3/3/11
Newsletter March 3 2011
Citizens’ Budget Panel Event Audio
On Wednesday March 2nd, the Independence Institute held a panel event at the University Club in Denver to discuss the solutions presented in the Citizens’ Budget project. Presenters included project director Penn Pfiffner, Education Center policy analyst Ben DeGrow, Health Care Policy Center director Linda Gorman, and Fiscal Policy Center senior fellow Barry Poulson. Each […]
Only job Ritter created was his own
In a recent New York Times editorial former Governor Bill Ritter reveals the magic formula for states with struggling economies – just “create” green jobs the way he did in Colorado! In reality, the only job he created was his own. Ritter starts by empathizing with other governors as they wrestle “with budget issues, making […]
Colorado Solar Industry’s Insatiable Appetite for Subsidies
With a quivering voice, Jim Walsh, owner of Bella Solar Energy, described his business troubles to the Senate Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Energy Committee. His message, if not his tears, was repeated yesterday morning by six other solar power representatives. They presented a compelling case that “the New Energy Economy is dead,” in the morbid […]
Supreme Court’s New First Amendment Decision Unrelated to the First Amendment
Commentators and journalists sometimes describe the current U.S. Supreme Court as “conservative.” But that’s not true if your definition of a conservative justice is a traditional or “originalist” jurist—that is, one who applies the Constitution as the American people understood it when they adopted it. Consider, for example, the Court’s latest First Amendment case. The […]
Is Gov. Walker Selling Out Taxpayers?
Wisconsin’s Governor Walker is losing the public-relations battle to the public-employee unions whose power he is challenging. Whenever I see this issue discussed on the news, people on Walker’s side are quoted saying the state has to cut costs or it will go broke, while people on the unions’ side say they are willing to […]
Colo. SB 11-168 admits that authoritarian “co-op” will kill jobs
Colorado SB 11-168 (text), which would create a tax-funded authoritarian health care cooperate that unfairly competes with insurance companies, admits that it will put people out of jobs. Section 10-16-1107 (yeah, really) reads: The [Board of Directors] shall design the Cooperative for Colorado in collaboration with parties that may be affected by the design and […]
Colo. HB 11-1173: Daily Camera opposes licensing of naturapathic doctors
Writing for the Boulder Daily Camera’s Editorial Board, Erika Stutzman admirably defends individual freedom & responsibly by opposing Colorado House Bill 11-1173, which would prohibit naturopathic physicians from practicing without a license.
The Antiplanner’s Library: The Economic Crisis
The 2008 financial crisis has proven to be a bonanza for at least one industry: Book publishers have issued dozens of tomes about what went wrong and how to fix it. Lately, the Antiplanner has been reading as many of these as possible. Most of the authors have an axe to grind and many blame […]
Blended Learning: The Best of Both Worlds
Dr. Amy Anderson, co-author of Blended Learning: the Best of Both Worlds, joins Pam Benigno to discuss how the integration of face-to-face and digital learning can lead to greater educational equity, opportunities, and efficiencies for Colorado schools and their students.
Colorado Cyberschools Day at the Capitol 2011: Did Anyone See Me There?
At the Colorado Cyberschool Association Day at the Capitol Event on February 24, 2011, education policy analyst Ben DeGrow presented some school choice resources to parents and educators in attendance.
How Xcel Avoids the Rate Cap on Green Energy
The problem with “green” energy is that it costs more than conventional energy. We can all agree that a solar powered future would be great, but most of us also agree that we’re not willing to pay five to ten times what we pay now for energy in order to try to achieve that future. […]
