Opinion
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Oregon Plan Shows Dangers of Political Priorities
Opinion -In becoming the first government health care program in the world to draw up a formal procedure for rationing care to consumers (see article on page 1), the Oregon Health Plan has significantly shifted priorities away from lifesaving measures, instead -
Study: Massachusetts Reform Not a Model
Opinion -Massachusetts’s 2006 attempt to cut health care costs and increase the number of insured through a government mandate requiring individuals to purchase insurance has become an object lesson in what not to do in reforming health care, three Harvard -
Obama Reversing Course on McCain’s Proposal
Opinion -During the 2008 presidential campaign, one of the most contentious areas of disagreement between then-Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) and his opponent, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), was over whether to tax employer-sponsored health care benefits. -
Kerry Calls for Increased Federal Role in Telecom
Opinion -Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) told cable executives at the annual convention of the National Cable and Telecommunications Association he will promote a doubling of investments in science and technology, including broadband. -
California Bill Would Require More Detailed Data-Breach Disclosures
Opinion -A bill introduced in the California State Senate would require companies doing business in the state to provide consumers and state authorities with more detailed information about network data breaches. -
New Jersey Bill Requires Self-Censorship of Social Networking Sites
Opinion -The New Jersey legislature is considering a bill that would require Facebook, MySpace, and other social networking sites to find and remove offensive material.The bill, authored by Rep. Nelson T. -
Report: Milwaukee Voucher Program Serving Students, Taxpayers Well
Opinion -A new study shows children receiving vouchers from the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program—the nation’s oldest voucher program—are getting at least as good an education as their peers in public schools, at half the cost. -
Denver Lightens Regulations on Two Schools
Opinion -Two Denver public schools have been given more freedom to search for education reforms tailored to their students’ specific needs. -
Nevada Special-Needs Students May Get School Choice
Opinion -As the Nevada legislative session approached its end in May, one education bill managed to get exemption from the first House passage deadline, but a broader bill expired. -
Experts Divided on Best Approach for Voucher School Accountability
Opinion -With the opinions of several school choice experts in hand, the Thomas B. Fordham Institute has proposed a sliding scale for holding accountable private schools that enroll students receiving publicly funded vouchers. -
North Dakota Loosens Homeschooling Law
Opinion -North Dakota home educators have scored a victory with the state easing a big burden in one of the nation’s most-restrictive laws. Now they are pressing for further changes.In April, Gov. -
Nationally Renowned Virtual School Saved at 11th Hour
Opinion -Hundreds of people gathered at the Florida Capitol in late April to turn in 5,500 petition signatures protesting budget cuts that would have slashed millions of dollars from the Florida Virtual School. -
Oregon Choice Bill Expires
Opinion -A bill to provide tax-credit scholarships to low- and middle-income children throughout Oregon failed to pass a key legislative deadline in mid-April. House Bill 2754, sponsored by state Rep. -
Costly Michigan Early Retirement Bill Stopped in Legislature
Opinion -A union-backed proposal to subsidize early retirement for thousands of Michigan teachers foundered in the legislature under the weight of a large tax money price tag. -
Kansas Teachers Leave State and National Unions
Opinion -Early this year a group of teachers in Kansas joined a growing list of educators nationwide who are disappointed with the representation they receive from national and state-based teacher unions, decertifying themselves from the Kansas National Education -
New Climate Change Report Applauded
Opinion -It’s not often a book receives an ovation at a business conference, but an 880-page, 1-1/2 inch-thick, four-and-a-half-pound rebuttal of global warming alarmism earned that distinction June 2 at the Third International Conference on Climate Change. -
Del. Governor Plans State Salary Cuts
Opinion -Delaware Gov. Jack Markell (D) is proposing a temporary 8 percent across-the-board cut in salaries for all state employees, which he projects will save the state about $91 million in fiscal year 2010. -
New Federal Tax on Cigarettes Could Hurt State Tax Revenues
Opinion -State budget officials nationwide are bracing for the fiscal impact of a 156 percent increase in the federal tax on cigarettes.On April 1 the federal excise tax on cigarettes soared from 39 cents to $1.01 a pack. -
Georgia Telecom ‘Slush Fund’ Escapes Reform
Opinion -Georgia lawmakers recently had the chance to stand up for taxpayers and stop an outdated telecommunications subsidy program that’s fraught with waste and abuse. -
HITECH Increases Exposure of Personal Care Records
Opinion -When presidential candidate Barack Obama talked about computerizing medical records, the plan sounded benign. He said it would give “doctors and nurses easy access to all the necessary information about their patients. -
Fluoride Wars Recounts Public Health Controversy
Opinion -The new book The Fluoride Wars: How a Modest Public Health Measure Became America’s Longest Running Political Melodrama, by R. -
Fewer Alaska Doctors Take New Medicare Patients
Opinion -Fewer than 20 percent of physicians surveyed in Alaska’s largest city are accepting new patients covered by Medicare, according to a study by the University of Alaska-Anchorage’s Institute of Social and Economic Research. -
Virginia Spam Law Rejected by U.S. Supreme Court
Opinion -One of the nation’s strictest anti-spam laws will not be reinstated after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal urging the high court to declare Virginia’s Computer Crimes Act constitutional. -
Net Neutrality Advocates Push to Add Mandate to Stimulus
Opinion -As the government prepares to set rules for doling out $7.
