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Michael D. Tanner
Senior Fellow
A Cato Institute senior fellow, Michael Tanner heads research into a variety of domestic policies with a particular emphasis on health care reform, social welfare policy, and Social Security. His most recent white paper, "Bad Medicine: A Guide to the Real Costs and Consequences of the New Health Care Law," provides a detailed examination of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and what it means to taxpayers, workers, physicians, and patients.
He is also the author of, Leviathan on the Right: How Big-Government Conservatism Brought Down the Republican Revolution (2007), which chronicles the demise of the Republican party as it has shifted away from its limited government roots and warns that reform is necessary to avoid continual electoral defeat. His other books include, Healthy Competition: What's Holding Back Health Care and How to Free It (Second Edition, 2007), The Poverty of Welfare: Helping Others in Civil Society (2003), and A New Deal for Social Security (1998). Tanner's writings have appeared in nearly every major American newspaper, including the New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today. A prolific writer and frequent guest lecturer, Tanner appears regularly on network and cable news programs. The New York Times refers to him as "a lucid writer and skilled polemicist."
Under Tanner's direction, Cato launched the Project on Social Security Choice, which is widely considered the leading impetus for transforming the soon-to-be-bankrupt system into a private savings program. Time Magazine calls Tanner, "one of the architects of the private accounts movement," and Congressional Quarterly named him one of the nation's five most influential experts on Social Security. Before joining Cato in 1993, Tanner served as director of research of the Georgia Public Policy Foundation and as legislative director for the American Legislative Exchange Council.
Media Contact: 202-789-5200
To Book a Speaking Engagement: 202-789-5226
E-Mail: mtanner@cato.org
Books and Book Chapters
"Social Security," Chapter 17 of the Cato Handbook for Policymakers, 7th edition.
Leviathan on the Right: How Big-Government Conservatism Brought Down the Republican Revolution, (2007).
Healthy Competition: What's Holding Back Health Care and How to Free It, coauthor (2005).
Social Security and Its Discontents, editor (April 2004)
The Poverty Of Welfare: Helping Others in Civil Society, (August 2003)
Cato Studies
"Social Security, Ponzi Schemes, and the Need for Reform," Policy Analysis no. 689, November 17, 2011.
"Bankrupt: Entitlements and the Federal Budget," Policy Analysis no. 673, March 28, 2011.
"Bad Medicine: A Guide to the Real Costs and Consequences of the New Health Care Law," White Paper no. 29, February 14, 2011.
"Halfway to Where? Answering the Key Questions of Health Care Reform," Policy Analysis no. 643, September 9, 2009.
"Massachusetts Miracle or Massachusetts Miserable: What the Failure of the "Massachusetts Model" Tells Us about Health Care Reform," Briefing Paper no. 112, June 9, 2009.
Articles and Newsletters
"Lessons from the Fall of RomneyCare," Cato Policy Report, January/February 2008.
Opinion and Commentary
"No More Bipartisan Bailouts," National Review (Online), February 1, 2012
"$189,000," New York Post, January 28, 2012
"A Redistributive State of the Union," National Review (Online), January 25, 2012
"GOP Should Heed Ron Paul," National Review (Online), January 18, 2012
"The Income-Inequality Myth," National Review (Online), January 10, 2012
Cato @ Liberty Blog Posts
"What Have the Politicians in Washington Given Us?," November 23, 2011
"A Deal, Not a Solution," August 1, 2011
"Romney Can Run, but He Can't Hide from Romneycare," June 2, 2011
"Not a Good Week for Obamacare," February 3, 2011
"Still Not Serious About Cutting Spending," December 1, 2010
Events
"Obama's Fiscal Commission and the GOP Budget Agenda," December 16, 2010 [Capitol Hill Briefing]
"The Real Impact of the New Health Care Law," August 4, 2010 [Capitol Hill Briefing]
"Understanding Health Care Co-ops," September 9, 2009 [Capitol Hill Briefing]
"Who Are the Uninsured?," July 20, 2009 [Capitol Hill Briefing]
"What Government-Run Health Care Really Means," July 15, 2009 [Policy Forum]
Speeches and Testimony
"Senate Special Committee on Aging," September 30, 2009.
"Reforming Health Care in Arkansas," Arkansas House Insurance and Commerce Committee, February 25, 2009.
"Reforming Health Care in Utah," Health System Reform Task Force Testimony, September 25, 2008.
"Reforming Health Care in Wisconsin," Congressional Testimony, October 2, 2007.
"Reforming Health Care in Alaska," Congressional Testimony, September 10, 2007.
Multimedia
Michael Tanner: 'We're Broke' (January 30, 2012) [Cato Video, 09:51]
Michael D. Tanner discusses the State of the Union and income inequality on AFR's Crane Durham's Nothing But the Truth (January 30, 2012) [Media Highlights - Radio, 12:33]
Michael D. Tanner discusses his latest piece on Ron Paul and the GOP on WSPD's Brian Wilson Show (January 26, 2012) [Media Highlights - Radio, 12:39]
Michael D. Tanner discusses the State of the Union on KOGO's The La Donna Harvey Show (January 25, 2012) [Media Highlights - Radio, 08:54]
The Libertarian State of the Union with Mark A. Calabria, Daniel J. Mitchell and Ilya Shapiro (January 24, 2012) [Events, 49:10]
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