During the course of any discussion regarding the conservative movement and activism, sooner or later the name of the Heritage Foundation will come up. Few organizations get as much media attention for their research and position papers as this well-respected group of conservative scholars.

Even liberal media organizations refer to the research and reports issued by the Heritage Foundation for the simple reason that its scholars backup their positions and assertions with cold, hard facts.

For instance, when Senator John Kerry (D-MA) denigrated the members of the US military by his inference that they were not well educated; and Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) made allegations that only the disenfranchised or unemployed join the military, the Heritage Foundation released an indepth study that blew holes the size of watermelons in those myths.

Wartime recruits who joined the United States military in 2004 and 2005 tended to be better educated and wealthier than their civilian peers, according to a report by the Foundation.

Heritage's economist Timothy Kane studied recruiting information to determine where service members are from, how much their families earn and what their education level is. His research shows that the trend toward better-quality recruits has actually accelerated in the years since 9/11.

Kanes study disproved the idea, expressed on Oct. 30 by Sen. John Kerry, that only those who fail in school end up in the military. “If you study hard, do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq,” the former presidential candidate told college students.

In fact, the children of the rich are overrepresented in the armed forces, while the children of the poor are underrepresented, which disproves Rep. Rangel's claim.

Even “as the conflict in Iraq continues, youth from wealthy areas continue to volunteer for duty despite increased risk,” Kane says.

In fact, the data show recruits from wealthy families are actually overrepresented in today’s military, while the only income group that’s lowering its participation in the military is the poor.

“This evidence suggests that the United States is not sending the poor to die for the interests of the rich,” he says.Kane, himself an Air Force veteran, broke recruiting information down by four characteristics: household income, level of education, race/ethnicity and regional origin.

“Like their peers in 1999 and 2003, recruits in 2004 and 2005 came primarily from middle-class areas,” Kane found. In fact, 2004 recruits came from neighborhoods with an average household income of $43,122. Last year that figure rose to $43,238, more than $2,000 higher than the 1999 average of $41,141 (in constant dollars).

Kane also notes that military recruits tend to be better educated than the public at large. At least 90 percent of enlistees, for example, have a high-school diploma, while the national high school graduation rate is 75 percent.

In addition, “the mean reading level of 2004 recruits is a full grade level higher than that of the comparable youth population,” he writes.When it comes to race, “the enlisted ranks are not disproportionately composed of minorities,” Kane found. Whites serve in numbers almost equal to their percentage of the population.

This is why America needs the Heritage Foundation -- if only to refute the fiction that passes for political discourse in Washington, DC.

For more information on the Heritage Foundation, visit: http://www.heritage.org

Nathan Tabor is the Founder and CEO of TCVmedia.com and TheConservativeVoice.com. After just eighteen months, TheConservativeVoice.com gets over 250,000 unique visitors a month, 1.7 million page views and has over 150,000 email subscribers. The Conservative Voice has over 100 columnists and features up-to-the-minute news. He is heard daily on over 250 stations nationally with AConservativeMoment.com.

At 29, Nathan ran for Congress (NC5) in an eight way primary. He raised over $750,000 and received over 7,500 votes in the most expensive primary in American history. Nathan's supporters included Dick Armey, Ed Meese, Steve Moore, Art Laffer, Pat Robertson, Bob Jones III, Congressmen Robert Aderholt, Congressmen Trent Franks, Congressmen Jim Ryun, Beverly and Tim LaHaye, Mike Farris and many others. Dr. Jerry Falwell dubbed him the "young Jesse Helms."

Nathan received his BA in psychology from St. Andrews Presbyterian College and his MA in public policy from Regent University.

Nathan is married to Jordan and they have a baby girl, Abigail.