Opinion
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Nevada Senator Seeks Spending Limits
Opinion -After presenting fellow lawmakers with three different proposals to limit state and local spending in 2005, all of which failed, Nevada state Sen. Bob Beers (R-Las Vegas) has decided to take the matter directly to voters. -
Public Servants Live Better than the Public Itself
Opinion -For 50 years, public-sector unions, health care lobbyists, and social services advocacy groups have doggedly been amassing power in state capitols and city halls, using their influence to inflate pay and benefits for their workers and to boost government -
Government Pay, Benefits Soar
Opinion -Public employee unions have so successfully used their political muscle that whereas public-sector compensation once lagged behind the private sector, now the reverse is true. -
Court Rejects Prescription Drug Price Controls in D.C.
Opinion -In December, a federal judge struck down a District of Columbia law that would have imposed price controls on prescription drugs. United States District Judge Richard J. Leon wrote in his December 22 decision, "the Court finds the D.C. -
AMA Offers Advice for a Healthy New Year
Opinion -In the final week of 2005, the American Medical Association (AMA) released a list of top resolutions to help people have a healthier 2006. -
How States Rank on ACEP Emergency Report Card
Opinion -Access to Emergency Care Seven states led the nation, earning "A" grades in the category--Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Maine, Massachusetts, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island--with no state receiving a failing grade. -
Experts Doubt Survey Findings on Health Plan Owners’ Satisfaction
Opinion -A December 2005 survey found people with consumer-driven health care (CDHC) plans were less satisfied than those in comprehensive health plans. -
AARP, Pharmacists Continue to Support New Medicare Drug Benefit
Opinion -The new Medicare drug benefit has been widely described in terms of "problems," "woes," "glitches," "growing pains," and "chaos"--all within the first two weeks of 2006. -
Electronic Health Records System Now Available
Opinion -While Congress works to establish the framework for increased use of information technology (IT) in health care, some in the private sector are already up and running with tools to allow average Americans to manage and preserve their own health records. -
Activists Target School Sales of Soft Drinks, Snacks
Opinion -In January, trial lawyers were poised to file a class-action lawsuit against the soft drink industry on behalf of parents of school-age children. -
2005: A Bad Year for Health Policy
Opinion -The initial implementation problems of the Medicare drug benefit that went into effect January 1 are being spun by some as reflective of a structural flaw: the inclusion of free-market competition and choice. -
Book Review: Making a Case for Market Forces in Health Care
Opinion -Healthy, Wealthy and Wise: Five Steps to a Better Health Care System by John F. Cogan, Glenn Hubbard, and Daniel P. -
Property Rights Improve Environment, Book Says
Opinion -Re-Thinking Green: Alternatives to Environmental Bureaucracy edited by Robert Higgs and Carl P. Close Independent Institute, 2005 480 pages, $22. -
Floridians Seek to Save School Choice from Court Decision
Opinion -In response to a 5-2 vote by the Florida Supreme Court overturning the state's six-year-old Opportunity Scholarship program January 5, parents statewide are joining school choice advocacy organizations in seeking remedies to save their children's -
Milwaukee Begins to Ration School Choice
Opinion -The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) officially announced on December 27 its plan for rationing seats in the 15-year-old Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP) in the 2006-07 school year. -
Hurricane Relief Bill Sets Humanitarian Example
Opinion -The Hurricane Education Recovery Act (HERA) signed into law by President George W. Bush on December 30 is the most comprehensive package of K-12 school choice yet attempted in the United States. -
Wisconsin Considering School Choice for Parents of Autistic Children
Opinion -A scholarship program in Wisconsin would allow the parents of children with autism to choose the school best suited to their children's needs and could help pave the way for school choice options for others. -
Florida Voucher Ruling Puts Programs at Risk
Opinion -The Florida Supreme Court's January 5 decision to overturn the statewide A+ Opportunity Scholarship voucher program for students in low-performing schools leaves other programs--particularly in the Sunshine State, but possibly elsewhere as well--at risk -
Illinois Set to Ban Soda and Snacks in Schools
Opinion -The Illinois State Board of Education, following the urging of Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D), on December 15 began the process of banning the sale of high-fat, high-calorie foods and drinks to most of the state's elementary and middle school students. -
Cyber Bullying on the Rise Among U.S. Teens
Opinion -As school districts across the United States grapple with preventing and dealing with bullying among students, a newer and more subversive form is being employed in increasing numbers: cyber bullying. -
Study: Colorado School Violence Goes Largely Unreported
Opinion -The December 2005 release of the annual Colorado School Accountability Reports (SARs) raised concerns among analysts and legislators that school districts may be underreporting school violence and crime. -
Pioneer Institute Launches Drive for Choice in Mass.
Opinion -The people at Massachusetts' Pioneer Institute think their state has gone long enough without seriously considering school choice. On January 31, they released two pro-voucher reports--the first step in a planned three-year school choice campaign. -
Unions Drive Growth of Government
Opinion -David Denholm, president of the Public Service Research Foundation (PSRF) in Vienna, Virginia, has spent almost 40 years studying the impact of unionism in government on government. -
Hospitality Industry Ignored by Tax Relief Bill
Opinion -Congress awarded businesses that suffered losses because of Hurricane Katrina tax breaks worth nearly $8 billion in the closing days of 2005, but the breaks exclude hospitality industry businesses such as liquor stores, casinos, and golf courses.
