Nov 25, 2019

Happy early Thanksgiving from The Heritage Foundation! Even with the rush of the holiday season rapidly approaching, we are still fighting to save health care in America. In our new report, Heritage experts estimate what would happen if “Medicare for All” was made the law of the land—and the consequences are severe. Read the findings of the report to understand why a single-payer system will leave Americans worse off. Also in today’s Agenda, we share some good news about our recently launched Feulner Institute, which is already hosting programs to train new community leaders. Lastly, with Congress having extended its budget deadline with yet another continuing resolution, Heritage policy analyst Justin Bogie explains why lawmakers shouldn’t get paid until it does its job.

Heritage Experts Show How ‘Medicare for All’ Would Harm Americans
The Heritage Foundation has released a new report in which health care policy expert Edmund Haislmaier and quantitative analyst Jamie Hall demonstrate that a single-payer health care system would leave most households financially worse off. “After accounting for both the tax increases and the reductions in private spending for health insurance and medical care, we find that average annual household disposable income would decline by $5,671 (or 11 percent) under a new government-run health care program. Among households with employer-sponsored health benefits, 87.2 percent would be worse off financially under a new government-run health care program, and their annual disposable income would be $10,554 lower, on average,” Haislmaier and Hall write. Learn more about how Medicare for All would affect you.

Community Leaders Praise Heritage’s Citizenship Project
Heritage’s Edwin J. Feulner Institute recently hosted its inaugural Citizenship Project, a training program designed to cultivate local leaders. The Citizenship Project aims to counter the attack on America’s founding principles by the media and school systems. More than 20 community leaders from eight different states attended, and gave glowing reviews. “You have been a true example of what our country must be like and, as always, it is because of our fearless leader, Mrs. Kay Coles James, who sets the example and makes her words become reality.” Read more about the success of the Citizenship Project.

As Congress Procrastinates, Heritage Supports Reform to Budget Process
Congress passed a short-term spending bill Thursday to fund the government and prevent a shutdown for at least the next few weeks. But all the bill really accomplishes is to kick the can down the road yet again. What Congress should do instead, according to Justin Bogie, a senior policy analyst in Heritage's Grover M. Hermann Center for the Federal Budget, is fix two major aspects of our broken budgetary process with the Budget Process Enhancement Act. The bill would first remove from the Congressional Budget Office’s baseline the assumption that federal programs grow at the rate of inflation. Second, it would institute a “no budget, no pay” policy that would mandate that lawmakers would receive no pay until they pass a budget resolution if they miss the April 15 deadline. “Now is the time for Congress to implement reforms to reduce spending and create a better functioning budget process. The ideas represented in the Budget Process Enhancement Act are a welcome first step,” writes Bogie. Keep reading Bogie’s commentary on how to fix our broken budgetary process.

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Does Christianity have a future in America? Ross Douthat, a columnist for the New York Times, recently discussed the various worldviews currently competing to claim the religious center, and sketched out scenarios for our religious future. Watch the event.

Kay Coles James, president of the The Heritage Foundation, has advice on how to talk with liberals at the Thanksgiving dinner table. “The mix of political views at holiday gatherings can create some tense moments. However, there’s no need to dread conflict during dinner. In fact, a conversation handled the right way may actually show your family that they have more in common than they think,” writes James. Read more of her advice for your Thanksgiving gathering.

Here are the highlights from interviews on Fox Business, Fox News, Yahoo Finance and more featuring Heritage experts. This week, they touched on hot topics like impeachment, Medicare for All, crony capitalism, Hong Kong and more. Watch the video.