The Heartland Institute

President Obama a few months ago blamed the nation’s economic weakness on spending cuts by state and local officials “who are not getting the kind of help that they have in the past from the federal government and who don't have the same kind of flexibility of the federal government in dealing with fewer revenues coming ...

Sixty-four percent of South Carolina fourth graders were not proficient in math and 72 percent were not proficient in reading in 2011, according to the latest National Assessment of Educational Progress, the most respected nationwide test. For minorities, the stats are abysmal: only 13 percent of African-American fourth graders ...

States don’t have $390 billion they’ve promised teachers in future pensions, according to a new report by the National Council on Teacher Quality. This means taxpayers will have to backfill the difference while receiving no new services in return. For the report, No One Benefits , NCTQ researchers analyzed teacher pension systems ...

In this "Best of" Heartland podcast, Townhall.com columnist Marita Noon explains why alternative energy is hamstringing the U.S. economy. ...

Across the country today, Medicaid requires states to provide dental coverage for children. Yet Medicaid’s reimbursement rates have been, and continue to be, too low to adequately compensate traditional dental practices. This leads to significant health problems, where simple cavities become severe infections which can even prove ...