Carrie L. Lukas

Credentials

• M.P.P. John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, 2001¹“Carrie Lukas,” LinkedIn. Accessed Februry 2020. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.
• B.A. English, Princeton University, 1995²“Carrie Lukas,” LinkedIn. Accessed Februry 2020. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

Background

Carrie L. Lukas is the president of the Independent Women’s Forum (IWF) and vice president of the group Independent Women’s Voice (IWV).³“Carrie L. Lukas,” Independent Women’s Forum. Archived February 9, 2023. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.is/i2jCz

According to her profile page on the IWF website, Carrie Lukas “has worked in the policy arena for twenty-five years.”⁴“Carrie L. Lukas,” Independent Women’s Forum. Archived February 9, 2023. Archived February 9, 2023. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.is/i2jCz

According to an earlier IWF profile page, Lukas was a senior domestic policy analyst for the House Republican Policy Committee and the Cato Institute prior to joining IWF in 2003. ⁵“Carrie L. Lukas,” Independent Women’s Forum. Archived February 7, 2020. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/yciHG

Lukas was a senior fellow at the Goldwater Institute in the late 2000s.⁶“GOVERNMENT JOBS PROGRAMS NEVER FAIR TO ALL,” Goldwater Institute. Archived August 27, 2015. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/wip/cfWUj

Stance on Climate Change

April – July 17, 2018

Carrie L. Lukas, as well as Heather R. Higgins of Independent Women’s Voice, signed on to an anti-carbon tax pledge organized by Grover Norquist’s Americans for Tax Reform. “We oppose any carbon tax. We oppose a carbon tax because it would lead to less income and fewer jobs for American families,” the letter reads in part, concluding: “We support the House Concurrent Resolution in opposition to a job-killing carbon tax and urge members to vote for this resolution.” (Emphasis in original.)⁷“41 Conservative Groups Urge Support for Scalise/McKinley Anti-Carbon Tax Resolution,” MacIver Institute website, July 19, 2018. Archived February 4, 2020. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/l8oak

Stance on Paid Family and Medical Leave

Carrie L. Lukas has opposed government-mandated paid family and medical leave, characterizing it as a new payroll tax. ⁸Naomi Jagoda. “Push for paid family leave heats up ahead of 2020,” The Hill, Feburary 14, 2019. Archived February 9, 2023. Archive URL: http://archive.today/Bo9HQ

Lukas’ IWF policy papers on paid family leave include:

• “Policy Focus: Help Workers Prepare for Leave Time,” November 12, 2019
• “Policy Brief #18: Mandated Paid Sick Leave: The Wrong Medicine for Workers,” March 18, 2009
• “Policy Brief #14: Expanding the Family and Medical Leave Act and Other Government-mandated Leave Benefits: A Preview of the 111th Congress,” January 22, 2009
• “Position Paper No. 606 Who Pays for My Time Off? The Costs and Consequences of Government-Mandated Leave,” February 5, 2008

Sample op-ed and media appearances related to family and medical leave:

• “Democrat Bill Would End Flexible Work, Force Every American Into The Same Old 9-5” – The Federalist, February 5, 2020
• “Why Mothers’ Choices About Work and Family Often Feel Like No Choice at All” – The New York Times, January 17, 2020
• “Paid Leave Sounds Nice, But…” – IWF video, August 22, 2019
• “Elizabeth Warren’s Family-Leave Plan Would Weaken Family Relationships” – National Review, September 27, 2019
• “Paid leave bill would hurt families” – The Barre-Montpelier Times Argus, May 21, 2019
• “Congress can expand paid leave and help workers save with bipartisan support” – The Hill, May 15, 2019
• “Explainer: Republican lawmakers unveil paid family leave plan” – Acton Institute, March 29, 2019
• “Marco Rubio vows to ‘preach the gospel’ to GOP on paid family leave” – Washington Examiner, March 27, 2019
• “Senators Ernst and Lee Introduce Conservative Earned-Leave Bill” – National Review, March 12, 2019
• “Carrie Lukas Guest Hosts WMAL and Talks Paid Family Leave” – WMAL radio show archived by IWF, Feb. 14, 2019
• “Paid Leave Policy Must Recognize Trade-Offs” – Real Clear Policy, Jan. 17, 2019
• “Government Already Pays Some Paid-Leave Costs” – National Review, Sept. 14, 2018
• “The Family Act would leave all workers with less take-home pay” – The Hill, Aug. 3, 2018
• “I live in a country with paid family leave. It’s no magic bullet,” Washington Post, May 11, 2016
• “More Companies Expanding Paid Leave Programs—Without Government” – IWF website, November 20, 2015
• “A Real Debate of Paid Leave Policy” – IWF blog, September 28, 201

