Budgets/Taxes · Education · Environment/Energy · FIRE
You Should Be Checking Out the Heartlander Digital Magazine
If you’re not regularly visiting the Heartlander digital magazine, you’re missing out on some of the best work from The Heartland Institute, one of America’s most influential free-market think tanks. Heartland has long produced news coverage from a free-market perspective — the counter-spin to the mainstream media.
At the Heartlander, our team of writers and editors cover budgets and taxes, education; environment and energy; finance, insurance and real estate; lawsuit abuse; and technology. It’s also the place to go to read the latest opinion pieces from Heartland’s staff, scholars, and policy advisors.
BTW, you can also get all this on you iPad with the Heartlander app. Bookmark the page, or grab the RSS feed for your reader.
Here’s a digest of what you might have missed this week:
Debate Verdict: Al Gore Presenter Trounced by Heartland’s James Taylor
Global warming alarmists and skeptics alike report that Heartland Institute senior fellow James Taylor scored a decisive victory over Ray Bellamy, an official presenter for Al Gore’s Climate Reality Project, in a global warming debate in Tallahassee, Florida.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott Wants Proof Renewable Energy Law Benefits Economy
Nearly a year has passed since the Florida legislature passed H.B. 7117, handing over $100 million in subsidies to the renewable energy industry, and Gov. Rick Scott is seeking proof the taxpayer dollars are actually benefiting Florida’s economy.
Leaked IPCC Graph Shows Models Predicting Too Much Warming
United Nations officials have repeatedly predicted more warming than has occurred in the real world, according to a leaked copy of a draft United Nations climate report.
Affordability Is in the Eye of the Beholder
You might think the Affordable Care Act’s primary aim, as the name indicates, would be to make affordable health insurance available to every American. You’d be wrong: Its aim was actually to make health insurance available to every American and empower the federal government to manage the insurance marketplace from on high, regardless whether it made the insurance coverage unaffordable in the process.
Analysis: Prominent Democrats Call for Medical Device Tax Repeal
It’s not often that cynical official Washington is outraged by chutzpah, but it happened recently when 18 Democrat senators and senators-elect sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid asking for a delay in the effective date of Obamacare’s medical device tax.
Seven Reasons States Shouldn’t Expand Medicaid
Democrats are desperately hoping the states will accept the Medicaid expansion being foisted on them by President Obama’s health care law, but they may be disappointed.
Fiscal Cliff Deal Delays Necessary Education Cuts
January’s fiscal cliff deal delayed major cuts to federal education spending—at least until March, when mandatory cuts are slated to decrease it by 8.2 percent, or $4 billion.
It’s Time to Redefine Public Education—Again
Public education has taken many forms over the last 300 years. Early in our history, public education referred to formal instruction in public settings outside the home. As public teaching became increasingly common in the latter half of the 18th century, communities began creating tuition-free schools that operated independently, much like today’s charter schools.
Wisconsin Ed Dept: $20,000 for ‘Cultural Sensitivity’ Documents, Please
Wisconsin’s department of public instruction wants to charge taxpayers twice for the same thing: a big sum to indoctrinate teachers in “cultural sensitivity” and another $19,969 to tell how much that cost.
Taxpayers Aren’t Stationary Targets
Actor Gérard Depardieu’s decision to flee France for Belgium to avoid a 75 percent marginal tax rate on incomes above $1.3 million sends a message we here in America should heed: Those who are singled out for tax increases are not stationary targets. The means of avoiding and evading the taxman are legion.
‘Enough Is Enough,’ County Officials Tell Maryland Government
After several years of cuts in aid, offloading of state expenses, and unfunded mandates, Maryland county officials who gathered for their annual conference have decided “enough is enough,” said Rick Pollitt, new president of the Maryland Association of Counties.
FINANCE, INSURANCE, REAL ESTATE
Germany Tells New York Fed: Give Us Our Gold
Germany’s central bank plans to bring back to Germany almost 700 tons of gold reserves it keeps in New York and Paris.
Good Logic Behind Federal Court Putting Position Limits in Limbo
A federal judge last fall struck down the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC’s) current iteration of federal position limits on holdings of commodity futures contracts. A month and a half later, the CFTC announced the commission would appeal the court’s decision. At this time, therefore, the federally imposed position limits are in limbo.
Obama’s New Year’s Resolutions: Power Grab the Internet — and Your Wallet
It’s the New Year, the pre-dawn of President Barack Obama’s second term – in which he is free to be more “flexible,” and is resolved to engage in even more illegal, unilateral power grabs.
A soda fountain in St. Paul may be fined $500 by city inspectors for selling candy cigarettes.Lynden’s Soda Fountain opened a few months ago but was recently warned it was violating the city’s ban on candy cigarettes, passed in 2009. It said it won’t keep selling the candy cigarettes or bubblegum cigars, but it is promoting the incident. “Stop in and try a Soda at half price between now and the end of the year while sugar is still legal!” the store stated in a Facebook post.
