James Leslie Gattuso ( December 1, 1957 – July 23, 2020) was a senior research fellow for the Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies at

The Heritage Foundation The Heritage Foundation (abbreviated to Heritage) is an American conservative think tank based in Washington, D.C. that is primarily geared toward public policy. The foundation took a leading role in the conservative movement during the presiden ...

, a conservative

think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmenta ...

based in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, where he specialized in regulatory issues and

telecommunications policy Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that fe ...

. Gattuso contributed articles to many publications, including ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'', ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

'' and ''

The Washington Times ''The Washington Times'' is an American conservative daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., that covers general interest topics with a particular emphasis on national politics. Its broadsheet daily edition is distributed throughout ...

''.

Education

Gattuso graduated from the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

in 1979, and he received his J.D. from the

UCLA School of Law The UCLA School of Law is one of 12 professional schools at the University of California, Los Angeles. UCLA Law has been consistently ranked by '' U.S. News & World Report'' as one of the top 20 law schools in the United States since the inception ...

in 1983.

Career

Gattuso was a policy analyst at

from 1985 to 1990, where he focused on telecommunications, transportation, and antitrust policy. From 1990 to 1993, Gattuso served as deputy chief of the Office of Plans and Policy at the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...

. During part of his tenure, he was appointed associate director of the President's Council on Competitiveness, working for Vice President Dan Quayle. In 1993, Citizens for a Sound Economy named Gattuso vice president of policy development, a position he held until 1997. He then served as vice president of policy at the Competitive Enterprise Institute. Gattuso rejoined The Heritage Foundation in 2002 as a senior research fellow. In 2009, he received the Glenn and Rita Ricardo Campbell Award, presented each year by The Heritage Foundation for "outstanding contribution to the analysis and promotion of the Free Society". He is also a regular contributor to the Heritage Foundation’s blog and previously to Bloomberg's online service, Bloomberg Government. Gattuso favored limiting regulations at the federal level. Specifically, Gattuso tended to favor decreased government involvement when it came to regulatory, transportation and telecommunication policy, arguing instead for private enterprise solutions. He also opposes net neutrality, calling it a "regulatory overreach". In 2011, Gattuso was influential in stopping the SOPA/PIPA online copyright legislation, authoring a report for The Heritage Foundation criticizing those proposals. Along with his colleague Diane Katz, he authored an annual review on trends in federal regulation, called "Red Tape Rising", which became a widely cited barometer of regulatory activity. In 2011, Gattuso was featured on '' The Tonight Show'' when

Jay Leno James Douglas Muir Leno (; born April 28, 1950) is an American television host, comedian, writer, and actor. After doing stand-up comedy for years, he became the host of NBC's ''The Tonight Show'' from 1992 to 2009. Beginning in September 2009 ...

showed a video of Gattuso on an earlier

Fox News The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...

segment, and asked the question, "Would his hair look better as a beard?" digitally moving his hair around to his chin, leaving him bearded and bald. Gattuso died on July 23, 2020, in Kennebunkport, Maine.

References

External links

Heritage Foundation bio page
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gattuso, James 1957 births 2020 deaths Mackinac Center for Public Policy People from Lynwood, California The Heritage Foundation