Prop 103 Not Good for Much But Inspiring My New Love of Toppling Dominoes!
A few weeks ago I told you how I colored all over the “Blue Book” explaining the arguments for and against the Proposition 103 “it’s for the kids” tax hike. While that was plenty of fun, I don’t think it compares to what my Independence Institute friends got to do yesterday with Prop 103:
Too bad […]
Thank U.S. medical care for extending Steve Jobs’ life
Had Jobs been under the care of the British National Health Service (NHS) or the Canadian Medicare system, he almost certainly would have died two years earlier. That would have been a major loss for the world, by anyone’s reckoning. Continue reading
Department of Irony
Officials from Aurora, Colorado are in a tizzy because someone conducted some focus groups to see what taxpayers thought of a $300 million subsidy to a proposed hotel. Such focus groups “violate the ethics code for economic development organizations in the region,” said Tom Clark, the executive vice-president of Denver’s Economic Development Corporation (EDC). Apparently, […]
Solar industry: we still need taxpayers' cash
A new report from the Solar Foundation, a non-profit solar industry advocate, claims the solar industry is a bright spot in an others dreary economy. According to the report titled “National Solar Jobs Census 2011: A Review of the U.S. Solar Workforce” the U.S. now boasts 100,237 solar workers “defined as those workers who spend […]
Research Strongly Suggests Denver ProComp Success, Room to Improve
Yesterday Denver-based and national researchers released the big evaluation of Denver’s ProComp teacher incentive pay program, often considered the centerpiece of an array of structural reforms in Colorado’s second largest school district. If you want the soundbite summary of the work by the University of Colorado Denver and the Center for Education Data and Research, […]
Prop 103: What Is The Cost To Colorado Taxpayers?
by Barry Poulson In November, Colorado citizens will vote on Prop 103 to increase taxes and earmark the revenue for education K-12. Prop 103 increases the personal income tax, the corporate income tax, and the statewide sales and use tax for the years 2012 through 2016. The Fiscal Impact Statement prepared by the Colorado Legislative […]
Why Medicare & Medicaid fraud dwarfs commercial endevours
” Politicians are spending other people’s money, so their incentive to prevent fraud is far less. Therefore, fraud will always be higher in government programs than in similar market endeavors.” Continue reading
$8 million jobs blowin' in the wind
A new study of enterprise zones in Illinois reveals that each “wind job cost taxpayers $8 million” according to a press release from Illinois Wind Watch. A review of reports obtained through the Freedom of Information Act show: that wind farms create very few local jobs. Of the 15 wind farms reported on the IWEA website, […]
Colorado Digital Learning Policies Middle of the Pack with Room for Great Improvement
Yesterday I let you know about Education Policy Center director Pam Benigno’s published response to Colorado’s K-12 controversy of the month concerning online education programs. One of the great aspects of her piece was the focus on effective student-centered policy solutions. She directly suggested changes to how students are counted and funded — whether a […]
Fallacy watch: containing health care spending vs. health care costs
Don’t confuse controlling health care costs with controlling spending. A government health plan can contain spending by refusing to pay for life-saving treatments, but this would impose great costs. Continue reading
2010 Census Data
Despite huge efforts to get people out of single-occupancy vehicles, nearly 8 million more people drove alone to work in 2010 than in 2000, according to data released by the Census Bureau. Wendell Cox’s review of the data show that the other big gainer was “worked at home,” which grew by nearly 2 million over […]
Balancing Innovation, Accountability in Cyberschools
Technological advances are continually creating new opportunities to effectively educate Colorado’s K-12 students through online learning. Colorado needs to look forward in protecting an environment for innovation, while balancing needed accountability for cyberschool operators. As we take an honest look at the data and seek to find answers, let’s not turn back the clock on expanded educational opportunities.
