The Mercers? DeMint NOT sufficiently pro-Trump? I guess we should start calling the GOP the Heritage Foundation since money backers seem to have so much to say? And given how much the Mercers appear to support a Bannon world view, there's nothing to worry about, right? Nothing to see here!
35
Why is it that Trump's appointment of Gorsuch is so oiten hailed as a "triumph". He was handed a list by the Federalist Society, probably stacked" by the likes of the Devos, Mercer, and Koch family dynasties. Then, after he managed to avoid answering most of the questions from the Judiciary Committee, the nominee was rammed through using mob tactics. All this after robbing the millions of Obama voters, who put him in office (twice), of what should have been their representative on on the court. Calling that an "achievement" is almost as big a joke as Trump himself.
62
Sing it to the rafters so that all the Trump supporters up there can hear that Trump is the puppet not the master. Heritage Foundation and other far right groups are in control. Trump did not choose Gorsuch, he doesn't have a clue about healthcare or tax reform. He didn't have an opinion on his cabinet picks.
Trump doesn't think about policy. His only condition when doing the bidding of others is that he be allowed to turn it into a spectacle.
Trump doesn't think about policy. His only condition when doing the bidding of others is that he be allowed to turn it into a spectacle.
35
Heritage used to be a highly respected think tank until their leaders brought in crackpot, DeMint. Good riddance!
10
When people like Ed Meese come up, isn't it this news organization's obligation to mention he was forced to resign as Attorney General under the cloud of corruption popularly known as the Wedtech Scandal?
Please stop whitewashing and normalizing the conservative Republican criminals who have been caught preying on the U.S. government and its taxpayers. Perhaps if voters remembered more about these greedy lawbreakers they might stop electing more of the same.
Please stop whitewashing and normalizing the conservative Republican criminals who have been caught preying on the U.S. government and its taxpayers. Perhaps if voters remembered more about these greedy lawbreakers they might stop electing more of the same.
44
Remember when George Bush, Sr. left office and all the Reagan/Bush operatives ran like rats from a sinking ship? That isn't unusual but many of them went to high-level jobs outside the country.
The rats are leaving the ship again. Bannon, Roger Ailes, Bill O'Reilly,
Jim De Mint, House Investigative supposed chair Chaffetz - the list goes on and on.
Where are they going to pop up now? You can bet they have nothing good in mind for America, average Americans or average people around the world.
We will now witness the great white money flight out of the United States of America, just as the white/wealthiest fled Detroit and other "rust belt" cities it took over and sucked the wealth from then moved on.
The International Mafia Robber Baron gang is hard at work trying to dismantle America and leave we dumb "peons" with the dregs. HIS tory over and over. War-death-destruction fueled by fear-anger-hate- LIES, LIES, LIES and insatiable greed.
Will WE allow it to stand in America? WE THE PEOPLE are the only ones who can stop it. Will we stop it? Count me in!
The rats are leaving the ship again. Bannon, Roger Ailes, Bill O'Reilly,
Jim De Mint, House Investigative supposed chair Chaffetz - the list goes on and on.
Where are they going to pop up now? You can bet they have nothing good in mind for America, average Americans or average people around the world.
We will now witness the great white money flight out of the United States of America, just as the white/wealthiest fled Detroit and other "rust belt" cities it took over and sucked the wealth from then moved on.
The International Mafia Robber Baron gang is hard at work trying to dismantle America and leave we dumb "peons" with the dregs. HIS tory over and over. War-death-destruction fueled by fear-anger-hate- LIES, LIES, LIES and insatiable greed.
Will WE allow it to stand in America? WE THE PEOPLE are the only ones who can stop it. Will we stop it? Count me in!
14
Could someone explain to me, why people like the Mercers, the Kochs, and their like minded billionaires are so hell bent on making life miserable for us regular folks? All of them have more $$ than they could ever possibly need or spend. Rebekah Mercer has the nerve to paint herself as something of an evangelical. Why can't they just mind their own business, enjoy that they have a quality of life that most of us can't begin to imagine, and leave the rest of us alone?
Is it that they feel they must extract every last cent they can from a populace and country that enabled them to acquire such wealth? These people are not only greedy, self-serving, power mad, and hateful - they're sadistic. Their goal, is to make sure not one cent is spent to relieve the pain and suffering of the rest of us. One can only conclude that they simply don't care if people die needlessly, and that they quite possibly hope for it. Is this the Heritage they're busily pursuing? What a sick bunch.
Is it that they feel they must extract every last cent they can from a populace and country that enabled them to acquire such wealth? These people are not only greedy, self-serving, power mad, and hateful - they're sadistic. Their goal, is to make sure not one cent is spent to relieve the pain and suffering of the rest of us. One can only conclude that they simply don't care if people die needlessly, and that they quite possibly hope for it. Is this the Heritage they're busily pursuing? What a sick bunch.
66
They believe God made the Earth for them, and gave them the money to prove it.
27
One down.
7
There is no resolution to the ACA, short of total repeal, that will keep these far-right wing nuts happy. And the compromise bills that have surfaced will drive away the still-supportive Trump fanatics.
10
Go ahead and drop him! And while they're at it, they should also close their doors.
19
How does the Heritage retain it's non-profit status? It has become nothing more than a political vehicle for its wealthy board members to promote their self-interested policy dictates to a hapless and inept Republican party. The IRS should revoke their status.
32
1. Maybe their research refutes the wackiness of The White House.
2. Maybe the research can't keep up with nightly tweets.
3. Maybe outright crazy is more popular than reactionary in DC.
Always a pleasure to see the right, alt-right, and neocons eat their own.
2. Maybe the research can't keep up with nightly tweets.
3. Maybe outright crazy is more popular than reactionary in DC.
Always a pleasure to see the right, alt-right, and neocons eat their own.
21
I want to use this space to answer Peter Wehner's assertion in today's Times:
"This isn’t to say that Mr. Trump has no successes to speak of. His appointment of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court was a masterful stroke; so was the naming of much of his foreign policy team, with the notable exception of the former national security adviser Michael Flynn."
Too generous by far!
1) Senate Republicans (who like to show off their little pocket Constitutions) shamefully refuse to act in accordance with the Constitution & steal the SCOTUS seat for Trump. 2) Heritage makes the list. 3) Trump chooses one. 4) The choice is so extremist that the Democrats filibuster, so that... 5) the Republicans change their own rules to get the Justice approved.
What's masterful about that?
As for the foreign policy team: MacMaster may be competent but he's fighting off Bannon; Tillerson is weak, incompetent, & compromised by conflicts of interest; Haley speaks at odds with others--always as hawkish as possible. & let's not forget the Cat-that-ate-Canary smile on Bibi's face when meeting Trump--knowing that Trump's Israel policy will be executed by Trump's son-in-law, his real estate lawyer, & his bankruptcy lawyer. Let's also not forget that the State Dept is lacking hundreds (or, as Trump might say, "hundreds and hundreds") of appointees, including key ambassadors, and that Trump proposes cutting State Dept budget by over 30%.
What kind of team is that?
"This isn’t to say that Mr. Trump has no successes to speak of. His appointment of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court was a masterful stroke; so was the naming of much of his foreign policy team, with the notable exception of the former national security adviser Michael Flynn."
Too generous by far!
1) Senate Republicans (who like to show off their little pocket Constitutions) shamefully refuse to act in accordance with the Constitution & steal the SCOTUS seat for Trump. 2) Heritage makes the list. 3) Trump chooses one. 4) The choice is so extremist that the Democrats filibuster, so that... 5) the Republicans change their own rules to get the Justice approved.
What's masterful about that?
As for the foreign policy team: MacMaster may be competent but he's fighting off Bannon; Tillerson is weak, incompetent, & compromised by conflicts of interest; Haley speaks at odds with others--always as hawkish as possible. & let's not forget the Cat-that-ate-Canary smile on Bibi's face when meeting Trump--knowing that Trump's Israel policy will be executed by Trump's son-in-law, his real estate lawyer, & his bankruptcy lawyer. Let's also not forget that the State Dept is lacking hundreds (or, as Trump might say, "hundreds and hundreds") of appointees, including key ambassadors, and that Trump proposes cutting State Dept budget by over 30%.
What kind of team is that?
35
The incompetence of the Trump administration cannot be countered by an outside group. Fact is, let me go a step down the treadmill of incompetence,no group, no individual, no Congressional body, can make Donald a thoughtful, realistic, ethical president. Whether Demint or some other idealogue -populist, socially liberal, states rightist, tax and spend and on and on- will control a narcissistic chameleon with no value or ideals, is a long, long shot.
A simple question- What are Trump's values and philosophy? Answer- NONE. OK, one. The applause of those standing next to him. The Heritage group is on a fool's mission. Molding silly putty into a lasting policy model aint happening.
What can Heritage do? Pray, we survive the next three years nine months.
A simple question- What are Trump's values and philosophy? Answer- NONE. OK, one. The applause of those standing next to him. The Heritage group is on a fool's mission. Molding silly putty into a lasting policy model aint happening.
What can Heritage do? Pray, we survive the next three years nine months.
13
He needs to make time for his upcoming run. If the Rubes will buy Trump they should buy him.
Like the Cato Institute and the American Enterprise Institute, the Heritage Foundation is not a "think tank" but an institute for right-wing propaganda.
30
This article may show that Demint is a victim of his own success by having moved the Republican Party so far to the right (alt.-right?).
4
The pretense that these political "think tanks" are bona fide educational institutions deserving of tax preferences is one of the bigger insults to intelligence in the US.
34
Just another symptom of disarray when so-called conservatives have all the levers of governing. Not interested in it, inept in it.
7
The asylum inmates are now in charge. Trump can appoint thousands of them. We did not just elect Trump. We elected a cadre of incompetence. And worse yet, there is no Democratic Congress to check his power. Neither will the courts when he stacks them full of Scalia types.
Welcome to the beginning of the end of democracy. Welcome to the beginning of authoritarian power. America will never be the same.
Welcome to the beginning of the end of democracy. Welcome to the beginning of authoritarian power. America will never be the same.
10
It is pretty clear what "heritage" they're talking about now.
6
This Halloween, Jim DeMint should go trick-or-treating dressed up as Ernst Rohm. It would be a perfect outfit on multiple levels given the wackiness of this crowd.
7
Wow, Jim DeMint isn't extreme enough for the Heritage Foundation & Rebekah Mercer? This says much about the intent & direction of conservative propaganda tanks & their wealthy patrons. Perhaps Ms. Mercer should bring in Richard Spencer to lead Heritage & we can have a Trump true believer leading the charge to make America great (for white supremacist & religious conservatives) again. After all as Goldwater really meant to say "extremism in the defense of plutocracy is no vice! And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of conservative hegemony is no virtue".
