Opinion
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Special Election to Decide Key Education Issues in California
Opinion -California schools are in trouble--both fiscally and academically. On July 8, the California controller's office reported that, after years of deficit spending, 552 school districts overspent a total of $682 million in the 2003-04 school year. -
Kansas Court Takes Over School Finance Decisions
Opinion -On June 3, the supreme court of Kansas issued a ruling in Montoy v. Kansas requiring the state legislature to appropriate an additional $853 million per year to Kansas elementary and high schools. -
Chicago Taxes Keep Climbing, This Time for School Funding
Opinion -Chicago public school officials on July 27 approved what they called a "bare bones" budget that imposes a maximum allowable 1.9 percent property tax increase, the latest of a series of tax hikes imposed on Chicago residents, businesses, and visitors. -
Taxes, Spending Climb After Minn. Shutdown
Opinion -The 2005 legislative session proved to be brutal for Minnesota taxpayers and Republican lawmakers. -
Outsourced Flight Services to Save $2.2 Billion
Opinion -The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) expects taxpayers to save $2.2 billion over the next 10 years, thanks to a contract with Lockheed Martin that goes into effect in October. -
Tobacco Harm Reduction Emerges as Viable Public Health Strategy
Opinion -At the National Conference on Tobacco or Health, held in Chicago in May and attended by more than 5,000 tobacco control advocates and health education officials, an important topic--tobacco harm reduction--was pointedly ignored. -
Poll Shows Falling Support for Unions
Opinion -Barely one in three non-union workers would consider voting to unionize their workplace, while a 56 percent majority would not, according to a Zogby/Public Service Research Foundation poll released July 22. -
Fraud and Waste Infect New York Medicaid
Opinion -New York State's Medicaid problems are the worst in the nation, but they exemplify troubles that plague the entire system: lack of control over costs and fraud. -
New Research Provides Quality Rankings of City Hospitals
Opinion -A provision in the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003 that gives money to hospitals that release statistics has resulted in a database of formerly unavailable information that will help patients and payers to evaluate -
National Summit, Web Site Support Nutrition Initiatives for Kids
Opinion -Action for Healthy Kids (AFHK), an organization that promotes health and good nutrition for children, launched a new Web site to coincide with this month's Healthy Schools Summit. -
Bills Send Social Security Surplus to Private Accounts
Opinion -A movement to allow workers to put a portion of their payroll tax dollars into an account they own and could pass on to heirs is taking hold in Washington, DC as bills have been introduced in Congress to implement such a plan. -
Brownback Generates Welcome Stir over Expanding DC Voucher Program
Opinion -Refreshing breezes are difficult to come by on Capitol Hill in midsummer, but Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS) created an invigorating stir in late June when he broached the idea of expanding the federally funded Washington, DC school voucher experiment. -
Commentary: HSAs Gaining Popularity, Can Be Better
Opinion -Proponents of Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) predicted they would revolutionize the health marketplace. Now, less than two years after becoming law, more than a million people own HSAs. -
Commentary: States’ Preferred Drug Lists Causing Patients Unnecessary Distress, Pain
Opinion -In early August, the Utah legislature's Executive Appropriations Committee declined to institute a Preferred Drug List policy that would require Medicaid recipients to use drugs on a discount list or go through a prior authorization process. -
Drug Industry Sets Advertising Guidelines
Opinion -The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) announced in August a new set of guidelines for direct-to-consumer advertising in the pharmaceutical industry. -
EDVentures Highlights Need for Supplemental Services
Opinion -More than 300 education entrepreneurs from across the country gathered in Baltimore in late July for the 15th annual EDVentures conference, convened by the Education Industry Association (EIA), to discuss standards for excellence and how the No Child -
For-Profit Arizona Charters Lose Federal Funds
Opinion -The U.S. -
Government Unions Spend Lavishly on Politics
Opinion -Government employee unions put much more time, money, and effort into politics than do their private-sector counterparts. One simple measure of this is in the public action committee (PAC) reports unions file with the Federal Elections Commission (FEC). -
How to Reduce the Risk of Nutritional Diseases
Opinion -The United States is experiencing an epidemic of diseases related to poor nutrition. Rates of heart disease, stroke, type-2 diabetes, and obesity are all rising rapidly. -
In the News
Opinion -99% of Libraries Offer Free Internet Free high-speed Internet connections are available in almost 99 percent of U.S. -
‘Living Wage’ Laws Don’t Help Low-Income Families
Opinion -In July, Sonoma, California passed an ordinance requiring certain employers to pay $11.70 an hour with health benefits or $13.20 without health benefits, indexed to the consumer price index. -
Minnesota Lawmaker Is ‘Hero of the Taxpayer’
Opinion -For standing up for taxpayers in a hard-fought budget battle, Minnesota State Rep. Phil Krinkie (R-Lino Lakes) was named "Hero of the Taxpayer" by Americans for Tax Reform, a national taxpayer advocacy group in Washington, DC. -
Ohio Spending Cap Delayed Until 2006 Ballot
Opinion -A referendum for a constitutional amendment to cap state and local government spending that appeared headed for the November 8 ballot in Ohio has been held until the 2006 general election. -
Proposed Single-Payer Plan Sends California Down Canadian Trail
Opinion -California State Sen. Sheila Kuehl's (D-Santa Monica) health care bill (SB 840), which aims to have state government employees run California's entire health care system, passed the State Senate in May and is expected to pass the Assembly later this year.