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Piracy: Yet 1 more reason for drilling
Waterbury Republican American (CT) Op-Ed
By: K. Lloyd Billingsley
11.30.2008
Somali pirates recently seized the Sirius Star, a supertanker headed for North America with 2 million barrels of oil. In the process, the pirates unwittingly strengthened the case for more domestic oil production in this country.
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To heal itself, California must stop spending
The Vacaville Reporter (CA) News Clipping
By: Kurt E. Hahn
11.30.2008
Last week, the Central Solano Citizen/Taxpayer Group joined a score of local California tax groups and the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association in telling our governor and Legislature in no uncertain terms that they need to cut state spending, not raise taxes.
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Is The Big Three Crisis Obama’s PATCO?
Sacramento Union Op-Ed
By: Jason Clemens
11.26.2008
President-elect Obama faces serious economic challenges, including demands for a bailout of the Big Three automakers. America’s new president can find lessons in the way Ronald Reagan, the last president to assume office amidst such turmoil, handled a similar labor-dominated crisis.
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President-elect Obama offers poor no ‘change’ on school choice
The Examiner (D.C.) Op-Ed
By: K. Lloyd Billingsley
11.25.2008
Barack Obama's historic election victory and eloquence will surely inspire American parents and students alike, but they are likely in for disappointment as well, especially those with limited means. On the issue of school choice, change has not come to America. A gap remains between what the president-elect says and what he does.
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More Economic Freedom = Lower Jobless Rate
Carpe Diem Blog
By: Mark J. Perry
11.25.2008
SAN FRANCISCO – The Pacific Research Institute (PRI), a free-market think tank based in California, recently released the U.S. Economic Freedom Index: 2008 Report, a ranking of economic freedom in the 50 states. Published in association with Forbes, the Index scores states based on 143 variables, including regulatory and fiscal obstacles imposed on businesses and residents.
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Rx for healthcare: Do no harm
Pekin Daily Times (IL) News Clipping
By: Kathleen McCusker
11.25.2008
Caroline, an American, met her soul-mate in graduate school. After she and her beloved earned their degrees, they married and decided to begin their life together in her husband's native Germany.
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Beware shift in balance of power
The Ottawa Times (IL) Op-Ed
By: Jason Clemens
11.24.2008
Labor laws are intended to balance power between employers and employees -- actually unions who represent employees. Changes to labor laws that tilt the balance too far in either direction impose serious costs on workers and our economy.
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PRI Fellow: The Future of Broadband Looks Bright
Tech Policy Central Blog
By: Tech Policy Central Staff
11.24.2008
This post has been weeks in the making, in the sense that it's about an event that I attended in San Jose on November 6th: the broadband policy meeting co-hosted by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC).
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The Worst States For Business
Forbes.com News Clipping
By: Kurt Badenhausen
11.24.2008
For the past three summers, Forbes has ranked the best states for business and featured states with attractive business climates. Virginia's on top, with Utah and North Carolina right nearby. Now we look at the other end of the scale. The three states at the bottom are all led by first-term governors trying to overcome problems that have plagued their states for decades. Each of them has been actively introducing solutions to help improve their business climates.
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California’s Newest Chronic Disease: “Preventionitis”
California Republic Blog
By: John R. Graham
11.20.2008
A major driver of health costs over the last couple of decades is chronic illness such as diabetes and heart disease. It's time to add another chronic ailment to the list: "preventionitis." Because much chronic disease is associated with bad lifestyle choices, many succumb to the utopian delusion that investment in "prevention" – eating better, exercising more, and so on – will cut society's health bill.
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Did the Fed, or Asian Saving, Cause the Housing Bubble?
Ludwig Von Mises Institute Op-Ed
11.19.2008
Just about the only good thing to come out of the housing bubble is that many financial analysts are coming to see the virtue of the Austrian theory of the business cycle. Specifically, though Greenspan did his best to blame deregulation and foreigners who saved too much, many people now think that the Maestro's ultra-low interest rates in the wake of the dot-com crash may very well have sowed the seeds for our current crisis.
