Mission

The Berens Foundation posts non-partisan, fact-based, in-depth analyses of major political, economic and cultural issues confronting American society -- with emphasis on how these issues are affected by Federal and State governmental policy.

The Berens Foundation is animated by conservative principles: individual freedom and personal responsibility; limited government; literal construction of the Constitution; application of the rule of law uniformly to all; protection of private property; belief in the creativity, efficiency and entrepreneurial incentives generated by the free market; and traditional American values, especially self-reliance, honesty and patriotism. See our Principles below.

Principles

Constitutional. The United States Constitution established a Federal Government limited to specifically enumerated powers and reserved all other powers to the States and to the people.

We believe Federal and State courts have the obligation to strictly construe the Constitution according to its literal language and the original intent of the Founding Fathers. The power conferred on the courts by the Constitution does not empower them to usurp authority explicitly delegated to the Legislative or Executive Branches. Nor does the Constitution give the courts the power to act as a continuous constitutional convention under the mantra of construing a “living” constitution -- embodying an awesome hubris that a single trial court judge, a majority of two of three appellate court judges, or five of nine Supreme Court justices – many of whom have been appointed to the judiciary in repayment for party loyalty rather than legal skill or judicial temperament -- have the intellectual firepower to change the original intent of the Constitution agreed upon by 55 serious and learned delegates to the Constitutional Convention during 16 weeks (from May 25 to September 15, 1787) of intense debate.

Economic. We believe in the classical economic principles expounded by Adam Smith and Frederic Bastiat, as further developed by Milton Friedman and Arthur Laffer of the University of Chicago School, by Ludwig von Mises and Friedrich Hayek of the Austrian School, and by the insights of Nobel Laureates Gary Becker and Robert Lucas that governmental taxation, regulation and subsidization directly erode the incentive of individuals and businesses to invest and to work.

Moral. We adhere to traditional Judeo-Christian moral and ethical values. We unequivocally reject moral relativism, moral equivalency and elitist narcissism. We honor the primacy of the family as the indispensable unit upon which civilized society is built; value traditional social mores; and proclaim the self-evident and unique value of each person from his or her conception to natural death.

Policy | Style

We will strive to be intellectually honest in our statements of fact, analyses and descriptions of opposing views, expressed civilly and free of ad hominem innuendo and “gottcha” assertions.

Statements of fact will be based on scholarly and comprehensive research, verified for accuracy, and fully and fairly stated, without contemporary media and political spin. Our statement of other viewpoints will similarly be complete and accurate.

We will criticize individuals, private organizations, and all levels of government, for statements of fact that are untrue, misleading or selective; that misrepresent the unintended effects or failures of policy or programs; or that misstate the views of others.