8
Aw, what a shame. The spoiled-rotten wealthy cannot make the public accept their rotten-to-the-core agenda so they fire the rotten person in charge of making the public accept a rotten dog's breakfast, Jim DeMint.
When the wealthy are finally turned away from the levers of power, we will have taken OUR democracy back. I am not holding my breath.
As Lee Marvin said in Cat Ballou, "All flesh is grass, your honor. And one's job is to cut out the rot."
When the wealthy are finally turned away from the levers of power, we will have taken OUR democracy back. I am not holding my breath.
As Lee Marvin said in Cat Ballou, "All flesh is grass, your honor. And one's job is to cut out the rot."
5
These people can own the venues where votes really count in this shell game.
1
The irony, of course, is that one of the main underpinnings of Obamacare - the individual mandates - were proposed by Heritage. When President Obama adopted them as part of the ACA, suddenly they became the greatest evil known to man.
Why, it's almost like the right was hypocritically bashing Obamacare for political gain.
Why, it's almost like the right was hypocritically bashing Obamacare for political gain.
20
And it is exactly why they cannot come up with a replacement plan. Obamacare is the republican plan.
16
Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy. Schadenfreude!
3
I can respect a conservative viewpoint. Reducing government spending is reason enough to repeal the Affordable Care Act. If your goal is to reduce the deficit, then I can see why you would fight for it. But that would mean you would also fight against Trump's tax plan. Projected estimate has the deficit increasing to $7 Trillion in ten years. That's $7,000,000,000,000! And if you don't fight, then the credibility of your organization is called into question. The Heritage's argument for repealing the ACA becomes a thinly veiled attempts to thwart the legislation from a president who just happen to be Black. Which means it was never about cost. It was always about race. That means the Heritage Foundation is just an extension of the Ku Klax Klan, Hitler's Nazis and Steve Bannon's puppet (aka, President Trump). I certainly hope that's not the case. Didn't Feulner say "The best way to put more money in people's wallets is to leave it there in the first place." But if he doesn't and just becomes one of Trump's lackey, that means the Heritage has another key decision to make: should you go with hoods or swastika armbands for future meetings.
8
"Military justice is to justice what military music is to music. " (Clemenceau.)
And the Heritage Foundation is to thinking as nonsense is to wisdom, and falling down is dancing.
And the Heritage Foundation is to thinking as nonsense is to wisdom, and falling down is dancing.
4
It's time for the Heritage Foundation to own up to designing the foundational plan for what is now called ObamaCare, and their confounding opposition to it the moment Obama reached across the aisle to adopt their outline. And by "own up" I don't mean pulling at threads to prove that the finished product was somehow different from their design; I mean admitting that ObamaCare is fundamentally a conservative concept and the only reason they've fought it is because they won't work with Democrats at all, ever, and the country be damned.
11
I especially appreciated the authors' use of the adjective: "high-fiber" in reference to the Heritage Foundation's white-papers. Use of the more obvious and descriptive adjective would have been difficult because they could not easily "publish-it".
3
It is institutions like the Heritage Foundation and the National Rifle Association that have divided the country and intensified the bitterness in the American political scene. It is one thing to push ones principles, it is another to put those principles above the best interests of the entire country. I see these influences on the current Republican party Un-American. They are actually undermining our entire political system and more dangerous than the Communist scares of the 1950s. In fact their tactics are not unlike the old Communist Party.
4
No mention of the Kochs.
Isn't this entity the spawn of their billions?
Citizens United and the Burwell cases, given to us by the activist, right-wing judges of the SCOTUS, have ruined our democracy.
Isn't this entity the spawn of their billions?
Citizens United and the Burwell cases, given to us by the activist, right-wing judges of the SCOTUS, have ruined our democracy.
8
Why don't the Mercer's and the Koch Brothers just quit messing around trying to redecorate America to suit their business temperament and political proclivities and do us all a favor by picking a country more suitable for their experiment. Costa Rica is a nice place. They seem to like American money. Or maybe one of those Caribbean countries that have little to no government and are already free from taxation.
Citizens United is less than a decade old and has almost destroyed our democracy by allowing billions of dollars from the billionaire and corporate classes to flood our politics and electoral process.
Between the Koch Brothers funding a command and control center to install their agents into elected offices across all states and local precincts, and the Mercer's hidden influence through algorithmic data mining America's elections are no longer free nor fair. By any quaint or former standard.
They and their like-minded deep pocketed friends should do us all the favor of picking a country that really is plagued by the troubles they long to fix or try and make over in their professed ideologies, and show the world how a successful far right (or alt right) utopia is supposed to work.
Citizens United is less than a decade old and has almost destroyed our democracy by allowing billions of dollars from the billionaire and corporate classes to flood our politics and electoral process.
Between the Koch Brothers funding a command and control center to install their agents into elected offices across all states and local precincts, and the Mercer's hidden influence through algorithmic data mining America's elections are no longer free nor fair. By any quaint or former standard.
They and their like-minded deep pocketed friends should do us all the favor of picking a country that really is plagued by the troubles they long to fix or try and make over in their professed ideologies, and show the world how a successful far right (or alt right) utopia is supposed to work.
11
"According to one person familiar with the reasons behind his ouster, Mr. DeMint was blamed for not positioning Heritage to make a more effective and convincing case for a full repeal of the Affordable Care Act."
That's because there is no effective and convincing case for a full repeal of the ACA.
That's because there is no effective and convincing case for a full repeal of the ACA.
5
The good news here is that nefarious "Dark Money" that is ruining American Democracy is coming into the light. As these plutocrats reveal themselves, it will be the work of Congress to correct it with responsible tax reform and campaign finance reform. It is a complex and difficult job and one that few in Congress have the heroics needed to take it on.
1
Heritage Foundation - by the rich and for the rich.
2
When he was a U.S. senator, Jim DeMint smugly proclaimed that the Affordable Care Act was going to be Obama's Waterloo. Well, as we all know, Obama got reelected, DeMint left the senate for the Heritage Foundation (where he made big bucks), the ACA has turned into the GOP's Waterloo, and DeMint got booted out of Heritage. But the irony isn't sweet enough because DeMint is still doing well financially and the Heritage Foundation is still with us.
4
The ACA is the target of so much Republican and Tea Party anger because it is the biggest effort of the Obama administration to reverse inequality. The repeal of Obamacare is not a healthcare plan but a huge tax cut for the rich; - 24 million people less insured and $600 billion to the 1%.
5
"DeMint was blamed for not positioning Heritage to make a more effective and convincing case for a full repeal of the Affordable Care Act"
There is no effective and convincing case for repeal. The only argument for repeal is ideology and the idea that the less well off and the previously sick deserve no health care. There is no reality-based case, though there is room for improving the ACA or replacing it with some version of the universal health care found in the rest of the developed world.
There is no effective and convincing case for repeal. The only argument for repeal is ideology and the idea that the less well off and the previously sick deserve no health care. There is no reality-based case, though there is room for improving the ACA or replacing it with some version of the universal health care found in the rest of the developed world.
3
What the politicians know that the .01% who wish to dismantle the social safety net don't know, is they don't have 99.9% of the vote.
A few weeks ago I went to two town hall meetings. This is in a solid Republican, Trump voting town. Greg Walden's town hall meeting had close to a thousand participants. It was raucous though not violent, with a strong police presence. I was shocked that two thirds of those there came out to strongly support ACA, Planned Parenthood and better VA health care. This is a poor area that has benefited tremendously from ACA.
On the other hand, Pete DeFazio's town hall meeting had about 200 people and he was speaking to the choir of Democratic supporters.
It doesn't ultimately matter what the .01% want, they don't have the votes. You can fool most of the people most of the time, but not all of the people all of the time. People want a stronger safety net in this time of major economic change, not less.
Trump was elected because he promised to protect American middle class workers. He said there would be a better health care plan that would cover more people, with more choice at a lower cost. He talked of big infrastructure projects to get people working again. People want jobs and economic security. If they can't have that they want a safety net.
A few weeks ago I went to two town hall meetings. This is in a solid Republican, Trump voting town. Greg Walden's town hall meeting had close to a thousand participants. It was raucous though not violent, with a strong police presence. I was shocked that two thirds of those there came out to strongly support ACA, Planned Parenthood and better VA health care. This is a poor area that has benefited tremendously from ACA.
On the other hand, Pete DeFazio's town hall meeting had about 200 people and he was speaking to the choir of Democratic supporters.
It doesn't ultimately matter what the .01% want, they don't have the votes. You can fool most of the people most of the time, but not all of the people all of the time. People want a stronger safety net in this time of major economic change, not less.
Trump was elected because he promised to protect American middle class workers. He said there would be a better health care plan that would cover more people, with more choice at a lower cost. He talked of big infrastructure projects to get people working again. People want jobs and economic security. If they can't have that they want a safety net.
4
who needs an elected government when you have the Heritage Foundation and Grover Norquist to run America? Into the ground
2
Well, that settles it. Now that DeMint is out at Heritage, the GOP can finally be productive in their regressive agenda! Whew! And here I was thinking all along that GOP Senators and Congressman were simply petrified to put to paper(law) their right wing campaign catch phrases for fear of waking up their electorate to the ill effects their policies will have on them. There is going to be a "great awakening"(and it will not be pretty) of GOP voters when they realize that their own party leaders have been treating them exactly the way that Leo Strauss espoused and exactly the way that former president Obama identified: "Keep them religious and armed and the financial and intellectual elites can do anything they want."
4
The Heritage Foundation is schizophrenic. The ACA, and its Romney Care predecessor, incorporate many recommendations of the Heritage Foundation from the 1990s. These recommendations were predicated on what would be needed to make a health care law actually work. As Republicans are learning, laws actually have to have a good chance of actually working, if you want legislators to vote for them.
2
The ACA was based on Romneycare in Massachusetts, which was in turn based a program that was initially proposed by the Heritage foundation. The Heritage foundation believed that providing private insurers with subsidies was the most "capitalist" solution to our health insurance. It is ironic that the Heritage foundation is now the main opposition to its own idea.
2
No ideology, no think tank, no number of political-style rallies can take away the actual real true empirical verifiable FACT on the ground among the people that the ACA has done a lot of good for a lot of people. The far right wing and its wholly owned subsidiary, the GOP, are so far removed from the populace that they fail to grasp this. The best thing the GOP could do now is "Repair & Re-brand" and get on to some serious governing. Like infrastructure. In the time that elapses doing these adult things, maybe some clear heads will prevail over tax "reform" because that, right now, has the potential to be an even bigger fiasco for them. You can shuffle all the far right "thinkers" until the cows come home. But we still do, as recent town halls show, live in a democracy.
