Opinion
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Consumer Power Report #217
Opinion -I was having an exchange with a physician friend. He argued that advocating repeal of the ObamaCare law is a bad strategy. He thought there were some good things in it that should be preserved. -
Former Senator Schmitt Takes Issue With the President on Space Policy
Opinion -The President has repeated his advocacy for the abandonment of a program of deep space exploration by Americans in return for vague promises about future actions. -
Documentary Questions Education Status Quo
Opinion -Review of “The Cartel,” directed by Bob Bowdon. Moving Pictures Institute, 2009, 90 minutes. Now playing at film festivals around the country, The Cartel is a powerful and provocative documentary about the sorry state of American education. -
Law to Protect Market in Auto Crash Repair Parts Proposed
Opinion -For the last two decades, drivers having their cars repaired after collisions have been saving money by using“generic” replacement parts that cost less than the original manufacturer’s replacement parts but are equivalent in every -
San Francisco Mayor Threatens Mass Firing, Settles for Furloughs
Opinion -With San Francisco facing a $522 million budget deficit, Mayor Gavin Newsom (D) proposed firing more than 15,000 city employees and then rehiring some of them, at fewer hours per week, to save money. -
Weak Dam Has Washington Lawmakers Mulling New Flood Insurance Program
Opinion -Weaknesses discovered in the Howard Hanson Dam in Washington state’s Green River Valley have led Washington legislators to consider creating a new state-run flood insurance program.Citing weaknesses in one of the dam’s abutments, the U.S. -
Two Illinois Counties Hit Feds’ Broadband Stimulus Jackpot
Opinion -The federal government has awarded two Illinois counties $11.9 million to deploy a 130-mile fiber network, a move industry insiders suggest could ultimately crowd out private broadband investment. -
NJ Governor, Teachers Unions Face Off Over Deficits
Opinion -School reformers are paying attention to New Jersey as Gov. Chris Christie (R) prepares to fight the state’s powerful teachers union over state education funding, public employee pensions, and structural education reforms in cities such as Newark. -
California Again Considers Imposing an ‘Amazon Tax’
Opinion -Scrambling to come up with ways to close an historic $20 billion budget deficit, California legislators are contemplating—yet again—imposing an “Amazon Tax. -
Florida Lawmakers Pass Merit Pay, Tenure Reforms
Opinion -Florida’s House of Representatives has passed a bill that would effectively end tenure for new teachers and establish a merit-pay system. -
Lawsuit Abuse Fortnightly #9-8
Opinion -Keeping the Change Prison inmates in Wisconsin have a constitutional right to receive sex-change drugs while jailed, a federal judge in Milwaukee ruled recently. -
Internet Commerce Boomed in Past Decade
Opinion -American e-commerce has grown 400 percent over the past ten years, according to a study marking the 25th anniversary of the debut of the first Web site with the “dot-com” suffix. -
Interview: Value-Added Tax a ‘License to Steal’
Opinion -Olivier Garret grew up in France, where there has been a value-added tax since the 1950s. He describes the tax as “a license to steal. -
Bill Would Expand School Internet Program to Homes
Opinion -In the wake of the release of the National Broadband Plan by the Federal Communications Commission this spring, Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) is pressing for action on his bill to expand the 14-year-old E-Rate program intended to close the “digital divide. -
Allegations of Standardized Test Cheating Spread
Opinion -Nearly 200 schools in Georgia have been implicated in what could be the largest standardized testing scandal in American history. -
FCC’s Broadband Plan Brings Spectrum Shortage to Light
Opinion -The Federal Communications Commission’s new National Broadband Plan says the United States needs more broadcast spectrum opened up for wireless broadband use, with the assumption it’s being wasted by the traditional broadcast television -
Georgia Takes For-Profit Route for Charter Schools
Opinion -Although Georgia did not get chosen for the first round of federal Race to the Top funding, the Peach State is moving ahead of the reform pack as state and local officials turn increasingly to for-profit firms to help expand the state’s charter -
Colorado ‘Amazon Tax’ Raises Privacy Concerns
Opinion -Colorado’s new state Internet sales tax may not only diminish e-commerce in the state but also invade the privacy of residents who purchase goods online.The law signed in March by Gov. -
Federal Agents Walking the Social-Networking Beat
Opinion -Most Facebook users get a friend request from a stranger from time to time. It’s common knowledge the request may have been sent by a spammer. -
Low Scores Usher in Cal State University ‘Early Start’ Program
Opinion -The California State University Board of Trustees has approved a measure to require tens of thousands of students who perform poorly on the Early Assessment Program test in their junior year of high school to take remedial courses in math and English -
Amazon Tax Not Clicking in North Carolina
Opinion -Seeking to close its budget shortfall last year, North Carolina followed the lead of New York and Rhode Island in passing an Internet sales tax, which many have dubbed the Amazon Tax. -
Media Advisory: Florida Expands School Choice, Reaches for Merit Pay
Opinion -Florida’s low-income and minority students won a victory Thursday, April 9, when the state House of Representatives voted to expand the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship program, also known as Step Up for Students. -
White House ESEA ‘Blueprint’ Draws Fire
Opinion -Education reformers are expressing disappointment in the Obama administration’s “blueprint” to reauthorize No Child Left Behind, also known as the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. -
“The Cartel” opening across America
Opinion -"The Cartel," a documentary on the barriers to enacting real education reform, will be on April 30th, 2010 in numerous locations.