Key Quotes

February 6, 2020

Lukas described fracking bans as a “horrible idea” on Twitter:

July 12, 2017

Writing for a Reason Foundation publication, Lukas critiqued “libertarians’ lost voice” regarding paid family and medical leave policy debates:⁹Carrie Lukas. “Libertarians’ Lost Voice in the Paid Leave Debate,” Reason, July 12, 2017. Archived February 13, 2020. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/wip/B8fe7

“The public likes the idea of government doing something to make sure new parents have a benefit that lets them spend more time at home with their children. But often overlooked is that the money has to come from somewhere. Businesses forced to pay more for benefits have less for increased wages.

[…]

“A paid leave mandate creates winners and losers. People with families and children will receive the benefits, while those who cannot or choose not to have children will pay for benefits they are far less likely to use.”

June 4, 2016

Writing on the Forbes website, Lukas suggested that the best way to improve women’s participation in the labor force would be to remove government regulations:¹⁰Carrie Lukas. “We Need A New Approach To The #StateofWomen,” Forbes, June 14, 2016. Archived February 13, 2020. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.ph/wip/8SbZv

“From unnecessary state licensing regimes to expensive Obamacare health insurance mandates and our complicated tax code, government policy is making it increasingly difficult for businesses to get started and, ultimately, to offer people job opportunities. A true pro-woman agenda would start by modernizing these laws and sweeping away unnecessary red tape so that women have more and better job options.”

April 21, 2015

On the IWF website, Lucas warned that “electricity prices could soar” if carbon cuts mandated by the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan went into effect:¹¹Carrie L. Lukas. “Warning: Electricity Prices Could Soar,” Independent Women’s Forum, April 21, 2015. Archived February 13, 2020. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/QFWIO

“It sure would be great if we could costlessly [sic] transition to an energy platform that was entirely renewable and had no impact on the environment. Sadly though, just like achieving ‘world peace’ remains just a tad out of reach today, the green energy dream remains just that: a dream.”

Key Deeds

December 4, 2019

IWF released a video with PragerU titled ”How Big Government Hurts Women.” According to a description by Carrie Lukas, who is featured in the video, the video was “just one of the many ways IWF is pushing back against the women-as-victims narrative and correcting the record about how policies actually work in practice and principle.” In the video, Lukas argues that government mandated paid leave for women is a bad idea.¹²“New PragerU Video: ‘How Big Government Hurts Women’,” Independent Women’s Forum, December 4, 2019. Archived November 23, 2019. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog.

November 26, 2019

Carrie L. Lukas, as president of IWF, was among the signers of a letter regarding “Unique Patient Identifier (UPI)” from “Citizens’ Council for Health Freedom” to Representative Richard Shelby (R-Ala.).

October 15, 2019

Carrie Lukas, as president of IWF, was among the signers of a “Coalition Opposed to Pelosi’s 95 Percent Drug Tax” letter organized by Grover Norquist’s Americans for Tax Reform.

August 6, 2019

Carrie Lukas, as president of IWS, signed a coalition “Letter in Support of the U.S. Commission on Unalienable Rights.”

July 18, 2019

Lukas appeared on a WMAL talk radio show to discuss her new book, Checking Progressive Privilege.

May 21, 2019

In an op-ed appearing in the The Barre-Montpelier Times Argus, Lucas suggested that a paid sick leave program implemented by the government would “hurt families.”  According to Lukas, “Lawmakers should recognize a good economy and better business climate creates jobs, higher wages and better benefits for workers, so that should be priority number one.” She claimed “the new government program will also likely mean more paperwork and much less flexibility in how benefits are taken.”¹³Carrie Lukas. “Paid leave bill would hurt families,”The Barre-Montpelier Times Argus, May 21, 2019. Archived February 13, 2020. Archive.ph URL:https://archive.ph/QsavT

