The New York Times

Waste Watch: Nearly $100M of waste in Illinois state and local government

By Adam Schuster, Alec Mena, Travis Nix
10/08/2018
Illinois taxpayers are fed up and overtaxed. Residents have little faith that their governments are spending their tax dollars well – and for good reason. The state’s most recent spending plan is out of balance by as much as $1.5 billion, and includes $54.2 million in wasteful spending and $27 million in pork-barrel spending. The...

Arizona firefighters fight for retirement security

08/20/2014
Given they depend on the nation’s worst-funded pension systems for their retirement security, Illinois’ government workers may want to take a look at how a group of Arizona firefighters are responding to pension-fund problems of their own. Arizona’s firefighters fear that out-of-control pension costs could bankrupt cities in Arizona, resulting in cuts to pensions like...

TAGS: Bryan Jeffries, Chicago, pensions

Congress avoids the ObamaCare experience

By Naomi Lopez Bauman
11/22/2013
While millions of Americans across the country are figuring out what to do about their canceled health plans – despite being promised repeatedly by the president that they could keep them – those in Congress who have enrolled in ObamaCare have managed to avoid the unpleasantness. Under the Affordable Care Act, or ACA, commonly known...

ObamaCare: The national punch line

By Naomi Lopez Bauman
10/23/2013
Comedian Jon Stewart ranted recently that there are more people who believe that ObamaCare was repealed than who have signed up for it. The president’s signature achievement is now a national punch line. The federal ObamaCare health insurance exchange website, healthcare.gov, has been plagued with problems since it was unveiled on Oct. 1. Many have...

TAGS: ACA: Affordable Care Act, Jay Carney, Jon Stewart

Another day, another ObamaCare implementation delay

By Naomi Lopez Bauman
08/15/2013
The New York Times recently revealed yet another ObamaCare implementation delay. “In another setback for President Obama’s health care initiative, the administration has delayed until 2015 a significant consumer protection in the law that limits how much people may have to spend on their own health care. “The limit on out-of-pocket costs, including deductibles and co-payments, was...

Teachers should not be evaluated by principals

03/31/2013
Making sure we identify poor teachers and have them exit the teaching profession should be of the utmost importance. This is because teachers, by far, have the single biggest impact on student success.

TAGS: education

Why the president’s healthcare law costs my generation

By Chris Andriesen
06/28/2012
by Anthony Glosson “They understand that we don’t need to re-fight this battle over healthcare. It’s the right thing to do, that we got 3 million young people who are on their parents’ health insurance. It’s the right thing to do to give seniors discounts on prescription drugs. It’s the right thing to do give...

A Simple Solution for Mr. Buffett’s Tax Problem

09/20/2011
by Kristina Rasmussen Warren Buffett recently took to the opinion pages of the New York Times to decry America’s unfair tax system. According to his calculations, his effective tax rate is around 17 percent while his the people in his office pay effective rates averaging 36 percent. His solution? Washington should hike his taxes. And yours, while they’re...