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Optimism in short supply
Orange County Register
By: Steven Greenhut
12.31.2009
Listening to National Public Radio – or state-run radio, as I facetiously call it – I heard the commentator make a snide remark about the past year and the many follies in America's "capitalist" system. No doubt, 2009 was a bad year for private companies, as the government bailed out ill-performing automakers, insurance companies and banks.
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It's not about health care reform
Crossville Chronicle (TN)
By: Jim Sykes
12.28.2009
The current legislation being presented in Congress is not about health care reform or health insurance reform. The only purpose is to increase the federal government's power and control over American citizens.
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The EPA's Power Grab
The Weekly Standard
By: Steven F. Hayward, Ph.D
12.28.2009
Washington (The Weekly Standard) Vol. 015, Issue 15 - 12/28/2009 – The climate campaign, built step-by-step over the last 20 years, has reached its Waterloo. The Copenhagen conference that ended Friday was an exercise in political theater. It not only failed to produce a binding agreement, but the potential emissions curbs it endorsed fall far below what climate orthodoxy demands, while the proposed wealth transfer from rich nations to poor nations is a political nonstarter.
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Suburban schools not always great
San Diego Union-Tribune
By: Lance T. Izumi, J.D.
12.25.2009
A prominent California legislator from an inner-city district recently told a friend of mine that there were no poor-performing schools in the wealthy suburbs. This is a common perception among legislators, the media and parents, but it stands at odds with the facts.
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As Congress Ends D.C. Voucher Program, Qatar Moves Toward Universal School Choice
The Foundry (Heritage Foundation)
By: Dan Lips
12.24.2009
As regular readers of the Foundry know, Congress has recently moved to end the popular and effective D.C. Opportunity Scholarship program, denying low-income families the chance to attend a school of their parents’ choice. Meanwhile, other countries are pushing forward with plans to give all parents school choice.
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Blown Away
Mackinac Center for Public Policy (MI)
By: Thomas Tanton
12.24.2009
The Detroit Free Press has reported on the initial Ludington and Pentwater resident reaction to a massive wind turbine installation construction proposal. If allowed to move forward, advocates claim the installation is capable of producing 1,000 megawatts of power while crowding more than 100 square miles of Lake Michigan.
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Conservative Alternatives to ObamaCare
Nevada News & Views
By: Sue Lowden
12.24.2009
(Sue Lowden) – Rather than crippling our nation with higher debt and higher taxes to fund government-run health care, I have called for solutions that can begin to drive down the cost of health insurance, thus making it more accessible to those who do not have coverage today.
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Democrats in Fantasyland on Health Care Reform
Pajamas Media
By: Jeffrey H. Anderson, Ph.D
12.24.2009
While Harry Reid, the Scrooge of the Senate, forces a health care vote on December 24, Americans are commencing their Christmas celebrations. Across the continent from Washington, one popular destination, Disneyland, is decorated with Christmas splendor in anticipation of hundreds of thousands of people visiting it over the holidays.
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Health Care Legislation Turns Medicare Into Slush Fund
Health Care News (Heartland Institute)
By: Thomas Cheplick, Troy Stouffer
12.23.2009
President Obama has repeatedly pledged never to sign any proposal that would “add one dime” to the federal deficit, yet he and Congress are finding it impossible to cover millions of uninsured Americans without increasing deficit spending or taking the money from the current Medicare system.
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Deflation delusion
MarketWatch (San Francisco, CA)
12.23.2009
The federal government recently reported that consumer prices had risen in November for the fourth straight month, thanks largely to big jumps in the price of gasoline and oil.
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American Patients, Get Ready to Wait
Real Clear Politics
By: Sally C. Pipes
12.22.2009
With the health reform debate moving apace in the Senate, the president and his political allies appear to be well on their way to implementing a government remake of the U.S. healthcare system. The situation for ordinary patients isn't so rosy, as they may soon find themselves stuck waiting to get the care they need from insurance plans they still can't afford.
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Pension tapeworm gnaws at budgets
Orange County Register Editorial
12.21.2009
A Register investigation reported Sunday that lucrative public employee pension benefits approved during the past decade have been "a toxin spreading through the budget books of cities and counties across California." These escalating costs ultimately threaten many local governments' solvency.
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Even a 'scaled-down' health bill is dangerous
The Examiner (Washington, D.C.)
By: Sally C. Pipes
12.20.2009
Last week, Democratic leaders in the Senate caved to Sen. Joseph Lieberman's demands and stripped away some major provisions from their health reform legislation, including the public option and a plan that would have allowed middle-age Americans to "buy in" to Medicare. With Connecticut independent Lieberman's support seemingly secured -- for the time being -- the president announced that Congress was "on the precipice" of passing comprehensive reform.
