Opinion
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Obama Blames the Messenger, Worsens Downturn
Opinion -Government reaction to the S&P downgrade of US debt took a negative psychological factor and made it even worse. It did this by showing just how far governments were from addressing their problems. -
One Year After Dodd-Frank, Bailout Dilemma Remains
Opinion -Ever since the bailout of Continental Illinois Bank in 1984, bank bailouts have been an unpopular device for protecting the financial system from risks posed by troubled banks deemed “too big to fail. -
Educratic Inertia
Opinion -Everyone is talking about fancy new education apps, possibilities for "flipping" classrooms using innovative, video-based operators such as Khan Academy, and individualized "school of one" models popping up from New York City to California, but these are -
New Local Taxes Shelved in California, Could Be Revived Next Year
Opinion -California Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacremento) has shelved SB 23x, a bill that would have authorized cities, counties, and more than 1,000 school districts to levy a broad range of new taxes. -
Heartland Institute Experts React to Credit Rating Downgrade
Opinion -Standard & Poor’s, one of the major credit rating agencies in the United States, downgraded America’s rating from AAA to AA-plus, the first-ever downgrade of this country. -
Teachers union disavows internal memo endorsing deception of parents
Opinion -American Federation of Teachers officials have disavowed an internal report after it was posted on the union's website following its annual conference, embedded on each of its 19 pages with the union's logo and signed by a union official. -
FTE Teaches Teachers Economics, Has Reached Roughly 43 Million Students
Opinion -The Foundation for Teaching Economics enlivens high-school classrooms by educating teachers and demonstrating economic principles through real-life examples. FTE estimates its programs have reached as many as 43 million students in its 20 years. -
Government’s $7 Billion Broadband Waste
Opinion -The debate over raising the debt ceiling has captured the national imagination. -
The Great Society’s Big Medicaid Lie
Opinion -When Medicaid was first created by President Lyndon B. Johnson, it was characterized as a safety net for the poorest of the poor. In the decades since, the program has expanded dramatically beyond that purpose. -
Delays, Legal Challenges Pursue Historic Indiana Vouchers
Opinion -Indiana’s voucher program—the largest in the nation—has attracted more than 2,800 students and 250 private schools this fall, despite a pending legal challenge and obstacles to the application process. -
Missing Union Document Touts Success Squashing CT Parent Trigger
Opinion -A document posted on the American Federation of Teachers’ website, removed on Aug. 3, details the union’s “kill mode” strategy to convert the Connecticut version of Parent Trigger legislation into an advisory committee with no “true governing authority. -
Responding to Jay Mathews: Is the Parent Trigger a ‘Waste of Time’?
Opinion -Editors’ Note: In response to Jay Mathew’s Washington Post musings on the Parent Trigger in light of teachers union documents detailing a strategy to derail the parent empowerment legislation, Bruno Behrend, director of the Center for School -
Health Care Queue-Jumping Scandal Rocks Canadian Province
Opinion -A health care scandal has erupted in the Canadian province of Alberta with allegations that Canadian politicians and other well-connected people are receiving preferred access to the health care system, skipping the waiting lines most citizens must -
MI Legislature Limits Teacher Tenure
Opinion -Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) has signed four bills outlining new regulations for teacher tenure, suspension, demotion, and collective bargaining rights. -
Ruling on Co. District-Initiated Vouchers Expected this Week
Opinion -A Denver district court is set to rule this week on a unique school choice arrangement in Douglas County, CO: offering vouchers through a district charter school. -
Ethanol Feeling the Heat on Capitol Hill
Opinion -Ethanol’s longstanding position of privilege on Capitol Hill may be in danger as the U.S. Senate—by a vote of 73 to 27—voted to end some of the subsidies for the domestically produced fuel. -
Congress Pressures Obama to Decide on Canada Oil Pipeline
Opinion -The U.S. House of Representatives is considering a resolution, the North American-Made Energy Security Act, that would require the Obama administration to decide by Nov. -
NASA Data Show CO2 Trapping Less Heat than Expected
Opinion -NASA satellite data from the years 2000 through 2011 show the earth’s atmosphere is allowing more heat to be released into space than computer models have predicted, reports a new study in the peer-reviewed science journal Remote Sensing. -
California Nears Final ‘Parent Trigger’ Regulations
Opinion -California’s State Board of Education is on track to approve final, permanent regulations governing the state’s landmark Parent Trigger law at its September meeting. -
Study: No Adverse Health Effects from Natural Gas Drilling in Fort Worth
Opinion -Natural gas wells in Fort Worth, Texas do not threaten the health of the city’s 741,000 residents, a much-anticipated, $1 million air quality study has found. -
Nuclear Power Opposition Rejects Human Health Benefits
Opinion -There is no such thing as totally safe energy conversion on a large scale. Energy is the capacity for doing work, and as long as people are fallible, there is always the possibility that the energy we use will do some of the wrong kind of work. -
North Carolina Trims Budget for Environmental Programs
Opinion -Overriding a veto by Gov. Beverly Perdue (D), both houses of North Carolina’s legislature have implemented a budget that cuts taxes, reduces public spending, and makes significant changes to the Tar Heel State’s environmental policies. -
N.Y. State Sued Over Role in Cap-and-Trade Scheme
Opinion -A pair of New York business executives is suing the state over its participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). The lawsuit seeks to terminate New York State’s participation in the ten-state RGGI. -
Obama Signs Debt Deal, Calls for Higher Taxes
Opinion -A $2.4 trillion increase in the national debt ceiling, $917 billion in spending “cuts,” and creation of a special congressional committee to look for another $1.5 trillion in “cuts.
