The Heritage Foundation is one of the most prominent conservative think tanks in the United States.[1] Founded in 1973, it is
based in Washington, D.C., in the United
States.
Heritage's stated mission is to "formulate and promote conservative
public policies based on the principles of free enterprise,
limited government, individual freedom,
traditional American values,
and a strong national defense."[2]
The Heritage Foundation's initial funding came from political conservative Joseph Coors,
co-owner of the Coors Brewing Company.[citation needed] Funding from Coors was later
augmented by financial support from billionaire Richard Mellon Scaife.
Conservative activist Paul Weyrich was its first head. Since 1977, Heritage's president has been Edwin Feulner, Jr., previously the staff
director of the House Republican Study Committee and a former staff assistant to U.S. Congressman Phil Crane.
Until 2001, the Heritage Foundation published Policy
Review, a public policy journal, which was then acquired by the Hoover
Institution. From 1995 to 2005, the Heritage Foundation ran Townhall.com, a
conservative website.[3]
History and major initiatives
Mandate for Leadership
After many years of consumer rights activism against corporate responsibility
advocates like Ralph Nader, Heritage's 1981 book of policy
analysis, Mandate for Leadership was a landmark in advocacy for corporate rights and limited government. At 1,000-plus pages, Mandate for Leadership offered specific
recommendations on policy, budget and administrative action for all Cabinet departments, as well as agencies to be staffed by
political appointees in the incoming conservative administration of President Ronald
Reagan.
Cold War and foreign policy involvement
In the 1980s and early 1990s, the Heritage Foundation was a key architect and advocate of the "Reagan Doctrine", under which the United States government
supported anti-Communist resistance movements in such places as Afghanistan,
Angola, Cambodia and Nicaragua and generally supported global anti-communism during the Cold War.
Heritage foreign policy analysts also provided policy guidance to these rebel forces and to dissidents in Eastern bloc nations
and Soviet republics.
The foundation was instrumental in advancing President Ronald Reagan's belief that the
former Soviet Union was an "evil empire" and that its defeat, not its mere containment, was a realistic foreign policy objective. Heritage also played a key role in building support
for Reagan's plans to build an orbital ballistic missile shield, known as the "Strategic Defense Initiative".
Internationally, and in partnership with the Wall Street Journal,
Heritage publishes the annual Index of Economic Freedom, which
measures a country's freedom in terms of property rights and freedom from government regulation. The factors used to calculate
the Index score are corruption in government, barriers to international trade, income tax and corporate tax rates, government expenditures, rule of law
and the ability to enforce contracts, regulatory burdens, banking restrictions,
labor regulations, and black market activities.
Deficiencies lower the score on Heritage's Index.
Since the end of the Cold War, Heritage has continued to be an active voice in foreign affairs and has been generally
supportive of President George W. Bush's foreign policies.
Free market domestic policies
In domestic policy, Heritage is a proponent of supply-side economics, which
holds that reductions in the marginal rate of taxation can spur economic growth.
In 1994, Heritage advised Newt Gingrich and other conservatives on the development of
the "Contract with America", which was credited with helping to produce a
Republican majority in Congress. The "Contract" was a pact of principles that directly challenged both the political status-quo
in Washington and many of the ideas at the heart of the Clinton administration. As such,
Heritage is often credited with supplying many of the ideas that ultimately proved influential in ending the Democrats' control
of Congress in 1992. Heritage has also worked with Democrats on policy matters over the years, including former U.S. Senator
John Breaux and other "blue dog" Democrats.
Policy influence
Heritage employs public policy analysts who generally produce short policy papers.
Similar think tanks include the American Enterprise Institute and the
libertarian Cato Institute. Heritage's liberal counterparts include the Center for American Progress, and the Urban
Institute.
Heritage Foundation personnel have included Richard V. Allen, L. Paul Bremer, Elaine Chao, Lawrence Di Rita, Michael Johns, John F. Lehman, Edwin Meese, Steve
Ritchie and others.[4]
Financial support and lobbying
In 2005 Heritage raised $29.7 million in corporate and individual donations.[citation needed] Core funding comes from conservative
foundations and individual donors: In 1995, 31 checks accounted for $8.5 million; another 123
donors supplied $2.6 million.[citation needed]
In 2006, Heritage retained the law firm of Foley & Lardner to lobby and to
prepare foundation officials on how to deal with Congress on the issue of banning private funding of congressional travel, meals
and lodging. Although Heritage does not take the Section H allowance of Internal Revenue Service 501(c)(3) provisions that would
allow it to spend approximately 20% of its tax-exempt funding on lobbying,[citation needed] it and other 501(c)(3) educational organizations are nevertheless allowed
to lobby on legislation that directly affects the foundation.[5]
Major donors
In 1973, businessman Joseph Coors contributed a
quarter-million dollars to start The Heritage Foundation. Since then, money has come from the founders of Amway Corp. and the conservative Bradley, Olin and Scaife foundations. Billionaire Richard Mellon Scaife and other
wealthy individuals also have been Heritage Foundation donors.
Corporate support
Heritage has received support from nearly 100 major corporations, including Chase
Manhattan Bank, Dow Chemical Company, Ford Motor Company, General Motors, GlaxoSmithKline, Mobil, and Procter & Gamble.[6]
Foreign support and relations
Heritage's 1995 annual report acknowledges a $400,000 grant from the Korean conglomerate Samsung. Another donor, the Korea Foundation, which receives money
from the South Korean government, has given Heritage almost $1 million.[citation needed]
The Hong Kong consulting firm Belle Haven
Consultants, which has paid millions of dollars to Washington lobbying firms such as Alexander Strategy Group on behalf of Malaysian interests,
was founded in 1997 by Edwin Feulner and Heritage's Asian specialist Ken Sheffer. Belle Haven employed Feulner's wife, Linda, and
is based in the same office as Heritage's Hong Kong office.[7]
In 2006, the Foundation established the Margaret Thatcher Center for
Freedom,[8] based on a grant from the
Margaret Thatcher Foundation, to promote United States/United Kingdom cooperation and to
advance the transatlantic alliance between the two countries. Lady Thatcher has since been named Patron of the Heritage
Foundation, her only official association with any U.S.-based group. In addition, Heritage has a Moscow office staffed by Yevgeny Volk.
See also
Notes
External links
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