3
If his removal was because he was perceived as not Pro Trump enough the big money is changing the very focus of this Conservative Think Tank. Are we seeing a movement more closely aligned with the more extreme right? It is obvious the real focus of this think tank is big donor money not political philosophy.
1
About a year ago Jim DeMint was bragging to his former congressional colleagues that his salary went from 150K to one million. That didn't last long.
1
Heritage and Jim DeMint are getting what they deserve. Heritage and other groups have been moving farther and farther to the right but not to the degree as the "Freedom Caucus". If there were no Freedom Caucus a more moderate bill would have been possible perhaps keeping enough of the ACA to satisfy much of the majority of Americans who want to keep the ACA's range of coverage. Replacing DeMint will only move the farther to the right. It looks to me as if moderates who listen to their constituents will prevail on health care and Trump and Ryan will go down again. The NY Times carried this article on DeMint and Heritage back in 2014. DeMint may be a victim of his deceitful success. The Mercers are extremists who only because of their money and questionable alliances are having the effect on American politics the are having.
1
Where is Schumer's pledge that his sole aim is to make trump a one term president? McConnell has already set the example following suit with the most aggressive filibustering campaign in US history declaring that all Obama legislation should be blocked regardless of merit. Come on Schumer get with it!
1
Unfortunately, many just as bad ready to take his place. Among the worst of the products of the 'think tank' are the drafts of legislation for state legislatures.
2
Given that the ACA repeal completely flopped in every possible way and Bannon was basically banished, it makes sense for Heritage to change figureheads. I am fascinated by the ongoing civil war within the GOP. They are all still vying for proximity and influence to Trump. Trump truly is the modern version of the emperor with no clothes on.
33
Only sycophancy binds a political party comprised of polyglot single-issue obsessives.
Sorry to be indelicate, but what the NY Times is describing when it talks about a billionaire family basically directing the actions of the leader of the US is a plutocracy and oligarchy. The Mercers and a small group of other extremely wealthy people like them have long had an outsized voice at the table of our democracy, and clearly their influence keeps growing, at the expense of the 99%.
Jim DeMint was an extremely right-wing conservative US Senator, so it's saying something that despite his having helped staff--or stuff--Trump's White House and the new administration, and despite engineering Neil Gorsuch's ascendance to the Supreme Court, he's insufficiently pro-Trump and extreme for at least one or more of the Mercers, and is out on his ear.
This is a rotten system, and it needs a total reform!
Jim DeMint was an extremely right-wing conservative US Senator, so it's saying something that despite his having helped staff--or stuff--Trump's White House and the new administration, and despite engineering Neil Gorsuch's ascendance to the Supreme Court, he's insufficiently pro-Trump and extreme for at least one or more of the Mercers, and is out on his ear.
This is a rotten system, and it needs a total reform!
190
There appears to be a tension within the so-called Republican party between Representatives who are ducking or fleeing from their own town hall meetings with citizens (purportedly "paid activists") out of fear for the consequences of wrecking positive public policy and these folks for whom the extreme right-winger Jim DeMint is not ... close enough to Trump. Thus the internal civil war. But it may be that DeMint, whom I despise, is actually a conservative and that explains why he's not close enough to Trump, who has no political ideology. The Mercers don't appear to have any really coherent conservative beliefs, either. Just a class of people for whom money buys influence to shape the world to their elitist liking. The "basket" of deplorables concept needs to be expanded to, perhaps, a "bushel."
30
This rotten system, your correct words, was brought to us by US voters not paying attention to their own self-interest. They allow gerrymandering and with or without it, they have handed us the Congress we have, voting for people who care about the 1% and no one else. They did not, of course, give us Trump. That was courtesy the antiquated electoral system that produced two disastrous presidencies in 16 years, despite the will of the majority.
thank you for getting to the point we should all be paying attention to. the whole aca thing is a diversion from the basic issue - the wealthy controlling our politics.
Most people especially those who did not have health care love ACA and the subsidy it provides. What Trumpkins did not like is Obama's skin color but not the insurance he espouses. ACA repeal and replacement will be withdrawn regardless how much DT, Heritage or Kock brother try to dismantle it.
48
At the end of the day, it's all about the GOP retaining their seats in the House and in the Senate. They won't vote for something that is akin to political hari kari, and all the Mercers in the world can't force someone to go vote - or not vote - unless they come out from underneath their rocks and openly take over the government through a coup, killing ALL of the politicians, ALL of the existing judges, and ALL of the current generals, etc. at the end of our armed forces, and a good portion of the general population besides. I think they're willing to do it, but they'll do it by engineering a Trump nuclear war, while they hide safely in their hidey holes 100s of feet below ground with all the looted antiquities from ISIR in the Middle East and the left-overs from the Nazis from the Jews during WWII. When they emerge, of course, there won't be anybody left but themselves, a fate they will well deserve.
1
The Heritage org is by name divisive and exclusionary.Its goals,by intent, are to force outdated and regressive ideas on current American society that has to change to survive and compete for leadership
It is always good to know that billionaire hedge fund babies are working so hard to sink anyone who is still coming up for the third time. When Jim DeMint isn't conservative enough for a group, you have a serious reason to worry.
Why don't we all cut to the chase, sign over any assets to the donor class that we still have down here in the middle class, and be done with it. And why don't we all accept that if God wanted us to survive, He'd have made us billionaire hedge fund managers.
Why don't we all cut to the chase, sign over any assets to the donor class that we still have down here in the middle class, and be done with it. And why don't we all accept that if God wanted us to survive, He'd have made us billionaire hedge fund managers.
89
Didn't Heritage conceive of the major structure of what became the ACA, especially the penalties for non-participants, in helping to put together RomneyCare in Massachusetts?
When a "think tank" removes its head, because he hasn't pledged sufficient fealty to a particular person, it becomes staggeringly clear that there's actual thinking happening after all.
24
Conservative think-tank = oxymoron.
"To these board members, the research suffered."
As I dab my morning coffee from the computer screen.
As I dab my morning coffee from the computer screen.
57
LS says, "How do we make the Mercers go away?" and I have to say that was my first thought when, once again, her name pops up in the middle of controversy.
39
The Heritage Foundation is what is wrong with the Republican Party. It has the same mission as the NRA which is to intimidate the Congress and pump propaganda into the GOP echo chamber. It is a nasty bunch which is fueled by the wealth that came out of our democratic system. It does not recognize two sides of the story and the collectivism intended in our Constitution and Bill of Rights.
How do you develop countermeasures against this kind of malice?
How do you develop countermeasures against this kind of malice?
90
May they all may they all die horrible deaths with no insurance coverage, the Mercer's in particular.
48
"May they all may they all die horrible deaths with no insurance coverage, the Mercer's in particular."
Ah yes. The charitable tolerant Left. Always seeking to show the Conservatives how mean nand spiteful they are.
Ah yes. The charitable tolerant Left. Always seeking to show the Conservatives how mean nand spiteful they are.
Rebekah Mercer, Koch brothers and Donald Trump - spoiled brats wanting what they shouldn't have and the rest of us seen as afterthoughts, if not thought of at all.
78
Not the way it is. It's about a direction for the country where budgets and spending and giveaways like "free college" do not steam ahead unchecked until all of us are crushed by it.
It really beats me why unbelievably rich people are so eager to make themselves even richer. Especially elderly rich people. Possibly they see it as an absolute good, much like Sir Epicure Mammon in Jonson's play The Alchemist. Or maybe its no more than what Schopenhauer taught us, that "acquiring wealth is like drinking sea water—the more you drink, the thirstier you become. (And the same is true of fame)"—the second clause perhaps shedding some light on Trump's public conduct.
The thing about "free college" Kim, is that it would result in an"educated citizenry. So rather than a "giveaway" it is sound investment in the future of the country. But some would rather have an ignorant citizenry.
3
A nonprofit think tank!, give us a break. Tanks don't think. They are trash containers.
49
Outfits like this need to be banned at this point in my opinion.
Edwin Feulner, a founding member of the Heritage Foundation, is the epitome of reactionary thought. His philosophy stems from the school of Leo Strauss who advocated unchanging views of human behavior, authoritarians for its leaders, and using lying and deception to hold onto power.
Studying his background shows he is more a menace to decent society than the man he is replacing. The Heritage Foundation moving unwittingly towards a return of an ice age as their philosophy snuffs out humanity, and leaves the land barren.
Studying his background shows he is more a menace to decent society than the man he is replacing. The Heritage Foundation moving unwittingly towards a return of an ice age as their philosophy snuffs out humanity, and leaves the land barren.
26
He slipped and said CSA rather than CPA too many times. Or vice-versa.
The donor class might note the word treason is beginning to be associated with them. As it should be.
Too much real hair, the suit fits over the gut a little better, hands that actually did a bit of work ......
The donor class might note the word treason is beginning to be associated with them. As it should be.
Too much real hair, the suit fits over the gut a little better, hands that actually did a bit of work ......
11
I would love to get my hands on some of Heritage Foundation's "research". As far as Ian concerned, they are a purely political organization and operate from political premises in all of their white papers. They bring us the "alternative" climate change facts and the "research" supporting counseling therapy to,"heal" gay and lesbian citizens. They push debunked economic theories, and supporting private and religious schools with taxpayer funds. I hope the backlash from the Trump debacle will shut down their influence, at least until the Mercers have something else to focus on.
37
The dismantling of Obamacare can have consequences not only for the insured but for the snakes in a barrel who would deny and abolish the coverage. Sweet justice, at last.
11
So well-written.
7
This group has done more damage than can be listed here. The Mercer's are crazy billionaire's with a hedge fund and a need to make certain they can do whatever they want and to heck with all others in society.
Robert may indeed be exceedingly smart and Rebekah may have been pulled from the right crotch, but their vision in selfish, weird and does very little to make the world we actually live in (as opposed to the fantasy world of their ideas) a better place to live and thrive. No evolutionary advantage there.
Robert may indeed be exceedingly smart and Rebekah may have been pulled from the right crotch, but their vision in selfish, weird and does very little to make the world we actually live in (as opposed to the fantasy world of their ideas) a better place to live and thrive. No evolutionary advantage there.
27
Richard Mellon Scaife passes into the great beyond and now there's the Mercers.
27
NYT: how about a deep analysis of what a true "think tank" looks like, and a comparison of HF and other so-called think tanks to that analysis? Are the the people that are purportedly "thinking" at Heritage actually scholars? What are their credentials? How well researched are their writings? How have their "thought pieces" changed over time based on the change in donors over time? Compare to other left and right think tanks. Etc.
26
Perhaps the Heritage Foundation can eventually regain the respect it lost by associating with the Neanderthals, but it won't be anytime soon.
This is a start anyway.
This is a start anyway.
