Opinion
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Union Membership Rates Continue Slide
Opinion -The percentage of American workers who belong to a labor union continues to slide, according to an annual report released in January by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In 2005, 12. -
Penn. Considers Property Tax Cuts
Opinion -In December 2005, Pennsylvania's state House and Senate each passed plans to reduce school property taxes paid by homeowners. But the plans have significant differences, and it is unclear whether the General Assembly and Gov. -
West Virginia Sees Some, Not Enough, Tort Reform
Opinion -There are two tort systems in West Virginia, or so it seems to observers of the litigation climate there. -
The Making of a Hellhole
Opinion -What Judicial Hellholes have in common is that they systematically fail to adhere to core judicial tenets or principles of the law. -
Md. Enacts ‘Wal-Mart’ Bill
Opinion -The Maryland House and Senate voted on January 12, 2006 to override Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s (R) veto of the Fair Share Health Care Fund Act, an act generally known as the "Wal-Mart Bill. -
Drug Costs Drop Early in New Medicare Rx Program
Opinion -The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced in February Medicare's new drug coverage will have significantly lower premiums and lower costs to federal taxpayers and states than expected, the result of stronger-than-expected competition -
Analysis: Congress Strengthens Long-Term Care
Opinion -The Deficit Reduction Act (DRA) of 2006, signed into law by President George W. -
Patent Protection and Brazil’s HIV/AIDS Program
Opinion -Brazil has rolled out a successful and widely respected AIDS treatment program, which has relied in part on producing cheap, generic versions of antiretroviral therapy (ART) and in securing significant discounts for patented ART. -
‘Fair Share Health Care’ May Pose Threat to Fiscal, Physical Health
Opinion -In January, the Maryland General Assembly overrode Gov. Robert Ehrlich's (R) veto of Senate Bill 790, the "Fair Share Health Care Fund Act. -
Stupid in America
Opinion -For "Stupid in America," a special report on ABC that [aired January 13], we gave identical tests to high school students in New Jersey and in Belgium. The Belgian kids cleaned the American kids' clocks. -
Houston District OKs Teacher Merit Pay Plan
Opinion -During its January 12 meeting, the Houston Independent School District's (HISD) nine-member school board unanimously approved a merit pay "Teacher Performance Plan," which the board touted as a "pay plan based on how well students learn. -
Florida Group Pushes for Uniform School Start Date
Opinion -Following the lead of parent-activists in 11 other states, Sherri Sturner, a Miami mother, last year founded Save Our Summers, a nonprofit organization that is encouraging the Florida legislature to pass a bill requiring public schools to return from -
School Year’s Midpoint Doesn’t Have to Mean Playing Hooky
Opinion -With the halfway point in the school year quickly approaching, parents might begin to notice their children are suffering from "morning sickness"--headaches, sniffles, sore throats, or stomachaches--more and more often. -
Charter Schools: Being Seen Through the Eyes of a State
Opinion -Managing Editor's note: This is the third of a seven-part series showing why charter schools do not have the freedom needed to create significant educational improvements through innovation. -
Controversy Heats Up Over NEA Spending, Donations
Opinion -Education politics started the new year with a bang, courtesy of the Wall Street Journal and the nation's largest labor union, the National Education Association (NEA). -
A Holistic Approach to Antitrust and Broadband Regulation
Opinion -In its January 2004 decision in Verizon Communications, Inc. v. Law Offices of Curtis V. Trinko, LLP, the U.S. -
Parents Have the Tools to Control TV Content
Opinion -The Senate Commerce Committee held yet another hearing in mid-January about “cleaning up” content on broadcast, cable and satellite TV, and the Internet. -
Bank Ends Loans to Build on Land Seized by Government
Opinion -The nation's ninth-largest bank will no longer loan money to real estate developers to build on land seized from property owners through eminent domain. -
Some Question Use of TIF
Opinion -With thousands of cities and nearly all states offering tax increment financing, it has become a staple incentive many businesses now expect. But some analysts are beginning to sound warnings. -
Utah Legislature Considers Tax Cuts
Opinion -The Utah Legislature convened on January 16 to discuss an issue that has been absent from the lawmakers' agenda for several years: tax cuts. Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. -
Washington’s Governor Wants to Spend Additional $503 Million
Opinion -With a $1.45 billion ending fund balance projected for the remainder of the 2005-07 budget biennium, Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire (D) is proposing $503 million in new spending in her 2006 supplemental budget request. -
TIF Epidemic Infects Local Governments
Opinion -In 2004, the city of Fort Worth approved an economic development initiative that seemed to have all the numbers on its side. A billion-dollar company would come to town, bringing more than 500 jobs and luring an estimated 2. -
Illinois’ Pension System: Woefully Underfunded, Scandal-Plagued
Opinion -By almost any measure, the Illinois government pension system is the nation's worst, plagued by debt and scandal. -
Public Pension Systems Wield Clout to Twist Government, Corporate Arms
Opinion -This past winter, the New York news media fixed its attention on public employee pensions when New York City transit workers went on strike and crippled the city's economy for three days in December.