A Better Approach to K-12 Budget Issues: Don’t Yell at TABOR, Fix PERA
I may risk inducing a heart attack or two with two straight days of spooky posts. But yesterday I produced some school funding data to debunk the idea that Colorado’s Taxpayers Bill of Rights (TABOR) is the cause of apparent “devastation” for school budgets. Today I want to introduce a too-often overlooked factor into the […]
Reuters: One-third of senior executives “are holding back hiring because of” Obamacare
In Adecco’s poll of senior executives, 55 percent named healthcare benefits as their biggest current business challenge, and about a third say they are holding back hiring because of healthcare reforms introduced by U.S. President Barack Obama. Continue reading
Colorado: Xcel’s cash cow
Last week Minnesota-based Xcel Energy announced that it beat market expectations with third quarter earnings increasing an impressive 18 percent. Colorado’s largest investor owned utility cited hot weather, rate hikes, and lower costs as reasons for its strong 3Q performance. Colorado (PSCo) outperformed all other Xcel subsidiaries with a 24 percent increase for the third […]
Colorado: Xcel's cash cow
Last week Minnesota-based Xcel Energy announced that it beat market expectations with third quarter earnings increasing an impressive 18 percent. Colorado’s largest investor owned utility cited hot weather, rate hikes, and lower costs as reasons for its strong 3Q performance. Colorado (PSCo) outperformed all other Xcel subsidiaries with a 24 percent increase for the third […]
Should New York Rebuild the Subways?
After Hurricane Katrina, some people argued that we shouldn’t rebuild New Orleans, not simply because it was below sea level but because the city was economically and politically dysfunctional. The same argument could be made for the New York City subway system, which was so heavily damaged by Sandy that repairing it could cost “tens […]
No such thing as a free lunch or free energy
The Independence Institute’s Todd Shepherd, along with this blog, have spent two years covering, and ultimately exposing, what is now the Abound Solar scandal. Understandably, much of the focus is now on Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck’s criminal investigation as well as a Congressional Oversight Committee inquiry into the bankrupt solar panel manufacturer. Recently […]
TABOR Looks Less Spooky Next to Colorado School Finance Data
With spooky Halloween almost upon us, it’s probably not terribly surprising to witness the one-sided horrible picture of TABOR painted in yesterday’s Colorado Springs Gazette (H/T Complete Colorado). Under the headline, “TABOR has decimated education, critics say,” we are given such insights as the following:
“It’s been devastating,” said Gustafson, Colorado Springs School District 11’s chief […]
Medical bankruptcy: Fact or fiction?
The overwhelming body of research shows that medical costs play little or no role in the vast majority of U.S. personal bankruptcies. Continue reading
Do You Really Believe?
Ninety-two percent of respondents to an on-line poll on World Net Daily believes that the so-called Frankenstorm is a sign that God is angry with the United States for its stance on Israel. It is just slightly possible that the people who voted in this poll were not an accurate cross-section of Americans. But what […]
Colorado Teachers Unions Number One in Political Giving to State Candidates
Halloween is this week, which means it’s almost time for little old me to don the green paint and flex my growing muscles as the Incredible Hulk. (I can hear some of those murmurs out there: “Yeah, incredible is right!”) All right, so maybe just because I put on the costume and go door to […]
Educate yourself on health care policy and Obamacare
Benjamin Domenech of the Heartland Institute has put together two helpful blog posts for those interested in learning about health care policy & Obamacare. Continue reading
Playing the Numbers Game
Planners for Metro, Portland’s regional planning agency, are playing an interesting game. They did a travel survey in 1994, when gas prices were low and the economy was booming. Then they did another survey in 2011, when gas prices were high and the economy was in recession. They found that Portland travelers in 2011 are […]
