Opinion
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Betting on Climate Change
Opinion -Dear Editor: There are few subjects which can compete with environmental issues for the reporting of bias, propaganda, and junk science as news. Your story "Study: Humans to blame for warming of oceans" (6/3) is unfortunately a perfect example. -
Smoking Ban Looms
Opinion -Dear Editor: A smoking ban looms over Chicagoland, threatening to rain down new regulations on restaurants, bars, and their customers. -
False Advertising
Opinion -Dear Editor: I recently noticed a CTA bus advertisement with a small black girl dressed in a tutu doing a curtsy below the following caption: "Second-hand smoke will kill 35,000 Illinois residents this year. -
Statement on Medical Malpractice Reform in Illinois
Opinion -(June 2, 2005 -- Chicago, IL) The Illinois House and Senate approved legislation over the Memorial Day weekend to reform medical malpractice policy in Illinois. -
Federal Income Tax Hike Looms for Millions of Middle-Income Americans
Opinion -The Alternative Minimum Tax, signed into law in 1978, is about to hit tens of millions of middle-income households with a tax originally meant to touch only a handful of wealthy Americans. -
Schwarzenegger Backs Public Pension Reform
Opinion -California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) continues to promise public employee pension reform but has backed away from a proposal to move public employees out of traditional pensions and into a “defined contribution” plan. -
Illinois Comptroller Warns Against Diversions
Opinion -Diversions of state highway funds toward other purposes have become such a problem that Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes warned against them in his 2004 quarterly report. -
Analysis: Did a Federal Court Decision Emasculate the IRS?
Opinion -Robert Schulz has been battling the Internal Revenue Service for years. -
The Light of Education
Opinion -There wasn't much money or structure in Faye Capers' home life while she was growing up in the projects of Texarkana, Texas in the 1950s. Both her parents were alcoholics, and they didn't have a high school education between them. -
Violence in Public Schools: A Dirty Secret
Opinion -In March, the public was startled by the news of a horrific shooting spree in Red Lake, Minnesota, where 16-year-old Jeff Wiese killed seven people and wounded at least 13 others at Red Lake High School before taking his own life--the deadliest school -
New Source for School Choice Information Launched
Opinion -A new clearinghouse is offering legislators, activists, and parents online information about ongoing school choice policy debates raging throughout the country. -
Alaska Disputes EPA Mercury Guidelines
Opinion -Alaskan health officials are telling state residents they can safely exceed federal health advisories for eating fish caught in the state. -
Utah Bans Eminent Domain Use by Redevelopment Agencies
Opinion -Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. (R) on March 17 signed into law Senate Bill 184, effectively preventing the exercise of eminent domain authority by redevelopment agencies, which otherwise had the power to transfer land from one private entity to another. -
Yosemite Celebrates Delivery of New GM Hybrid Buses
Opinion -National Park Service Deputy Director Don Murphy and Yosemite National Park on April 25 celebrated the delivery of 18 new General Motors hybrid buses that promise to reduce noise and emissions in the park while simultaneously providing better -
Economists Back ‘Fair Tax’ Proposal
Opinion -Scores of economists across the country have come out in support of the “Fair Tax” concept, giving a boost to supporters who are working to have at least 100 Congressmen and Senators signed on as sponsors of Fair Tax bills during the current 109th -
Opposition to Expanded Gaming Grows in Minnesota
Opinion -Faced with a $466 million budget shortfall, the lure of “easy money” is leading many political leaders in Minnesota, including Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty, to advocate the expansion of gambling to help fill the state’s coffers. -
Wisconsin’s ‘Balanced’ Budget Running $1.9 Billion Deficit
Opinion -Contrary to pronouncements from Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle (D) and the state's legislature that they had "fixed" the budget deficit in the summer of 2003, the state's official fiscal report reveals a balance sheet awash in red ink. -
Kentucky Kills Plan to Tax Retail Liquor Sales
Opinion -A famous maker of Kentucky bourbon says a multimillion-dollar expansion of its distillery might proceed now that state lawmakers voted on March 9 to kill plans for a 6 percent retail sales tax on alcoholic beverages. -
Tax Group Targets Spanish-American War Tax
Opinion -Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) announced on March 10 that it would make repeal of a 107-year-old federal excise tax on telephone service a major priority in the current session of Congress. Since then, support for the proposal has been increasing. -
Time for a Truce in the Spanish-American War
Opinion -One-hundred and seven years ago, the United States went to war with Spain. -
Ohio Groups Push for Limitation on State Taxes and Spending
Opinion -A determined group of Ohio citizens, led by Ohio's Secretary of State, is moving forward with an effort to take a tax and expenditure limitation (TEL) measure directly to the voters. -
Analysis: Social Security and Medicare Are Unsustainable
Opinion -In 2011, the first group of baby boomers in the United States will reach the age of 65. -
State Nominated for Innovation Award
Opinion -Just days before the Washington state legislature adopted the 2005-07 budget, Gov. Christine Gregoire (D) issued a news release highlighting Washington's nomination for Harvard University's "Innovation in Government Award. -
Budget to Affect Campaigns
Opinion -Washington state's record $26 billion budget and tax increases are already being used to posture for the next election.
