Opinion
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Michigan District Creates Evaluation Software, Moneymaker
Opinion -While other districts are taking their time implementing new, state-mandated systems that tie educator evaluations to student testing data, one rural Michigan district seized the opportunity immediately and now can begin profiting from its innovation. -
Heartland Institute Reacts to Fourth Circuit Ruling on Obamacare Mandate
Opinion -A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit on Thursday overruled a December 2010 decision striking down the mandate in Obamacare that individuals purchase health insurance. -
Analysis: Ron Paul is Right About the FDA
Opinion -In a debate hosted on MSNBC last night, Ron Paul was singled out repeatedly for criticism by NBC anchor Brian Williams for a number of libertarian views of the proper role of government in society. -
Kentucky Explores Education Options for ‘Digital Natives’ [BRIEF]
Opinion -Digital learning offers great potential for addressing two of Kentucky’s greatest education needs: high costs and dropout rates, says a new Bluegrass Institute report. -
Heartland Institute Experts Available to Comment on Obama’s Jobs Speech
Opinion -President Obama is expected to ask for some $300 billion in economic stimulus in his speech tonight at a joint session of Congress.Budget and tax experts at The Heartland Institute are available to provide comments after the president’s speech. -
SD Supreme Court Denies Funding Increase as Schools Wrangle Budget Cuts
Opinion -The South Dakota Supreme Court ruled against a lawsuit seeking increased state education spending as school districts cut programs and move to four-day school in an effort to manage significant budget reductions. -
Global Warming: A 98% Consensus Of Nothing
Opinion -During last night’s Republican presidential debate, Jon Huntsman doubled down on Al Gorism, claiming skeptics of “global climate disruption” (that’s the White House’s term) are making “comments that fly in the face of what 98 out of 100 climate -
The 98 Percent Consensus of Nothing
Opinion -During last night’s Republican presidential debate, Jon Huntsman doubled down on Al Gorism, claiming global warming “skeptics” are making “comments that fly in the face of what 98 out of 100 climate scientists have said. -
The Government Should Let the AT&T Merger Go Forward
Opinion -Last week, the White House commanded the Department of Justice to scuttle a deal that would’ve combined two wireless carriers — fourth-place T-Mobile and second-place AT&T — and catapulted the merged companies into first place above Verizon. -
Perry’s “Bad or Awful” Environmental Record
Opinion -I'm disappointed in this Erica Greider piece at the New Republic – titled, “Rick Perry’s Record on the Environment: Is It Bad, or Awful?” – for a number of reasons. -
Thinking Small in Regulatory Reform
Opinion -If nothing else, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor thinks big. -
Florida Governor Considers Competition-Based Higher Ed Reforms
Opinion -Texas higher education reforms introduced in 2008 by presidential candidate and Gov. Rick Perry (R) have headed to Florida under Gov. Rick Scott (R). -
Heartland Institute Vice President: Senate Flood Proposal a Step Forward
Opinion -Eli Lehrer, Heartland Institute vice president for DC operations and director of its Center on Finance, Insurance and Real Estate, says the flood insurance bill scheduled for mark-up in the U.S. -
Obama Hints at New Mortgage Refinance Program; Expect More Failure
Opinion -President Obama apparently has noticed home mortgage interest rates are at or near record lows. Hints from the White House suggest he may soon announce a new mortgage refinancing program for people who owe more on their loans than their houses are worth. -
Consumer Power Report – Scarlet Letter Governance
Opinion -The central conceit of the Obama administration’s approach to health care policy has been that a strongly worded chiding or a public shaming is all that is needed to keep insurance rates low. -
NIPCC Releases Interim Climate Report
Opinion -Legacy Climate Change Weekly -Climate Change Weekly #18The United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), already under severe criticism for violating the requirements of academic peer review and relying on secondary sources, comes under question again in a new -
Illinois Smart Meters May Save Customers $2.8 Billion
Opinion -A third-party analysis commissioned by the Illinois-based Commonwealth Edison Company estimates the company’s 5.4 million Illinois utility customers could save $2.8 billion on electric bills over a 20-year period if smart meters are implemented. -
Heartland Institute Responds to Illinois Gov. Quinn’s Proposed Layoffs
Opinion -Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn (D) announced Monday that the state’s budget deficit may require him to lay off thousands of state workers by the end of this week. -
BRIEF: Chicago Mayor Introduces Merit Pay for Principals
Opinion -Performance evaluations and merit pay for teachers have changed school systems across the nation, but Chicago is the first district to initiate them for hiring and firing principals. -
One-Fifth of Pennsylvania Schools Join Teacher Evaluation Pilot
Opinion -One-fifth of Pennsylvania’s public schools will participate in a pilot teacher evaluation program, part of an effort to reduce the state’s 99 percent “satisfactory” teacher rating belied by test scores showing 27 percent of its fourth graders can barely -
They Snooze, Clients Lose
Opinion -In a classic case of lawyers protecting their own, a federal circuit court of appeals ruled recently a lawyer who takes a catnap in court isn’t “ineffective” unless he sleeps through “a substantial portion” of the trial. -
Let Peak-Road Pricing Regulate Illinois Tollway
Opinion -Letter to the editor sent to the Chicago Tribune on September 1, 2011:The Illinois Tollway Board voted 7-1 on August 25, 2011 to increase the basic I-Pass toll rates from 40 cents to 75 cents and to increase the basic cash price from 80 cents to $1.50. -
Colleges Forced to Redefine Speech and Assault Codes, Destroy Civil Liberties
Opinion -As parents send their children to college this fall, they have reason to worry where their tuition dollars are going. -
Are We Doomed?
Opinion -This issue of FIRE Policy News once again chronicles the descent of America from a land of freedom and opportunity into a second-rate country dominated by government regulators, politicians, and rent-seekers.
