Tanner, Michael D. 1956–

views updated

Tanner, Michael D. 1956–

(Michael Tanner)

PERSONAL:

Born June 20, 1956.

ADDRESSES:

Home— Takoma Park, MD. Office— Cato Institute, 1000 Massachusetts Ave., N.W., Washington DC 20001-5403. E-mail— [email protected].

CAREER:

Georgia Public Policy Foundation, Atlanta, director of research; American Legislative Exchange Council, Washington, DC, legislative director; Cato Institute, Washington, DC, director of health and welfare studies, 1993—; freelance writer; frequent guest contributor to television news programs.

WRITINGS:

(With others)The Politics of Health: A State Response to the AIDS Crisis, American Legislative Exchange Council (Washington, DC), 1989.

The End of Welfare: Fighting Poverty in the Civil Society, Cato Institute (Washington, DC), 1996.

(With Peter J. Ferrara)A New Deal for Social Security, Cato Institute (Washington, DC), 1998.

The Poverty of Welfare: Helping Others in Civil Society, Cato Institute (Washington, DC), 2003.

(Editor)Social Security and Its Discontents: Perspectives on Choice, Cato Institute (Washington, DC), 2004.

(Editor) Michael F. Cannon Medicaid's Unseen Costs(electronic resource), Cato Institute (Washington, DC), 2005.

(Editor) Stephen A. Moses,Aging America's Achilles' Heel: Medicaid Long-Term Care(electronic resource), Cato Institute (Washington, DC), 2005.

The Personal Lockbox: A First Step on the Road to Social Security Reform(electronic resource), Cato Institute (Washington, DC), 2005.

Healthy Competition: What's Holding Back Health Care and How to Free It, Cato Institute (Washington, DC), 2005.

Leviathan on the Right: How Big-Government Conservatism Brought Down the Republican Revolution, Cato Institute (Washington, DC), 2007.

Contributor to periodicals, including the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today.

SIDELIGHTS:

Michael D. Tanner is the director of health and welfare studies for the Cato Institute in Washington, DC. His duties put him in charge of research into innovative, market-based approaches to Social Security, welfare, and health services, with an eye toward putting control of these services and the finances connected to them in the hands of the individual citizens as opposed to allowing government agencies to regulate and control all aspects of these areas. Relative to this, Tanner led Cato to launch the Project on Social Security Choice, the purpose of which was to take the age-old Social Security system and transform it into a system of personal savings that each individual can invest for their own retirement in whatever way seems best for their goals, and in this way revitalizing the program before the fund goes bankrupt. His involvement with the project earned him a place on the list of the five most influential experts on Social Security according to the Congressional Quarterly. Earlier in his career, Tanner worked for the Georgia Public Policy Foundation, where he was the director of research, and for the American Legislative Exchange Council, as their legislative director. He is also the author and/or editor of a number of books on the politics of the welfare and health systems, and has contributed to a wide range of periodicals, including the New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today. He also appears frequently as a guest lecturer at forums across the country, as well as on network and cable television news programs.

In his book Leviathan on the Right: How Big-Government Conservatism Brought Down the Republican Revolution, Tanner takes a hard look at the evolution of the Republican Party during the early years of the twenty-first century, addressing the ways in which it has veered away from its roots in limited government and hands-off policies. It is his theory that such behavior has led to poor choices on the part of the Republican leadership, and that such continued behavior going into the 2008 Presidential elections would make it difficult, if not impossible, for the Republican Party to maintain control of the White House. This, coupled with the loss of control in Congress, puts the Republicans in a precarious political position. Tanner focuses primarily on local policy, and avoids examining Republican foreign policy under George W. Bush, despite the impact that policy has had on party image. He compares current policy unfavorably with the earlier conservative politicians, naming Friedrich Hayek and Barry Goldwater. Bob Nardini, in a review for Library Journal, commented that "Tanner is especially good on the roots of big-government conservatism," adding that "he presents a lucid argument." A reviewer for the Internet Bookwatch dubbed the book "essential for any college-level political science discussion" on the topic.

Tanner has written or contributed to a number of other books and publications, including The Politics of Health: A State Response to the AIDS Crisis, The End of Welfare: Fighting Poverty in the Civil Society, A New Deal for Social Security, which he wrote with Peter J. Ferrara,The Poverty of Welfare: Helping Others in Civil Society, The Personal Lockbox: A First Step on the Road to Social Security Reform, and Healthy Competition: What's Holding Back Health Care and How to Free It. He has also served as editor for several books, including Social Security and Its Discontents: Perspectives on Choice, which links directly to his work on Social Security reform. A reviewer for Bookwatch deemed it "a scholarly analysis of Social Security's reforms and special challenges," and praised Tanner for including not just explication but potential solutions, as well.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

America's Intelligence Wire, January 17, 2004, "Interview with Michael Tanner, Janice Shaw Crouse."

Bookwatch, September, 2004, review of Social Security and Its Discontents: Perspectives on Choice, p. 12.

Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries, March, 1997, review of The End of Welfare: Fighting Poverty in the Civil Society, p. 1247.

Internet Bookwatch, March, 2007, review of Leviathan on the Right: How Big-Government Conservatism Brought Down the Republican Revolution,

Library Journal, March 1, 2007, Bob Nardini, review of Leviathan on the Right, p. 96.

Reference & Research Book News, November, 2003, review of The Poverty of Welfare: Helping Others in Civil Society, p. 145; August, 2004, review of Social Security and Its Discontents, p. 117; May, 2007, review of Leviathan on the Right.