Water
Commentary
Star Data Dump: How is This Useful to Parents?
This week the California Standardized Test results have been released, and according to the California Department of Education, “far too many students are not meeting proficiency. They are making gains but the [achievement] gap remains.” The STAR testing program is California’s state assessment required by the No Child Left Behind ...
Evelyn B. Stacey
August 21, 2009
Environment
Goals of bill to reduce carbon dioxide emissions impractical
The primary goal of cap-and-trade legislation is to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. It’s really that simple. But, as someone once said, the devil is in the details. And, that saying holds true for cap and trade, too. Steven Hayward, a Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, put pencil to paper ...
Pacific Research Institute
August 16, 2009
Commentary
Something Fishy
The Obama administration has made a terrible mistake. On Tuesday, August 4, the White House posted a blog entry enjoining Americans to spy on one another, and to report any “disinformation” which might undermine the administration’s health-care reform: “There is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there. ...
Matt Patterson
August 10, 2009
Business & Economics
Santa Is a Hoosier
For Barack Claus, if it’s Wednesday, this must be Indiana. The state’s recreational-vehicle industry is hurting badly — the local unemployment rate is around 17 percent — and his empathy knows no bounds, particularly since the land of the Hoosiers is a swing state. But what sort of gifts should ...
Benjamin Zycher
August 6, 2009
Commentary
What Do School Tests Measure?
The New York Times, August 4, 2009 According to a New York Times analysis, New York City students have steadily improved their performance on statewide tests since Mayor Michael Bloomberg took control of the public schools seven years ago. While statewide passing rates on the tests have risen in every ...
Pacific Research Institute
August 4, 2009
Commentary
Expanded Government — and No More Tonsil Theft?
In his televised press conference on Wednesday evening, President Obama said three separate times that he was being “honest” with the American people. So we know he was telling the truth. Therefore, we know that we can take the president at his word when he said: If you already have ...
Jeffrey H. Anderson
July 24, 2009
Climate Change
Waxman-Markey: An Exercise in Unreality
“Waxman-Markey … seeks a first in economic history: rationing without scarcity or price inflation. [It] allows generous ‘offsets’ so that carbon-based energy does not, in fact, become scarce. The bill does, however, contain a multitude of new regulations, product-efficiency mandates, and spending programs that will require extensive managerial attention from ...
Kenneth Green
July 20, 2009
Commentary
Sweden, Universal School Choice Vouchers, and the Case for Participation by For-Profit Firms
SWEDEN, UNIVERSAL SCHOOL-CHOICE VOUCHERS, AND THE CASE FOR PARTICIPATION BY FOR-PROFIT FIRMS Speech at the Almedalan Week Seminar Sponsored by Almega Tjansteforetagen and Friskolornas Riksforbund At Visby, Sweden On July 2, 2009 By Lance T. Izumi, J.D. Koret Senior Fellow and Senior Director in Education Studies Pacific Research Institute Preface: ...
Lance T. izumi
July 2, 2009
Business & Economics
A Move to Put the Union Label on Solar Power Plants
SACRAMENTO — When a company called Ausra filed plans for a big solar power plant in California, it was deluged with demands from a union group that it study the effect on creatures like the short-nosed kangaroo rat and the ferruginous hawk. By contrast, when a competitor, BrightSource Energy, filed ...
Todd Woody
June 18, 2009
Agriculture
Analyzing the politics of climate change
San Francisco Examiner, June 9, 2009 We hear it every day. News headlines read: “Global Warming Biggest Threat of 21st Century, Experts say.” (businessweek.com. May 13th, 2009. Gardner, Amanda). News anchors provide us with a choice, either we believe the scientists that support global warming hypotheses, or we reject science ...
Blake Yount
June 9, 2009
Star Data Dump: How is This Useful to Parents?
This week the California Standardized Test results have been released, and according to the California Department of Education, “far too many students are not meeting proficiency. They are making gains but the [achievement] gap remains.” The STAR testing program is California’s state assessment required by the No Child Left Behind ...
Goals of bill to reduce carbon dioxide emissions impractical
The primary goal of cap-and-trade legislation is to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. It’s really that simple. But, as someone once said, the devil is in the details. And, that saying holds true for cap and trade, too. Steven Hayward, a Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, put pencil to paper ...
Something Fishy
The Obama administration has made a terrible mistake. On Tuesday, August 4, the White House posted a blog entry enjoining Americans to spy on one another, and to report any “disinformation” which might undermine the administration’s health-care reform: “There is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there. ...
Santa Is a Hoosier
For Barack Claus, if it’s Wednesday, this must be Indiana. The state’s recreational-vehicle industry is hurting badly — the local unemployment rate is around 17 percent — and his empathy knows no bounds, particularly since the land of the Hoosiers is a swing state. But what sort of gifts should ...
What Do School Tests Measure?
The New York Times, August 4, 2009 According to a New York Times analysis, New York City students have steadily improved their performance on statewide tests since Mayor Michael Bloomberg took control of the public schools seven years ago. While statewide passing rates on the tests have risen in every ...
Expanded Government — and No More Tonsil Theft?
In his televised press conference on Wednesday evening, President Obama said three separate times that he was being “honest” with the American people. So we know he was telling the truth. Therefore, we know that we can take the president at his word when he said: If you already have ...
Waxman-Markey: An Exercise in Unreality
“Waxman-Markey … seeks a first in economic history: rationing without scarcity or price inflation. [It] allows generous ‘offsets’ so that carbon-based energy does not, in fact, become scarce. The bill does, however, contain a multitude of new regulations, product-efficiency mandates, and spending programs that will require extensive managerial attention from ...
Sweden, Universal School Choice Vouchers, and the Case for Participation by For-Profit Firms
SWEDEN, UNIVERSAL SCHOOL-CHOICE VOUCHERS, AND THE CASE FOR PARTICIPATION BY FOR-PROFIT FIRMS Speech at the Almedalan Week Seminar Sponsored by Almega Tjansteforetagen and Friskolornas Riksforbund At Visby, Sweden On July 2, 2009 By Lance T. Izumi, J.D. Koret Senior Fellow and Senior Director in Education Studies Pacific Research Institute Preface: ...
A Move to Put the Union Label on Solar Power Plants
SACRAMENTO — When a company called Ausra filed plans for a big solar power plant in California, it was deluged with demands from a union group that it study the effect on creatures like the short-nosed kangaroo rat and the ferruginous hawk. By contrast, when a competitor, BrightSource Energy, filed ...
Analyzing the politics of climate change
San Francisco Examiner, June 9, 2009 We hear it every day. News headlines read: “Global Warming Biggest Threat of 21st Century, Experts say.” (businessweek.com. May 13th, 2009. Gardner, Amanda). News anchors provide us with a choice, either we believe the scientists that support global warming hypotheses, or we reject science ...