Opinion
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Health Care 2004: The Candidates Stake Out Positions
Opinion -Managing editor’s note: Health care rates high on the list of issues taxpayers and voters want Presidential candidates to address during this year’s campaign. -
California Play or Pay Repeal Gains Ballot Status
Opinion -A three-judge panel of the First Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco has ruled Californians should be allowed to vote on a referendum aimed at repealing SB 2, a law requiring some companies either to provide health insurance to their workers or pay -
Experts Expose Flaws in Global Warming Extinction Predictions
Opinion -A January 8 article in Nature magazine created a media sensation by predicting global warming will cause between 15 and 37 percent of the Earth’s species to go extinct by the middle of this century unless immediate and drastic action is taken. -
Wyoming, Feds Clash on Gray Wolf Delisting
Opinion -An anticipated delisting of gray wolves from Endangered Species Act (ESA) protection was put on hold January 12 after the U.S. -
Mandatory Recycling Wastes Resources, Harms Environment
Opinion -In mid-December 2003, the Seattle City Council decided to make curbside recycling mandatory. The measure, which goes into effect in January 2005, is a misguided step that will burden taxpayers, antagonize residents, and waste resources. -
Cook County Businesses Burned by 450 Percent Cigarette Tax Increase
Opinion -The Finance Committee of the Cook County (Chicago, Illinois) Board of Commissioners voted on February 3 to raise the county cigarette tax 450 percent, from 18 cents to $1.00 a pack. -
Congress May Address Soaring College Costs
Opinion -Amid concerns about the soaring cost of college, Congress this year is expected to reauthorize the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA), which provides guaranteed loans, grants, and support services to college students and their families. -
Choice Would Bring Accountability to Schools
Opinion -In a 1999 interview with School Reform News, Reason Foundation scholar Alexander Volokh explained how choice would discipline schools to be more accountable to parents without the need for government agencies to tell each school in minute detail how to -
Leading Democrat Offers Choice Bill in New Mexico
Opinion -In a move that could signal a major change in the politics of school choice, New Mexico Senate Majority Leader Manny M. -
Medicare HMO Premiums Plummet
Opinion -Millions of seniors enrolled in private-sector Medicare HMOs are getting a big surprise: lower health insurance premiums and increased benefits. -
$30 Million Awarded to High-Risk Pools
Opinion -In late December, the Department of Health and Human Services awarded $30 million in grants to 16 states to help meet the health insurance expenses of residents with preexisting conditions who are unable to obtain private health coverage and are -
California Law Could Force 30% Cut in GHG Emissions
Opinion -California Air Resources Board (CARB) officials have begun drafting plans to implement legislation requiring “maximum feasible and cost-effective” reductions in the state’s greenhouse gas emissions. The legislation, A.B. -
Holistic Medicine, Not Global Warming, Linked to Herbal Extinctions
Opinion -A $20 billion worldwide market for “natural” herbal medicines is threatening up to 10,000 plants with extinction, according to a report published January 4 by New Scientist magazine. -
Hog Farms No Threat to North Carolina Water Quality
Opinion -Although there have always been hog farmers in North Carolina, the industry was fairly small until the mid-1980s. -
Lessons from 30 Years of TEL Experience
Opinion -The first tax and expenditure limitation (TEL) was proposed by California Gov. Ronald Reagan in 1972. In the years since then, numerous states have adopted TELs. -
Cook County Assessor Wants Property Tax Caps
Opinion -In a January 28 article in the Chicago Tribune, Cook County, Illinois Assessor James Houlihan renewed his call for state lawmakers to “impose a 7 percent per year cap on increases in residential property assessments in Cook County. -
The 5Ws of the DC School Choice Incentive Act
Opinion -In the journalistic tradition of the 5Ws (plus one “H”), here are the basics of the school voucher program for the District of Columbia that Congress included in its omnibus appropriations act of 2004 and that President George W. -
California Schools Take Six Years to Build
Opinion -A new study from the Pacific Research Institute (PRI) reports it takes six years or longer to build a school in California. -
School Safety: Unsafe Structures
Opinion -Many students could have been injured last October when a 30-foot span of ceiling collapsed in a school library built by the Miami-Dade County Public School District (MDCPS) only five years earlier. -
Schools Are More Dangerous Than Data Suggest
Opinion -Last fall, every state was required by the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act to identify schools with a “persistently dangerous” atmosphere so parents would have a better idea of whether their children were being educated in a safe learning environment. -
New Jersey Adopts California’s Vehicle Emissions Standards
Opinion -On January 12, New Jersey Governor James McGreevey (D) signed legislation, passed earlier that day by both houses of the state legislature, applying California’s greenhouse gas emission standards to vehicles sold in the state. -
Air Conditioning Ruling Puts Freeze on Consumer Buying Power
Opinion -On January 13, a federal appeals court overturned a Bush administration rule that would increase energy efficiency standards for central air conditioners and heat pumps by 20 percent. -
Georgia Governor Touts Spending Restraint, No New Taxes
Opinion -Before a joint session of the Georgia legislature on January 13, Gov. Sonny Perdue (R) outlined his vision for the state of Georgia during the annual State of the State address in Atlanta. -
IRS Error Rate Still High
Opinion -The January 2004 report of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration [TIGTA] confirms the IRS’s error rate for advice it gives at its hundreds of walk-in Taxpayer Assistance Centers (TACs) remains unacceptably high.
