Demonizing Mobility
Planners have tried to demonize the freedom people gain from auto ownership by calling them “auto dependent.” Now they are demonizing air travelers by calling them “binge flyers.” As energy efficient as trains? So what? We’re still going to demonize it. We know binge drinking consists of drinking so much for so long that the […]
Shining Up My Badge of Honor: Teachers Unions Spend Big on Colorado Politics
Six months ago I told you how Colorado was flattered by the attention from the National Education Association’s political giving during the 2007-08 political cycle. Now we have some rock-solid numbers to back it all up.
In his new report for Education Next titled “The Long Reach of Teachers Unions,” the inimitable Mike Antonucci looks at […]
Bad Medicine: The Real Costs & Consequences of ObamaCare
A new analysis of ObamaCare (HR 3590) from the Cato Institute:
The length and complexity of the health care reform legislation, combined with a debate that often generated more heat than light, has led to massive confusion about the law’s likely impact. A new white paper by Cato senior fellow Michael D. […]
Streetcars for Charlotte, Cincinnati, Ft. Worth, & St. Louis
The Department of Transportation has announced $290 million in “livability” grants, including $25 million each for streetcars in Charlotte, Cincinnati, Ft. Worth, and St. Louis plus $5 million to extend a streetcar line in Dallas. “Streetcars are making a comeback because cities across America are recognizing that they can restore economic development downtown,” the DOT […]
Colorado Transit: A Costly Failure
Public transit is often portrayed as a low-cost, environmentally friendly alternative to auto driving. In fact, transit is much more costly than driving, and requires huge subsidies to attract riders. Moreover, transit systems in the vast majority of American cities use more energy and emit more greenhouse gases than the average car.
For every dollar collected in fares from transit riders, the average transit system in America requires more than $2 from taxpayers for operating subsidies plus more than $1 for capital improvements and maintenance. So it is not surprising that transit systems in Colorado require large subsidies. What may be surprising is that most are far less environmentally friendly than a typical sports utility vehicle.
Only Two Days Left to Watch The Lottery in Denver: Will You Be Conflicted?
As I write this, I’m listening to the Mike Rosen Show on AM 850 KOA Denver as he interviews director Madeleine Sackler about her newly released edu-documentary The Lottery.
A month ago my Education Policy Center friends attended a special screening of this film. The Lottery is back in Denver this week, and you can […]
Washington Should Reform Itself First
By Barry W. Poulson In a May 12 Denver Post editorial, “Reforming Wall Street is Essential,” President Barack Obama makes the case for Senator Chris Dodd’s financial reform bill (what the president calls “Wall Street reforms”). The president argues that the financial crisis was caused by irresponsible practices on Wall Street, that the Dodd bill […]
Utah’s voluntary health insurance exchange
From the Texas Policy Foundation:
State governments will face many new challenges and responsibilities under the recently passed federal health care legislation – one of the first being the creation of a state health insurance exchange. Massachusetts‘ state-subsidized exchange was the model for President Obama’s plan, and the Bay State is now grappling with surging premiums […]
Are the Rich the Biggest Defaulters?
Last week, the New York Times published an amazingly shallow article saying the “biggest defaulters on mortgages are the rich.” This contention is supported by a single pair of data: the owners of about 14 percent of homes worth more than $1 million are delinquent on their mortgages, while only “about” 8 to 9 percent […]
Good News: Denver’s Forced Teacher Placements into Poor Schools Declines
Ed News Colorado reported last Friday that a new Denver Public Schools policy has started to reap some small dividends:
Fewer Denver teachers unable to find jobs on their own were placed into the city’s highest-poverty and lowest-achieving schools for 2010-11, according to district figures.
That’s a reversal of what’s occurred for at least three years, when […]
Ten Small-Scale Reforms For Pre-existing (Chronic) Conditions
Instead of more political meddling in insurance markets like guaranteed issue and community rating, the following free-market-oriented reforms would help alleviate the problems with pre-existing conditions. From John Goodman at the Health Affairs Blog:
Encourage Portable Insurance.
Allow Special Health Savings Accounts for the Chronically Ill.
Allow Special Needs Health Insurance.
Allow Health Status Insurance.
Allow Self-Insurance for Changes […]
Safe Cycling
A Florida bicycling group tells its members to ride in the middle of any lane that is less than 14 feet wide. An animation explains why doing so is safer for the cyclist and notes that (in Florida, at least) “a cyclist is entitled to use the full width of a lane that is less […]
