Opinion
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Illinois House Votes Down Voucher Bill
Opinion -The Illinois House of Representatives has defeated a bill to establish a pilot voucher program for students in Chicago’s worst public schools.The House voted 66-48 against SB 2494 by Sen. -
States’ Pension Bubble About to Break
Opinion -Taxpayers in almost every state face huge – and in many states unbridgeable – gaps between retirement benefits promised to their state government employees and the money set aside to pay them, according to a new study from The Heartland -
Court Blocks Detroit School Reforms
Opinion -A legal melee is underway in Detroit as groups fight to stop wide-ranging reforms for the city’s failing schools. -
Heartland Institute Opens Texas Office
Opinion -The Heartland Institute’s Center on Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate has hired Texas attorney Julie Drenner as director of its new office in Austin, Texas. -
Race to the Top Follows Tortuous, Imprecise Course
Opinion -The Race to the Top is beginning to resemble a marathon with bizarre twists and turns that take runners in divergent directions with differing degrees of difficulty. -
2010 May Health Care News (full text PDF)
Opinion -The May issue of Health Care News leads with President Barack Obama’s signing of the federal health care overhaul legislation ... -
2010 May InfoTech & Telecom News (full-text pdf)
Opinion -The May issue of InfoTech & Telecom News reports on the April 6 federal appeals court decision in Comcast v. the Federal Communications Commission. -
2010 May School Reform News (full text pdf)
Opinion -The May 2010 issue of School Reform News reports 48 states -- all but Alaska and Texas -- have signed on to the Common Core State Standards Initiative, an effort led by state governors and education officials to craft a uniform set of national standards -
2010 May Environment & Climate News (full text pdf)
Opinion -The May issue of Environment & Climate News reports the City of Los Angeles has acceded to the demands of vocal conservation groups, abandoning plans to construct an 85-mile transmission line to deliver power from renewable sources to the nation’s -
Tom Harkin’s $23 Billion Education Boondoggle
Opinion -The federal government plans to spend nearly $44 billion on elementary and secondary education next year. But Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) says that isn’t nearly enough. -
Consumer Power Report #219
Opinion -I gave a keynote address at a conference put on by Benefits Selling Magazine last week. Great conference. About 600 people in attendance, mostly brokers. Unfortunately, I did not have any good news for them. -
Harkin Proposes $23 Billion for Education Jobs
Opinion -Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) is sponsoring legislation to create a new $23 billion Education Jobs Fund aimed at preventing teacher layoffs. -
Inhofe to Address Global Warming Skeptics
Opinion -CHICAGO – U.S. Sen. -
Massachusetts Economy At Risk
Opinion -The Massachusetts Legislature’s inability to roll back last year’s disastrous alcohol and sales tax hikes will leave the state in an even more precarious economic situation (“GOP: Dem cowards KO vote to repeal alcohol, sales -
Cities See Soda Pop as Sweet Source of Revenue
Opinion -Philadelphia and New York City are the latest cities to consider taxes on soft drinks, which officials claim will reduce obesity and raise billions of dollars for government. -
Oklahoma Should End Targeted Tax Breaks
Opinion -Oklahoma’s governor and legislature have been discussing ways to raise revenues to close a $1. -
New Federal Medicaid Mandates Force Unpleasant Choice for States
Opinion -The new health care law recently signed by President Barack Obama leaves the state of Texas, like many others, facing many tough and costly decisions. -
Obama Administration Suspends Oil, Gas Lease Sales in Three States
Opinion -The federal Bureau of Land Management has halted all oil and natural gas lease sales on federal lands in Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota while it conducts a study on how the lease sales might contribute to global warming. -
Detroit Coalition Aims for ‘Quality’ Schools by 2020
Opinion -Educators, parents, city administrators, and private foundations have united to advance a plan they say will substantially improve Detroit’s failing schools over the next decade. -
Lawsuit Abuse Fortnightly #9-9
Opinion -A U.K. man has been suspended from driving for three years after his conviction for driving a “Barbie car” while drunk. -
Consumer Power Report #218
Opinion -The challenge of the coming doctor deficit was the subject of an interesting Wall Street Journal article last week in a piece titled "Medical Schools Can't Keep Up. -
Public Split Over Possible Tolls for Louisville Bridges
Opinion -Few people showed up for the first three meetings of the agency overseeing the $4. -
EPA Must Revisit Finding:
Opinion -The Obama administration’s effort to regulate carbon dioxide emissions has run into a scientific brick wall and should be re-examined, a leading climatologist will argue at the Fourth International Conference on Climate Change May 16-18 in Chicago. -
Gov. Crist Blasted on Failure of Insurance Bill in Florida House
Opinion -TALLAHASSEE (April 21, 2010) -- The Florida director of The Heartland Institute’s Center on Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate today reacted angrily to the apparent failure of market-freeing insurance reforms in the state legislature.
