Opinion
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Income Mobility Data Show Importance of Family Structure
Opinion -The Pew Charitable Trust recently released new data on income mobility in the U.S., and the results are illuminating. Pew’s Economic Mobility Project examines income changes since 1968 for a broad sample of American families. -
The Green, Green Plastic of Home
Opinion -Homeowners in Glendale, California will face criminal charges unless they remove fake plastic grass from their front yards.City officials there sent threatening notices to homeowners with fake front lawns, requiring removal of the artificial turf. -
Heartland Institute Reacts to Possible Shutdown of Federal Government
Opinion -Congress must pass a spending measure by midnight Friday or more than a half-million federal employees will be furloughed. Negotiations continue between Republicans and Democrats to avoid a government shutdown. -
Heartland Florida Director Comments on Florida Citizens Agenda
Opinion -Florida’s Citizens Property Insurance Board of Governors has adopted its 2012 legislative priorities, which include supporting legislation that would reduce the size of Citizens, but opposing legislation that essentially does the same for the Florida -
Study: Charter School Unions Mimic Traditional Unions
Opinion -Collective bargaining with charter schools, though said to be more flexible and innovative than that with traditional public schools, offers too few advantages to outweigh the restrictions it creates, says a recent study. -
Global Warming Is Benefiting, Not Harming Africa’s Sahel Region
Opinion -Global warming activists are sounding four-alarm fire bells over a new study claiming global warming is causing drought and killing trees in the Sahel region of sub-Saharan Africa. -
Heartland Institute Reacts to Wisconsin Teacher Unions’ Votes to Disband
Opinion -Two teacher unions in Racine County, given the first chance to vote to recertify under new state rules promoted by Gov. Scott Walker, have voted to disband. -
New York Health Homes on the Way
Opinion -Some New York Medicaid recipients are scheduled to begin receiving health care services through new “health homes” beginning January 1, 2012. -
Heartland Institute Reacts to NTSB’s Call to Ban Use of Cell Phones While Driving
Opinion -The National Transportation Safety Board on Tuesday recommended all states ban the use of cell phones while driving. The NTSB previously had recommended such bans only for novice drivers, school bus drivers, and commercial truckers. -
With False Vaccine Decision Process, the CDC Rots From Within
Opinion -Faced with making what should be a routine vaccination recommendation, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has released misleading documentation and is advocating its own agenda against the views of the public. -
Green Mountain Care Could Cost Vermonters Nearly $10 Billion a Year
Opinion -A new report to Vermont lawmakers raises concerns about the costs of implementing Green Mountain Care, a proposed universal single-payer health care system for the state. -
UN Officials Call for Climate Court, Reparations
Opinion -United Nations climate talks in Durban, South Africa, have come to a close with no enforceable agreement to restrict carbon dioxide emissions. -
Reports: Rethink the Structure of Schools
Opinion -The basic structure of the U.S. education system has for decades stymied efforts to improve student learning beyond marginal gains, according to a series of reports from the Thomas B. Fordham Institute and the Center for American Progress. -
Heartland Institute Reacts to Canada Pulling Out of Kyoto Climate Treaty
Opinion -Canada’s environment minister, Peter Kent, said his country is withdrawing from the Kyoto Protocol on climate change, adding “it is now clear that Kyoto is not the path forward to a global solution to climate change. If anything it’s an impediment. -
They Love to Go a-Wandering (Knapsack Optional)
Opinion -It’s official. Nude hiking in northeastern Switzerland is illegal.The Swiss Supreme Court recently validated a law banning nude hiking in the Swiss canton (the equivalent of a state in that country) of Appenzell Innerrhoden. -
Should You Care Whether I’m Insured?
Opinion -Do you really care whether I have health insurance? Some people seem to care a lot. They want to force me to buy it. What about other types of insurance? Do you care whether I have life insurance or disability insurance? How about homeowner’s insurance? -
Local Debt Stuns Cook County Treasurer—$108 Billion and Counting
Opinion -Households in suburban Cook County, Illinois, owe nearly $33,000 on average for local government debt, with households in the City of Chicago owing more than $63,000 on average, according to Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas. -
U.S. Money Markets Pulling Back from Troubled Euro Zone Banks
Opinion -The crisis in the euro zone is keeping EZ banks from lending to one another, and U.S. money market funds, which are key providers of liquidity to banks, have been pulling back from the euro zone since May. -
Farewell, Don Berwick
Opinion -The end of 2011 brings to an end the controversial tenure of Don Berwick, who stepped down as head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. His resignation is a triumph for online citizen journalism and a rejection of technocratic rule. -
New Medical Loss Ratio Rule Means No HSAs in ObamaCare Exchanges
Opinion -The urge of government health care bureaucrats to impose their will on the market, regardless of warnings and repeated petitioning for redress for relief, overpowered public petitions in the latest medical loss ratio rule released by the Department of -
Consumer Power Report: How Obamacare Targets Consumer-Directed Health Plans
Opinion -Many folks have been asking questions regarding the impact the medical loss ratio (MLR) rule released last week will have on health savings accounts and high-deductible health plans. -
An Open Letter to the Oil and Gas Industry: The Ethical Case for Fracking
Opinion -Those of you in the oil and gas industry are no doubt familiar with the U.S. -
Getting the Enron Story Straight
Opinion -The story about the failure of Enron by Phil Rosenthal that appeared in the Chicago Tribune on December 4, 2011 missed out on several interesting points in law and economics. -
Open Secrets
Opinion -Postings on Facebook are not private, and they are fair game for disclosure in court cases.Lawyers have known this for years, but their clients are just finding out--the hard way.
