Friday, November 9, 2007

Expensive Defensive Medicine 

Filed As:  Health Care

Here's a deal: fail to successfully defend yourself against a lawsuit, and face legal fees of $91,423. Win the case and your fees are a mere $85,718.

Not all that encouraging, is it?

The Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs offers a quick review of the problems that more »»

• posted by John LaPlante
• 6:14 am
• 0 comment

Monday, November 12, 2007

The Weak Link of School Choice 

Distrust of markets

Filed As:  Education (k-12)

Why does school choice advance in legislative venues but suffer defeat after defeat when put to a public vote?
That's the question I thought of when reading Pete DuPont's OpinionJournal.com op-ed on the Utah voucher ... more »»

• posted by John LaPlante
• 12:11 pm
• 0 comment

Friday, November 9, 2007

Transparency in Transportation 

Filed As:  Transportation

A number of SPN member organizations have blogs. This morning I'd like to draw your attention to Sponatenous Solutions, a blog of the Illinois Policy Institute .

Among the topics recently ... more »»

• posted by John LaPlante
• 10:05 am
• 0 comment

Thursday, November 8, 2007

Let My People Go 

School boards part of the problem

Filed As:  Education (k-12)

School boards are supposed to look out for the interests of the public. Too often, they look out for the interests of the status quo school system.

The South Carolina-based group Clergy for Education Reform issues a challenge to the state's school board association:

Columbia, SC - ... more »»

• posted by John LaPlante
• 10:07 am
• 1 comment

Thursday, November 8, 2007

Lessons from Utah 

Filed As:  Education (k-12)

Utah's universal voucher program was strangled in the crib on Tuesday, by a vote of 62 to 38 percent. Total votes numbered 497, 651. Given the number of registered voters,... more »»

• posted by John LaPlante
• 9:44 am
• 0 comment

Thursday, November 8, 2007

The SCHIP Went Down in Oregon 

Voters reject plan by 3-2 vote

Filed As:  Health Care

Today's OpinionJournal.com offers some lessons from the recently defeated SCHIP expansion in blue-state Oregon.

What I didn't know is that although not all families would be subsidized (the subsidies would ... more »»

• posted by John LaPlante
• 9:12 am
• 0 comment

Thursday, November 8, 2007

More Leaky Buckets, or Expanded Markets? 

Inter-state sale of insurance, not SCHIP

Filed As:  Health Care

Writing for the Minnesota Free Market Institute, Craig Westover says that "Expanding SCHIP is too ... more »»

• posted by John LaPlante
• 5:04 am
• 0 comment

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Vouchers Repealed 

Filed As:  Education (k-12)

Ouch. The first universal voucher program in the nation came to Utah. And after yesterday's public vote, it's history.

But the cause of and interest in school choice is not, says Andrew ... more »»

• posted by John LaPlante
• 9:01 pm
• 0 comment

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

A Few Positive Notes for Taxpayers 

November elections

Filed As:  Budget and Tax

Americans for Prosperity finds a few positive notes from yesterday's off-year elections. Among the results: the defeat of a referendum that would create a "property tax reform" fund in New Jersey, ... more »»

• posted by John LaPlante
• 8:42 pm
• 0 comment

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

SCHIP Expansion: Just Kill It 

Filed As:  Health Care

Nina Owcharenko says that current negotiations over SCHIP are "fruitless."

Proposed modifications, she writes, "essentially re-enforce the explicit expansion of federal SCHIP eligibility from 200 percent of the FPL ... more »»

• posted by John LaPlante
• 8:36 pm
• 0 comment