Opinion
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Everybody Is a Loser When Competitors Flock to Antitrust Lawsuits
Opinion -Google entered the browser wars in September (if any such war really exists) with the launch of Chrome, its new Web browser. -
Bailout Sequel May Be as Scary as Original, Analysts Warn
Opinion -Despite committing more than $2 trillion to buyouts, bailouts, loans, takeovers, and giveaways, federal government officials continue to struggle to manage credit markets, stock markets, and the entire American economic system. -
New Jersey Cigarette Tax Hike Reduces Revenues Again
Opinion -For the second consecutive year, New Jersey has unintentionally shattered the conventional wisdom on cigarette tax increases, that higher taxes serve the dual and seemingly opposite purposes of reducing and exploiting cigarette consumption. -
Fall Election Features Bumper Crop of Ballot Measures for Tax Cuts, Hikes
Opinion -While presidential candidates Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama occupy the top electoral slots this fall, voters will have numerous choices to make on state and local measures further down the ballot. -
Upper Midwest Is Enjoying Sudden Renaissance of Economic Freedom
Opinion -In news that has come as something of a surprise to economy watchers, the South is no longer the U.S. region offering the most promising trend toward economic freedom. -
Chicago Privatizes Midway Airport in $2.5 Billion Lease Deal
Opinion -The city of Chicago will receive $2.5 billion for a 99-year lease of Midway Airport on the city’s South Side, making it the first major commercial airport in the United States to go private. Despite turmoil in U.S. -
New Jersey Has Nation’s Worst Business Tax Climate
Opinion -The Tax Foundation’s 2009 State Business Tax Climate Index, the sixth annual report ranking the 50 states on the business-friendliness of their tax codes, finds New Jersey has the worst business tax climate in the nation ... -
Pittsburgh Lowballs Garbage Collection Charges for Neighbors
Opinion -In the spirit of municipal cooperation and to prove the city is an efficient service provider, Pittsburgh last year began collecting residential garbage in the Borough of Wilkinsburg, a municipality adjoining the eastern part of the city. -
The Bailout: What the Experts Are Saying
Opinion -After surveying media coverage leading up to the two congressional votes on the federal bailout of the mortgage industry, Congressional Quarterly Managing Editor Daniel J. -
Employer Survey Reveals Strong Concerns about Health Care Regulation
Opinion -There is great uncertainty about the future of American health care among corporate health benefit professionals, according to Miller & Chevalier and the American Benefits Council’s 2008 Corporate Health Care Policy Forecast Survey. -
‘Perfect Storm’ on Horizon for Consumer-Directed Health Care
Opinion -Will 2009 see a surge in health savings account enrollment among federal employees? Premium increases in federal employee health plans, combined with the current economic downturn, seem to point to the answer being “yes. -
Environmentalist Zealots Indoctrinate Students at Taxpayer Expense
Opinion -A coalition of environmental advocacy groups is pushing for the implementation of a federally financed environmentalist agenda in the curricula of all public schools. The benign-sounding No Child Left Inside Act, HB 3036, won U.S. -
Pleasant Hill, California Tries Risky Muni Wi-Fi
Opinion -Cities across the nation are scrambling to be the first in their region to offer their citizens free wireless Internet access at hotspots around town. -
Kentucky Can Seize Gambling Web Sites: Court
Opinion -A Kentucky judge has ruled the state has the power to seize online gambling domain names and prohibit Kentuckians from accessing the Web sites, in order to protect tax revenue generated from the state’s sanctioned, real-world gambling operations. -
Apology for Inappropriate Image
Opinion -The December issue of Budget & Tax News contained an illustration of a burning dollar bill. The editors failed to notice the picture included words, in small print, that were derogatory toward the Jewish community. -
Arizona School Choice Foes File ‘Most Frivolous Lawsuit Ever’
Opinion -Arizona may be a leader in the school choice movement, but that hasn’t stopped opponents from continuing to mount legal challenges against the state’s tax credit programs. -
California Passes Laws to Remove Questionable Teachers from Classrooms
Opinion -California classrooms may soon be safer thanks to a pair of new laws signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R). -
Carbon Audit Threatens to Cause More Economic Pain
Opinion -An ominous carbon audit of the U.S. tax code has been initiated, along with several expensive “green pork” programs, as part of the bailout legislation passed by Congress on October 3 and subsequently signed by the president. -
Colorado Group Sets Out to Build Many New, Small, High-Quality Schools
Opinion -Up to a hundred new, autonomous schools may be started in Colorado over the next decade because of the efforts of Get Smart Schools, a group launched this fall. -
Connecticut Hit by Wave of Sweeping Reform Proposals
Opinion -Connecticut is in the midst of a wave of unusually sweeping reform plans constituting a grassroots rebellion against waste and corruption in the state’s education systems. -
Election Results Will Have Big Consequences for Workers’ Rights
Opinion -Shortly before Election Day, Budget & Tax News Contributing Editor Sandra Fabry sat down with Brian M. -
FCC Battles Wireless Providers over Unused Spectrum
Opinion -The Federal Communications Commission says the use of empty airwaves for taxpayer-provided wireless Internet proposed by the federal government would not cause major interference with other technologies, in particular wireless services offered by -
FCC Considers Raising Residential Phone Fees
Opinion -The Federal Communications Commission wants to overhaul the fees phone companies pay each other to connect calls—and increase the fund subsidizing phone service in under-served areas. -
Georgia Cuts Spending to Save Taxpayer-Funded Insurance Programs
Opinion -Georgia health officials have implemented $1.6 billion in spending cuts in order to keep those enrolled in the state’s two key taxpayer-funded health insurance programs from losing coverage amid a statewide budget crisis.
