In the opening presentation at the February 2012 Board of Overseers’ meeting in Washington, DC, Scott Walker, governor of Wisconsin, discussed the importance of balancing state budgets and its impact on collective bargaining and long-term government pensions. Later sessions began with a presentation by Kevin McCarthy, US representative from California and House majority whip, about the way forward for the nation. Kenneth Cuccinelli II, attorney general of Virginia, made predinner remarks on Monday evening, the thrust of which concerned states’ rights, particularly in the context of the upcoming Supreme Court hearings on the constitutionality of the federal government’s health care initiative. Speaker of the House and US representative from Ohio John Boehner’s remarks on Tuesday stressed his role in negotiating with the president and the Senate. Mike Pence, US representative from Indiana, said that federalism is the unfinished business of Ronald Reagan and that the country needs to renew its dedication to limited government beyond cutting spending.
Tevi Troy, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, began Tuesday’s program with his speech “Think Tanks in the 21st Century: The Need to Maintain Their Value.” The Tuesday afternoon session included a presentation by Robert Kagan, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, on the world America made.
