Representatives on Thursday contains unnecessary and duplicative new provisions. And it reauthorizes a law of unproven effectiveness.

VAWA authorizes the government to award grant money to organizations with little track record of success, Heritage Foundation expert David Muhlhausen explains. For example, the National Task Force to End Sexual and Domestic Violence Against Women is the primary recipient of VAWA funding. But their reporting about their success is flawed and misleading.
Continue Reading »

Heritage Foundation President Ed Feulner, left, and Heritage President-Elect Jim DeMint pause to recite the pledge of allegiance before a Presidents’ Tour event in San Francisco on Jan. 24. Photo: Joyce Boghosian

Heritage Foundation President Ed Feulner and his successor, Jim Demint, met thousands of Americans last month in New York, Chicago, Denver, San Francisco and Los Angeles on the first leg of their Presidents’ Tour.

Today, the Heritage team is leaving on the second half of the whirlwind tour. Feulner and DeMint will visit Dallas and Atlanta tomorrow, Palm Beach on Wednesday and Naples on Thursday before wrapping up the tour Friday in Washington, DC.

Learn more about the President’s Tour. 

Our nation is a compassionate nation. Our people respond and come together in response to horrific crimes such as the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton, Connecticut.

As they strive to make a safer and stronger society in the wake of Newtown, “policymakers should avoid a rush to judgment on prescriptions that violate first principles, ignore the real root of these complex problems, or disregard careful social science research,” Heritage Foundation scholars John Malcolm and Jennifer Marshall explain in an important new report.

“Any federal government role must be limited and constrained by constitutional principles,” they write. “The most important solutions lie at the state and local levels, in the community and within the family.”

Malcolm and Marshall identify four key points lawmakers should keep in mind as they plan a response to the Newtown tragedy: Continue Reading »

Last week, The Heritage Foundation hosted an exclusive call for Heritage members with Heritage president-elect Jim DeMint and Heritage President Edwin Feulner. During the call, Feulner and DeMint took member questions about Heritage’s 40-year history and DeMint’s plans for the future.

Listen to the audio of the one hour call in MP3 format.