Opinion
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Energy and Environment Experts Praise Senate for Rejecting Lieberman-Warner
Opinion -(June 10, 2008) - Energy and environment experts are praising the U.S. Senate for its rejection of stifling energy restrictions contained in the Lieberman-Warner climate bill. -
Expert Comments: The Danger of Property and Casualty Insurance Subsidies
Opinion -(CHICAGO, Illinois - June 6, 2008) In an effort to entice insurers to provide coverage to consumers in high-risk coastal areas, legislators in Florida and Louisiana have launched incentive programs that provide capital assistance to small insurers who -
Correcting the Ethanol Mistake
Opinion -In April, Texas Gov. Rick Perry asked the Environmental Protection Agency for a one-year reprieve on the national standard aimed at increasing ethanol use across the country. -
Chicago Region Sales Taxes Surge By Nearly $1 Billion
Opinion -Sales taxes in the Chicago area could climb $1 billion this year, making Chicago the most expensive city in the United States in which to shop and dine. -
Va. Court Strikes Down $300M Tax Hike
Opinion -In a big victory for taxpayers, the Virginia Supreme Court has unanimously ruled $300 million in new taxes levied by the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority (NVTA) are unconstitutional. The legal challenge was led by Virginia Del. -
Wisc. County Saves Money with HSAs
Opinion -Manitowoc County Executive Bob Ziegelbauer has discovered how market forces can help lower the county's health care costs by increasing smart shopping with Health Savings Accounts (HSAs). -
Minn. Veto Override Means Higher Taxes
Opinion -The first veto override of Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty's (R) administration will create one of the largest tax increases in the state's 150-year history. A $6.6 billion transportation bill had, for some legislators, been 20 years in the making. -
Village Looks to Secede Because of High Taxes
Opinion -In suburban communities on the Cook County border, the county's huge sales tax burden has businesspeople worried. -
Excerpts: “A Guide to No. Carolina’s Proposed Global Warming Policies”
Opinion -Regarding "cap-and-trade" programs: "In a CO2 cap-and-trade program, the government would cap the amount of total carbon dioxide emissions--it is an energy-rationing scheme that acts as an energy tax. -
Summary of FTC’s Recommended Postal Reforms
Opinion -The Federal Trade Commission report, "Accounting for Laws that Apply Differently to the United States Postal Service and its Private Competitors," now under review by the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC), makes several suggestions for reform: -
Private Airports Common Overseas
Opinion -Private ownership and operation of major airports is the rule in much of Europe and Asia. -
Union Numbers Are Accurate Nationally, Less So by State
Opinion -The modern era of the Current Population Survey (CPS), on which the Bureau of Labor Statistics' union membership numbers are based, began in 1983 when the survey methodology was changed. -
Prevailing-Wage Rules Cost Taxpayers $8.6 Billion Annually: Study
Opinion -Biases in the measurement of the federal "prevailing wage" force U.S. taxpayers to spend $8. -
Iowa GOP Defeats Pro-Union Amendment
Opinion -House Democrats in Iowa tried to undermine the state's Right to Work law in March. Democrats disguised House File 2645 as an uncontroversial set of amendments to Iowa's collective bargaining law. -
California Cities Keep Collecting Phone Tax, Ignoring Federal Law
Opinion -Many city attorneys in California know that the past and present collection of their city's utility tax on cell phone bills is illegal without voter approval, but they and the politicians they represent are trying to bluff their way out of holding a vote. -
Michigan’s Economic Development Corporation Favors Perception, Bluster Over Real-World Needs
Opinion -Since 1999 Michigan has operated its Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) and a variety of other expensive programs designed to create or keep jobs in the state. According to Gov. -
New Job Loss Figures for Michigan Confirm the Need for Policy Reforms
Opinion -Figures recently released by the national Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) show Michigan is in dire need of transformational policy reform. -
Tolls and Private Capital May Drive New Investment
Opinion -Could highways become more like freight railroads? Could future highway infrastructure be financed with user fees and private capital, just like rail infrastructure? -
Md. Tax Records Are Scoured for SCHIP-Eligibles
Opinion -Health officials in Maryland are working with state Comptroller Peter Franchot to identify children eligible for, but not enrolled in, the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). -
Mass. ‘Universal’ Insurance Plan Proving Expensive and Ineffective
Opinion -Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick (D) has been boasting his state's health reform initiative has reduced the number of uninsured by half, with nearly 300,000 more people added to the state's health insurance rolls. -
Unions Retooling Message in Effort to Organize Nurses
Opinion -Employers in health care have seen a significant increase in union efforts to organize nurses during the past few years. The national rate of unionization among nurses now exceeds 23 percent, whereas in 1998 it was less than 17 percent. -
Russia’s Failed Universal Health Care Program Exposes the Perils of Single-Payer Systems
Opinion -Despite outgoing Russian President Vladimir Putin's doubling of state spending on health care over the past two years, complaints about crumbling infrastructure, poor quality of medical services, and overall mismanagement of the government's so-called -
Long Waits for Health Care Are Costing Canadians Billions of Dollars
Opinion -Excessive waits for health care services endured by Canadian patients have imposed huge costs on the nation's citizens. That's the conclusion of a study conducted for the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) by the Centre for Spatial Economics. -
Ten Big Problems with Hillary Clinton’s Health Care Plan
Opinion -Senator and presidential candidate Barack Obama (D-IL) had it right from the beginning: The health plan touted by his opponent, Sen.