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2010 initiatives: good, bad and silly
Orange County Register
By: Steven Greenhut
12.20.2009
Any reform that will actually help fix the ongoing California government's fiscal mess (serious spending limits, pension reform, limits on union power, cutbacks in the size of state government, educational privatization, etc.) cannot possibly pass, given political realities. Anything that can actually pass will not fix anything – or might make things worse. We're in a pickle, and it's unclear how it will all play out.
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Health care reform taking stubborn path to huge debt
Journal Sentinel (Milwaukee, WI)
By: John Torinus
12.19.2009
Wisconsin Democratic Sens. Herb Kohl and Russ Feingold are almost never in the headlines on health care reform. Hands over eyes and ears, they are marching forward in lockstep with President Barack Obama toward some kind of a muddled conclusion.
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RT a drain on the county's taxpayers
The Sacramento Bee
By: Katy Grimes
12.19.2009
Despite its current financial woes and questionable ridership, Regional Transit is plunging ahead with an expensive plan to extend light rail north.
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Net's Top Two Powerhouse Players Talk Policy
Tech News World
12.18.2009
At the third annual U.S.-China Internet Industry Forum last week, top government and technology leaders gathered to discuss business and policy topics of mutual interest, such as online child protection and intellectual property issues. The United States and China are the world's two largest Internet communities, so the conversation has broad implications for the Net as a whole.
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Public schools mask poor performance, students suffer
The Examiner (Washington, D.C.),
By: Lance T. Izumi, J.D.
12.18.2009
Recent revelations indicate that Virginia's public schools aren't performing as well as educators claim, a classic example of the smoke screen phenomenon. In states across the country, officials hide the real performance of schools and students from the prying eyes of parents and the public.
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Steven Greenhut Jumps on the Sharks
Red County
By: Chip Hanlon
12.18.2009
Steven Greenhut is interviewed about his book, "Plunder! How Public Employee Unions are Raiding Treasuries, Controlling Our Lives and Bankrupting the Nation." by Chip Hanlon of RedCounty.com.
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Media Parade as ObamaCare Hangs in the Balance
Right Side News
By: Roger Aronoff
12.18.2009
The hour-by-hour drama of the Democrats' attempt to secure 60 votes in the Senate to advance their health care agenda is gripping the nation. Is Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) in? Or is he out? And what about Ben Nelson (D-NE)? While Lieberman is rightly accused of flip-flopping on the issue of the Medicare buy-in, the Harry Reid-led majority is even more unprincipled in its shameless willingness to discard what many consider the heart and substance of the bill to appease one senator.
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Obama's forgotten health-care promises
The Baltimore Sun
By: Matt Patterson
12.16.2009
The more details that emerge from health care reform plans coalescing and colliding on Capitol Hill, the more one wonders how President Barack Obama could possibly justify supporting any of them - much less signing one into law. Congressional Democrats are threatening to serve up legislation that would cause the president to break any number of pledges.
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Sensible Alternatives for Fixing Health Care
American Maggie
By: Sally C. Pipes, Michele Bachmann
12.16.2009
Congressional Democrats claim that their health reform effort will deliver higher quality care at lower cost to more people. But their legislative prescription, which relies almost entirely on greater government involvement in the delivery of health care, would fail to accomplish these objectives.
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'Reform' still stinks
New York Post
By: Sally C. Pipes
12.16.2009
Yesterday, the Senate's Democratic leadership blinked first in its showdown with Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.). Desperate for the crucial 60th vote needed to pass their health-reform package, Senate leaders capitulated to Lieberman's demands that the bill drop both the public option and a provision to let those aged 55 to 64 buy into Medicare.
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The Real Lessons of 1994
The Weekly Standard
By: Jeffrey H. Anderson, Ph.D, Andy Wickersham
12.14.2009
Democratic senators and congressmen have been trying to convince each other, particularly their more conservative colleagues, that they'll all be better off in the 2010 elections--and will avoid a repeat of their 1994 debacle--if they pass Obama-care.
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How Much Will Health Reform Cost?
The New York Times
By: Letters to the Editor
12.14.2009
In “Can We Afford It?” (editorial, Dec. 13), you remark that Republican critics oppose the currently proposed health care reform on the grounds that the nation cannot afford to add this new trillion-dollar entitlement in tough economic times.
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Misguided move to the middle
Orange County Register
By: Steven Greenhut
12.14.2009
As a believer in limited government, free markets and low taxes, I rarely find myself in agreement with the state's liberal Democrats, and my libertarian bent sometimes puts me at odds with conservative Republicans, at least when it comes to their approach to law-and-order and social issues.
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Massachusetts Works to Expand Charter Schools
School Reform News (Heartland Institute)
By: Evelyn B. Stacey
12.12.2009
On November 18 the Massachusetts State Senate passed a much-anticipated bill to expand charter schools. The bill, S. 2216, sent to the House in the late hours of November 17, lifted the many caps hindering charter school expansion in the Bay State.
