(Chicago Tribune) Illinois needs leaders who see that, across this nation, concerns about the public sector’s size, cost and reach is the domestic issue that most rivets Americans.
Cruise ship head tax cut expected to pass Legislature
(Business Week) Gov. Sean Parnell has proposed reducing the $46-per-person tax to $34.50, and allow deeper offsets for local head taxes for ships stopping in Juneau and Ketchikan. Some form of the tax is expected to pass before session ends April 17.
British Columbia lumber exports to China grew 70% in 2009
(Lesprom) Lumber exports to China hit 1.63 million board feet in 2009, more than twice the volume shipped in 2008. Those exports generated $327 million in revenues, a 70% increase over 2008. The […]
Massachusetts Health Care Reform: a glimpse into America’s future
(Wall Street Journal) Massachusetts law makers imposed new laws on insurance companies in 2006, including terms such as the inability to deny coverage based on pre-existing conditions. This caused systematic abuse resulting operating […]
CBO Director: U.S. fiscal policy is ‘unsustainable’
(UPI) U.S. fiscal policy “is unsustainable” and cannot be solved with minor changes, the head of the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office told reporters in Washington.
Opinion: Work sharing could work for us
(Los Angeles Times) Currently, firms mostly respond to weak demand by laying off workers. Under a work-sharing program, firms are encouraged by government policy to spread a small amount of the pain across many workers.
Canada ranks high in low business costs
(The Globe and Mail) Canada’s relatively low corporate taxes make the country one of the best places to do business. Read the article <here>
U.S. Trans. Secretary Lahood delcares end of favoring cars over bicycles
(Fast Lane) In his personal blog, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray Lahood declared a “sea change” in policy after attending the National Bike Summit: “This is the end of favoring motorized transportation at the […]
Read the health care bill
(GPO.gov) Here’s your new health care plan, America: All 2,407 pages of it. (PDF 4.08MB)
Arizona Governor cuts Medicaid, SCHIP
(ABC 15 News) Governor Jan Brewer said the federal healthcare reform bill sitting in Congress would financially devastate Arizona, arguing that a bill drafted by Congress would not be a good fit for […]
Idaho first state to pass legislation prohibiting federal health care reform
Idaho Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter was the first to sign a piece of legislation into law which would prohibit the federal government from requiring citizens to buy health insurance. Similar legislation is pending in 37 other states including Alaska
EPA administrator distances herself from IPCC
When EPA administrator Lisa Jackson decided that the EPA would consider the air we exhale (CO2) a pollutant, she cited from the IPCC AR4 report. But now that the climategate story is out in the open, she appears to have circled the wagons.
NH town rejects federal stimulus funding because of federal wage rules
(Seacoast Online) As stimulating as it might have sounded at the time, the city recently declined $2.5 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for its new water treatment plant because federal […]
MN suesover campaign finance laws
Minnesota Chamber of Commerce sues in federal court to void state campaign finance laws (Business Week) The Minnesota Chamber of Commerce is asking a federal judge to void state campaign finance laws that […]
Opinion: Warming’s Uncertain Science
(Pittsburgh Tribune-Review) Before trillions more of our dollars are wasted in a vain effort to control the weather 100 years from now, our leaders should be much more certain that human activities are […]
Budget request uncovers mismanagement of Alaska Medicaid
(Fairbanks Daily News-miner) The state suspended, for one year ending in mid-2009, a school-focused Medicaid reimbursement program after muddy financial reporting raised red flags with federal agencies. The Department of Health and Social Services has asked for a legislative OK to balance its books by $7 million to try to resolve past budgeting issues within the program.