Why RTD Elections Should be Partisan
RTD is one of Colorado’s biggest, yet obscure, governments. Elections have failed to receive sufficient public scrutiny, making control of the RTD Board a target for special interests.
Insubordinate Legislators
The facts are as follows:nbsp; Fidel Castro runs Cuba.nbsp; His government is communist.nbsp; As in all communist countries, the guns on the borders are aimed inward.nbsp; Cubans trying to leave without permission are hunted down, killed, or imprisoned.nbsp; Castro has sent helicopters to drop sandbags onto makeshift rafts crowded with people trying to escape his […]
Extremists Create Stress for Gain
According to the chattering classes, modern times are the most stressful ever.nbsp; Im stressed excuses everything from forgetting appointments to neglecting the kids.nbsp; People spend billions on stress remedies and are said to be desperate for stress relievers.nbsp; According to Pam McCracken, director of the Center for Drug and Alcohol Education at Colorado State University, […]
Dangerous Changes in Seat Belt Law
Some state legislators want to make Colorados seat belt law more restrictive, by allowing police officers to stop a car simply because someone in the car isnt wearing a seat best. Under current law, not wearing a seat belt is subject only to secondary enforcementmeaning that if youre stopped for some other reason, you can get a ticket for not wearing a seat belt, but you cant be stopped just because of the seat best. Supporters of restrictive seat belt laws in Colorado have been trying for over a decade to pass primary enforcement and have failed each time. Undaunted, the nannies keep coming back during each legislative session to force upon the motoring public something not wanted, nor even needed.
Is Mental Health Treatment A Fraud
According to Robyn Dawes, a professor at Carnegie-Mellon University and a distinguished researcher on psychological evaluation and decision-making, the evidence is quite clear.nbsp; Mental health practitioners possess no special insights into the individual human condition. Dawes agrees that psychology has developed a number of effective measurement devices and ways to predict future behavior.nbsp; But those […]
Dangerous Changes in Seat Belt Law
Some state legislators want to make Colorados seat belt law more restrictive, by allowing police officers to stop a car simply because someone in the car isnt wearing a seat best. Under current law, not wearing a seat belt is subject only to secondary enforcementmeaning that if youre stopped for some other reason, you can […]
How Much Should We Spend on Government
The Denver Post reported that House Speaker Russ George, R-Rifle, acknowledges that the TABOR amendment has hampered the Legislature#39;s ability to adjust fiscal policy to keep pace with the economy and has slowed the Legislature#39;s ability to cut taxes.[1]nbsp; This is a curious statement.nbsp; TABOR imposed limits on state expenditure growth and required that tax […]
Senate Bill 186: School Report Cards Doing It Right
Senate Bill 186 mandates state report cards for the public schools. Each school will be given a letter grade for academic achievement and a letter grade for school safety. Other information such as teacher qualifications and use of taxpayer funds will be included on the report card. Synopsis: To grade schools on safety when it is difficult to ensure fair measurement, may do more harm than good. Grading schools student academic performance is a positive step towards greater accountability, resulting in higher levels of student achievement. Unfortunately, SB 186 requires some fine-tuning because it requires grading the schools on a curve rather than assigning the grade based on the percentage of students who have met the state standards.
HB 1131: Seat Belt Law Endangers Innocents
This bill is identical to HB 99-1212 which was voted down last year. It would make failing to wear a seat belt a more serious offense. At present, drivers are not cited for failure to wear a seat belt unless they are stopped for some other reason. This bill would make failing to wear seat belts a primary offense, meaning that police officers could stop vehicles and write citations whenever they see the seat belt law being violated. The bill makes the driver responsible for a Class B traffic infraction unless he, and all front seat passengers, are wearing seat belts.
HB 1131: Seat Belt Law Endangers Innocents
Synopsis: This bill is identical to HB 99-1212 which was voted down last year.nbsp; It would make failing to wear a seat belt a more serious offense.nbsp; At present, drivers are not cited for failure to wear a seat belt unless they are stopped for some other reason.nbsp; This bill would make failing to wear […]
Five Ways to Improve Teacher Education, Without Spending More Money
A variety of solutions, including, but not limited to, reducing class size, requiring merit pay for teachers, increasing professional requirements, changing the calendar to accommodate year-round schools, and a host of other changes have been advocated as avenues to improving the performance of public school pupils. Even the undergraduate curriculum for teacher-education students has been modified in the hope that improved public school teaching would result in increased achievement of public school pupils. One possible solution that has not received much attention, however, is the re-examination and revision of policies in teacher-education programs.
Medicare Reform Must Precede A Prescription Drug Benefit
Usually the Independence Institute only publishes documents written by Independence Institute authors. We made an exception here because this material is an excellent explanation of the tremendous public health problems that would be created by President Clinton’s proposal for price controls on prescription medicines. Thus, even though we have no position on the author’s proposal to expand Medicare to include out-patients, we think that the author’s description of disaster that price caps would create is very much worth reading.
