Opinion
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Dopey Internet Bill Hurts Kids
Opinion -Social networking Web sites like MySpace, Friendster, and Facebook are becoming increasingly popular with the nation’s youth, prompting attempts to control the medium. Protecting children is the goal ... but the outcome is too often the opposite. -
Boys Behind in Graduation Rates: Study
Opinion -A wide gender gap in high school graduation rates is most pronounced among minorities in large urban school districts, according to a report from the Manhattan Institute. -
Special Literacy Opportunity Available for Schools
Opinion -The Literacy Empowerment Foundation (LEF) has increased the size of its matching grants to $10,000 per school. A school can now order $20,000 worth of books and pay only $10,000. Any purchase amount from $100 to $10,000 will be matched. -
Consumers Will Get Refunds for 1898 Phone Tax
Opinion -More than 100 years after the Spanish-American War ended, the 3 percent telephone tax that was imposed to pay for the war is about to end. The U.S. -
Election Earthquake Rattles Pennsylvania Legislature
Opinion -"Earthquake" is one of the words politicians are using to describe the ouster of numerous incumbent lawmakers in the May primary elections by voters who were angered and outraged over tax hikes, spending increases, and boosts in legislative pay. -
States Split on Mercury Standards
Opinion -In May, Minnesota and New Hampshire enacted legislation imposing stricter controls than existing federal proposals to limit the emission of mercury from power plants. -
Network Neutrality: Who Pays for Bandwidth Management?
Opinion -Overnight, it seems, calls for enforced network neutrality reached a fever pitch and are finding their way onto editorial pages and political Web sites everywhere. MoveOn. -
State Telecom Taxes Stay High
Opinion -Even as the U.S. Treasury ends the century-old federal excise tax on phone service, the states continue to single out telecom services as a cash cow. -
Better Data Capabilities Increase Merit Pay Calls
Opinion -The recent progress in Nevada's teacher pay debate, toward merit-based incentives, stems from technical data improvements that can track individual student achievement over time. -
Can Political Leaders Find the Courage to Liberate Education?
Opinion -Editor's note: This is the final installment of a seven-part series showing why charter schools do not have the freedom needed to create significant educational improvements through innovation. -
CEO Makes Case Against Corporate Welfare: An Interview with Mark Baker
Opinion -With nearly 100 stores in 18 states, Gander Mountain is the nation's third-largest outdoors retailer. -
NC Judge Dismisses Dell Incentives Suit; Appeal Promised
Opinion -A North Carolina judge on May 10 dismissed a lawsuit challenging a nearly $280 million tax incentives package the state granted to Dell, Inc. to build a computer manufacturing plant worth $100 million. -
Maine Taxpayer Bill of Rights’ Signatures Valid: Court
Opinion -A unanimous Maine Supreme Court ruling has cleared the way for Mainers to make the final decision on a citizen's initiative referendum. -
Is New York Times Columnist Switching Sides on Global Warming?
Opinion -Gregg Easterbrook, senior editor for the left-of-center magazine The New Republic, published an article in the May 24 New York Times, "Finally Feeling the Heat," in which he claims to have switched sides in the climate change debate in light of recent -
Biotech Advances Are Making Foods Healthier
Opinion -Most people know fish is one of the healthiest foods on the market. Omega-3 fatty acids, abundant in fish and in little else, are proven to improve heart health, alleviate hypertension, ease arthritis, and lower cholesterol. -
Analysis: Targeted Tax Incentives Unnecessary, Ineffective
Opinion -For more than a decade, the Michigan Economic Growth Authority (MEGA) has been doling out significant tax incentives to businesses that promise to create new jobs or retain existing ones. -
Arizona Charter Makes Top 100 List
Opinion -When Newsweek released its list of the top 100 high schools in the nation May 1, a charter school in Tucson made history. -
Casino Industry Seeks Online Gambling Study
Opinion -The American Gaming Association (AGA) may be softening its stance against online gambling. In a statement following an April 26 meeting of the AGA board, President and CEO Frank J. Fahrenkopf, Jr. -
Chicago Targets Big Retailers for Mandated Wage Hikes
Opinion -The Chicago City Council is considering requiring "big box" retailers to pay wages far above the federal minimum wage, as well as a guaranteed level of fringe benefits in addition to wages. -
Estonia Creates an Economic Miracle
Opinion -Mart Laar was barely 32 years old in 1992, when he became prime minister of Estonia, a small nation on the Baltic Sea that had just emerged from decades of Communist oppression as a satellite state of the Soviet Union. -
Florida Wants to Double Local Car Rental Tax
Opinion -The Florida legislature voted in May to allow local governments to increase the current car rental tax surcharge from $2 to $4 per rental. Now only Gov. -
In the News
Opinion -Treasury Kills Federal Phone Tax The U.S. Treasury Department will end collection of the 3 percent excise tax on long-distance telephone calls beginning next month. -
Major Retailer Challenges Targeted Tax Incentives
Opinion -In a rare development, a major retailer is challenging lucrative economic development incentives frequently sought by two of its competitors. It's a revealing episode full of public policy lessons. -
Mo. Considers Tax Credit for Scholarships
Opinion -A plan to create tax credits for individuals and businesses that contribute money to K-12 scholarship organizations was introduced in both chambers of the Missouri General Assembly this spring, where it reached the House floor with a favorable vote from
