Medicaid as a ghetto: poor access to medical care
“While specialists turned away 11 percent of privately insured children, 66 percent of children with Medicaid were unable to get an appointment. For those who did, the waiting time was 22 days longer than for other patients.”
1.389 Million Lies about Mica Plan
The responses to Representative John Mica’s plan to reduce transportation spending to affordable levels are shrill and bombastic. “1.4 million infrastructure jobs lost due to republican transportation budget short sightedness” claims a Florida newspaper. It’s the “road to ruin” says Oregon Representative (and ranking minority member on the Highways and Transit Subcommittee) Peter Defazio. Many […]
Reining in Congress: An Enforceable Balanced Budget Amendment
There is growing sentiment that one or more constitutional amendments may be necessary to rein in the runaway Congress. The principal mechanism the Founders built into the Constitution for such contingencies is the procedure in Article V by which two thirds of the state legislatures force what the Constitution calls a “Convention for proposing Amendments.” […]
Colorado Education Association Sues to Stop Telling Parents of Teacher Arrests
This hasn’t been one of the big issues on my education transformer radar, nor is it one I’ve covered before. But it does bring out an interesting point of clarity for those who are interested in our K-12 schools and the politics that surround them. The Coloradoan in Fort Collins reported yesterday that the state’s […]
Mica Would Cut Transport Funds by 30%
Fiscal austerity is the theme of House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman John Mica’s long-awaited proposal for reauthorizing federal surface transportation funding, which he released Thursday. Unlike the 2005 reauthorization and President Obama’s proposed reauthorization, Mica’s proposal, which is supported by other Republican subcommittee chairs but has been blasted by Democrats, calls for spending no […]
Anti-Douglas County Choice Groups Seek to Stop Education Liberty Bell from Ringing
A couple weeks ago I filled you in on how there are two separate groups that have filed their legal complaints against the Douglas County Choice Scholarship Program. Well, as Ed News Colorado reports, now they’ve taken the next official step:
Plaintiffs in two lawsuits challenging the Douglas County voucher pilot are asking for an immediate […]
video: the case for federal Medicaid block grants
The Medicaid program imposes high costs while generating poor results. This Center for Freedom and Prosperity Foundation video explains how block grants, such as the one proposed by Congressman Paul Ryan, will save money and improve healthcare by giving states the freedom to innovate and compete.
Spain’s High-Speed White Elephants
How did I miss this story? A European publication describes Spain’s high-speed rail system as “a bona fide policy error typical of a nouveau riche nation.” Spain’s Talgo high-speed trains look a little like Donald Duck. Wikipedia commons photo by Peter Christener. Spain has spent or is spending 6 billion euros on a high-speed network […]
Serious Atlanta Test Cheating Scandal Generates Predictable Overreaction
The big, hard-to-ignore education news of the week comes from Atlanta, Georgia. The Christian Science Monitor’s Patrick Jonsson reports that 178 teachers and principals have been formally implicated in a cheating scandal. Some accountability opponents are overreacting with predictable calls to throw out high-stakes standardized tests. If students cheat on a test or plagiarize a book report, do we give up grading? Let’s get real: There are responsible solutions to the serious problem.
Is the Colorado Health Benefits exchange built to fail?
Last week Governor Hickenlooper’s office announced the members of the Colorado Health Benefits Exchange Board. Paul Howard and Stephen T. Parente write why such exchanges are built to fail. Because of a “litany of new minimum-insurance requirements and regulations … health insurance purchased through an exchange will likely end up more expensive than it is now.”
A Different Kind of TIF
The Antiplanner’s visit to Lafayette, Louisiana was highly educational. Among other sights, I saw River Ranch, a very successful New Urban development that (according to local tax activists) was built without any tax subsidies. Although I personally would not want to live there, the development commands high prices even in the recession. River Ranch Rowhouses […]
Journal Confirms “Year of School Choice”; NEA Takes Both Sides on Value-Added
Still trying to recover from the big fireworks last night, I couldn’t decide between two blogging ideas this morning. So instead I’m giving you a little bit of both. First, you just have to read today’s Wall Street Journal editorial proclaiming what I told you last week — that 2011 is indeed The Year of […]