July 18, 2018

Carrie L. Lukas, as well as Heather R. Higgins of Independent Women’s Voice, signed an anti-carbon-tax pledge.  The basis for the pledge was a Heritage Foundation report claiming that a carbon tax “would lead to a loss of more than $2.5 trillion in aggregate gross domestic product by 2030.”¹⁴“41 Conservative Groups Urge Support for Scalise/McKinley Anti-Carbon Tax Resolution,” MacIver Institute, July 19, 2018. Archived February 4, 2020. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/l8oak

“In addition, a carbon tax would cost over 500,000 jobs in manufacturing and more than one million jobs by 2030,” the pledge claimed.¹⁵“41 Conservative Groups Urge Support for Scalise/McKinley Anti-Carbon Tax Resolution,” MacIver Institute, July 19, 2018. Archived February 4, 2020. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/l8oak

A version of the pledge was circulated to members of Congress in April 2018.¹⁶“Dear Members of Congress” (PDF), Americans for Tax Reform, April 26, 2018. Archived. pdf on file at DeSmog.

April 1, 2015

In an IWF website article, Lukas disapproved of the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan. She lauded legislation in the Nevada legislature that would allow the state to resist the plan’s federal mandates to cut carbon emissions, calling it “a step in the right direction.”¹⁷Carrie L. Lukas. “Energy Exploration Is Saving the Economy, For Now Anyway…” Independent Women’s Forum, April 1, 2015. Archived February 13, 2020. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/RIBJv

“Americans everywhere should also object to this latest EPA power grab which threatens a lone bright spot in our economy,”  she concluded.¹⁸Carrie L. Lukas. “Energy Exploration Is Saving the Economy, For Now Anyway…” Independent Women’s Forum, April 1, 2015. Archived February 13, 2020. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/RIBJv

Affiliations

• Independent Women’s Forum (IWF) — President¹⁹“Carrie L. Lukas,” Independent Women’s Forum. Archived February 9, 2023. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.is/i2jCz
• Independent Women’s Voice (IWV) – Vice president ²⁰“Carrie L. Lukas,” Independent Women’s Forum. Archived February 9, 2023. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.is/i2jCz
• Cato Institute — Former policy analyst²¹“Carrie L. Lukas,” Independent Women’s Forum. Archived February 6, 2020. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/yciHG
• House Republican Policy Committee — Former senior domestic policy analyst²²“Carrie L. Lukas,” Independent Women’s Forum. Archived February 6, 2020. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/yciHG
• Goldwater Institute — Former senior fellow²³“Senior Fellows,” Goldwater Institute. Archived December 23, 2008. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/wip/fGE0K

Social Media

• Carrie Lukas on Facebook
• @carrielukas on Twitter
• Carrie Lukas on LinkedIn

Publications

Books

• (2019). Checking Progressive Privilege. Encounter Books.
• With Sabrina Schaeffer (2012). Liberty Is No War on Women: How Big Government and Victim Politics Undermine America’s Progress. Createspace Independent Publishing.
• (2006). The Politically Incorrect Guide to Women, Sex And Feminism. Regnery Publishing

Policy Papers and Posts

• “Policy Focus: Government Over-Spending” – Jan 24, 2011
• “Policy Brief #27: FMLA Benefits for Part-Time Workers Would Hurt Those They Are Supposed to Help” – Jan 6, 2010
• “Policy Brief #26: New FMLA Regulations Provided Needed Clarity to Law” – Oct 10, 2009
• “Policy Brief #24: National Health Care in Canada: Lessons in Rationing” – Jul 23, 2009
• “Policy Brief #22: Keep Uncle Sam Away from Toddlers:The Case Against Government Funding for Preschool” – Jun 11, 2009
• “Policy Brief #19: Hawaii’s Lesson in the Perils of Universal Health Insurance” – Mar 23, 2009
• “Policy Brief #18: Mandated Paid Sick Leave: The Wrong Medicine for Workers” – Mar 18, 2009
• “Policy Brief #15: Expanding SCHIP Doesn’t Fix Real Problems in U.S. Healthcare System” – Jan 26, 2009
• “Policy Brief #14: Expanding the Family and Medical Leave Act and Other Government-mandated Leave Benefits: A Preview of the 111th Congress” – Jan 22, 2009
• “Position Paper No. 609: Excellence, Not Gender Parity, Should Be Priority for STEM Faculty” – Aug 15, 2008
• “IWF Policy Brief #13: Congress Should Commit to Restraining Spending” – Feb 11, 2008
• “Position Paper No. 606 Who Pays for My Time Off? The Costs and Consequences of Government-Mandated Leave” – Feb 5, 2008
• “IWF Policy Brief #8: SCHIP Debate Isn’t About the Children: It’s About Our Healthcare System’s Future” – Nov 19, 2007
• “IWF Policy Brief #7: Chairman Charles Rangel’s Plan to Penalize Marriage and Discourage Women from Working” – Oct 26, 2007
• “IWF Policy Brief #4: Eliminating the Wage Cap Won’t Fix Social Security” – Oct 6, 2007
• “The Death Tax: Unfair, Inefficient, Bad for Women” – Nov 9, 2005
• “Sex (Ms.) Education” – Feb 10, 2005
• “Women’s Economic Independence Report Card” – Oct 22, 2004
• “Taxing Independence: The Price of Feminists’ Love Affair with High Taxes” – Aug 24, 2004
• “Recess from Reality: The Feminist Failure to Embrace School Choice” – Jun 21, 2004
• “Dependency Divas: How the Feminist Big Government Agenda Betrays Women” – Jan 30, 2004

