Opinion
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Bill to Increase FDA Authority Moves Forward
Opinion -Congress is one step closer to passing legislation that would give the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) more authority in handling approval and monitoring of prescription drugs. -
California Moves to Ban Incandescent Light Bulbs
Opinion -Incandescent light bulbs are one step closer to being banned in California, after the California Assembly Utilities and Commerce Committee voted 7-2 on April 23 to enact such a ban. -
California Taxpayer Protection Pledge Signers
Opinion -The following California policymakers signed the Taxpayer Protection Pledge of Americans for Tax Reform. -
Exaflood Threatens to Swamp the Internet
Opinion -More than 100 million YouTube videos are being downloaded every day ... and that, as they say, is not the half of it. Video has become a standard feature on most news sites, from CNN to the news page for your local network affiliate. -
Health Plans Adding Foreign Providers to Their Networks
Opinion -Though increasing numbers of uninsured patients are traveling abroad for low-cost medical care, few insurers over the past few years have included foreign providers in health plan networks. That trend, however, is beginning to change. -
In the News
Opinion -Mutual Invasion Society U.S. cable and telephone companies are busily invading each other's turf, with cable companies steadily capturing telephony customers while telcos establish firm beachheads in the television business. -
Indiana Nearly Doubles Its Cigarette Tax
Opinion -In the closing hours of its 2007 session, the Indiana General Assembly on April 29 passed a cigarette tax to help pay for Gov. Mitch Daniels' (R) health care plan. Daniels signed it into law on May 10. -
Michigan Governor Slams Privatization, Wants More Tax Money
Opinion -Just before proposing the largest budget in the history of the state--and a new service excise tax of almost $1.5 billion to pay for it--Michigan Gov. -
New Studies Find Carbon Caps Very Expensive
Opinion -Two new reports released in April, one by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and another by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), conclude caps on carbon dioxide emissions would be tremendously costly to American consumers. -
Organic Food Is Not Better for You
Opinion -This article is the thirteenth in a continuing series excerpted from the book Smoke or Steam? A Guide to Environmental, Regulatory, and Food Safety Concerns, by Samuel Aldrich, adapted and serialized by Jay Lehr. -
Other Cities Struggle with Wireless
Opinion -So-called "citywide" free Wi-Fi service is unavailable in 40 percent of the San Francisco Bay area town of Foster City due to poor coverage, the San Francisco Examiner reported in April. -
Penn. School Districts Overwhelmingly Reject Tax Shift
Opinion -Voters across Pennsylvania have overwhelmingly rejected a proposal to shift public school tax burdens from property taxes to income taxes. -
Protecting Kids Online: States Push for Tougher Online Safety Measures
Opinion -Bills that would require social networking Web sites such as MySpace.com to age-verify every user have been introduced in Connecticut, Georgia, New York, and North Carolina. -
Tax Code Complexity Is Growing Burden
Opinion -Americans who struggled to finish their tax returns in April needed more than a little aspirin and a lot of luck to cope with new filing burdens and increased costs, according to the nonpartisan National Taxpayers Union's (NTU) annual study of tax law -
The Dangers of Health Care Rationing
Opinion -One of the most fascinating books I have ever read on health economics is The Painful Prescription, an analysis of rationing in the British National Health Service (NHS) by Henry Aaron and William Schwartz. -
Universal Service Fund Under Fire
Opinion -The embattled Federal Universal Service Fund (FUSF) is taking more licks these days due to a sudden increase in its quarterly contribution requirements and closer scrutiny by Democrat-led committees in Congress. -
USF: Where the Money Goes
Opinion -The Federal Universal Service Fund (FUSF) provides for four principal funding mechanisms: High Cost, Low Income, Schools and Libraries (also known as the E-Rate program), and Rural Health Care. -
Alarmist Global Warming Claims Melt Under Scientific Scrutiny
Opinion -In his new book, The Assault on Reason, Al Gore pleads, "We must stop tolerating the rejection and distortion of science. -
Canadian Satisfaction
Opinion -I strongly disagree with the June 27 editorial “Film guts U.S. health care system,” as Clarence Page refers to high customer satisfaction in Canada. -
Arizona SCHIP Steals From Children
Opinion -Dana Wolfe Naimark and Leonard Kirschner’s article “State Insurance Plan for Kids is Wise, Just” (June 26) suggests the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) should be expanded because it’s been “a wise investment. -
Merit Pay Attracts Master Teachers
Opinion -Regarding John Young’s thought-provoking June 24 column (“Self-fulfillment of ‘failure’ ”): Were school systems to offer merit pay to master teachers choosing to work in “failing” schools, far more teachers would welcome that challenge. -
Private Funds a Necessity for Charter Schools
Opinion -Your article questioning whether or not private donors have too much influence over charters schools [“Patrons’ Sway Leads to Friction in Charter School,” June 28] failed to point out that one of the reasons charter schools have donor issues is that -
News Release: Al Gore Confronted by Own Scientists
Opinion -(Chicago IL - June 29, 2007) On June 28, in an historic move the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has released the expert review comments and responses to its latest assessment of the science of climate change.