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    PBS Constitutional Road Trip: Smooth Ride with a Few Bumps

    This week, PBS premiered part one of a four-part series on the Constitution. In it, Peter Sagal, host of NPR’s Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me, rode around America astride a decked-out flag motorcycle to investigate the Constitution in modern America. And the first leg of his journey was surprisingly good. … More

    New Graduates Heading Back to Parents’ Houses

    As commencement season winds down, it’s discomfiting to think that almost half of new graduates know exactly where they’re headed when school’s out: Back to their parents’ homes. The Pew Research Center reports that 45 percent of college grads younger than 25 are “living with family.” That percentage is almost … More

    Congressmen: Internet Sales Tax Is Attack on Small Business, Consumers

    Conservative members of Congress are adding their voices to a rising chorus of bipartisan opposition to the Internet sales tax. At last week’s Conversations with Conservatives, a monthly event co-hosted by The Heritage Foundation, Representative Raul Labrador (R-ID) said the Marketplace Fairness Act allows large retail businesses to impose new taxes on … More

    Boyer v. Louisiana: A Conflict in Constitutional Rights Postponed

    How should courts respond when the legislature does not adequately fund operation of the criminal justice system and thereby denies a defendant his constitutional rights? The Supreme Court avoided answering that question Monday, but the Court cannot avoid it forever. Fifty years ago the Supreme Court held in Gideon v. … More

    Conservatives Awaken: Nothing Is Conservative About State Tax Collection on Internet Sales

    The Senate soon will take up ill-advised legislation (S. 743) misnamed the “Marketplace Fairness Act” to authorize every state to force out-of-state businesses to serve as the state’s sales tax collector, overruling the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1992 decision in Quill Corporation v. North Dakota. As Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) said … More

    Security and Liberty: How to Maximize Both

    The horrific terrorist attack in Boston this week, and the ensuing investigation to find the person or persons responsible, once again highlight the age-old question: How must America balance security and liberty? We at The Heritage Foundation cherish both individual liberty and security and have written about both before and … More

    Why We Pay the Income Tax

    As millions of Americans scrambled this week to get their taxes filed on time, they probably didn’t spend much time wondering how we got here. But the modern income tax, with the federal government drawing most of its money from payments by citizens, is relatively new. The American Revolution, of … More

    The Diversity of the Founding

    In the latest paper in the Makers of American Political Thought series, Colleen Sheehan looks at the long career of James Madison. In it, we see that “diversity” was a key component of the American Founding. Of course, Madisonian diversity had nothing to do with tallying up racial, ethnic, or … More

    Budgets in Comparison: Will President Obama’s Budget Save the American Dream?

    When the President’s budget comes out Wednesday, it will complete the last piece of the budget puzzle, as the House and Senate have each duly passed a budget according to law. Never mind that the President’s budget is supposed to lead Washington budget discussions, rather than follow. The key question … More

    Trade Agreements Can Advance Economic Freedom

    The United States is currently engaged in Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade negotiations designed to reduce barriers to international trade and investment. The latest text from these negotiations shows how trade agreements, if properly designed and implemented, help advance economic freedom around the world. Among other things, the draft text calls … More