Interesting Idaho Teacher Merit Pay Plans Inspire Idea for Potato Head Costume
This spring I told you about some yummy tater-tot-like education reform laws passing in Idaho. Seriously. Well, now Jessie Bonner of the Associated Press reports that one of the key reforms is coming to life throughout the Gem State:
A database compiled by the state Department of Education shows schools districts have adopted a mixture of […]
Mandatory health insuance both a tax & not a tax
The so-called Justice Department wants the Supreme Court to *not* consider mandatory insurance as a tax when deciding to hear the case, but after it does decide, the DOJ’s lawyers will argue that it’s a tax. Continue reading
LaHood Looks Forward to “Wonderful Opportunities”
Secretary of Immobility Ray LaHood announced recently that he plans to step down from his post at the end of President Obama’s first term and that he is looking forward to some “wonderful opportunities” in the private sector. This naturally raises the question of what kind of opportunities await a bumbling has-been who betrayed his […]
A Big “You Got It, Dude” to Pennsylvania Senate for Passing School Choice Bill
You’ve seen me write before about 2011 as the “Year of School Choice”, right? That summertime proclamation came about the same time as the Pennsylvania legislature stalled on a major proposal to create school vouchers, though so many other states created or expanded educational choice programs. Well, maybe — and let me emphasize maybe — […]
How Congress Took Control of Indians’ Lives
Just as Congress has stretched its Interstate Commerce Power into authority over the entire national economy, so it has used the Indian Commerce Clause to justify micro-managing the lives of American Indians and of their tribes. It wasn’t supposed to be that way. The Articles of Confederation gave Congress power over Indian “affairs,” but in […]
Getting Priorities Straight
Facing a $12 million to $17 million budget shortfall next year, Portland’s TriMet transit agency is cutting bus service for lack of funds. But it has enough funds to spend $250,000 on a giant sculpture of a deer with a baby face. The agency has already cut bus service by 13 percent and light-rail service […]
Cookie Monster Invoked Again, in Great Public Radio Prop 103 Takedown
When it comes to invoking the great Cookie Monster in blogging about public policy, who is the king? That’s right. I hate to toot my own horn, but you may remember such famous Eddie posts as:
K-12 Officials Blaming Special Education is Sort of Like Me Blaming Cookie Monster; and
Ben DeGrow (and Cookie Monster?) Talk Falcon […]
DeGrow Talks Education Reform at Liberty on the Rocks
On October 25, senior policy analyst Ben DeGrow led a lively and thoughtful conversation on education reform Colorado-style with the Colorado Springs chapter of Liberty on the Rocks.
Mass. authorities fine bankrupt couple for having illegal health plan
In Massachusetts, and soon across the nation, “the state decides how much health insurance you can afford — not you.” Massachusetts residents Lauren and Nick Destito must pay a fine for having an illegal health plan. Continue reading
RIP Bill Niskanen
The Antiplanner was saddened to hear that William Niskanen, who for more than two decades chaired the board of the Cato Institute, died yesterday morning after suffering a stroke Tuesday night. Niskanen was a tenured professor of economics at the University of California at Berkeley in 1975 when he took a job as chief economist […]
When It Comes to Education Reform, Not All Parent Groups Are Created Equal
A couple days ago I gave a 5-year-old’s shout-out to well-informed parents and a simplified process for families choosing to enroll their students into a DPS school to which they are not assigned. Any reasonable step we can take to facilitate families to make educational choices that better serve students’ needs is a good thing.
Making […]
False Alternative: Forced Charity or “Let Them Die”
In a recent GOP debate, moderator Wolf Blitzer presented Ron Paul a false alternative: forced charity or letting an uninsured man die. Beth Haynes, MD. writes: “Our only options are not “Government Control or Let Them Die.” Restoring our freedom will Let Us Live.” Continue reading
