US Health Care Spending Since 1960: Patients pay less, insurers & gov’t pay more
“In the past 50 years, the way health care is financed has changed, with private payers and public insurance paying for more care. This interactive graphic shows who paid for the nation’s health care and how much it cost.”
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Devil’s Advocate: Meet the Teacher Who Couldn’t Read
Tune in to Devil’s Advocate as guest host Pam Benigno is joined by John Corcoran from the John Corcoran Foundation, telling of his longtime struggles with illiteracy, and State Board of Education member Debora Scheffel discussing ideas and strategies to improve literacy for Colorado students.
Accountability, Please? Arbitrator Says Dougco Union Can Keep Tax Funds
Ed News Colorado reports today regarding a dispute over publicly-funded teacher union employees, that an arbitrator has ruled in favor of the Douglas County Federation of Teachers (DCFT) and against the taxpayers. At issue is $118,500 school district officials say the union president agreed to pay rather than be accountable for the use of tax-funded […]
How Much Is The Obamacare Mandate Going To Cost You? – Forbes
At Forbes.com, Grace-Marie Turner outlines the income-dependent penalties (“taxes”) for not buying a legal medical insurance policy. Continue reading
Still Corrupt After All These Years
The Oregonian reports that construction of the Sellwood Bridge was rife with “graft, kickbacks and corruption”–or at least it was when the bridge was first planned 87 years ago. As comments to the article point out, not much has changed. Today, the region is planning an expensive replacement bridge that is twice as wide as […]
Constitutional Arcana: The Forgotten Navigation Convention of 1786
In an earlier post, I reported that the Constitutional Convention of 1787 was far from unique: that during the lifetime of Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) nearly 20 inter-colonial and interstate conventions met. Some were attended by as few as three colonies or states; others by as many as 12. These multi-governmental conventions were held in Philadelphia […]
Washington Post Calls for Serious Changes to Teacher Pay and Tenure
Real educator compensation reform has grown well beyond being a conservative or liberal issue. We continue to learn more and more about the costs and effects of unproductive pay systems. A couple weeks ago I brought your attention to a possible breakthrough New Teacher Project report called The Irreplaceables — showing how high-performing teachers not […]
The Antiplanner’s Library: Spreading the Wealth
Subtitled “How Obama Is Robbing the Suburbs to Pay for the Cities,” this book sounds like it is right up the Antiplanner’s street (since my home fortunately doesn’t have an alley). Stanley Kurtz, a senior fellow with the Ethics and Public Policy Center, argues that Obama intends to forcefully implement the smart-growth agenda in his […]
Let’s Respect and Empower Parents with Choices, Not Look Down on Them
From the files of “Did she really say that?” comes a post written a few days ago by Diane Ravitch, under the heading: “Do parents always know what is best?” Ravitch extensively quotes a Louisiana teacher, who hardly wins friends and influences people with this opener:
I am tired of this attitude about parents knowing […]
Obamacare’s doctor shortage and concierge medicine
The demand for health care under ObamaCare will increase dramatically. The supply of physicians won’t. Get ready for a two-tier system of medical care. Continue reading
Amtrak Dominates? Not Really
The New York Times reports that “Amtrak Dominates Northeast Corridor Travel.” That’s absolutely true–as long as you don’t count buses. Or cars. Or intermediate points between Boston, New York, and Washington. The Times says that Amtrak has a 75 percent share of the “air/rail” market between Washington and New York, but it only has a […]
Foiled Again? Colorado School Finance Project Data Summary Skews Story
The Colorado School Finance Project (COSFP) has released its latest batch of funding data. The results include a significantly too-low spending figure and a misleading graph that rears its ugly head again, not to mention leaving out the all-important total spending per student figure. Leave it to little Eddie to play the foil and ground readers in some basic facts.