5
Isn't it time we called a spade a spade Trump, Bannon, De Mint, the Heritage Foundation, and all the other creatures that have emerged from the sewer- not conservatives, not populists, but out and o ut fascists, or in more current vernacular: "neo-fascists."
53
With neo-fascism we don't even get trains that run on time. Great!
Thanks for that...my thoughts exactly!
Well, if the HF stuck to their original anti-everything agenda, they would not be backing Trump. But I have no doubt this man will land on his feet somewhere along side of Trump. His replacement isn't any better.
Now let's have a big piece of chocolate cake and wait for the American people to wake up and realize they voted in an egotist who with his policies is only helping himself and his family to greater wealth and power. Americans are just coach potatoes to him since he sees himself as the host of a TV game show called "America!!"!! Just doesn't realize his Neilsen ratings are plummeting. All the Mercer money in the world can't put lipstick on this pig!!!
Now let's have a big piece of chocolate cake and wait for the American people to wake up and realize they voted in an egotist who with his policies is only helping himself and his family to greater wealth and power. Americans are just coach potatoes to him since he sees himself as the host of a TV game show called "America!!"!! Just doesn't realize his Neilsen ratings are plummeting. All the Mercer money in the world can't put lipstick on this pig!!!
20
Does anyone else think this move is to help clear the way for big thinker Steve Bannon?
20
That is a horrifying thought. But, I'll bet you're right. Electing a firewall in '18 is imperative.
6
Mercer machinations, DeMint is out, soon to be replaced by another wealthy old white guy looking to get wealthier through the hard labor of pressing flesh, fine dining and using a phone. - #whatelseisnew?
Meanwhile, we are still waiting on those Trump tax returns. - #nothappening
Trump - #oneterm
Meanwhile, we are still waiting on those Trump tax returns. - #nothappening
Trump - #oneterm
33
hopefully less than #oneterm
5
Lemmings with suicide vests, indeed.
17
It is funny to be reminded that the Heritage Foundation passes itself off as a "think tank", for we've seen nothing resembling thought from these people in decades but only propaganda fraudulently dressed up as research.
61
DeMint is the con in conservative. He and Newt and Armey and Ryan are all government grifters. They trash the government, while living off its spoils.
65
Three of the four persons you named as "government grifters" are not in any state or national government posts whatever. DeMint resigned from the Senate to take a job in a no-think tank. Armey was defeated and now is a private citizen making a living God-knows how. Gingrich is a writer and orator. None of them lives "off government spoils."
4
"They trash the government, while living off its spoils."
That is how they know that anyone who receives a government benefit is just gaming the system. It is all they know. It just is who they are.
That is how they know that anyone who receives a government benefit is just gaming the system. It is all they know. It just is who they are.
9
@dmh8620
You are correct that DeMint, Armey, and Gingrich are no longer public employees.
But they are living off of politics as lobbyists and selling their political films and books, and getting paid by people like the Kochs and Mercers. Remember Armey helped Freedom Works get the Tea Party going.
None of that would have happened if those three had not first been elected politicians.
You are correct that DeMint, Armey, and Gingrich are no longer public employees.
But they are living off of politics as lobbyists and selling their political films and books, and getting paid by people like the Kochs and Mercers. Remember Armey helped Freedom Works get the Tea Party going.
None of that would have happened if those three had not first been elected politicians.
2
I just love this! DeMint gets sacked for not being sufficiently pro-Trump. And all the money people such as the Mercer's are calling the shots for Heritage to line up behind a failing government. Let them all fall down.
Perhaps, then, we can learn as a country that electing a populist disruptor is fine for that feel-good moment of sticking it to the inellectuals, the elites, the academics, and that great catch-all demon, Washington, but where it actually comes to government advancing the interests of it's people, such movements never do anyone any good--adan that's especially true if this doing all the supposed leading.
Again, let them all fall down.
Perhaps, then, we can learn as a country that electing a populist disruptor is fine for that feel-good moment of sticking it to the inellectuals, the elites, the academics, and that great catch-all demon, Washington, but where it actually comes to government advancing the interests of it's people, such movements never do anyone any good--adan that's especially true if this doing all the supposed leading.
Again, let them all fall down.
40
I agree with what you said. However, I think the Mercers and the rest of the billionaire class are lining up behind Trump because they will get big tax cuts.
They don't care about the deficits that will come with those tax cuts, what social programs to be cut including Social Security and Medicare, or that those deficits will be paid for by our children and grandchildren.
And then the Republicans will shout that Government is bad and people who only listen to right-wing media will continue voting for Republicans, a vicious circle.
They don't care about the deficits that will come with those tax cuts, what social programs to be cut including Social Security and Medicare, or that those deficits will be paid for by our children and grandchildren.
And then the Republicans will shout that Government is bad and people who only listen to right-wing media will continue voting for Republicans, a vicious circle.
2
If the Affordable Care Act provides benefits to even one low income person of color, it is contrary to the traditional public policies of South Carolina, would be an accurate rallying cry for the Heritage crew. DeMint probably forgot who brought him to the dance.
24
De Mint is a reflection of the classism, racism, paternalism, authoritarianism, and misogyny rampant in reactionary billionaire circles. He does not bring that quality to the table; he re-enforced what was already there.
9
The idea that the Heritage Foundation sees its "core mission as a research institution" is laughable. Researching what? Fiction? Debunked theories? Unicorns?
104
Researching ways to overturn democracy while maintaining the illusion that it exist. Now, that takes a bit of finesse - a quality the present administration totally lacks, thankfully.
15
On the one hand, we read that DeMint may be ousted for not being sufficiently pro-Trump, on the other is it because HF has been, under his watch, veering from it's core research mission. So which is it because it can't be both. Real research is dedicated to a search for truth not fealty to one man(child).
1
How do we make the Mercers go away?
117
No, how do we make the Kochs and all of them go away with her? Getting rid of one is meaningless. They are like cockroaches: one is disturbing, see two and you know there are thousands of them hiding in the walls.
Fumigate Congress and state legislatures by kicking conservative politicians to the curb.
Fumigate Congress and state legislatures by kicking conservative politicians to the curb.
11
and the Koch's. Much ado about one easily replaced. He was always just an advertising guy anyway.
10
"How do we make the Mercers go away?" This problem is systemic to contemporary American capitalism. We need to get back to the intent of the framers of our constitution. The framers would have been horrified by the so-called "Heritage" foundation, and the abnormal influence of a tiny group of billionaires (even adjusting for inflation, there were no billionaires in 1789). As described in "The Crisis of the Middle Class Constitution" (G. Sitaraman 2017), the solid middle class that existed in 1789 was essential to avoiding the kind of class warfare that we are devolving into now.
Real tax code reform would fix this (not the 2-page fake tax "reform" that the DJT team threw together). Obviously the odds of that happening at this time are poor. Sad!
Bottom line: no one needs a billion dollars. Even a comparatively benign billionaire like Michael Bloomberg, with the best of intentions, simply can't donate his wealth fast enough because there's too much of it (see "The Givers," David Callahan, 2017). For less public-spirited types, the excess cash sloshes into super-pacs and "think" tanks, where their worst impulses push this country in directions that the rest of us don't want any part of.
Real tax code reform would fix this (not the 2-page fake tax "reform" that the DJT team threw together). Obviously the odds of that happening at this time are poor. Sad!
Bottom line: no one needs a billion dollars. Even a comparatively benign billionaire like Michael Bloomberg, with the best of intentions, simply can't donate his wealth fast enough because there's too much of it (see "The Givers," David Callahan, 2017). For less public-spirited types, the excess cash sloshes into super-pacs and "think" tanks, where their worst impulses push this country in directions that the rest of us don't want any part of.
1
What a series of incongruent oxymoron's.. A) Heritage Foundation is a 'think' tank. B) The Tea Party can have a 'leader' and be part of a actual 'think' tank. C) Jim DeMint can be a 'leader' of any organization especially one called a 'think' tank!
48
"mountains of high-fiber white papers"?
I'm not sure I want to know where that metaphor is going.
I'm not sure I want to know where that metaphor is going.
22
politically correct?
Researchers (real ones, that is) release the results on white paper which, as most folks know, is made from fiber. High-fiber lasts longer.
Good God, Ed Meese is still alive? And he hangs out at a place called a think tank with people like Jim DeMint? Indeed!
30
The the Heritage foundation is not a "think tank." Just like so many other so-called "think tanks," it''s a propaganda mill. If any of its fellows ever had an original, objective thought, most likely he or she would have a cerebral hemorrhage.
67
As a "think tank" it can claim to be a non-profit and avoid - you know what's next, right? - taxes.
5
Good news if this far right nut-job group of Bible thumping seditionists moves further to right and marginalizes itself; it will never get anything important accomplished. They will never be able to lead and will never follow the sensible remnant of the party, and will always be the spoiler that kills Republican legislative progress.
19
Not quite. The libertarians own the GOP. They control who gets appointed to the federal court, which politicians get ample funding and which ones get primaried from the further far right, and which pieces of legislation are passed, including how those bills are worded.
Remember, the father of the Koch brothers was a founding member of the John Birch Society, which keeps a low profile but is alive and well and headquartered in Wisconsin. The JBS is ever bit as racist and authoritarian as the KKK. The only difference is that the KKK never cared much about anything except white male privilege; the JBS was rabidly anti-communist. They were behind Joe McCarthy, to give you a sense of how they stop at nothing to demonize people they don't like. This is the stuff David and Charles Koch are made of. They have learned that democracy is easier to buy than to overthrow by messier means. They are traitors.
Remember, the father of the Koch brothers was a founding member of the John Birch Society, which keeps a low profile but is alive and well and headquartered in Wisconsin. The JBS is ever bit as racist and authoritarian as the KKK. The only difference is that the KKK never cared much about anything except white male privilege; the JBS was rabidly anti-communist. They were behind Joe McCarthy, to give you a sense of how they stop at nothing to demonize people they don't like. This is the stuff David and Charles Koch are made of. They have learned that democracy is easier to buy than to overthrow by messier means. They are traitors.
6
DeMint, the next U.S. ambassador to somewhere1
9
"Every revolution devours its children" (paraphrase, and with thanks to Crane Brinton).
History/PoliSci 101.
Nothing new here, really.
Midterm elections are next on the menu.
History/PoliSci 101.
Nothing new here, really.
Midterm elections are next on the menu.
15
It will be his Waterloo. It will break him ...
Karma.
Karma.
20
Heritage is a font of evil courtesy of the top CEOS of the US.
15
It's not a think tank. It's a propaganda pool.
48
Can you please stop calling collections of short-sighted greedy planet destroying numbskulls 'think-tanks. Thanks
54
That those who have so much nonetheless want so much more for themselves and can justify, at least in their own diseased, selfish minds, that there should be so little for anyone else is likely to end up bringing this country to a really bad place. Then, there will be nothing left for anybody.
