Opinion
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AMA Issues Child Obesity Agenda; Governor Vetoes Nutrition Mandate
Opinion -At a June meeting in Chicago, the American Medical Association (AMA) issued several new directives it says will help fight childhood obesity and promote healthier lifestyles in schools across the country. -
The Key to Reforming U.S. Health Care: Put Patients in Charge
Opinion -Review of Consumer Driven Health Care by Roger D. Blackwell, Ph.D., and Thomas E. Williams, M.D., Ph.D., with Alan A. Ayers, MSA MAcc, foreword by Bernadine Healy, M.D. Book Publishing Associates, 2005 $17. -
Broadband Yields Paltry Economic Boost in Rural States
Opinion -The importance of affordably priced, widespread broadband telecommunications has sparked a huge amount of excitement among those who have glimpsed this technology’s potential for transforming both commercial activities and the quality of residential life. -
Assessing Liability for Trespass on Municipal Wi-Fi Networks
Opinion -The wireless network in my home is not connecting properly right now. The signal is transmitting and being received, but my wife’s computer, in a different part of the house, is still unable to connect to the Internet. -
Debating Jim Baller
Opinion -The Heartland Institute, publisher of IT&T News, has published two policy studies critical of municipal broadband: Municipally Owned Broadband Networks: A Critical Evaluation (Revised Edition), Heartland Policy Study #105, October 2004, by Joseph Bast; -
Okies Enjoy Largest Tax Cut in State History
Opinion -More than one million Oklahoma taxpayers will receive tax rebates later this year, thanks to a historic $150 million tax cut measure passed by the legislature on May 29 and signed by the governor on June 8. -
Kansas Schools Get Budget Boost
Opinion -Kansas lawmakers, under threat the state’s high court would close down the state’s public education system, have given public schools even more money than the Kansas Supreme Court ordered on June 3. -
Tennessee Governor Vetoes Cigarette Tax Hikes
Opinion -Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen (D) vetoed legislation in June that would have increased taxes on off-brand cigarettes. In a June 20 letter to Sen. -
Judges Cleared to Attend Privately Funded Seminars
Opinion -For the past several years, a small environmental group, Community Rights Counsel (CRC), has been waging a not-so-quiet war against privately funded educational seminars for judges. -
Wash. Jobs Threatened by Importation Law
Opinion -In May, the Washington state legislature passed a package of executive-requested legislation related to health care and prescription drugs. -
Medicaid Reform: Florida, South Carolina Lead the Way
Opinion -The nation's governors agree on at least one thing: They have a problem with Medicaid. When presenting the National Governors Association's (NGA) bipartisan Medicaid reform proposal in Washington, Gov. -
Federal Tobacco Lawsuit Proceeds on Two Fronts
Opinion -On July 18, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to reinstate its request for a $280 billion "disgorgement of past profits" remedy from the tobacco industry. DOJ's request had been rejected on February 4 by the U.S. -
R&D’s Economic Ripple Effect
Opinion -The economic contribution of R&D spending in Washington state and elsewhere consists of three types of impacts: Direct, indirect, and induced. -
States Grapple with Medicaid Reform
Opinion -Tennessee's Medicaid program, TennCare, "is the most expensive [such] program in the country," Gov. Phil Bredesen (D) told the National Press Club in Washington this June. -
HSA Purchases from Major Insurers Doubled in Six Months, Study Shows
Opinion -A survey by America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) of its members selling Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) found 1,031,000 people were covered by HSA/HDHP (high-deductible health plan) products as of March 2005. -
Vt. Governor Vetoes Single-Payer Plan
Opinion -Citing the danger of bureaucratic rationing of care, economically damaging taxes, and loss of health care choices for patients, on June 22 Vermont Gov. -
Congress Debates Health Reform
Opinion -Washington, DC -- Those who push for market-based health reforms on Capitol Hill are feeling cautiously optimistic. -
Americans Call for Loosening of Medicare Restrictions
Opinion -At a Washington briefing on June 21 hosted by The Galen Institute (of which the author is president), Dr. -
Google: The Latest High-Tech Bete Noir
Opinion -Beware lowly netizens, an ominous new threat lurks in your midst. Its name is Google, and this beast won’t rest until it has taken control of all our minds. At least that’s what Wired columnist Adam Penenberg would have us believe. -
Court Says ‘Public Purpose’ Trumps Private Property Rights
Opinion -Our home may be our castle, but our castle may come under siege as a result of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that allows local governments to take property from one owner and give it to another owner who promises to generate more tax revenue. -
State’s Policies Ruined Health Care Market
Opinion -Vermont's state government contributed to the state's uninsured problem by mandating guaranteed issue (forbidding insurance companies from denying coverage to anyone who applies for health insurance, including people who are already sick) and community -
State Taxes Hit Telecom Services Doubly Hard
Opinion -State and local taxes imposed on telecommunications services continue to be more than double the average tax levied on general business, according to a recent study by the Council on State Taxation (COST). -
Ethanol Deal Controversial
Opinion -In a July 3 column in the Chicago Sun-Times, syndicated columnist Robert Novak reported the CAFTA agreement won Senate approval after closed-door briefings by Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns, who explained the government planned to buy sugar to -
Senate Energy Bill Opens Way for Use of Shale Oil Reserves
Opinion -During the past few years, Canada has tapped its bountiful tar sands to produce 175 billion barrels of oil, giving it the second largest oil reserves in the world, behind only Saudi Arabia. The U.S.
