Research and Commentaries
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Research & Commentary: Auto Accident Response Fees
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Local governments around the nation continue to make new proposals to create accident response fees, or “crash” taxes. These tax proposals are likely to become more common as local governments struggle to balance their budgets. -
The Blob That Ate the Schools
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Here’s an eye-opening school statistic for you: Only half of Oklahoma’s public education employees are teachers. The bureaucracy is now so big, it takes up half the system. It’s the blob that ate the schools. -
Are Oklahoma’s Noncompliant School Districts Violating Civil Rights Laws?
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Oklahoma public schools that violate the civil rights of students risk losing federal education funds, U.S. Department of Education official Jim Bradshaw told CapitolBeatOK recently. -
Research & Commentary: Flood Mitigation, Levees, and Flood Maps
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Flood insurance maps inform owners of property on U.S. coastlines and riverbanks of flood damage risks their properties might face. -
Research & Commentary: Idaho’s Tobacco Tax Advantage
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Idaho is expected to face a budget deficit in fiscal year 2012 of approximately $350 million. Idaho House Revenue and Taxation Committee Chairman Dennis Lake (R-Blackfoot) says he wants to increase the state’s cigarette tax by more than $1. -
TN should say no to ObamaCare
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Nine months ago, President Barack Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, ushering in the largest-ever government intrusion into American’s health-care decisions. -
Research & Commentary: Georgia’s Tobacco Tax Advantage
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Georgia state Rep. Ron Stephens (R-Savannah) wants to raise the state’s cigarette tax by a dollar per pack in order to help close the state’s $1.5 billion budget deficit. -
Research & Commentary: EPA Guidance on Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Publication -Research and Commentaries -The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed guidance for regulating greenhouse gas emissions was released in mid-November and is set to go into effect on January 2, 2011. -
Research & Commentary: A Federal Balanced Budget Amendment
Publication -Research and Commentaries -The current public outrage over bailouts, excessive spending, and a staggering national debt are helping fuel the push for a federal balanced budget amendment. -
Research & Commentary: Jobs and the Health Care Law
Publication -Research and Commentaries -There is little question that the key issue for most voters in November’s election was the economy. -
How Higher Tuition Translates into More Debt for State Universities
Publication -Research and Commentaries -The S.C. Budget and Control Board recently announced a moratorium halting construction at four-year public institutions that raised tuition by 7 percent or more for the 2010-2011 school year. -
Research & Commentary: The Problem with ‘Fat’ Taxes
Publication -Research and Commentaries -States are increasingly looking to soda, candy, and other so-called “fat” taxes as a way to shore up their budgets. -
Research & Commentary: Advantages of Net Diversity
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Many economists and Web experts say a “non-neutral” Internet has a host of significant advantages. Network diversity encourages growth and variety of services and is a requirement for a host of exciting new technologies. -
Higher Education in South Carolina: Cut Administrative Costs and Focus on Student Performance
Publication -Research and Commentaries -While South Carolinians can take pride in our state’s higher educational system, costs and tuition have skyrocketed in recent years, even as graduation rates remain below 40 percent. -
Research & Commentary: Bad Faith Insurance Legislation
Publication -Research and Commentaries -All insurers of homes or cars reject at least some claims. Most rejections are because the claimant is simply not covered for the claim. Some result from strong suspicions—or even evidence—of fraud. -
Research & Commentary: Bad Faith Insurance Legislation
Publication -Research and Commentaries -All insurers of homes or cars reject at least some claims. Most rejections are because the claimant is simply not covered for the claim. Some result from strong suspicions—or even evidence—of fraud. -
Research & Commentary: Capital Gains Taxes
Publication -Research and Commentaries -The current capital gains tax rate of 15 percent is set to increase substantially at the end of the year as the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts sunset. -
Research & Commentary: Privatization
Publication -Research and Commentaries -The concept of privatization is relatively simple: a shifting of a government-provided service or aspects of it to a private business subject to the rigors of a competitive marketplace. -
Research & Commentary: Severability and Obamacare
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Recent hearings in Virginia regarding the commonwealth’s case against the individual health insurance mandate in President Barack Obama’s health care reform raised important questions hinging on the issue of constitutional severability. -
Research & Commentary: The Upcoming Dividend Tax Increase
Publication -Research and Commentaries -One tax hike set to take effect January 1, 2011 unless Congressional action is taken is a 164 percent increase in the tax on dividends. This would raise the top tax rate from 15 percent to 39. -
Research & Commentary: Virtual Schools
Publication -Research and Commentaries -The movement toward e-learning is strong in many sectors of the U.S. economy. In higher education, for example, 3.9 million students were enrolled in online courses in 2007, an increase of 70 percent (1. -
The Real Cost of Network Neutrality
Publication -Research and Commentaries -On June 17, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski pushed through a 3-2 vote along party lines to begin his agency’s process of reclassifying broadband Internet access under a more restrictive regulatory regime known as Title II. -
Research & Commentary: Nutrition Information Overload
Publication -Research and Commentaries -One of the new requirements of President Barack Obama’s health care legislation concerns disclosure of nutrition information in restaurants — essentially a tactic designed to shame people into better eating habits. -
Research & Commentary: VAT Will Increase Both Debt and Taxes
Publication -Research and Commentaries -A value-added tax (VAT) is a sales tax applied at each stage of production for a good or service, instead of only at the point of final sale.