Op-eds

Carrie Lukas has often posted opinion pieces to the Forbes website.

Carrie L. Lukas has been a regular columnist for the National Review and The Hill. Some of her columns include:

• “Democrat Bill Would End Flexible Work, Force Every American Into The Same Old 9-5” – The Federalist, February 5, 2020
• “Elizabeth Warren’s Family-Leave Plan Would Weaken Family Relationships” – National Review, September 27, 2019
• “I took on a big mortgage to live near a certain public school. Parents need school choice” – USA TODAY, August 29, 2019
• “Progressive Privilege Harms Conservative and Progressive Causes” – Real Clear Politics, July 30, 2019
• “Paid leave bill would hurt families” – Barre-Montpelier Times Argus, May 21, 2019
• “Congress can expand paid leave and help workers save with bipartisan support” – The Hill, May 15, 2019
• “Girls and Women Deserve Single-Sex Sports” – National Review, May 3, 2019
• “Granite Caregiving Act would hurt families that need help” – New Hampshire Union Leader, April 11, 2019
• “Time to Confirm New Leadership at the EEOC” – National Review, April 8, 2019
• “Reforming Social Security to give parents more control” – Washington Times, April 8, 2019
• “Senators Ernst and Lee Introduce Conservative Earned-Leave Bill” – National Review, March 12, 2019
• “Likability always matters in politics” – Newsday, February 28, 2019
• “Elizabeth Warren’s Misguided Child-Care Plan” – National Review, February 19, 2019
• “Gender Studies’ Value Is Under Question—And for Good Reason” – The James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal, January 30, 2019
• “Not my Women’s March” – The Detroit News, January 19, 2019
• “Paid Leave Policy Must Recognize Trade-Offs” – Real Clear Politics, January 17, 2019
• “Senate Report Shows How U.S. Immigration System Encourages Child Marriages” – National Review, January 11, 2019
• “Another Reason There Are So Few Elected Republican Women” – National Review, Dec 18, 2018 N
• “Check Your Progressive Privilege” – The Wall Street Journal, December 13, 2018
• “No, the ‘Real Gender Wage Gap’ Isn’t 51 Percent” – National Review, November 30, 2018
• “Shaming Women Who Vote Right” – National Review, November 14, 2018
• “Why so busy? Our flawed college system takes toll on families years before tuition is due” – USA Today, November 12, 2018
• “The Link Between Benefits and Take-Home Pay” – National Review, September 27, 2018
• “Government Already Pays Some Paid-Leave Costs” – National Review, September 14, 2018
• “Preventing the Crowd-Out of Private Benefit Plans” – National Review, September 6, 2018
• “Making Social Security More Flexible is an Idea Worth Further Inquiry and Serious Debate” – The Wall Street Journal, August 29, 2018
• “The Family Act would leave all workers with less take-home pay” – The Hill, August 3, 2018
• “The Rubio-Wagner Bills Help Workers by Modernizing Social Security” – National Review, August 1, 2018
• “Conservatives Obsessing about the Social Security Trust Fund Miss the Big Picture” – National Review, July 9 2018
• “For Independents, It’s About the Direction of the Country” – Inside Sources, October 31, 2018
• “Dehumanizing Men” – National Review, October 16, 2018
• “Women and Men Aren’t at War — and Both Care about Due Process” – National Review, October 9, 2018 NAT REV
• “Taylor Swift Buys the Democrats’ Marketing; Tennesseans Shouldn’t” – National Review, October 9, 2018
• “So-Called Experts Who See America as Among Worst Places for Women Are Deeply Delusional” – National Review, Jun 27, 2018 NAT REV
• “Candidates’ Views — Not Their Gender — Is What Matters” – Inside Sources, June 11, 2018
• “FGM Shouldn’t Have a Place in the U.S. — or Anywhere” – National Review, May 21, 2018V

