Opinion
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Consumer Power Report #237
Opinion -I was in Santa Rosa, California last week talking to the North Coast Association of Health Underwriters. The speaker before me told them not to worry – if they work really hard they’ll be okay under health reform. -
West Virginia, EPA Clash over Mountaintop Removal Mining
Opinion -Environmental officials in West Virginia and the state’s influential coal industry are locking horns with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over the Obama administration’s crackdown on mountaintop removal mining. -
Open Letter to the InterAcademy Council
Opinion -Dr. Harold T. ShapiroChairmanInterAcademy Council to Review the IPCC359 Wallace HallPrinceton UniversityPrinceton, NJ 08544Dear Dr. -
Florida Earns High Marks for School Reform
Opinion -Vermont tops the states when it comes to test scores but ranks at the very bottom in school reforms, while Florida earns a solid B+ for its sweeping and sustained reform efforts, according to the American Legislative Exchange Council’s report card on -
New York Senate Passes Fracking Moratorium Bill
Opinion -The New York Senate has passed a bill to impose a nine-month moratorium on granting new permits for natural gas production through hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in the state’s portion of the massive, multistate Marcellus shale rock formation. -
Heartland Institute: Audit of IPCC Procedures ‘a Vindication’ But ‘Too Modest’
Opinion -The Amsterdam-based InterAcademy Council (IAC), a scientific body asked to audit UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) procedures, has determined the IPCC has improperly crossed the line of policy advocacy, is not transparent enough, is -
Auditor Bashes UN Climate Panel
Opinion -The Amsterdam-based InterAcademy Council (IAC), a scientific body asked to audit UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) procedures, has determined IPCC improperly crossed the line of policy advocacy, is not transparent enough, is prone to -
Federal Reserve Policy Slows Spending
Opinion -Since 2007 the Federal Reserve has nearly tripled the size of its portfolio of securities. Fed officials say their action has produced a highly accommodative policy. However, recent signs point to a dramatic slowdown in spending. -
Report: Illinois Economic Development Agency Wasting Millions
Opinion -The nearly insolvent Illinois state government could save millions of dollars and improve the state’s economy by abolishing the state’s economic development agency. -
Consumer Power Report #236
Opinion -Welcome to the Consumer Power Report – Greg Scandlen is off this week.“Historic” is the mainstream media’s adjective of choice when addressing President Barack Obama’s new health care law. -
Heartland Institute: Prior Approval Requirement Is a Bad Idea
Opinion -The director of the Texas office of The Heartland Institute’s Center on Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate says requiring “prior approval” of insurance rates, an idea recently addressed by former Houston Mayor Bill White, would be bad -
Donor-Ambassadors? That’s Just Politics
Opinion -If former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich is guilty of anything (besides one minor count of his 24-count indictment), it's stupidity.Last week, Judge James Zagel declared a mistrial on the remaining 23 counts after the jury deadlocked. -
Wisconsin Medical Fund Not a ‘Piggy Bank,’ State High Court Rules
Opinion -The Wisconsin Supreme Court dealt a blow to the budgetary manipulations of Gov. Jim Doyle (D) and the Wisconsin legislature when it ruled their $200 million raid on a medical trust fund was unconstitutional. -
Fort Worth Tests Natural Gas Emissions
Opinion -In what is being hailed as an intensive study with national impact, Fort Worth, Texas has begun air and source pollution tests on hundreds of natural gas drilling sites. -
Relatively Few Targeted Corporate Tax Incentives Go to Oil and Gas Industry
Opinion -Some legislators are attempting to turn the energy bill being debated in Congress into a vehicle for repealing the tax code's "subsidies" to the oil and gas industry. -
Letter to the Editor: Special Funds Often Raided
Opinion -According to a recent Federal Communications Commission report, 13 states raided more than $135 million last year from their 911 funds -- with Hawaii redirecting $16 million, the third-highest amount of any state. -
Poll: Public Opposes Greater Federal Control of Education
Opinion -Most Americans do not want federal-government bureaucrats seizing the education reins from the states, according to the latest Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup Poll on public attitudes toward education (http://www.pdkintl.org/kappan/docs/2010_Poll_Report.pdf). -
Extension of Jobless Benefits Has Downside
Opinion -While high unemployment is a pressing problem, continuing to pile up federal debt by extending unemployment insurance will do little to improve the economy and actually undermines the purpose of unemployment insurance itself. -
Quash Quincy’s Plan
Opinion -Quincy is wrong to try imposing a nonresident auto crash fee. (“Quincy collects again and again,” Aug. 19). These fees are an awful idea. -
Public Option for Broadband is Illogical
Opinion -Mark Sullivan’s editorial advocating a truly government-run Internet service was built on faulty logic (“A ‘Public Option’ for Broadband?” June 30). -
Heartland Institute Expert Comments on ShoreBank Bailout
Opinion -ShoreBank, an inner-city lender based in Chicago with close ties to the Obama administration, failed on Friday – but quickly reorganized under the name Urban Partnership Bank. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. pumped $367. -
Despite Deficits, No Crisis Yet Regarding Municipal Debts
Opinion -In several major cities and at least one county this year, the specter of bankruptcy and debt default haunts taxpayers and local government officials. And the continuing economic slump is making recovery even more difficult. -
Florida’s Slumping Economy Scales Back Everglades Deal
Opinion -The state of Florida’s plan to buy property from U.S. Sugar Corporation and use it to restore the Everglades is being scaled back because of the state’s growing budget woes.Two years ago, when South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) and Gov. -
A New Model of School Reform: The Parent Trigger
Opinion -California may have stumbled onto the best idea in education reform since Milton Friedman’s voucher plan.
