Opinion
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Proposed Wilmette Smoking Ban Ignores Latest Medical Research
Opinion -My hometown of Wilmette, Illinois is considering an ordinance that would ban smoking in nearly all public places and restaurants. I am not a smoker myself, but I believe such a ban would be bad public policy. -
Nuclear Energy in the World Today (Part Two)
Opinion -Environmental StewardshipIn addition to the good financial news, there is a great deal of exciting environmental news related to nuclear power.At Detroit Edison’s Fermi 2 Power Plant, environmentalism is for the birds. -
Ceaucescu: Father of Smart Growth
Opinion -Urban planning was a big part of Nickolae Ceaucescu’s “vision” of a better Romania for himself and his elite circle of friends. -
Book Review: Education and Capitalism
Opinion -Education and Capitalism: How Overcoming Our Fear of Markets and Economics Can Improve America’s Schools Herbert J. Walberg and Joseph L. -
Drug Importation Roulette
Opinion -A growing number of governors say they intend to defy federal regulators and purchase lower-cost prescription drugs from Canada. -
Why Drug Importation Endangers the Country’s Drug Supply
Opinion -Congress is considering federal legislation that would make importing drugs legal, not just from Canada but also from two dozen other countries. If the bill were to become law, U.S. -
Rx Drug Card Appeals to Congress
Opinion -Congressional conference committee negotiators working to hammer out a Medicare reform bill have agreed a discount prescription drug card may be the only way to get a drug benefit into the hands of seniors by the end of the year. -
Insurers Wrap Up Medicare Reform Ad Campaign
Opinion -The National Association of Health Underwriters (NAHU), in partnership with the Alliance to Improve Medicare (AIM), has just completed a national advertising campaign urging Congress to pass comprehensive Medicare reform legislation with a prescription -
Patient Patients
Opinion -Canadian drug prices are the envy of politicians like Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who hopes to save a little money on his state’s Medicaid and employee health programs by importing cheaper drugs from Canada. -
Millions Already Benefit from Private Rx Discount Programs
Opinion -Medicare-eligible senior citizens and disabled Americans without prescription drug coverage need not wait for Congress to act on a drug benefit. -
Taking Control
Opinion -Many prescription drugs, brand name as well as generic, are more expensive in the United States than in other countries. That is an indisputable fact. -
What Should Arnold Do?
Opinion -California’s budget crisis dominated the recall campaign, and Gov. Schwarzenegger has promised to deal with the budget before turning to any other issues. -
Taxes, Education Clash in Nevada
Opinion -The state of Nevada is in the midst of a constitutional tug-of-war pitting Silver State taxpayers against the state’s education bureaucracy. For the moment, the state’s top court has given the edge to the bureaucracy. -
Taxpayer Group Recognizes Top-Ranked Governors
Opinion -Americans for Tax Reform (ATR), a Washington, DC-based taxpayer advocacy group, awarded 17 governors with high ranks this year, and seven of those were given special “Gold Star” recognition. -
H.R. 49–the Internet Tax Non-Discrimination Act
Opinion -H.R. 49, the Internet Tax Non-Discrimination Act, makes permanent a tax moratorium first enacted in 1998 as the Internet Tax Freedom Act. The original measure expired in October 2001, and Congress approved an extension until November 2003. -
Higher Beer Taxes Unfair, Regressive
Opinion -You probably didn’t know this, but a staggering 44 percent of the cost of the average beer is taxes. And the situation is getting worse. The problem is the government spending binge that’s still underway in many states. -
Federal Deficit Still Smaller than the 1980s
Opinion -If current federal laws and policies do not change, the federal government will incur a total budget deficit of $374 billion in 2003 and $480 billion in 2004, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projected in its August and October Updates. -
Alternative Minimum Tax Stalks Millions of Taxpayers
Opinion -There is certainly some ironic justice in recent revelations that millionaire columnist-turned-politician Arianna Huffington paid no income tax to the state of California and only $771 in federal taxes in 2001 and 2002. -
Tax Officials Use Sleight-of-Hand to Help Balance State Budgets
Opinion -In an effort to avoid cutting programs and raising taxes, officials in a handful of cash-strapped states used bureaucratic sleight-of-hand to shift revenue into fiscal year 2004 by moving forward the date on which tax payments are due. -
State Deficits Remain High While Taxes Surge
Opinion -Last year’s elections produced nearly two dozen new governors--the largest turnover in years. But they didn’t have long to celebrate their victories. -
Alabama Voters Defeat Tax Hike Plan
Opinion -By a 68 to 32 percent margin, Alabama voters overwhelmingly rejected Governor Bob Riley’s $1.2 billion tax increase plan in a September 9 referendum. -
Streamlined Sales Tax Stumbles in Kansas
Opinion -Kansas retailers will get a reprieve from the provisions of a new sales tax law as a result of a “grace period” issued by Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius. -
Private Prisons Save Money, Boost Productivity, Studies Find
Opinion -In a get-tough-on-crime move nearly a decade ago, Florida passed in 1995 a law requiring all prison inmates to serve at least 85 percent of their sentences. -
The Terrible Cost of Government
Opinion -According to Americans for Tax Reform, Americans worked until mid-July this year to pay their whopping bills to the government.
