Here is a blueprint for the next presidential administration

July 19, 2016
Congress is in recess for the rest of the summer but things haven't slowed down yet. Here is your weekly insight: Heritage has released a 152-page policy agenda for the next president and Congress just in time for conventions. Also, Heritage has a new report on why "free" college (a hot button issue for candidates) isn't really free. Plus: more on the coup attempt in Turkey and why it's bad for the U.S. —Michelle Cordero, Managing Editor, Heritage.org
Here is a blueprint for the next presidential administration. Heritage Foundation President Jim DeMint says to think of the important new Heritage report "Blueprint for Reform" like "an operating manual for Washington 2017." The report makes recommendations on how to slow the growth of entitlement spending, update the tax code, rebuild the military, balance the budget by 2024, and more. Read the summary here.
Who is going to pay for "free" community college? Liberal politicians have called for free in-state tuition at public colleges for students from families with income under $85,000 a year and up to $125,000 a year in 2021. (Remember this embarrassing viral interview?) In a new report, Heritage expert Mary Clare Reim notes that the idea of "free" college is misleading as the cost of education for students would not disappear. Read why here.
Russia and ISIS will take advantage of the situation in Turkey. An attempted military coup in NATO member Turkey was foiled over the weekend. It is still not clear what motivated the coup plotters, but some reasonable assumptions can be made about press freedom and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's more conservative brand of Islam. Heritage recently released a report ahead of the NATO conference on why it is in America's interests for Turkey to remain stable. The new developments prove that unlikely. Which is bad for the U.S. Read why here.
HAPPENING AT HERITAGE
Heritage experts Genevieve Wood, James Carafano, Hans von Spakovsky, Mike Gonzalez and Lee Edwards travel to Cleveland to provide policy insight at the Republican National Convention.
POLICY PICTURE
"The declining marriage rate is not so much a reflection that marriage is no longer desired, but that, in a culture of distrust and divorce, it is fragile," write Amber and David Lapp in Heritage's Index of Culture and Opportunity. Read more here.
Have a question? Email us at ManagingEditor@heritage.org.
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