Hang Up And Drive? The Push to Ban Cell Phones
Policy makers across Colorado are considering banning cell phone use while driving, because they feel that it leads to car accidents. Regulations controlling cell phone usage in cars will not reduce the real problems of driving safety, and in fact may decrease road safety.
Bus strike? Go ahead, make our day
The Regional Transportation District, claiming it’s out of cash, is cutting bus service throughout the district. Of course, RTD wouldn’t cut service unless it was a last resort. Passengers are RTD’s most valued assets.
Transportation Choice: Politics Versus Morality
The cost of traffic congestion exceeds the cost to eliminate it.
An ongoing project of the Texas Transportation Institute estimates traffic congestion annually. TTI calculated the cost to the U.S. economy at $68 billion in 2000. Because the cost is growing faster than the population, congestion is making Americans worse off. This is more than enough money to add an additional lane to every interstate highway in the United States in each direction. Less extreme proposals could instantly eliminate all traffic congestion. The reason traffic congestion exists is political.
Housing and the American Dream
Denver’s high housing prices prevent low-income people from attaining the American dream. The Center for the American Dream will promote affordable housing by finding ways to protect neighborhood values without needless regulation.
Congestion and the American Dream
Denver is the nation’s third-most congested urban area, and congestion costs Denver residents nearly $1.5 billion a year. Spending 60 percent of the region’s transportation budget on 1 percent of the region’s travelers will not solve this problem. The Center for the American Dream will find low-cost solutions that can solve congestion without raising taxes.
Getting the wheels on correctly
Bruce Randolph Middle School in Denver seemed to have everything: A brand new campus, the latest technology, and teachers who came from all over the country. But the school had one problem: Principal Sophia Masewicz couldn’t control the students. According to Denver Public Schools superintendent Jerry Wartgow, “the school got off to a rocky start when administrators failed to set clear expectations for attendance, behavior, student records and other basics of school life.” If you want to find a common problem at so many schools where students are failing to learn, don’t count the number of computers. Look for a strong principal who sets clear standards.
Heath Wins Dry Creek Elementary School Space Aliens Award
This years Dry Creek Elementary School Space Aliens award for the campaign comment exhibiting the most skewed version of reality goes to gubernatorial candidate Rollie Health for asserting that tax cuts during economic downturns are bad because they leave state government vulnerable when the economy sours.[1] Officials at Dry Creek, you may remember, were so […]
Use It Or Lose It Colorado's Oldest and Best Recycling Program
The subject of water rights in Colorado often generates confusion, anger and hysteria, even among those experienced in dealing with it. According to one old timer, “Whiskey’s for drinkin’. Water’s for fightin’.”
Colorado is notorious for the number of water lawyers it has, and it’s easy to criticize a system of law that generates so much conflict. However, much criticism of this system is based on a poor understanding of how and why it works. Some people believe Colorado should more closely follow the model of other western states where water allocation is more tightly controlled by government, and less by market forces. I argue in this paper that its free market origins and traditions are the strength of Colorado water law, based on protecting private property rights against all comers, public and private. This can work as well for streamflow protection as it has for power plants.
Finding fault with no-fault auto-insurance mandates
Im trying to prepare myself now so I wont become nauseous when my car insurance renewal notice arrives in October. Thats because the already high auto-insurance rates in Colorado are going even farther up. Its gotten to the point where some people can barely afford to drive, according to Carole Walker of Rocky Mountain Insurance Information Association. She says rate increases are averaging 15-20 percent, to double the national average. This is in a state that already has the 13th costliest auto insurance rates in the nation.
Of Rail, Lying And Lemons
It’s the same story over and over. Transit districts ask the voters to approve taxes to build expensive rail systems. The voters consent, and get half of what they bargained for — the tax. As for the promised rail system, it almost always turns out that there just isn’t enough money to deliver on the promises.
Restricting first amendment rights could be dangerous to your health
“Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech”- First Amendment to the United States Constitution
Ever since those words were added to the Bill of Rights in 1791, just how much free speech there should be has been hotly contested. One of the many battlefronts for this issue is advertising rights for medical drugs and devices. Pharmaceutical advertising rights are tightly controlled and recently some in the medical community have begun to ask the question “Do these controls violate the First Amendment?”
Don't Fix Photo Radar – Scrap It!
t looks as though the end may finally be near for Denvers embattled photo radar program. If stubborn, revenue-hungry city officials have their way, however, it is just the beginning of another fight that will ultimately result in the flawed program resuming operation again.