Anyone who has yet to read Pankaj Mishra's piece, "America, From Exceptionalism to Nihilism" in today's Times should do so. It's stark, brilliant and scary.
And we will deserve what we get because we have been so unwilling -- or maybe just unable -- to confront what we really are, what we have lost and what we need to regain.
And, please, don't doubt that the inability to confront the truth (to the extent we humans are able to know it) is not just a failure of Trump voters, or the great unwashed masses or whomever else the allegedly sophisticated readers of the NY TImes disdain. It is a failure, a tragic failure, of all of us.
Anyone who has yet to read Pankaj Mishra's piece, "America, From Exceptionalism to Nihilism" in today's Times should do so. It's stark, brilliant and scary.
And we will deserve what we get because we have been so unwilling -- or maybe just unable -- to confront what we really are, what we have lost and what we need to regain.
And, please, don't doubt that the inability to confront the truth (to the extent we humans are able to know it) is not just a failure of Trump voters, or the great unwashed masses or whomever else the allegedly sophisticated readers of the NY TImes disdain. It is a failure, a tragic failure, of all of us.
I expect will be finding the hand of the "reclusive" Mercer more frequently.
Was there another time in US when we were guessing which billionaire would win the influence fights, at the top.
Was there another time in US when we were guessing which billionaire would win the influence fights, at the top.
23
This reads like a confirmation of the apocalypse. Jim DeMint is being fired because power brokers in the conservative movement thought the Heritage Foundation was insufficiently influential under his leadership. Short of assigning each Republican in Congress a minder with a cattle prod, I don't know what else would suffice.
22
The Heritage Foundation is still, unfortunately, driving the budget process under Mr. Mulvaney. The hollowing out of some departments, and the destruction of others is happening apace. The Times seems to have overlooked this bit of effective behavior of an otherwise feckless Administration.
The Heritage Foundation may have started as a policy oriented think tank but they've degenerated into an almost laughable partisan propaganda machine.
Americans should realize the political definition "conservative" has many categories. Social (religious) conservatives are orthodox/evangelical Christians who often, contrary to the Constitution's Establishment Clause, have a dominionist agenda. Neoconservatives, a political movement that began within the Democratic Party, seek to imprint American values internationally, often using military force. There are traditional conservatives that's like Toryism in England.
There are also fiscal conservatives who can be Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians or other political faction. I am a fiscal conservative who wonders why Americans spend almost 1 in every 3 federal tax dollars on the military when our armed forces need only repel invaders from our borders. I've always wondered how fiscal conservatives and neoconservatives existed under the same Reagan tent.
Americans should realize the political definition "conservative" has many categories. Social (religious) conservatives are orthodox/evangelical Christians who often, contrary to the Constitution's Establishment Clause, have a dominionist agenda. Neoconservatives, a political movement that began within the Democratic Party, seek to imprint American values internationally, often using military force. There are traditional conservatives that's like Toryism in England.
There are also fiscal conservatives who can be Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians or other political faction. I am a fiscal conservative who wonders why Americans spend almost 1 in every 3 federal tax dollars on the military when our armed forces need only repel invaders from our borders. I've always wondered how fiscal conservatives and neoconservatives existed under the same Reagan tent.
Maybe they ought to get rid of the Heritage Foundation along with Jimmy Demint. If DeMint is not far right enough for them, then it's time they all take a hike. What do they want? To sit on the couch in the oval office and screen visitors?
A lot of losers are sitting in the Heritage headquarters drawing big salaries to put forward stale ideas. Meese - yes ex-jailbird Meese is at the top of the list. Raise your hand if you favor hauling Heritage out to sea. -Zin out
A lot of losers are sitting in the Heritage headquarters drawing big salaries to put forward stale ideas. Meese - yes ex-jailbird Meese is at the top of the list. Raise your hand if you favor hauling Heritage out to sea. -Zin out
12
Nobody even polled a complete repeal with no replacement, but it certainly would have gotten less than the 17% public approval of the AHCA.
From any viewpoint left or right, it's long overdue for DeMint to go. When your policy amounts to trying to convince people to vote for suicide, that's a fail for sure.
That being said, there's no GOP healthcare plan that stands a chance now in the senate. The Zombie AHCA is worse than the first.
From any viewpoint left or right, it's long overdue for DeMint to go. When your policy amounts to trying to convince people to vote for suicide, that's a fail for sure.
That being said, there's no GOP healthcare plan that stands a chance now in the senate. The Zombie AHCA is worse than the first.
6
As a long time resident of Washington DC area I feel that most of the so-called think tanks are lobbying organizations for special interests groups both for domestic issues and international issues. Almost all of them receiving financial supports from foreign countries. For example, the Brookings Institution and the Center for International and Strategic studies (CSIS) are the two well-known think-lobbying organizations in DC area. These organizations are also temporary resting places for unemployed former high-level and mid-level federal government workers. They are waiting for next opportunities to come up. After Jim DeMint leaves the Heritage Foundation he may just getting another better offer from the White House, there are so many unfilled high level positions waiting to be filled by the right person.
3
Trump is stupid, but not that stupid. DeMint isn't going to find a home in the Trump administration if he still wants Mercer/Heritage support.
3
I'm sure someone has, already, reminded everyone that Obamacare was, basically, A Heritage Foundation idea conceived as a response to Hillary Clinton's first attempt to bring healthcare to everyone. It should be noted that they flouted this plan for 2 decades before Obama compromised and modeled Obamacare after those very ideas. Only then, did they become "unconstitutional" with death panels and death spirals. Without Jim we wouldn't have Obamacare and no one has done more to undermine Obamacare than Jim Demint. Imagine working, that hard, against yourself, for that long.
23
Clearly a definition of insanity!
7
To be fair, RomneyCare, as it was then, came out of the pre-DeMint Heritage Foundation. The best thing about Ms. Mercer taking it to the alt-right may be that respectable news organizations will no longer cite its "studies."
Not a think tank; an ideology tank acting like it represents a majority that objectively it does not.
14
Our Democracy is definitely collapsing if Billionaires have such outsize control of the politics and policies of this nation. I will be preparing adequate defenses to deal with the inevitable chaos.
8
This is good news. When DeMint isn't part line conservative enough, the Heritage Foundation will end up well outside any influential role in setting policy.
5
Let's just think about this for a minute:
An unelected political activist working for a private organization fueled by a lot of money from some extremely powerful corporate interests is fired for not being effective enough intervening and controlling the legislative affairs of the federal government.
So are we supposed to feel sorry for him or ourselves?
An unelected political activist working for a private organization fueled by a lot of money from some extremely powerful corporate interests is fired for not being effective enough intervening and controlling the legislative affairs of the federal government.
So are we supposed to feel sorry for him or ourselves?
23
Mainstream conservatism is now defined by the far right. Moderates are regarded by the new mainstream as apostates. Who would have thought that left of center liberals would be regarding the likes of John McCain and Lindsey Graham as moderate Republicans?
13
And a lot of couples get divorces too. So what does that tell you? It's strange that in the Sunday Times there isn't a page of announcements for those like there is for weddings.
1
"To these board members, the research suffered."
The Heritage Foundation's research has always suffered...from being nearly fact-free, manipulating propaganda.
The Heritage Foundation's research has always suffered...from being nearly fact-free, manipulating propaganda.
9
A Heritage Foundation that wants to undo the most prominent piece of legislation that ever oozed out of it, albeit in slightly altered form (mainly by the GOP), the ACA or Obamacare. Wow.
9
Between the Heritage Foundation and the other major lobbying group, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), the Republican Party has declined into a state of immoral conduct that is destroying the country. Ever since the Tea Party folks were bussed to town hall meetings brandishing guns while shouting and interrupting the members of the Congress on the stage, the former party of Lincoln has spent more than 40 years losing ground on the slippery slope of the moral high ground.
With gerrymandering and packing the courts to suit their intent to monetize all public services, from public education to environmental protections, to name a few, today's Republicans are conducting a scorched-earth policy for seizing and holding power.
Back in 1995 when Gingrich became Speaker of the House to conduct his own revolution, the NYC shock jock of the day, Don Imus, described Gingrich's methodology thus: What's the point of having power if you can't abuse it. Such is the game plan of the Republican Party we have today.
With gerrymandering and packing the courts to suit their intent to monetize all public services, from public education to environmental protections, to name a few, today's Republicans are conducting a scorched-earth policy for seizing and holding power.
Back in 1995 when Gingrich became Speaker of the House to conduct his own revolution, the NYC shock jock of the day, Don Imus, described Gingrich's methodology thus: What's the point of having power if you can't abuse it. Such is the game plan of the Republican Party we have today.
19
I was raised as a Christian, which is putatively a faith I share with Tea Party zealots, but I'm mystified by the misanthropy of these people.
Clearly they hate minorities, distrust women, loathe anyone at all different than they.
Consequently, they diminish this country and the principles it represents. deMint is just another example of that ignorance. How unAmerican!
Clearly they hate minorities, distrust women, loathe anyone at all different than they.
Consequently, they diminish this country and the principles it represents. deMint is just another example of that ignorance. How unAmerican!
14
What horrible, horrible people---not only Jim DeMint, but also billionaire heiress Rebekah Mercer, and her father who made the money for her, and really everyone who works at Heritage or has done so, maybe down to the secretaries and mail-room guys.
Imagine your whole mission is to harm anyone and everyone in this country without much money or much luck, persuade as many of these as possible that they should support you(!) and not the other side; and the boss gets fired because he was unsuccessful in terminating 24 million people from health insurance and wrecking the insurability prospects of countless millions of others. Who hates Americans the way these super-patriots do?
Horrible, horrible people.
Imagine your whole mission is to harm anyone and everyone in this country without much money or much luck, persuade as many of these as possible that they should support you(!) and not the other side; and the boss gets fired because he was unsuccessful in terminating 24 million people from health insurance and wrecking the insurability prospects of countless millions of others. Who hates Americans the way these super-patriots do?
Horrible, horrible people.
23
After five decades of American conservatism, you would think that Americans would finally figure it out that it is the reason that America is NOT Great. Conservatives with the help of moribund organizations like the Heritage Foundation have kept America in a constant state of war (benefiting defense/cyber-security/law enforcement corporations), and resulted in tens of thousands being killed and slaughter (so much for pro-life beliefs), under Bush W, conservatives cut taxes in 2003 leading to astronomical deficits, which conservatives then argued had to be eliminated at the expense of Social Security, Medicare and other government programs intended to help hardworking Americans (you can see it all happening again with Trump's Tax proposal that benefits primarily the rich corporate elite), allowed hundreds of American children to be killed with their support of the NRA, and refusing to take any reasonable stand on gun control, refusing to write any legislation that would create jobs, consistently argued that lowering taxes creates jobs when it's been proven that this simply doesn't happened, supported Greenspan and his bizarre manipulation of interest rates that lead to the 2007 real estate collapse, gave trillions to Wall Street after conservative Republicans tanked the world economy with their 2008 financial crisis, and they are now doing it again. Jim DeMint, conservatives and evidently the NYTs think your okay, but for hardworking Americans it's a happy day your gone.