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Not Dead Yet
National Review
By: Deroy Murdock
12.12.2009
‘Expanding Medicare is an unvarnished, complete victory for people like me,” Rep. Anthony Weiner (D., N.Y.) told the Chicago Tribune. “It’s the mother of all public options. We’ve taken something people know and expanded it. . . . Never mind the camel’s nose, we’ve got his head and neck under the tent.”
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What climategate really tells us
New York Post
By: Steven F. Hayward, Ph.D
12.12.2009
AL Gore and the rest of the die-hard climate campaigners are huffing and puffing that nothing in the e-mails and documents that were hacked or leaked from the Climate Research Unit in England have any bearing on what we know about climate change or the political response we should make to deal with it.
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Democrats Whistling Past Graveyard
Real Clear Politics
By: Mona Charen
12.11.2009
The unexpected victory of Republican Jimmy Higdon in the Kentucky state Senate special election -- despite a 2-to-1 Democratic registration advantage -- is another fire bell in the night that national Democrats are going to ignore. Marking the 33rd Republican win in the 50 or so special elections since 2008, the Kentucky race was a referendum on health care reform.
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Plunder! Dissects Government Unions
Auburn Journal (CA)
By: John Seiler
12.10.2009
How’s your government treating you lately? I thought so. Unjust wars. Torture. Inflation. Wild spending. Record deficits. Record debt. Bankruptcy. Police brutality. Officious officials. Depression. It’s time to get even. Or at least get an explanation.
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Debate: Don't Buy Into Medicare Buy-In
Sphere (AOL News)
By: Sally C. Pipes
12.9.2009
(Dec. 9) -- Senate leaders are knee-deep in negotiations over the final version of their health care reform bill. Public outcry – and fear of losing the support of wavering centrists – has forced Democratic chieftains to jettison the controversial "public option." In its stead, they've proposed that Americans as young as 55 be allowed to buy into Medicare, the public insurance program for the elderly.
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Socialized medicine takes cheap way, restricts access
Indianapolis Star (IN)
By: Sally C. Pipes
12.9.2009
Fran Quigley recently argued that "(health) care is cheaper and more widely available via government-run health care in countries like Japan and Great Britain" ("Don't fear socialized medicine," Nov. 30). But care is only cheaper in countries with socialized medicine because their governments restrict access to it. As a result, patients needlessly suffer.
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New Report Finds that Many Students at California’s “Middle Class” Public Schools Are Not Proficient in English or Mathematics
Press Release
12.9.2009
San Francisco–-The Pacific Research Institute (PRI), a free-market think tank based in San Francisco, released an update of its groundbreaking book Not as Good as You Think: Why the Middle Class Needs School Choice. The book, released in 2007 and made into a film in 2009 (www.notasgoodasyouthink.com), examined the academic performance of “middle class” public schools in California. The new report, Still Not as Good as You Think, found that in 757 schools where one-third or fewer students were considered disadvantaged, 50 percent or more of the students in at least one grade failed to reach proficiency on the 2008 California Standards Test (CST) in English or math.
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KKZZ AM radio interview with Sally C. Pipes
KKZZ AM 1400 (Ventura, CA)
12.9.2009
President and CEO Sally C. Pipes talks about the Senate health care bill, recent legislative activity, and her book, The Top Ten Myths of American Healthcare: A Citizen's Guide.
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California's Push to the Finish Line
Flash Report (CA)
By: Evelyn B. Stacey
12.9.2009
The race among states is on for $700 million in federal education Race to the Top funds and as the January 19 application deadline approaches two bills in Sacramento are in play. In order to make California competitive for the federal grants the Assembly introduced ABX5 8 last Thursday. The bill is scheduled to be heard today. The Senate introduced SBX5 1 last August, which the Assembly will consider later this month.
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Plundering California
Wall Street Journal
By: Steven Greenhut
12.8.2009
The economy is struggling, the unemployment rate is high, and many Americans are struggling to pay the bills, but one class of Americans is doing quite well: government workers. Their pay levels are soaring, they enjoy unmatched benefits, and they remain largely immune from layoffs, except for some overly publicized cutbacks around the margins.
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Plunder: New Book Exposes Power of Unions
Fox & Hounds Daily
By: Jon Coupal
12.8.2009
Last month, the Legislative Analyst Office predicted a budget shortfall for California’s next fiscal year so large it shocked even seasoned observers. The projected $20 billion shortfall is larger than the entire state budgets of all but a handful of other states. The LAO also excoriated the continued use of budget gimmicks, including unrealistic assumptions of new revenue and accounting tricks employed to effectively borrow from future years.
