It’s Economic Freedom, Stupid!

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Unleash Prosperity Hotline
Issue #812
07/12/2023
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1) It’s Economic Freedom, Stupid!
At the Committee to Unleash Prosperity we are asked by politicians, CEOs, and the media on an almost daily basis: How do we get more economic growth?

That’s the easiest of all economic questions to answer. Economic freedom - low tax rates, sound money, rule of law, free trade, private property, private production, and limited government - leads to greater prosperity. Period. Hard stop.

The Heritage Foundation has just issued its indispensable international Index of Economic Freedom for 2023. This chart shows the powerful correlation between freedom and growth.

Countries that are mostly free are 10 times richer per person than the most socialistic nations and three times richer than nations with average freedom.

Economic freedom had been trending upward over the last two decades, but since COVID hit, freedom has fallen – and so has economic growth.

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2) Josh Shapiro's Belly Flop
One of CTUP members, Jeff Yass of Susquehanna International Group, published a terrific letter on the school choice flip flop by Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro:

When Josh Shapiro ran for Pennsylvania governor last year, he claimed he supported school choice, especially for low-income kids trapped in underperforming public schools. Unfortunately, last week he announced he would veto the very bill he promised to support. Was Mr. Shapiro lying on the campaign trail or is he simply unwilling to stand up to the union bosses?

Sadly, only 34% of Philadelphia public elementary-school students test at or above the proficient level for reading, and 17% test at or above the proficient level in math, according to the district’s annual progress report. Meanwhile, 85% of Philadelphia public-school students are minorities.

We urge readers to take a look at the whole letter:

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3) Another Black Democrat Legislator Switches to the GOP and Blasts Liberals She Left Behind
Mesha Manor is a Georgia state legislator who represents a central-city Atlanta district where Martin Luther King Jr. lived. A passionate supporter of school choice, she announced she is becoming a Republican on Tuesday.

"When I decided to stand up on behalf of disadvantaged children in support of school choice, my Democrat colleagues didn’t stand by me," Mainor told Fox News. "They crucified me. When I decided to stand up in support of safe communities and refused to support efforts to defund the police, they didn’t back me. They abandoned me."

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Mainor says “the most dangerous thing to the Democrat Party is a black person with a mind of their own.” She said her former party “demanded every Democrat vote against children and for the teachers union. I voted yes for parents and yes for children not failing schools." At some schools in her district, only 3 percent of students meet reading proficiency standards and many cannot do simple math.

Here is a clip of the pro-school choice speech that got Mainor drummed out of the Democratic Party:

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4) High School Graduates Should Know As Much About America As Immigrants
Speaking of lousy schools: Last year, only 13% of eighth graders met proficiency standards for explaining U.S. history. Only a fifth of students scored at or above the proficient level in civics, or explaining our government and policy structures. Those are the lowest levels ever recorded.

Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has a simple idea on how to reverse those dismal test scores:

“Every high school senior who graduates from high school should be required to pass the same civics test required of every immigrant who becomes a naturalized citizen in this country. Young people don’t value a country they just inherit. They value a country they have a stake in knowing something about,” he told Fox News last week. “We will have to ask ourselves how our kids' generation will once again be proud of the greatest country known to mankind that's the United States of America."

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5) AARP Represents Health Insurers, Not Seniors
Some of us are getting to that age where we are getting notices to join AARP. Don’t do it.

Renowned pollster Jim McLaughlin recently asked seniors what they think of AARP’s incestuous relationship with one of the largest health insurers and here is his takeaway:

AARP receives $1 billion in corporate financial royalties yearly. That’s three times what it earns in dues from its members and represents more than half of its annual operating revenues. In fact, more than $6 billion in royalties over the last decade have come from a single corporation: UnitedHealthcare... AARP and UnitedHealthcare lobby Congress on Medicare. Both make more revenue when older Americans purchase AARP-branded UnitedHealthcare policies. The IRA included drug price controls that will lead to shortages and fewer investments in cutting-edge treatments, which could save big insurer-PBMs lots of money.

So, how do older Americans feel about all this? McLaughlin & Associates (my business) conducted a recent national study to find out. We polled nearly 700 AARP members. The results clearly show that AARP and the people it claims to serve are on very different pages regarding Medicare and the IRA.

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6) Can’t Wait For This Debate

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