Pueblo Chieftain: “Auditors rip state health care department”
Pueblo Chieftain: “The state Department of Health Care Policy and Financing has failed to implement 51 audit recommendations that it agreed to accept during the past two years, auditors told a panel of lawmakers Thursday.” Continue reading
Get School Choice Juices Flowing: “Kids Aren’t Cars,” Parent Trigger II and Milk (!)
I can hardly believe that School Choice Week is already here. For my Colorado friends, remember that there are several great events between now and Saturday, especially a cool “Kids Aren’t Cars” movie night I hope you can come to.
Here in Colorado the legislature kicks off School Choice Week with the introduction of House […]
Independence Institute’s amicus brief on Fed’s mandate to expand Medicaid eligibility
At the The Volokh Conspiracy, Independence Institute’s Research Director Dave Kopel writes: “On behalf of the Independence Institute, Rob Natelson and I wrote an amicus brief on the Medicaid mandate currently before the Supreme Court. (The ACA requirement that states must drastically expand Medicaid eligibility, or lose all their federal matching funds for Medicaid.)” Continue reading
To the Moon, Alice
The Economist suggests that sending a woman to the moon would have a more positive impact on the economy than building high-speed rail. Certainly, a trip to the moon would use more modern technology as the first high-speed rail line was built in 1964 but we didn’t send a man to the moon until 1969.
Energy in 2012 GA: Legislators address HB 1365, tiered rates and the PUC
Two years after the passage of the fuel-switching bill HB 1365, Governor Bill Ritter’s “crown jewel” of the new energy economy, supporters would like the debate to go away. But like a nagging cough, it just won’t. Several bills in the 2012 legislative session address issues raised surrounding the collusion to draft HB 1365, the […]
Some Questions for “Progressives” Carping about the Citizens United Campaign Finance Case
The Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United v. FEC has generated a great deal of uninformed, and sometimes hypocritical, whining. In Citizens United, the Supreme Court held that people organized in the corporate form have the same First Amendment rights they enjoy when they organize in other ways. Some opponents of the decision are even […]
Self-Driving Cars in the Pipeline
The hit of last week’s Detroit Auto Show was the 2013 Ford Fusion. This was a surprise because the car was merely a stylistic upgrade of an existing model. The real significance of the Fusion is not the “strong personality” or the fact that Ford will offer both hybrid and plug-in hybrid versions, but that […]
NY NAACP Lawsuit and Lobato Ruling: Don’t Let the Outrage Get You Down
Has it really been almost three months since I told you about a new Choice Media video on the Douglas County Choice Scholarship program injunction? Well, award-winning director Bob Bowdon has triumphed again with this hard-hitting, six-minute video about the New York City NAACP’s lawsuit trying to remove a charter school that successfully serves inner-city […]
Is the Tea Party Falling Apart?
The New York Times Magazine has discovered what everyone who has ever been to a Tea Party meeting already knew: tea parties are a coalition of social conservatives and libertarians. Both are fiscally conservative and so the tea parties focus on fiscal issues and agree to disagree on social issues. Does this mean the tea […]
Lobato Judge’s Anti-Constitutional Opinion is Politics, Not Law
In a 2001 interview, a little known state senator and law school professor from Illinois cautioned that courts are “poorly equipped” for making public policy. Pointing to problems with the legitimacy and ability of courts particularly in the field of education, he advised seeking change through politics rather than litigation. Sadly, both concerns of Barack Obama were exemplified in a Colorado state court decision last December.
Predictably Stupid
The Obama administration’s rejection of the Keystone pipeline was predictably stupid and will do little to protect the environment other than by slightly increasing world oil prices. Opponents made it clear that they didn’t care about the negligible environmental impacts of the pipeline; they just wanted to “keep the tar sands in the soil.” The […]
Guess Implementing Digital Learning Policy Changes in Colorado Not as Easy as It Looks
As last year was winding down, I told you that the issue of K-12 online and blended learning would be a big one going forward for Colorado in 2012. With the legislature now in session and the first-ever Digital Learning Day just around the corner, I found a timely article that deserves some attention here […]