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Three Strikes against Obamacare
National Review Online
By: Paul Howard
12.8.2009
Lieberman may caucus with the Democrats, but he’s more than willing to go his own way — especially when it comes to his staunch opposition to the “public option,” a proposed government-run insurance plan that would compete with private insurers. “Once the government creates an insurance company or plan, the government or the taxpayers are liable for any deficit that government plan runs, really without limit,” Lieberman told the Wall Street Journal.
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Bad suits need label
Cherokee Scout (NC)
By: David Brown
12.8.2009
Most people assume when they order coffee it’s going to be served hot. That’s why people with brains were outraged in 1994, when a jury awarded a woman $2.86 million after she burned herself on hot coffee purchased from the fast-food purveyor.
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The Big Cutoff
Wall Street Journal - Best of the Web
By: James Taranto
12.7.2009
The latest global-warmist email is revealed not by the East Anglia whistle-blower but by Steven Hayward (who by the way has a fine overview of the climate-science scandal in The Weekly Standard). The email's author, Michael Schlesinger, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Illinois, was so proud of what he had to say to New York Times reporter Andrew Revkin that he decided to send a copy to Hayward--and, one supposes, to Schlesinger's entire email list:
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Scientists Behaving Badly
The Weekly Standard
By: Steven F. Hayward, Ph.D
12.7.2009
Slowly and mostly unnoticed by the major news media, the air has been going out of the global warming balloon. Global temperatures stopped rising a few years ago, much to the dismay of the climate campaigners. The U.N.'s upcoming Copenhagen conference--which was supposed to yield a binding greenhouse gas emissions reduction treaty as a successor to the failed Kyoto Protocol--collapsed weeks in advance and remains on life support pending Obama's magical intervention.
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The Gate Crash of 2009
The Weekly Standard
12.7.2009
The city of Washington has been collectively aghast at the spectacle of Michaela and Tareq Salahi, the fun couple from Virginia wine country who seem to have talked their way into the first state dinner of the Obama administration.
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We're increasingly ruled by rules
Orange County Register
By: Steven Greenhut
12.6.2009
To the extent that anyone still thinks about the former Soviet Union and its satellite communist states, they understandably think about the suffocating oppression – the Berlin Wall, the gulags, the KGB, the political prisoners, the persecution of religious people and minorities. Yet, in talking to refugees from that nightmarish world, it's clear that one of the worst aspects of communism was the endless waiting in line, the ceaseless bureaucracy and the incomprehensible rules and regulations that governed every aspect of everyday life.
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California’s Revenue Problem - Educators Should Demand Economic Growth Not Tax Increases
Andrew Breitbart's Big Government
By: Thomas Del Beccaro
12.3.2009
In what is becoming a perennial affair, the California budget deficit is projected to be over $21 billion in the coming year – including a $6 billion hangover from this year. With the same degree of regularity, in pursuit of stable education funding (a good idea), educators in California are calling for tax rate increases (a bad idea) and blaming Republican legislators for blocking those increases (an unproductive idea).
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Film about Capo district's woes to be screened on Capitol Hill
Orange County Register
By: Scott Martindale
12.3.2009
WASHINGTON – A libertarian think-tank that prominently features the Capistrano Unified School District in a documentary about how the U.S. public school system is broken will screen its 49-minute film this afternoon on Capitol Hill.
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Obamacare's Ugly Math
The Weekly Standard
By: Jeffrey H. Anderson, Ph.D
12.3.2009
The scoring is in on the health-care bills, and it's hard to see what the Democrats' proposed health-care overhaul would achieve apart from centralizing and consolidating power in Washington.
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China's not-so-ambitious 'carbon intensity' goal
By: Neil Reynolds
12.2.2009
It made headlines around the world last week when China purportedly announced a historic commitment to reduce its "carbon intensity" - the greenhouse gases it emits per unit of GDP. "China unveiled firm targets," The Guardian said, "for controlling the world's biggest carbon footprint for the first time."
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Stimulus spending fails on jobs front
Atlanta Journal-Constitution (GA)
12.2.2009
The White House recently announced the results of its stimulus package, billed as instrumental in averting a second Great Depression. In reality, the stimulus has been a profligate flop, even if we take the administration’s numbers at face value.
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Why students and taxpayers should protest UC fee hike
Los Angeles Daily News
By: K. Lloyd Billingsley
12.1.2009
THE University of California Regents have approved a plan to raise student fees 32 percent over the next year and admit fewer students, the latest in a series of fee increases and service cuts. Embattled UC students have more cause for protest than they showed at UCLA Wednesday. While UC bosses were making it hard on students, they were giving themselves lavish bonuses. They were also handing out $4 million to a propaganda mill that has no rightful place on a UC campus.
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Public Option May Get Cut from Health Care Bill
Health Care News (Heartland Institute)
By: Ben Domenech
12.1.2009
As congressional Democrats work on the final version of sweeping health care legislation, it remains unclear which provisions will survive the complex bill-making process.
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