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Rx: Assess need; research; plan
Pekin Daily Times (IL) News Clipping
By: Kathleen McCusker
11.18.2008
Rafael home-schools his young children while his wife earns their single income as a speech therapist.
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Time for a new kind of GI Bill
Sacramento Bee Letter to the Editor
By: Evelyn Stacey
11.17.2008
Re "Once again, help for wartime vets" (Editorial, Nov. 11): On Veterans Day we were reminded of the significance of the "GI Bill for the 21st Century" signed this past summer.
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Where Are the Japanese Googles?
TechNewsWorld Op-Ed
11.14.2008
Last week, a select group of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs traveled to Tokyo to learn about Japan's tech sector and new opportunities. What they found was a country in transition, a few surprises, and a group of Japanese entrepreneurs itching to plunge headfirst into the international marketplace.
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Government intervention, not market failure, explains crisis
The Leader (NJ) Op-Ed
By: Jason Clemens
11.13.2008
A financial crisis is gripping the nation and the global economy. This crisis, according to a growing consensus, is the result of market failures coupled with Wall Street greed and corruption. This false assessment of the cause will lead to costly "solutions" that will only make things worse.
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Time To Close The Freedom Deficit
Carolina Journal News Clipping
By: John Hood
11.13.2008
RALEIGH – Just in time for a worldwide economic crisis, there’s new evidence that North Carolina politicians have spent the past several years steadily weakening the economic freedom that once helped the state grow and prosper.
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How Texas Cured Its Doctor Shortage and Became a Model for Healthcare Reform
Bio-Medicine News Clipping
11.12.2008
America is facing a medical liability crisis which has resulted in decreased patient access to healthcare and rising health costs. The Pacific Research Institute (a not for profit, nonpartisan organization), was the first to do a detailed study quantifying the total cost of tort litigation in our country. They have calculated that the excessive tort costs in the United States due to lawsuit abuse totals $589 billion each year.
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High court should reject vaccine suits
The Oklahoman Op-Ed
By: Sally C. Pipes
11.12.2008
The Supreme Court recently heard arguments in a case likely to have profound effects on how vaccines are marketed, distributed and developed. The court’s verdict could affirm the existing regulatory framework for testing and labeling vaccines. That would be good news, as vaccines are among the most effective medical advancements in history.
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Roadblock to health
Carolina Coast Online Letter to the Editor
By: John R. Graham
11.12.2008
Census officials just revealed that 17.2 percent of North Carolinians ??“ 1.5 million ??“ went without health insurance between 2006 and 2007.
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Washington Ranks 37th on New U.S. Economic Freedom Index
Washington Alliance for a Competitive Economy News Clipping
By: Richard Davis
11.12.2008
The Pacific Research Institute recently released its 2008 Economic Freedom Index. This year, Washington comes in at 37, meaning 36 states exhibit more economic freedom or, I guess, fewer "regulatory and fiscal obstacles." In 2004 Washington ranked 31st; in 1999, we were 40th. The top ranked states this year are South Dakota, Idaho, Colorado, Utah and Wyoming.
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New Course for California Schools
Sacramento Union Op-Ed
By: Vicki E. Murray, Ph.D, Evelyn Stacey
11.12.2008
SACRAMENTO – With the economy worsening, public schools are bracing for possible budget cuts estimated to exceed $2 billion, and which will force educators to make do with less. Fortunately, educators and policy makers can learn from California’s charter schools, which have been doing more with less for 15 years.
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A GOP ed reform roadmap
Schools for Tomorrow Blog
By: Ben DeGrow
11.11.2008
On the New York Times Education Watch, Dr. Lance Izumi lays out a post-election “lesson plan for Republicans” at the national level. He argues quite simply that the minority party needs to latch on to three basic themes in the area of education policy.
