The Heartland Institute

An abundance of domestic energy will enable the United States to cut in half its reliance on oil from the Middle East by the end of the decade, and could end any reliance at all by 2035, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). New Technologies Boost Outlook America’s bright energy outlook is due to ...

Financially strapped homeowners stand to become even more downtrodden in 2013. As Congress focuses on the upcoming federal elections, a little-known or -understood law is scheduled to reappear, potentially costing those in foreclosure or loan modification thousands of dollars in new tax liabilities. "There is a very dark cloud ...

Facebook has quietly launched a real-money online gambling application in the U.K., marking a major thrust of the social networking site into online gambling. The Financial Times is reporting that starting this week, Facebook will offer users in the U.K. ages 18 and over online bingo and slots for cash prizes. Slate.com picked ...

This CATO Policy Analysis study by Zycher, senior fellow at the Pacific Research Institute, examines the prospective economic effects of a reduction below the current baseline in defense outlays of $100 billion per year over 10 years. The reduction of outlays to defense would only have a temporary economic effect. In others ...

In this news story from Greenwire, Nick Juliano of the Energy and Evironment Daily reports that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) gave a speech in Las Vegas detailing his hopes to tax carbon emissions to combat climate change. ...

Pennsylvania’s legislature is considering legislation that would end school property taxes and instead increase income and sales taxes to raise the $13 billion the state spends on K-12 schools. “It’s been very well received,” said state Sen. Dave Argall (R-Schuylkill), cosponsor of Senate Bill 1400. “People just hate the school ...

Unless there is a substantial change in leadership in Washington in the next election, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) will go into effect as planned. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the measure as constitutional in National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius, Sup. Ct. Docket Nos. 11-393 and ...

Private donors are stepping up to help California keep its state parks open, allowing state officials to forego plans to close 70 of California's 278 state parks. Low Attendance, Revenues The Parks and Recreation Department had targeted the 70 state parks for closure due to low attendance and low revenues. Parks and Recreation ...

A new genetic study suggests polar bears arose between 4-5 million years ago and thus survived the more than 50 glacial/interglacial cycles of the Pleistocene... Read More Regional Climate Models: How Well Do They Work? (7 August 2012) A new study finds there is still a long, long way to go before they are likely to ...

The Supreme Court’s decision on the constitutionality of the individual mandate to buy health insurance was an unprecedented expansion of federal powers, blindsiding the parties and virtually obliterating the notion that the federal government is one of limited, enumerated powers. The majority opinion held the government does not ...