11
DeMint has a new job offer from FOX TV , the state news media for Republican administration. He will be firebrand extreme right wing political commentator. He may start a new political party name TEA PARTY., which will at the right of Republican Party.
4
This is where the rubber of far right reactionary fantasy meets the hard asphalt road of reality. And falls apart.
Isn't it sad that all the foundation cares about is destroying our country instead of doing what is good for it. Of course if polluting our air and water, driving people off of voter rolls, bankrupting public education, fabricating research, etc. is great then right on. Remember what goes around, comes around
9
I don't get it. Jim DeMint does not know anything. He's PERFECT.
6
As Chico Marx put it, "I don't like DeMint. What other flavors you got?" But I submit that this government is much more Three Stooges than Marx Brothers.
6
I'd like to thank the Board of the Heritage Foundation for providing another compelling reason to doubt the validity of its "research" and to question its ability to comment honestly on, well, any political issue.
8
The heritage foundation like the club for growth are the most unpatriotic phony conservative think tanks and should be unmasked as the lobbying firms funded by the wealthy that they are.
Like the Robber Barron's they aspire to be they have no boundaries in how far they are willing to go to pay no taxes, pollute, neglect our infrastructure, until we are all their serfs.
Like the Robber Barron's they aspire to be they have no boundaries in how far they are willing to go to pay no taxes, pollute, neglect our infrastructure, until we are all their serfs.
10
It appears that Mr. Demint may have to re-position himself in another well-paid, right-wing welfare post. Unfortunately, opportunity abounds.
13
In medieval societies the Church operated from behind the King --- to keep him true to the doctrine and conspiring to strengthen its position. The Soviets had the ideologues and the GOP has the Think Tanks.
But when the 'thinkers' stray away from the 'voters and their needs', either the rulers (legislators and elected officials) brush them aside or the voters remove the party from power. Letting tens of millions of voters lose their health insurance may only be a statistic for the Think Tank, but it is his political future for the legislator.
But when the 'thinkers' stray away from the 'voters and their needs', either the rulers (legislators and elected officials) brush them aside or the voters remove the party from power. Letting tens of millions of voters lose their health insurance may only be a statistic for the Think Tank, but it is his political future for the legislator.
4
It's one thing to "shake up" a Board of Directors. But anyone who assumes they can successfully "shake up" a government is the epitome of ignorant arrogance for they are essentially mounting a coup. Our Constitution takes treason very seriously and so should our judicial branch of government.
6
Maybe the Mercer's want to make Steve Bannon the head of Heritage and that is his new job..so someone had to go..
If this is what happens then Heritage moves further to the crazy right..is that even possible?
The mercer's will pay a fortune to Bannon to make him take this...a fortune.
If this is what happens then Heritage moves further to the crazy right..is that even possible?
The mercer's will pay a fortune to Bannon to make him take this...a fortune.
4
Gosh, it's so hard to take health care away from the people. I feel sorry for these do gooders. They need our support. Quick! Somebody send a buck.
5
" ...coherently conservative agenda." ??
Houston, I think we've identified the source of the problem.
Houston, I think we've identified the source of the problem.
7
At this point, The Heritage Foundation (a.k.a. 'Plutocrats-r-Us') stands as testament to the growing psychosis of extreme wealth. As for DeMint's ouster, one only wonders: was he too crazy for them, or not crazy enough?
9
If DeMint is the bridge too far for Ms Mercer to buy, well, wow, maybe $$ really can't buy everything.
5
Jim DeMint is a bomb-thrower, not a consensus builder. he was a loner in the Senate and more obnoxious than Ted Cruz. The "coup" is that Heritage hired him at all.
5
"hard-line, uncompromising vision for conservatism"
I think the word "conservatism" has lost all meaning. What is left except for conserving the bank balance of the 0.01%? They are not even conserving America against the Black ceo anymore. They are not "conservative", they are not "classically liberal". They are just spiteful plutocrats who want the populace sick, dumb, and underemployed.
I think the word "conservatism" has lost all meaning. What is left except for conserving the bank balance of the 0.01%? They are not even conserving America against the Black ceo anymore. They are not "conservative", they are not "classically liberal". They are just spiteful plutocrats who want the populace sick, dumb, and underemployed.
9
DeMint was paid $1 million a year? Hell, I'll take that job. Health care is bad! Tax cuts for the rich! Albania is going to pay for a wall!
9
The opposition to Obamacare energized the base and brought in money and votes. Because Obama would veto the bills, they were actually political stunts or theater, and the implications of really abolishing Obamacare never had to be confronted because that would not happen. Once forced to confront and think through the implications of shrinking or abolishing Obamacare, many Republicans realized that they did not want to do this.
The current Republican pickle is the well-earned consequence of doing political theater instead of dealing honestly with problems and educating the electorate about what this hones dealing would entail. Heritage was originally set up to deal honestly (or as honestly as conservatives could) with problems, but now its honesty is restricted to honest evaluations of the potential of various acts of political theater. Among the acts of political theater is their issuance of papers carefully constructed to look like actual research rather than manufactured justifications of policies determined in advance.
The current Republican pickle is the well-earned consequence of doing political theater instead of dealing honestly with problems and educating the electorate about what this hones dealing would entail. Heritage was originally set up to deal honestly (or as honestly as conservatives could) with problems, but now its honesty is restricted to honest evaluations of the potential of various acts of political theater. Among the acts of political theater is their issuance of papers carefully constructed to look like actual research rather than manufactured justifications of policies determined in advance.
50
What a sad and pathetic way to run a think tank. Because of the political arm, most will discount Heritage studies. If supporting the current administration is the true role of the organization, there cannot be any data-driven ideological consistency. Why not just a be a division of Fox News?
87
"Last month’s failure of the Republican plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act was a difficult test for Heritage and conservative groups like it, which have fought for years to gut the law"
But it should not be a hard test for us. Those who were ready to toss 24 million fellow Americans off of insurance must own even the impulse. I am not sure how this nation became so bone deep nasty, selfish, and greedy, but it has to stop, because it's killing us and that is not just a metaphor.
The policies this foundation has cheered on read like notes from Dante's Inferno of crimes and which ones go where on the spiral. There has not been a punitive measure --one designed to ask the middle and lower classes to ease the way for the 1%--that the Heritage Foundation has not endorsed, loved, or pushed. It's like the reverse barometer in "Little Big Man." If the Heritage Foundation is for it, moral and ethical people should reject it.
We cannot allow the architects of these policies and those who endorse them to walk away consequence-free. Those who even toy with the idea that millions do not "deserve" healthcare and who would have the middle and lower classes take a pittance in tax returns so that the 1% can save millions, and in the case of billionaires, billions must be made to own that impulse.
They are traitors in every meaningful sense of the word as they would destroy both the nation and fellow citizens for personal gain.
But it should not be a hard test for us. Those who were ready to toss 24 million fellow Americans off of insurance must own even the impulse. I am not sure how this nation became so bone deep nasty, selfish, and greedy, but it has to stop, because it's killing us and that is not just a metaphor.
The policies this foundation has cheered on read like notes from Dante's Inferno of crimes and which ones go where on the spiral. There has not been a punitive measure --one designed to ask the middle and lower classes to ease the way for the 1%--that the Heritage Foundation has not endorsed, loved, or pushed. It's like the reverse barometer in "Little Big Man." If the Heritage Foundation is for it, moral and ethical people should reject it.
We cannot allow the architects of these policies and those who endorse them to walk away consequence-free. Those who even toy with the idea that millions do not "deserve" healthcare and who would have the middle and lower classes take a pittance in tax returns so that the 1% can save millions, and in the case of billionaires, billions must be made to own that impulse.
They are traitors in every meaningful sense of the word as they would destroy both the nation and fellow citizens for personal gain.
107
In this regard, I'd like to highlight the very special influence of Rebekah Mercer who, in my opinion, would be very wise to remain a recluse.
Thanks so much, Becky.
Thanks so much, Becky.
7
It really doesn't matter who the leader of the heritage foundation is. They and the tea party are cruel and greedy. They lack any human compassion. Their policies cannot be implemented without a major rejection of the GOP at the polls. The foundation and the tea party can threaten to "primary" a GOP congress person who does not fall in line, but that is just a threat. In many places going along with the heritage foundations policies will result in democrats winning the next election. Enough to flip the house and the senate. Not everyone is an evangelical masochist.
50
Funny how the Heritage Foundation wants so badly to gut the health care law that they invented and passed along to a Republican governor, who made it successful policy, before handing it to a Democratic president.
So what does Mr. DeMint's defenestration add to our knowledge of the Heritage Foundation's core philosophy?
So what does Mr. DeMint's defenestration add to our knowledge of the Heritage Foundation's core philosophy?
30
It's time the Republicans show their full hand. Tell the exact truth and stop living a lie. Full repeal of ACA, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Voting Rights Act, and Brown v. Board of Education (to be achieved through charter schools/vouchers). What's the tell? Here's the tell: Keep giving tax cuts until there is not enough money to maintain any safety net or enforce voting rights. The Grover Norquist game plan.
The American people need clarity, and the Republicans themselves need to stop living a lie. It makes them dysfunctional when they have to speak in platitudes while intending to destroy all safety nets and minority protections. Republicans, the truth will set you free: Tell the truth and you don't have to remember to cover up the lies.
The American people need clarity, and the Republicans themselves need to stop living a lie. It makes them dysfunctional when they have to speak in platitudes while intending to destroy all safety nets and minority protections. Republicans, the truth will set you free: Tell the truth and you don't have to remember to cover up the lies.
120
They'd tell the truth now, as Lee Atwater has told it before, but their friends in the Parents Television Council would blush at the N-word.
2
Is it ironic that the Heritage Foundation, which relies on false research and questionable numbers, is called a "think tank?" They will get rid of DeMint and put in some other sorry excuse for a scholar.
45
Lift up the the rock and the 'reclusive' conversatives scurry...this is just another sad story in the horrible back room of American politics. If there is one thing we must change to return to American values, it's to remove the corrosive effects of money forming a sense that extreme radical thought is mainstream. Some of the worst of the 'talking heads' in the media are funded by this as well...1%'ers with money should not be a majority.
