Opinion
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Mesa, Arizona Voters Back Nearly $100 Million Subsidy for Chicago Cubs
Opinion -For 50 years, the Chicago Cubs have conducted spring training in Mesa, Arizona. -
Credit Scores in Employment Background Checks Banned in Illinois
Opinion -A new Illinois law banning employers from using credit scores in hiring decisions has led to strong debates over the whether the common practice is a fair measure of an applicant’s eligibility. -
Indiana Lawmakers Push Online Sales Taxes
Opinion -One advantage of shopping online is that purchasers often don’t have to pay sales taxes. That could change in the Hoosier State if two Indiana legislators get their way.State Rep. Ed Delaney (D-Indianapolis) and State Sen. -
Government’s Spending Structures Are Fundamentally Unsound
Opinion -As a college undergraduate, I studied civil engineering. One of the first things that is clear to any student of civil engineering is that gravity always works—all the time, now and in the future. -
Report: Property Tax Collections Increased Despite Decline in Home Values
Opinion -Despite a nationwide decline in home values, state and local property tax collections increased by more than 4 percent across the nation from fiscal year 2007 to fiscal year 2008. -
Huh? Lose 99 to 3 and Proclaim a Mandate?
Opinion -Does that sound like a mandate to you? It does to Quinn, which probably tells us more than most people want to know about the man who became governor less than two years ago because the feds arrested, and lawmakers impeached, his immediate predecessor. -
Lawsuit Abuse Fortnightly #9-23
Opinion -A Florida bar grievance committee has declined to discipline a lawyer, appointed as a criminal defense lawyer for indigent defendants, for billing the state for more than 24 hours per day on 41 days. -
Congresional Agenda Item: Cutting Spending While Fixing Crumbling Infrastructure
Opinion -Their election night parties have become distant memories, but members of Congress are still left with a major hangover: the unrelenting headache of a rising national debt. -
Personalized Alternative Unemployment Insurance Proposed
Opinion -Government unemployment insurance funds in states across the country are running low, with several states, including Maryland and Rhode Island, considering either tax increases or federal bailouts to generate additional funding. -
Study Ranks Best to Worst States for Business Tax Climate in 2011
Opinion -States' stiffest economic competition often comes from other states: The U.S. Department of Labor reports most mass job relocations are from one U.S. state to another, rather than to overseas locations. -
Washington State Officials Look for Medicaid Flexibility As Costs Rise
Opinion -With Washington State facing a projected $4.5 billion budget shortfall, officials are debating the possibility of opting out of Medicaid to preserve flexibility in state health care spending. -
Enemies of Food Freedom Committed to Cause
Opinion -You may have heard that San Francisco has become the first major city to ban Happy Meals. This should not surprise anyone -- it is just one obviously absurd consequence of making government responsible for managing everybody's health choices. -
Way to Better Education is to Give Parents, Kids Choice
Opinion -I was intrigued by Ruth Bettelheim's column "With assembly line approach, public schools fail our kids." It was an informative piece that raised two very important issues (The Forum, Wednesday). -
Quinn’s Tax Increase Plan Would Drive Business Away
Opinion -On the heels of a 19,000-vote victory, Gov. Pat Quinn claims he has a voter "mandate" to raise Illinois' income tax. -
Q&A: What Do Parents Need to Know About the ‘Parent Trigger’?
Opinion -California’s parent empowerment law, known as the “parent trigger,” is less than a year old, but the idea is already spreading across the nation to states such as Connecticut and Georgia. -
Geithner Pokes Dragon, Jabs at China Over Currency
Opinion -U.S. -
Election Does Not End Debate Over Maryland’s Purple Line Rail Project
Opinion -Debate continues in Maryland over a proposed new metro transit line to be jointly financed by the Old Line State and Washington, DC metro. The conflict spilled over into the recent campaign between candidates in the state's gubernatorial race. -
Florida Voters Reject ‘Hometown Democracy’ Measure
Opinion -Florida voters on Election Day overwhelmingly rejected a constitutional amendment that would have required a local referendum on each and every proposed change in city, town, and county comprehensive land-use plans. -
Federal Reserve Wants More Credit Card Regulation
Opinion -A year after Congress passed and the president signed the CARD Act, the Federal Reserve is moving to involve government even more deeply in credit card regulation. -
Time for Lower Taxes, Less Government, Voters Say
Opinion -The outcomes of local and statewide tax and spending initiatives on ballots across the country in November sent a strong message to policymakers: People want limited government. -
SAT Scores Show Achievement ‘Flat Line’
Opinion -The latest SAT Reasoning Test scores are out and appear to be unchanged from 2009, frustrating college admission officers and education policymakers. -
Heartland’s Parent Trigger Efforts Featured in Wall Street Journal
Opinion -The editorial pages of this morning’s Wall Street Journal feature a story on the Parent Trigger, a bold new concept in education reform. -
Illinois Mulls ‘Amazon Tax’ Despite Shortcomings
Opinion -Starving for revenue but unwilling to cut spending, Illinois’ government appears ready to become the latest to require out-of-state online retailers to collect sales and use taxes through the retailers’ in-state affiliates. -
Minnesota Rail Proponents Push Ahead Despite High Costs, Low Ridership
Opinion -Proponents of subsidized commuter rail are trying to extend a little-used line in Minnesota despite budget difficulties in the cities and towns whose taxes help support it.
