The recent decision by the Wisconsin Supreme Court that it's constitutionally acceptable to use tax-funded vouchers for elementary and secondary education in both secular and religious schools accomplishes at least three good things:
"Republicans have finally responded to political pressure to do something about managed care. The problem is what they want to do is wrong."
Dr. Morgan Reynolds, director of the National Center for Policy Analysis' Criminal Justice Center will testify before the Crime Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee on the new prison reform bill, Prison Industries Reform Act of 1998.
Father's Day is here once again, which made me wonder what George Washington, the Father of Our Country (who had no children of his own), would think if he were here to see what his political children have accomplished. I'm not sure he would have a happy Father's Day. Washington was both optimistic and concerned about the future of the country. He believed that the Founding Fathers had done an excellent job in creating a republic based on the rule of law, but he was also afraid that partisan politics, a decline in morality and foreign entanglements could undermine the country.
Although tax law generously subsidizes the employer payment of third-party health insurance premiums, it provides virtually no tax relief to those who pay medical bills directly. Thus the tax law encourages people to turn over all of their health care dollars to a third party. The results have not all been positive.
As any healthy liberal will tell you, in times of war, pestilence, recession or social disorder, government spending must increase to meet the challenge. And so taxes must increase as well to pay the costs of government intervention.
The latest developments in the arena of scholarship vouchers for school choice are clear indications that the idea of choice and competition in education pioneered by Children's Educational Opportunity of America (CEO America), will not be going away.
In its haste to enact one of the largest tax increases in U.S. history, Congress has done precious little analysis of the social and economic impact of the proposed tobacco bill.
There are two ways to think about the minimum wage. The first – but misleading – is how much workers are going to get paid. The second – and correct – is how much people must be able to earn if they are going to get or keep a job. So the minimum wage, which is sometimes characterized as a "hand up, not a handout" is neither – it is a hurdle that trips up the least skilled.
With Congress and the Administration locked in battle over whether or not to cut taxes, speakers at a National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA) Capitol Hill Briefing today called for bolder cuts than those currently being considered by either congressional budget resolution or President Clinton.
A National Public Radio story on William Delashmit, 72, recently highlighted the problem of Medicare private contracting. Delashmit suffers from Cogan's dystrophy, an abnormality of the cornea that has caused him to lose sight in his right eye. There is a 95 percent chance laser surgery could restore his sight. Unfortunately, Dr. William Stark of Johns Hopkins University, Delashmit's physician, may not be able to help him.
Social Security privatization is the single most important political reform sweeping the globe today. Following Chile's highly successful move to private pensions in 1981, Argentina, Peru and Colombia privatized their social security systems in the early 1990s. Mexico privatized in 1997.
Welfare reform is working. Caseloads are down 79 percent in Wyoming and about 30 percent across the nation. Resignation and despair no longer rule the welfare roost. Sound policy and a strong economy have made serious headway against an "intractable" problem.
Five years ago President Clinton raised taxes to balance the budget and eliminate the national deficit. Now that the government is operating with a budget surplus of between $43 billion to $63 billion, why are Americans still paying higher taxes?