38
As I recall the Heritage Foundation came out strongly against Trump when he was running for President. Now their ejecting their own President because he isn't supporting Trump strongly enough. Yet another wacky Republican group that changes its tune with the wind.
33
Mr. DeMint as member of the Tea party was the right person to lead the Heritage Foundation when the White House was occupied by a Democrat. It's the only time, republicans care about Deficits. Now with Republicans in control and about to blow up the deficit, it makes sense to replace Mr. DeMint by a "moderate" republican.
13
Please, please stop calling these people "conservatives". There is *nothing* left of any recognizable conservative agenda among the far right radicals who have take over the Republican Party. They are engaging in virulent reactionary pandering to the worst instincts of the neo-fascists at the same time as they are stripping democracy from our government to assure themselves permanent power - that's not "conserving" anything that America is supposed to be about, it's killing it.
207
Oh, does this mean the Heritage Foundation is getting back to its roots, focusing on policy over hard-line partisanship?
Erm, never mind.
Erm, never mind.
21
People like DeMint and institutions like Heritage give conservatism a bad name. They are not conservative. They are reactionary. They are racist. They are greedy. They are authoritarian. But they are not conservative. They do not want to conserve. They want to go backwards in time. They want to control people. They do not care about destroying the planet we live on.
Good riddens to white trash. Let the rich heathens spend their ill gained dollars backing worthless causes like Karl Rove did. Vote against these parasites in 2018.
Good riddens to white trash. Let the rich heathens spend their ill gained dollars backing worthless causes like Karl Rove did. Vote against these parasites in 2018.
321
Sure...let them elect an even more conservative leader who cares nothing about how ordinary people (including ordinary Republicans) live. It's suicide.
While Trump still has his supporters, the masses are waking up to the fact that they were hoodwinked. Take away people's health insurance and reduce Medicare benefits. Increase the deficit by giving even more of a tax break to the rich. Fine with me. Then let's see what Congress looks like after the 2018 elections. Since the masses also live in denial, Republicans will still probably eek out a majority in the House, but they'll lose the Senate.
While Trump still has his supporters, the masses are waking up to the fact that they were hoodwinked. Take away people's health insurance and reduce Medicare benefits. Increase the deficit by giving even more of a tax break to the rich. Fine with me. Then let's see what Congress looks like after the 2018 elections. Since the masses also live in denial, Republicans will still probably eek out a majority in the House, but they'll lose the Senate.
88
"...many saw the lack of success on such a core issue [health care] as a sign of ineptitude on the part of their leaders in Washington."
Pehaps also a sign of the limitations of gaming the system with voter suppression, gerrymandering, extra-constitutional court-packing and dark money. These hucksters at some point must recognize their existential hazard: an insular and entitled elite that tries to force-feed its unpopular and self-seving agenda to the broader public will face a public firestorm of anger, and eventually an involuntary change of career. Been to any town halls lately? This is just the beginning.
Pehaps also a sign of the limitations of gaming the system with voter suppression, gerrymandering, extra-constitutional court-packing and dark money. These hucksters at some point must recognize their existential hazard: an insular and entitled elite that tries to force-feed its unpopular and self-seving agenda to the broader public will face a public firestorm of anger, and eventually an involuntary change of career. Been to any town halls lately? This is just the beginning.
221
From my perspective, any news that is bad news for the Heritage Foundation, is good news for Americans. These driven, sniveling conservative cranks have brought our government to the brink of failure. I have no use for them or their policies, one of which was to gut the A.C.A. These conservative leaders deserve no influence in policy making. They are racist, misogynist bigots hiding behind a veneer of civility.
111
Heritage Board - 2015
Anthony J. Saliba; Meg Allen; Robert Pennington; Larry P. Arnn; Brian Tracy, Solana Beach; Kay Coles James; Nersi Nazari; Edwin J. Feuln; Thomas A. Saunders III, Chairman; Jim DeMint; Jerry Hume; Mark A . Kolokotrones;
J. William Middendorf II; Abby Moffat; Belden H. Bell; Barb Van Andel-Gaby; Todd W. Herrick; Marion G. Wells; Steve Forbes; William L. Walton; Michael W. Gleba; Rebekah A . Mercer
2015 HERITAGE FOUNDATION FOUNDERS
Mrs. Sarah Allison; Ms. Betty A. Anderlik; Mr. Robert A. Finke; Mr. and Mrs. Richard Gaby; Mr. Mark A. Kolokotrones; MICROSOFT CORPORATION; Mrs. Dawn H. Potter; Mrs. Patrice Richardson; Mr. Richard M. Scaife; Mr. and Mrs. Thomas W. Colbert, Sr.; Richard and Helen DeVos Foundation; Mr. Willi Fenske; Mr. and Mrs. Dick J. Randall; Sarah Scaife Foundation; Mr. and Mrs. Sanford G. Scheller; Sorenson Legacy Foundation; Mr. Pike H. Sullivan
Pike and Susan Sullivan Foundation; Mr. Rafael Ahlgren; W.L. Amos, Sr. Foundation; AMWAY; The Anschutz Foundation; The Armstrong Foundation;
Mr. and Mrs. Caesar A. Arredondo; Atherton Foundation; Bell Charitable Foundation; Mr. James D. Bourbonnais; The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation; Mr. and Mrs. Theodore Brickman; Mr. and Mrs. John Bruning;
Mr. Harold S. Chapman;; The CHEAR Foundation; Mr. and Mrs. David L. Coffey; Mr. Bob W. Cooper; Donahue Family Foundation; eBay INC.
The place took in almost $100 million in 2015 and spent just under $76 million.
Note MICROSOFT, AMWAY and eBAY.
Anthony J. Saliba; Meg Allen; Robert Pennington; Larry P. Arnn; Brian Tracy, Solana Beach; Kay Coles James; Nersi Nazari; Edwin J. Feuln; Thomas A. Saunders III, Chairman; Jim DeMint; Jerry Hume; Mark A . Kolokotrones;
J. William Middendorf II; Abby Moffat; Belden H. Bell; Barb Van Andel-Gaby; Todd W. Herrick; Marion G. Wells; Steve Forbes; William L. Walton; Michael W. Gleba; Rebekah A . Mercer
2015 HERITAGE FOUNDATION FOUNDERS
Mrs. Sarah Allison; Ms. Betty A. Anderlik; Mr. Robert A. Finke; Mr. and Mrs. Richard Gaby; Mr. Mark A. Kolokotrones; MICROSOFT CORPORATION; Mrs. Dawn H. Potter; Mrs. Patrice Richardson; Mr. Richard M. Scaife; Mr. and Mrs. Thomas W. Colbert, Sr.; Richard and Helen DeVos Foundation; Mr. Willi Fenske; Mr. and Mrs. Dick J. Randall; Sarah Scaife Foundation; Mr. and Mrs. Sanford G. Scheller; Sorenson Legacy Foundation; Mr. Pike H. Sullivan
Pike and Susan Sullivan Foundation; Mr. Rafael Ahlgren; W.L. Amos, Sr. Foundation; AMWAY; The Anschutz Foundation; The Armstrong Foundation;
Mr. and Mrs. Caesar A. Arredondo; Atherton Foundation; Bell Charitable Foundation; Mr. James D. Bourbonnais; The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation; Mr. and Mrs. Theodore Brickman; Mr. and Mrs. John Bruning;
Mr. Harold S. Chapman;; The CHEAR Foundation; Mr. and Mrs. David L. Coffey; Mr. Bob W. Cooper; Donahue Family Foundation; eBay INC.
The place took in almost $100 million in 2015 and spent just under $76 million.
Note MICROSOFT, AMWAY and eBAY.
12
So Mr. DeMint is out. Who funds the Heritage Foundation? Apparently they are not getting full value for their monies spent? Tell us which billionaires are upset that their plans are not working in Congress.
126
Read "Dark Money" and you'll get a complete picture of the rogue gallery that is funding Heritage, and other so-called think tanks of the right wing.
4
Read the book Dark Money.
1
“Circular Firing Squad”-a situation in which a group of people are engaged in self-destructive internal conflicts and mutual recriminations.
As I remember Democrats were famous for that catch phrase. And much of it just hoopla by the Republicans. But here we have the makings of the “real circular firing squad”. And it’s not just Heritage Foundation. Look at how the first 100 days of Trump’s Presidency will end. The only accomplishment that they can claim is, they didn’t shut the government down, at least not yet. We’ll see what happens next week.
The Heritage Foundation is no different than the Rush Limbaugh’s and Hannity’s of the world. They spout less government, big business, tax cuts for the super-rich and a host of other proposals that somehow take money from the from the bottom and middle of the pyramid and move it to the top.
But now the whole bunch of the conservative right wingers have to step up to the plate, they are now in complete control of the three branches of government. Tons of money from the “Citizens United” groups to fund their hegemony. So we’ll see, but the first 100 days were a complete failure and they know it. And their near term future is wrought with disagreement within their own ranks, just like Heritage Foundation. And you don’t get rid of someone like James Mint over the healthcare debacle unless there are other underlying issues.
As I remember Democrats were famous for that catch phrase. And much of it just hoopla by the Republicans. But here we have the makings of the “real circular firing squad”. And it’s not just Heritage Foundation. Look at how the first 100 days of Trump’s Presidency will end. The only accomplishment that they can claim is, they didn’t shut the government down, at least not yet. We’ll see what happens next week.
The Heritage Foundation is no different than the Rush Limbaugh’s and Hannity’s of the world. They spout less government, big business, tax cuts for the super-rich and a host of other proposals that somehow take money from the from the bottom and middle of the pyramid and move it to the top.
But now the whole bunch of the conservative right wingers have to step up to the plate, they are now in complete control of the three branches of government. Tons of money from the “Citizens United” groups to fund their hegemony. So we’ll see, but the first 100 days were a complete failure and they know it. And their near term future is wrought with disagreement within their own ranks, just like Heritage Foundation. And you don’t get rid of someone like James Mint over the healthcare debacle unless there are other underlying issues.
68
DeMint is so right wing his airplane won't fly, even in South Carolina. To describe him as "not sufficiently pro-Trump" is sadly absurd ... but probably true, within the context of the uber-conservative Heritage Foundation.
71
The only logical replacement for the Affordable Care Act, ObamaCare, would be to make it more like RomneyCare. In the process, an additional way to prorate subsidies for deductibles needs 4 levels of attention. Two should be for emergency/urgent care. Going to urgent care for non-emergencies should have a lower deductible than going to a more expensive emergency care center. For preventive and elective care, the copays should advantage care that has lower deductibles for problems that could cause expensive urgent/emergent care. For low risk preventive care, the deductibles should be higher.
