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Wishy-Washy Wrangling over Water Works
Sacramento Union Op-Ed
By: K. Lloyd Billingsley
12.23.2008
Before the end of 2008, the Delta Vision Committee will send Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger a Bay-Delta Conservation Plan, “one of the most ambitious infrastructure and habitat restoration projects ever proposed in America,” according to news reports. The plan will restore the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, a prime source of drinking water and irrigation for two-thirds of Californians.
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Choices hint at move to middle
Prescott Daily Courier (AZ) Op-Ed
By: Jason Clemens
12.20.2008
Many conservative pundits have predicted a radical shift in U.S. economic policy and serious, prolonged economic stagnation under the incoming Obama administration. In many ways their analysis is correct, but things could turn out quite differently if President Obama pulls a Clinton - meaning he shifts quickly to pragmatic, workable policies.
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Exposed: Activists’ Attacks on Meat Production Intensify
Advocates for Agriculture Blog
By: Troy Hadrick
12.19.2008
In 2006 the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) issued a report, “Livestock’s Long Shadow,” that was so full of absurd claims, dressed up to look like science, that I made a mental note to revisit the issue.
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Growth is the only solution to state's crisis
Sacramento Bee News Clipping
By: Margaret A. Bengs
12.17.2008
Most of the proposed solutions for California's budget problems – spending cuts, tax increases, infrastructure spending – attempt to patch a Band-Aid on a festering wound but do not address the underlying causes of the infection – an economy weakened by improper nutrition and the wrong medications.
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Six Fixes For Healthcare Costs
Black Star News (NY) Op-Ed
By: Sally C. Pipes
12.16.2008
The financial crisis will most likely leave Congress unable to pursue the wholesale healthcare reforms that many desire. Fortunately, there are several ways to lower healthcare costs and improve care without massive government outlays. Here are six fixes that lawmakers should consider:
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Synthetic biology is a key to energy independence
San Jose Mercury News Op-Ed
By: Daniel R. Ballon, Ph.D
12.15.2008
Barack Obama recently pledged to establish a $150 billion "Apollo project" for energy independence. A new field known as synthetic biology presents one of the most promising opportunities to achieve his goal, but influential interest groups within his own party are fighting to kill this technology in its cradle.
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Tort reform can stop defensive medicine
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle - Letter to the Editor
By: Lawrence J. McQuillan, Ph.D
12.15.2008
David W. Oliker was absolutely right to identify tort reform as key to combating skyrocketing health care costs (Nov. 30 essay, "Quality, affordability, accessibility are all key"). Defensive medicine adds significantly to America's health care bill.
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Does labor need Employee Free Choice Act?
The Toledo Blade (OH) Op-Ed
By: Jason Clemens
12.13.2008
AS THE election dust settles, attention turns to President-elect Obama's governing agenda. If he prioritizes the labor-law changes he favored as a senator and candidate, he will inflict serious, lasting costs on American workers and the economy.
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The South can boost prosperity
The Easley Progress (SC) Op-Ed
By: Lawrence J. McQuillan, Ph.D, Michael T. Mahoney, Eric Daniels
12.12.2008
The South may abound in sunshine, but when it comes to economic freedom, the region is mixed, according to the 2008 U.S. Economic Freedom Index from the Pacific Research Institute. The Index measures how friendly or unfriendly each state's government policies are toward free enterprise and consumer choice.
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Note to Obama: The FCC Needs Transparency
TechNewsWorld Op-Ed
12.12.2008
This week, the House Energy and Commerce Committee released a report accusing Kevin Martin, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), of being deceptive and opaque in his management of the agency's affairs. That a politician would pull such moves is no surprise, but the report should send a strong signal to the incoming Obama administration.
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Ohio taxes and spends too much
The Times-Gazette (OH) News Clipping
By: J.H. Huebert
12.9.2008
What's the biggest political myth in Ohio? Maybe it's the idea that our state government is a model of responsibility because it "lives within its means" - that is, it pays for its spending in the present, through taxes, rather than in the future, through debt.
