John LaPlante
Wednesday, December 3, 2008Reducing Budget Volatility by Junking the Income TaxBy John LaPlanteFiled As: Budget and TaxFor once, junking the income tax has been put on the table. A panel in Oregon is looking at tax reform in the state, and one option put on the list was doing away with the state income tax. Meanwhile, ... more »»
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Wednesday, December 3, 2008Waiting for a Charter SchoolBy John LaPlanteFiled As: Education (k-12)Some states make a great use of charter schools, while others place many restrictions on these schools, which are the leading form of school choice. The most dramatic restriction is a cap on the number of charter schools in the state. Texas, for example, has a cap. As a result, over 17,000 students ... more »»
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Tuesday, December 2, 2008Warm Enough for You?State governments and global warming By John LaPlanteFiled As: EnvironmentA number of state governments have gotten on the "climate change" bandwagon. The James Madison Institute encourages state-focused organizations to get involved in the issue in this short video from Dr. Roy Spencer, presented on ... more »»
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Tuesday, December 2, 2008Show Me the Money: Yet Another Transparency DatabaseBy John LaPlanteFiled As: Budget and TaxThe Washington Policy Center announces that the state of Washington will launch a new database tomorrow, and it's going to look a lot like what the center asked for. Here's the announcement from the center:
The new searchable budget website authorized by more »»
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Monday, December 1, 2008Washington is a Mess. But so are the StatesBy John LaPlanteFiled As: Budget and TaxThe federal budget is a deficit, of course, but did you know that state budgets are filled with debt, too? Steve Malanga says "During the period from 2003-2008, states also took on 38% more debt, increasing their collective indebtedness to $2.19 trillion." One reason for ... more »»
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Sunday, November 30, 2008Getting Critical about "Critical Thinking"By John LaPlanteFiled As: Education (higher)One of the cliches in education these days is the need to teach students to engage in "critical thinking." Stephen Zelnick, who teaches at Temple University, writes in an article for the John William Pope Center that once you give it a closer look, programs and classes that promote ... more »»
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Saturday, November 29, 2008Mayors Embrace Electric Car ManiaBy John LaPlanteFiled As: EnvironmentThree mayors in California want to see $1 billion spent "to make the Bay Area 'the electric-vehicle capital of the world.'" Writing for the Pacific Research Institute, Daniel ... more »»
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Thursday, November 27, 2008Happy Thanksgiving DayFiled As: Economic principlesGary Palmer, president of the Alabama Policy Institute, provides a much-needed reminder of the value of Thanksgiving Day. (Hint: It isn't so the entire nation, rather than just portions of the Midwest, can suffer through watching ... more »»
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Wednesday, November 26, 2008Universities Save Money With Technology, but Hike TuitionFiled As: Education (higher)New technologies can save colleges and universities a lot of money. Are students seeing those savings? Not exactly, says Kevin Carey, of the group Education Sector. One reason: There are a lot of internal subsidies in a ... more »»
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Friday, November 28, 2008Don't Play with FirefightersFiled As: Budget and Tax, GeneralPatrick Gibbons of the Nevada Policy Research Institute suggests that Las Vegas/Clark County firefighters may be overpaid . In the words of the profession, did he receive a backdraft. I don't know whether firefighters (who these days are ... more »»
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