The Heritage Foundation and the State Government Leadership Foundation are hosting an exciting event on December 7 at Heritage on the Electoral College and the proposed “National Popular Vote” (NPV) plan. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (KY) and the chief election officials of five states, Secretaries of State Beth Chapman (Alabama), Tre Hargett (Tennessee), Delbert Hosemann (Mississippi), Kris Kobach (Kansas), and Matt Schultz (Iowa), will discuss the advantages of the Electoral College and the political, practical, and constitutional problems with the NPV. As our Heritage Legal Memorandum explains, the NPV …
This Thursday, millions of families will celebrate Thanksgiving with roasted turkey, buttery mashed potatoes, and (with only a slight amount of guilt) another piece of pumpkin pie. But in early America, days of Thanksgiving weren’t always about food. Reflecting American religious practice, Presidents and Congresses from the beginning of the republic have from time to time designated days of fasting and thanksgiving (the Thanksgiving holiday we continue to celebrate on the third Thursday of November was established by Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War). Following a resolution of Congress, President …
The slogan “War breeds war. Peace breeds prosperity” has become a favorite idea of the anti-war faction on the right. Unlike their anti-war allies on the left, who favor protectionism, those like Congressman Ron Paul (R–TX) are rightly committed to economic freedom. Their mistake lies in thinking that commerce and security are separate issues. Nothing could be more at odds with the experience of American statecraft. In 1789, the blessings of liberty secured by the Constitution began to manifest themselves (see chart) as imports (light blue) and exports (dark blue) …
In the midst of the current budget battle, there are a lot of folks—right and left—who assume that defense spending is a luxury that America just can’t afford at the moment. This a view far removed from James Madison’s conviction that “security against foreign danger is…an avowed and essential object of the American Union.” America’s spending priorities are out of whack. Congress’s shortsighted intransigence on the budget will likely mean cutting back the number of delivery days for the U.S. postal service and indiscriminately slashing the defense budget (two items …
What did America’s founders say about economic inequality? Rather than unload statistics about the reality of inequality in America today, which we have done on other occasions, this post considers inequality based on the economic principles on which our republic was founded. These principles remind us why economic inequality is not necessarily an injustice, but rather a necessary component of any prosperous society. Property Rights Far from the notion of merely owning physical property, the founders understood property rights to include “natural rights.” In an essay on property rights in …
In this week’s Heritage in Focus, Julia Shaw discusses Occupy Wall Street. Click here to listen. Are there any similarities between Occupy Wall Street and the Tea Party? What are their differences? Do they share any common ground? Be sure to click the above link to get answers to those questions and more! To get regular updates on Heritage in Focus podcasts, visit our RSS feed or subscribe on iTunes. To listen to more Heritage in Focus podcasts, visit our podcast page.
What is America? What is this country fundamentally about? By and large, pundits and politicians on the right and the left don’t seem to get it. Some come close, but there is a widespread failure to explain why the Founders established this republic. On this date in history, two of the clearest expressions of the American ideal were first articulated. On October 27, 1787, a young Alexander Hamilton, writing under the pen name Publius, published the first Federalist paper in New York’s Independent Journal. In the very first paragraph, he …
America publishes roughly 288,000 books every year, more than any other country in the world. Although this is a wonderful reflection of our country’s thirst for knowledge, such a tidal wave of publications is a nightmare for people looking for top quality works. Where on earth do you begin to sort through the piles and piles of books? Here at Heritage, we have done the hard work for you and narrowed down the ocean of books into a condensed list of sources so you can spend less time searching and …
Knowing America’s history well is one of the first steps to becoming a well-rounded and knowledgeable conservative. It’s not always easy to remember the many dates, speeches, people, and events from the past 235 years, and The Heritage Foundation knows that. As a result, we have created a new one-stop shop for America’s first principles and historical inquiries on the newly designed Heritage First Principles website. With Congress in constant battles over tax policy and budgetary issues, the key questions underlying nearly every issue can be answered by America’s first …
Ronald Reagan communicated timeless truths about America— truths about freedom, limited government, hard work and opportunity—and these truths guided him while he was in office. A thinker and avid reader of history, Reagan was guided by the first principles of the American founding, especially the idea of ordered liberty in our nation’s charter—our enduring Constitution. In the opening paragraphs of his first inaugural address in 1981—much of which he personally drafted—President Reagan echoed the preamble of the Constitution, calling on “We the people” to do whatever needs to be done …