Quite simply, health care does not respond to market forces in no small part because health care is way, way too expensive and way, way too complex for the vast majority of individuals to affect price. High expense is simply part of what today's world costs. Inability to pay is a function of many aspects of culture.
Thus, critical, now, is to rethink how we "tax" people for health care and to do it transparently. Insist that the vast majority pay at least something. Even the wealthy who pay their own medical bills should have to pay something extra because by paying their own medical bills, they avoid paying the cost-shifting expenses that health insurance covers (about a third of private health insurance premiums now pay for indigent care). Hopefully, a new sense of shared duty to cover these costs will develop.
Quite simply, health care does not respond to market forces in no small part because health care is way, way too expensive and way, way too complex for the vast majority of individuals to affect price. High expense is simply part of what today's world costs. Inability to pay is a function of many aspects of culture.
Thus, critical, now, is to rethink how we "tax" people for health care and to do it transparently. Insist that the vast majority pay at least something. Even the wealthy who pay their own medical bills should have to pay something extra because by paying their own medical bills, they avoid paying the cost-shifting expenses that health insurance covers (about a third of private health insurance premiums now pay for indigent care). Hopefully, a new sense of shared duty to cover these costs will develop.
11
L Bartels
I'd much prefer the better solution: single payer.
Ironically the Heritage Foundation greedies have made that possibility far more likely than ever before.
But if we are to follow your advice, I suggest we also force Walmart to reimburse the government, retroactively, for the socialized medicine it imposes on its employees at my expense.
Wouldn't solve the cost problem, but it would make a pretty good dent.
I'd much prefer the better solution: single payer.
Ironically the Heritage Foundation greedies have made that possibility far more likely than ever before.
But if we are to follow your advice, I suggest we also force Walmart to reimburse the government, retroactively, for the socialized medicine it imposes on its employees at my expense.
Wouldn't solve the cost problem, but it would make a pretty good dent.
2
After DeMint, a breath of fresh air?
I wouldn't bet on it.
I wouldn't bet on it.
47
Every time you write something like this:
Last month’s failure of the Republican plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act was a difficult test for Heritage and conservative groups like it, which have fought for years to gut the law. The foundation and its political arm, Heritage Action for America, pushed aggressively for a full repeal, which would have left none of the original 2010 law in place.
The Times needs to mention that the Heritage Foundation INVENTED THE ACA. Paul Krugman wrote about this on his blog several years ago:
https://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/27/conservative-origins-of-oba...
Last month’s failure of the Republican plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act was a difficult test for Heritage and conservative groups like it, which have fought for years to gut the law. The foundation and its political arm, Heritage Action for America, pushed aggressively for a full repeal, which would have left none of the original 2010 law in place.
The Times needs to mention that the Heritage Foundation INVENTED THE ACA. Paul Krugman wrote about this on his blog several years ago:
https://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/27/conservative-origins-of-oba...
131
The actions of the Heritage Foundation just shows how far out in right field they've wandered over the last 10 - 15 years. They set the foundation of ACA in concrete, but their rigid ideology - also set in concrete - prohibits them from treating democrats and especially non-white presidents, as anything human.
As usual, the far Right always brings lots of rope to hang high the enemy du jour. But they almost always end up hanging themselves with it.
If you'll notice, the more republicans that are in government the more chaotically they manage to run government.
As usual, the far Right always brings lots of rope to hang high the enemy du jour. But they almost always end up hanging themselves with it.
If you'll notice, the more republicans that are in government the more chaotically they manage to run government.
36
Good riddance. These so-called conservatives are just windbags for income redistribution from the poorest to the richest.
Socialize the costs and privatize the profits.
States' rights as long as we agree with the outcome. Otherwise, Federal intervention.
Socialize the costs and privatize the profits.
States' rights as long as we agree with the outcome. Otherwise, Federal intervention.
152
To the outside liberal or moderate observer, the changing of the guard at The Heritage Foundation seems to be a case of reverting to old leadership at a time when they should have been celebrating their ability to pressure or fool Donald Trump into appointing the people they wanted, including Justice Neil Gorsuch.
One of the most extreme right-wing businessmen in America was the financial angel of Heritage – Joseph Coors. The man rivaled the John Birch Society activist, Fred Koch, father of the Brothers Koch, as a radical conservative.
Apparently, the intellectual descendants of Coors cannot grasp why Republicans who have to run for office – even in supposedly safe districts – are hesitant to throw Republicans of moderate means under the healthcare bus and reluctant to defy the voters on the budget.
Jim DeMint seems to have been caught in the Heritage crossfire. Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy. He-he-he-he.
One of the most extreme right-wing businessmen in America was the financial angel of Heritage – Joseph Coors. The man rivaled the John Birch Society activist, Fred Koch, father of the Brothers Koch, as a radical conservative.
Apparently, the intellectual descendants of Coors cannot grasp why Republicans who have to run for office – even in supposedly safe districts – are hesitant to throw Republicans of moderate means under the healthcare bus and reluctant to defy the voters on the budget.
Jim DeMint seems to have been caught in the Heritage crossfire. Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy. He-he-he-he.
105
The good news is that DeMint being ousted from the Heritage Foundation.
The bad news is that one of the Mercer family is doing the ousting.
And so the crazies get even crazier.
The bad news is that one of the Mercer family is doing the ousting.
And so the crazies get even crazier.
264
Take heart; it's a self-limiting process. Ultimately the system destroys itself.
18
Not hard to understand that the Heritage Foundation is a little touchy about the ACA, (aka RomneyCare) since it was their idea. Better to get rid of it altogether, make it go away, since it works best in states willing to expand low cost Medicaid, as originally passed.
Sure, let's repeal it altogether, only 40% of Americans age 50-64 have pre-existing conditions, what could go wrong if we allow insurers to deny coverage, like in the good old days when America was great?
OK, so most rural hospitals go under. But, other than that, and a lot of people getting their primary care through the ER and lots of people dying and medical bankruptcies soaring and well, health care clinics in the State Fair Livestock Barns, what could go wrong?
Sure, let's repeal it altogether, only 40% of Americans age 50-64 have pre-existing conditions, what could go wrong if we allow insurers to deny coverage, like in the good old days when America was great?
OK, so most rural hospitals go under. But, other than that, and a lot of people getting their primary care through the ER and lots of people dying and medical bankruptcies soaring and well, health care clinics in the State Fair Livestock Barns, what could go wrong?
202
Look around,
It seems ACA does work better in states that expanded, and just for those beneficiaries, but all consumers and even the insurance companies. I think that those states have shown that if the pool is big enough, costs can be contained. So, what would happen if the costs of the insurance company bureaucracy were reduced (executive compensation) and their profits? It seems more money would be available for actual medical care. I look forward to California's proposed single-payer program.
It seems ACA does work better in states that expanded, and just for those beneficiaries, but all consumers and even the insurance companies. I think that those states have shown that if the pool is big enough, costs can be contained. So, what would happen if the costs of the insurance company bureaucracy were reduced (executive compensation) and their profits? It seems more money would be available for actual medical care. I look forward to California's proposed single-payer program.
20
Mike
Better still, what if we went to single payer and ditched the health insurance industry altogether?
The near-trillion dollars they scam from the health care system would pay for over 90% of a single payer program, their demise would make actual care more accessible to more people (reducing costs significantly in the process), and we would be rid of a huge lamprey sucking the vitality out of our economy while producing nothing of value. Except for truly artful ways of denying care.
The health insurance industry is the epitome of capitalist thinking. They add nothing to the economy, they control every market in which they trade, and they have created a process for removing huge piles money from customers while offering nothing of value in return.
If the Heritage Foundation gave grades for class projects in capitalism, health insurance would get nothing but As. Same for the seminar mean-spirited greed.
The only downside is that it would increase the pot for corporations no longer responsible for providing care to employees. Of course, that would make them more competitive on the world market, but true to form, the richies at the Heritage Foundations consider it more important to further damage the working classes than to further enrich themselves.
What a hideous herd of billionaires.
Better still, what if we went to single payer and ditched the health insurance industry altogether?
The near-trillion dollars they scam from the health care system would pay for over 90% of a single payer program, their demise would make actual care more accessible to more people (reducing costs significantly in the process), and we would be rid of a huge lamprey sucking the vitality out of our economy while producing nothing of value. Except for truly artful ways of denying care.
The health insurance industry is the epitome of capitalist thinking. They add nothing to the economy, they control every market in which they trade, and they have created a process for removing huge piles money from customers while offering nothing of value in return.
If the Heritage Foundation gave grades for class projects in capitalism, health insurance would get nothing but As. Same for the seminar mean-spirited greed.
The only downside is that it would increase the pot for corporations no longer responsible for providing care to employees. Of course, that would make them more competitive on the world market, but true to form, the richies at the Heritage Foundations consider it more important to further damage the working classes than to further enrich themselves.
What a hideous herd of billionaires.
5
DeMint's job was to make the Republican plan to repeal the ACA popular? Maybe in this case it wasn't the salesperson, it was the product.
172
Jim DeMint, we hardly knew ye.
24
Ironic, given the fact that the original idea for the mandate to buy private insurance came from the Heritage Foundation.
314
The Heritage Foundation was very successful in its heyday. In fact, the ACA was something they invented, which this article doesn't mention. This side of the aisle is basically devoid of any real policy other than forcing the country into what amounts to a Mad Max apocalyptic, lawless world. While I understand that they are there to protect the wealthy and their interests and the expense of everyone else, hopefully their day is past, even with this joke of an administration.
NY Times -- Keep focus on the Russia investigation and tax returns!
NY Times -- Keep focus on the Russia investigation and tax returns!
458
Right wing success lies in making the dead more important than the living.
8
And focus too, on the Emolument's Clause.
5
Russia is the external threat. The tax returns are a means to evaluate just how much money Trump and his family are hiding while scamming the public and avoiding taxes. It is important data but needs context to understand the implications. The Heritage Foundation is the army of termites quietly eating away the foundations of democracy. Keep a watchful eye on all three. Frankly, I think the latter is a greater danger than the first two.
4
So, DeMint is out because under his leadership Heritage wasn't mean and nasty enough. On the right, that makes sense.
296
The words "conservative" and "think tank" are a contradiction in terms. As far as DeMint and his ousting from this group, it couldn't happen to a nicer guy. As soon as Obama was elected, behind closed doors, this individual spearheaded a group whom, in an all out attempt to make sure Obama was not elected for a second term, made sure Republicans in both houses committed to blocking any and all legislation brought forth by the Obama administration regardless of its importance and whom it might have affected.
403
He managed this effort very effectively.
1
These folks somehow manage to make oxymorons of many expressions in common English usage. The cumulative effect is that of safe and effective execution drugs.
13
Yes, agreed, but Rebecca Mercer and her father are MORE EVIL, if that can possibly be.
8