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States Seeking Better Broadband Nationwide Turn and Make a Local Focus
Broadband Census News Clipping
By: Drew Clark
11.11.2008
State telecommunications officials concerned about the universal deployment and use of high-speed internet services joined together at a San Jose conference on Thursday to compare notes, plot strategy and encourage programs and activities that will lead to better broadband nationwide.
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Michael Crichton’s Remainder Bin
FrontPage Magazine Op-Ed
By: K. Lloyd Billingsley
11.10.2008
Michael Crichton, who died at 66 on November 4, election day, may not have been an outstanding stylist but he sure sold a few books in his time, mostly in the techno-thriller genre, such as Jurassic Park. He was a writer of ideas and also a medical doctor (Harvard Medical School), television producer, and film director.
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Untruths against free enterprise told with impunity
Intermex Power Blog
By: Tibor Machan
11.10.2008
When I became seriously interested in the free market I began, also, to encounter a good deal of criticism of that system, mainly because the critics mindlessly blamed the Great Depression on it. But looking at it more carefully I learned that by the time of the Great Depression there was nearly nothing left of laissez-faire capitalism in America.
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Economic Freedom and Environmental Regulation
Capital Researach Center Blog
By: Eric Heidenreich
11.10.2008
The Pacific Research Institute recently released its “U.S. Economic Freedom Index: 2008 Report” and the results are pretty interesting....There is a lot of very interesting information in the report, but I want to focus specifically on the correlation between a state’s economic freedom score and that state’s environmental regulations.
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A Lesson Plan for Republicans
New York Times "Education Watch" blog
By: Lance T. Izumi, J.D.
11.8.2008
Once they emerge from their electoral funk, Republicans must figure out an opposition game plan, including how to address education issues in the Obama era. A successful strategy must: pinpoint the shortcomings in policies flowing from the Democrat-controlled White House and Congress, offer a clear contrasting alternative agenda based on sound principles and make sure that their agenda is relevant to all Americans.
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Economic Freedom and the Presidential Election
Objectivist Individualist Blog
By: Charles R. Anderson
11.8.2008
The Pacific Research Institute in association with Forbes produced the U.S. Economic Freedom Index, 2008 Report by Lawrence J. McQuillan, Michael T. Maloney, Eric Daniels, and Brent M. Eastwood and I have been intending to discuss it for some time. Then I thought that it might be interesting to correlate it with the results of the presidential election, which can now be done.
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State government keeps health insurance from Tar Heels
The Franklin Press (NC) Op-Ed
By: John R. Graham
11.7.2008
U.S. Census officials just revealed that 17.2 percent of North Carolinians went without health insurance between 2006 and 2007, up 2.1 percentage points from the preceding two years. That's greater than the national average and translates to about 1.5 million uninsured Tar Heels.
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Broadband Summit: Connecting America
FCC-NARUC Joint Conference on Advanced Services
11.6.2008
PRI's Policy Fellow, Daniel Ballon, Ph.D., gave a presentation on "The Future of Broadband" at the FCC-NARUC Joint Conference on Advanced Services in San Jose, CA.
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Getting California on track
Eureka Reporter News Clipping
11.6.2008
As President-elect Obama assembles his team, back here in California, the new legislature prepares to convene in less than 30 days and the governor stews about a several-billion-dollar deficit only a few weeks after the state’s supposedly balanced budget was approved.
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In A Time Of Economic Trouble, Which Presidential Health Reform Is Good Medicine?
Akron Reporter (OH) Op-Ed
By: John R. Graham
11.6.2008
With the specter of a serious recession looming, many Americans fear unemployment and loss of health coverage. Economists anticipate that the unemployment rate will jump from 6 percent up to 8 or 9 percent. Because most working people are entirely dependent upon their employer for health benefits, thousands will likely be forced onto state Medicaid rolls after they lose their jobs. Many will be grateful for any help with medical bills, but Medicaid is a poor way to take care of their needs.
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Tort law a threat to your health?