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A peek at recent health and fitness books, magazines and Web sites
Indianapolis Star News Clipping
By: Barb Berggoetz
12.9.2008
A government-run health-care system would be an enormous mistake for America, writes author Sally C. Pipes in The Top Ten Myths of American Health Care: A Citizen's Guide (Pacific Research Institute, $24.95). She's president and CEO of conservative think tank the Pacific Research Institute who writes, speaks and debates about key health-care issues in America.
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Special-needs students deserve grant program
Arizona Daily Star (AZ) Op-Ed
By: Vicki E. Murray, Ph.D
12.9.2008
Today the educational future of special-needs and foster children is in the hands of the Arizona Supreme Court. At issue is the constitutionality of state scholarships that parents such as Brendan and Susan Fay of Tucson can use to send their children to the private schools that best meet their individual needs.
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Air Board's analysis holds many flaws
Sacramento Bee Op-Ed
By: Thomas Tanton
12.7.2008
This is not the time to implement policies that will further cripple California's economy and put a disproportionate financial burden on the state's poor and elderly, but that is exactly what the California Air Resources Board is planning to do by implementing the Global Warming Solutions Act.
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Don't give electric cars the inside track
San Francisco Business Times Op-Ed
By: Daniel R. Ballon, Ph.D
12.5.2008
With the support of Governor Schwarzenegger, the mayors of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose last week announced a $1-billion joint plan to make the Bay Area “the electric-vehicle capital of the world.” The announcement follows President-elect Obama’s pledge to reinvigorate the nation’s economy with millions of “green collar” jobs. Such well-intentioned government policies, however, could turn the “green collar” into a “green noose.”
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Welfare is bad for automobile companies, too
Buffalo News (NY) Op-Ed
12.5.2008
Various commentators have tried to blame the dreadful condition of the Big Three automakers on unreasonable union demands, greedy and incompetent management or the government. In truth, these claims are all partially true.
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More tort reform
Times-Tribune (PA) Letter to the Editor
By: Lawrence J. McQuillan, Ph.D
12.3.2008
Editor: Pennsylvania doctors and consumers should be thrilled that the number of medical-malpractice lawsuits has fallen in the commonwealth (“Insurance rates for doctors shrinking,” Nov. 16).
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Consensus Of Whom?
Investor's Business Daily News Clipping
12.3.2008
Socialized Medicine: "Consensus" has become one of the scariest words in America. It means officials have reached agreement on how to fleece the public. And it's being used in the same breath as "universal health care."
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Jewish Groups Lobby for Federal School Choice Bill
School Reform News (Heartland Institute) Op-Ed
By: Evelyn B. Stacey
12.1.2008
Forty-four years after the signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, a new rights movement is gathering steam as ethnic groups are increasingly joining forces to press for school choice. Jewish groups have taken a prominent role in the effort.
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Taxes Determine Business Environments
Epoch Times (New York, NY) News Clipping
By: Heide B. Malhotra
12.1.2008
WASHINGTON—Studies suggest that high taxes put corporations at a competitive disadvantage not only in the global markets, but also within different states in the United States.
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Medical Licensing Impedes Quality, Affordability of Care
Health Care News (Heartland Institute) News Clipping
By: Jillian Melchior
12.1.2008
Medical licensing is ineffective and inefficient, and patients would be better served by relying on brand recognition when choosing their doctors, writes Shirley Svorny in a new report for the Cato Institute.
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Government Care Isn't Promising
State Policy Network Blog
By: Sally C. Pipes
12.1.2008
Health care reform proposals generally fall into two camps: Those that rely on government to expand access and hold prices down, and those that rely on market competition to lower prices and expand consumer choice.
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House Committee Considers Tax Breaks for Individual Health Insurance
Health Care News (Heartland Institute) News Clipping
By: Dr. Sanjit Bagchi
12.1.2008
Members of the U.S. House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee are debating the merits of enacting tax breaks for individuals who buy private insurance, which would put them on equal tax footing with employers who purchase insurance for their employees.
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San Francisco Employer Mandate Can Go Forward, Circuit Court Rules
Health Care News (Heartland Institute) News Clipping
By: Katie Flanigan
12.1.2008
San Francisco’s “pay-or-play” health care mandate will be allowed to continue operating following a ruling by the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decreeing the program does not violate federal law governing employee benefit plans.
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