The Institute For Liberty was founded in 2005 as a public policy advocacy group. IFL is a non-profit 501c(4) advocacy organization based in the Washington, DC area. Their primary focus is on the impact of policies developed by the federal executive branch regulatory agencies impacting small business and entrepreneurship. Currently, the IFL is widely focused on issues such as intellectual property rights, eminent domain, energy policy, market-oriented technology policy, and national security.


Institute for Liberty
Founded2005
TypePublic Policy National Security
Location
WebsiteOfficial website


The IFL has published articles and engaged in advocacy for specific legislative language, filing regulatory comments to support small businesses and entrepreneurs concerning Congressional mandates through federal agencies like the OSHA, the EPA (CO2 and ozone regulation),[1] and the DEA (cold medicine).[2]

The IFL motto is "Defending America's right to be free."


The President of The Institute For Liberty is Andrew M. Langer.[3] IFL's Senior Vice President for Policy is Kerri Houston Toloczko.[4]

Five Senior Fellows complete the professional writing and advisory staff, Tom Sullivan, Senior Fellow in Regulatory Policy, Peter Roff, Senior Fellow in Strategic Policy, Jennifer Korn, Senior Fellow in Immigration Policy, Loren Smith, Senior Fellow for Labor and Employment Policy, and Roger Morse, Senior Fellow in Political Economy.[5]

Late in the summer of 2009 Ms. Toloczko crossed the U.S. with the Hands Off My Healthcare advocacy tour.[6] Her article on failed government health care systems was published in October, 2009.[7]

Eleven IFL political and federal regulatory advocacy publications from 2008 and 2009 are listed on their website.

The Institute For Liberty is located at: 1250 Connecticut Ave, NW, Suite 200 Washington, DC 20036

Their website is http://www.instituteforliberty.org/




About IFL

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The Institute for Liberty (IFL) was founded in 2005, focusing on technology policy and national security issues. It wants to make sure the government stays focused on keeping its people safe without unnecessarily interfering with American's daily lives. They are mostly made up of members who have served in the federal executive branch, in congressional offices, as journalists, and activists.


Some important accomplishments of theirs include:

•"Legislative Language: IFL was called upon for anti-Kelo language for the Senate's housing crisis bill. This language was successfully inserted, passed the Senate, and restricts the monies in that bill from being used for private-to-private eminent domain;

•Regulatory Involvement: Filed regulatory comments in the Department of Labor's Family and Medical Leave (FMLA) rulemaking, noting that despite the unpaid nature of the leave, the FMLA presents huge productivity costs for American businesses;

•Tax Initiative: Launched a major tax initiative, calling upon the federal government to provide a receipt/thank you note to all taxpayers in October of every year, thus better linking an individual's tax burden with their voting choices at election time. IFL gained major media attention with this proposal following a Tax Day press conference;

•Energy Policy: Joined the team countering the Administration's move to classify CO2 as a pollutant, has commented on the impact of new ozone regulations on energy prices, and is working to frame the importance of this issue to small business;

•Stopping Regulatory Expansion: Senior Vice President for Policy, Kerri Houston Toloczko, provided integral testimony in a Drug Enforcement Agency rulemaking hearing on their desire to expand their regulatory tyranny over convenience store sales of certain cold medicines. Ms. Houston's testimony is credited with halting the DEA's attempt to extend its regulatory reach" [8]



The IFL is a defender of individual rights. They represent the perspective of small businesses and blue collar workers in the public policy debate. They also organize grassroots movements and events.

The IFL is organized around a series of centers. Their Center for Health Security fights against the U.S. health care system being taken over by the government. Their Center for Strategic Policy works to educate Americans on how and why public policies are made the way they are, and their Center for American Regulatory Engagement works to get large amounts of Americans involved in the policy debates.

Their primary goal is to fight back against an expanding government and fight against unfair policies.[9]

Issues

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The Institute for Liberty focuses on issues which impact Americans, especially small businesses and entrepreneurs. They interact with federal agencies like OSHA and EPA, deal with new mandates being discussed by congress, and watch for government attempts at any level to take away citizen's rights.

Their top concerns include:

•The Trillion Dollar Regulatory State •The War on Small Business •Small Business Paperwork •Health Care Security •Property Rights •Eminent Domain •Government Land Ownership •Endangered Species and Wetlands •Man-Made Weather Control, otherwise known as "Anthropogenic Climate Change" or "Global Warming" •Energy Policy •Gas Prices •National Security Policy and the "Outsourcing" of Critical Defense Components •Occupational Safety and Health Policy •Comparative Risk Assessment and Environmental Policy •Intellectual Property Rights •Internet Freedom •Market-Oriented Technology Policy

[10]

Initiatives

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Pledge to Read Initiative The IFL's Pledge to Read Initiative is a pledge from elected members of government that they have read new policies before voting on them. Previously, many elected representatives did not read, or were not given the chance to read, the policy which they are voting on. This pledge is not mandatory, and the representative must contact the IFL in order to sign.


Liberty Belles Liberty Belles is an organization within the Institute for Liberty that is dedicated to empowering conservative women by informing them about the important issues of the day, and giving them information in a way that "will best assist them in their conversations with others."[11]

The Liberty Belles Blog is a political blog written by women who are experts in the political arena. Liberty Belles is a committee of dedicated women, all with over a decade of policy experience in the issue area of her experience. They are available for interviews and are currently co-authoring a book on family issues all Americans face.[12]

Health Security

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The Center for Health Security and Access of the Institute for Liberty is focused on getting the best health care possible for Americans. They try to accomplish this by protecting free market principles that allow Americans access to a superior quality of treatment. They try to keep health issues between doctors and patients, opposing efforts for government sponsored health care.

Led by Kerri Houston Toloczko, the Center for Health Security and Access focuses on several healthcare issues including:

•Healthcare vs. Health Insurance: opening the dialogue and explaining the difference •Comparative health system studies: government-controlled healthcare in Canada and the U.K. v. patient-centered healthcare in US •The road to rationing: defining the patient as an expense •The Hazards of importation of foreign pharmaceuticals •Who are the uninsured and do they have access to care? •What would be the impact of nationalized healthcare on the pharmaceutical, biologic and medical device industry? •Veteran's Best Health Accounts •Re-introducing consumer-driven, free market healthcare solutions. •Private sector healthcare solutions available now that employers could implement today.

[13]

References

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[[:Category:Non-profit organizations based in Washington, D.C.]] [[:Category:Organizations established in 2005]] [[:Category:Political advocacy groups in the United States]] [[:Category:Libertarian organizations based in the United States]]