Crying Over Cancelled Trains
There is much weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth over the so-called high-speed train in Wisconsin. A Madison newspaper that calls itself “the Progressive Voice” claims that Governor-elect Walker’s promise to cancel the Milwaukee-to-Madison train is economic treason. That makes sense if you agree with Paul Krugman that the federal government should spend a […]
Member Dues for Political Contributions: Colorado Teacher Unions Give 99.9% to Democrats in 2009-10
Back in September we noted that Colorado teachers unions (the Colorado Education Association and American Federation of Teachers) had reported giving a combined 99.8 percent of their political contributions from member dues to the Democratic Party and its candidates, as well as pro-Democrat organizations, in the 2009-2010 election cycle. These contributions only cover state and […]
National School Choice Week is Two Months Away: What Will You Do?
We’re getting really close to Thanksgiving. Many of you are probably daydreaming about turkey dinners, football and family gatherings. But let’s look ahead. Exactly two months from today begins National School Choice Week:
Our message is simple: we need a K-12 education system that provides a wide array of options. We need an effective education system […]
Colorado Teacher Unions’ Top 20 Backed Candidates Finished .500 on Election Day
Education News Colorado has posted an interesting story today about the success rate of candidates backed by various education groups, including the teachers unions:
Five organizations – the Colorado Education Association, American Federation of Teachers-Colorado, the Colorado Association of School Executives, Stand for Children and Democrats for Education Reform – backed legislative candidates. (The school executives […]
The Citizens’ Budget
The report provides an overview of the structure, timing and size of the State budget. We speak to how the problems originated and how things have gone wrong in recent years. The Citizens’ Budget includes legislative, constitutional, and policy recommendations to close the looming state budget gap – without raising taxes – and move Colorado […]
Can CDPHE Be Trusted To Measure Ozone?
Earlier this month, I asked whether CDPHE (a.k.a., “the Department”) is cooking the books on Colorado ozone. In particular, it struck me as suspicious that the Department used data from 2006, an anomalously active wildfire season, as inputs for models used to project ambient air concentrations of ozone through 2020. You can read all about […]
Constitution’s ‘commerce power’ doesn’t permit Obamacare
Constitutional debate about the new health care law has been about the law’s mandate that individuals buy health insurance. But the constitutional issues also include whether the federal government should be regulating health care at all. The Founders would have said “no.”
Why Transit Will Never Be Energy Efficient
At a recent presentation, the Antiplanner mentioned that transit is not energy efficient because most transit vehicles run nearly empty most of the time. A “gotcha” look appear on the face of an audience member, who said, “but what if more people rode transit?” Yes, and cars would be more energy efficient if they were […]
Blogging for Real Education Reform? Let’s Take on Master’s Bumps, Productivity
Thanks to Mike Antonucci’s Intercepts blog, I learned that today is “National Blogging for Real Education Reform Day.” The American Association of School Administrators and ASCD (formerly the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development) are hosting this “grassroots effort to bring together Pk-12 and higher education educators.”
I like to help educate people and am definitely […]
Disorder in the Court! Disgusted PUC Staff Threatens To Walk Out over Xcel’s Discovery Gaffe
On Saturday morning, a defiant PUC Staff threatened to walk out of proceedings on the Clean Air Clean Jobs Act unless the PUC agreed to disqualify an accelerated version of Xcel “preferred” HB 1365 implementation plan. This unprecedented outburst was precipitated by the revelation that Xcel had failed to fully comply with a discovery request. […]
How ObamaCare increases Colorado premiums
The Colorado Division of Insurance has published the “Effect of New Federal Requirements on Colorado Health Insurance Premiums.” Here’s a brief look behind the numbers.
GOP Advances Two Decades
A left-wing blog accuses Republicans of wanting to “bring transport policy back to the 1950s.” At least, the GOP is two decades ahead of where the Democrats wanted to go, considering that 110-mph intercity trains and light rail both date back to the 1930s, and streetcars to several decades earlier. Denver Zephyr traveling at 90 […]