Washington Times Op-Ed
By: Lawrence J. McQuillan, Ph.D
11.5.2008
The U.S. Supreme Court Monday heard arguments in Wyeth v. Levine, a case that could uphold a fundamental tenet of our Constitution. Or, it could send shock waves through the health-care industry, embolden personal injury lawyers, and no doubt cost lives.
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Side effects
Boston Herald
By: Lawrence J. McQuillan, Ph.D
11.5.2008
The health of all Americans is at stake as the U.S. Supreme Court weighs the arguments in Wyeth vs. Levine (“U.S. court hears amputee’s case in drug suit,” Nov. 3). If the high court overturns the supremacy - or “pre-emption” - of federal laws over state ones, personal-injury lawyers will unleash a torrent of frivolous lawsuits to the detriment of public health.
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Gov. Schwarzenegger’s veto traps California in obsolete medical research
Eureka Reporter Op-Ed
By: K. Lloyd Billingsley
11.4.2008
SACRAMENTO – Last month Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger proclaimed September 25 “Stem Cell Awareness Day.” That news got by many Californians, who remain unaware of how California is locked into paying for obsolete research, certain to consume billions of dollars but unlikely to come up with any of the cures Californians were led to believe would be the result of their vote for Proposition 71 in 2004.
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State off course on 'personal genomics'
San Francisco Chronicle Op-Ed
By: Daniel R. Ballon, Ph.D
11.2.2008
California officials recently ordered two "personal genomics" firms to cease and desist operations within the state. The companies eventually were allowed to continue operations - with a few more regulatory conditions - but why did the state demand that they shut down in the first place?
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Surveillance Raises Eyebrows in Reading, Pa.
Infotech & Telecom News (Heartland Institute)
By: Aricka Flowers
11.1.2008
To address the underlying problems of privacy and use of taxpayer money, Rotenberg suggests city councils take a new approach to introducing surveillance plans to residents.
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California Governor Plans to Wield Veto Pen
Health Care News (Heartland Institute)
By: Katie Flanigan
11.1.2008
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) is expected to veto several bills passed by the state legislature, even though the measures are similar to a sweeping health care plan he proposed but failed to get through the General Assembly earlier this year (“California Considers Imposing a Health Insurance Mandate,” Health Care News, March 2008).
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Teachers Can Get Good Benefits without Paying Union Members Dues
School Reform News (Heartland Institute)
By: Evelyn Stacey
11.1.2008
The Association of American Educators, along with the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, kicked off a back-to-school campaign this fall to inform teachers and the public about the many organizations offering them insurance and other benefits ... without paying costly union dues.
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Five Myths About Health Care
Forbes.com Op-Ed
By: Sally C. Pipes
11.1.2008
Sen. Barack Obama has drawn many voters to his side, thanks in no small part to his health care plan. Unfortunately, his proposals rest upon several falsehoods that are all too common in the health care debate. Using his own words, let's take a look at the senator's contentions--and debunk these all too common myths.
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Connecticut Health Plan Not Ready to Expand
Health Care News (Heartland Institute)
By: Krystle Russin
11.1.2008
Connecticut’s new Charter Oak Health Plan, a taxpayer-subsidized program designed to help uninsured adults acquire coverage, is under fire from critics after the state expanded the program before reaching agreements with enough participating hospitals and physicians to serve enrollees.
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FEC Rules in Favor of Political Bloggers
Infotech & Telecom News (Heartland Institute)
By: Aricka Flowers
11.1.2008
Bloggers are breathing a collective sigh of relief after the Federal Election Commission upheld a 2006 decision to stay out of the way of electronic publications and blogs.
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Safe Search Engines Offer Peace of Mind
Infotech & Telecom News (Heartland Institute)
By: Aricka Flowers
11.1.2008
In another example of the market providing parents with safe-search alternatives for their children, the recent redesign of AskKids.com means children can safely search for information on the Internet while taking advantage of the site’s games, kid-friendly videos, and images.
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