Other Resources

• Carrie Lukas on Wikipedia

Resources

• 1
  “Carrie Lukas,” LinkedIn. Accessed Februry 2020. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.
• 2
  “Carrie Lukas,” LinkedIn. Accessed Februry 2020. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.
• 3
  “Carrie L. Lukas,” Independent Women’s Forum. Archived February 9, 2023. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.is/i2jCz
• 4
  “Carrie L. Lukas,” Independent Women’s Forum. Archived February 9, 2023. Archived February 9, 2023. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.is/i2jCz
• 5
  “Carrie L. Lukas,” Independent Women’s Forum. Archived February 7, 2020. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/yciHG
• 6
  “GOVERNMENT JOBS PROGRAMS NEVER FAIR TO ALL,” Goldwater Institute. Archived August 27, 2015. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/wip/cfWUj
• 7
  “41 Conservative Groups Urge Support for Scalise/McKinley Anti-Carbon Tax Resolution,” MacIver Institute website, July 19, 2018. Archived February 4, 2020. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/l8oak
• 8
  Naomi Jagoda. “Push for paid family leave heats up ahead of 2020,” The Hill, Feburary 14, 2019. Archived February 9, 2023. Archive URL: http://archive.today/Bo9HQ
• 9
  Carrie Lukas. “Libertarians’ Lost Voice in the Paid Leave Debate,” Reason, July 12, 2017. Archived February 13, 2020. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/wip/B8fe7
• 10
  Carrie Lukas. “We Need A New Approach To The #StateofWomen,” Forbes, June 14, 2016. Archived February 13, 2020. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.ph/wip/8SbZv
• 11
  Carrie L. Lukas. “Warning: Electricity Prices Could Soar,” Independent Women’s Forum, April 21, 2015. Archived February 13, 2020. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/QFWIO
• 12
  “New PragerU Video: ‘How Big Government Hurts Women’,” Independent Women’s Forum, December 4, 2019. Archived November 23, 2019. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog.
• 13
  Carrie Lukas. “Paid leave bill would hurt families,”The Barre-Montpelier Times Argus, May 21, 2019. Archived February 13, 2020. Archive.ph URL:https://archive.ph/QsavT
• 14
  “41 Conservative Groups Urge Support for Scalise/McKinley Anti-Carbon Tax Resolution,” MacIver Institute, July 19, 2018. Archived February 4, 2020. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/l8oak
• 15
  “41 Conservative Groups Urge Support for Scalise/McKinley Anti-Carbon Tax Resolution,” MacIver Institute, July 19, 2018. Archived February 4, 2020. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/l8oak
• 16
  “Dear Members of Congress” (PDF), Americans for Tax Reform, April 26, 2018. Archived. pdf on file at DeSmog.
• 17
  Carrie L. Lukas. “Energy Exploration Is Saving the Economy, For Now Anyway…” Independent Women’s Forum, April 1, 2015. Archived February 13, 2020. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/RIBJv
• 18
  Carrie L. Lukas. “Energy Exploration Is Saving the Economy, For Now Anyway…” Independent Women’s Forum, April 1, 2015. Archived February 13, 2020. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/RIBJv
• 19
  “Carrie L. Lukas,” Independent Women’s Forum. Archived February 9, 2023. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.is/i2jCz
• 20
  “Carrie L. Lukas,” Independent Women’s Forum. Archived February 9, 2023. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.is/i2jCz
• 21
  “Carrie L. Lukas,” Independent Women’s Forum. Archived February 6, 2020. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/yciHG
• 22
  “Carrie L. Lukas,” Independent Women’s Forum. Archived February 6, 2020. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/yciHG
• 23
  “Senior Fellows,” Goldwater Institute. Archived December 23, 2008. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/wip/fGE0K