Illinois should shun ObamaCare and pursue Rhode Island-style Medicaid reforms

By Naomi Lopez Bauman

08/29/2013

In a recent interview to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s March on Washington, President Barack Obama managed to plug the ObamaCare program by encouraging people to sign up for coverage on a government website. Few can disagree with the goal of affordable health care coverage, especially for the medically needy and poor. While...

TAGS: Medicaid

Search for government waste with new phone app

By Chris Andriesen

06/07/2013

Former Illinois gubernatorial candidate Adam Andrzejewski and his group, For the Good of Illinois, has created an app called “Open the Books”, which can be used to search 12 years of federal spending from their mobile phone. Quite the accomplishment. As Andrzejewski wrote in an editorial piece published in The Wall Street Journal: “If you...

Illinois’ budget: Where does all the money go?

By Benjamin VanMetre

05/22/2013

Even with record revenues, Illinois is suffering

TAGS: budget

Michigan’s charter success story

05/21/2013

by Josh Dwyer According to a 2009 study conducted by Stanford University’s Center for Research on Education Outcomes, 42 percent of Michigan’s charter schools outperformed traditional public schools in math and 35 percent outperformed them in reading. Only 6 percent underperformed relative to their traditional public school counterparts in math and only 2 percent did so in...

Illinois state spending has grown 3x population plus inflation since 1990

By Benjamin VanMetre

05/13/2013

Some individuals would have you believe that Illinois has a “revenue problem” – that the state needs to increase taxes again because it doesn’t have enough money in its coffers. But don’t be fooled; Illinois’ revenue is at an all-time high. The Illinois comptroller reported that Illinois’ fiscal year 2012 revenue was $68.6 billion. Even...

Pension funds expected rates of return: Biggest lie in global finance

03/31/2013

For governments like the ones in Stockton and Illinois, government worker pension plans need ambitious investment returns of nearly 8 percent year in and year out to fund the overly generous benefits officials have handed out

TAGS: pensions

Mead on labor reform: are we heading for a Blue Civil War?

03/31/2013

There is precedent for fratricide between unions and their progressive allies, and the aftermath of a labor-versus-the-left donnybrook could very well create an opportunity for a free market oriented reformer.

TAGS: Chicago, unions

Cronyism costs taxpayers big

By Benjamin VanMetre

12/31/2012

Legislation to temporarily avoid the fiscal cliff was supposed to be a move toward comprehensive tax reform. It was the opposite. The deal included dozens of corporate tax breaks that will cost taxpayers billions.

TAGS: cronyism

Lessons from Denmark: taxing foods doesn’t trim waistlines – it drives consumers to greener pastures

By Benjamin VanMetre

11/14/2012

Does the government have any business taxing foods it deems unhealthy? That was the status quo in Denmark until recently, when the country got rid of its controversial fat tax. This nanny-state policy, originally put in place about a year ago, increased taxes on all foods with a saturated fat content of above 2.3 percent. Authorities...

Media Roundup: No Pension Bailout

10/03/2012

See what they're saying about the No Pension Bailout project.

The Wall Street Journal

Illinois should shun ObamaCare and pursue Rhode Island-style Medicaid reforms

Search for government waste with new phone app

Illinois’ budget: Where does all the money go?

Michigan’s charter success story

Illinois state spending has grown 3x population plus inflation since 1990

Pension funds expected rates of return: Biggest lie in global finance

Mead on labor reform: are we heading for a Blue Civil War?

Cronyism costs taxpayers big

Lessons from Denmark: taxing foods doesn’t trim waistlines – it drives consumers to greener pastures

Media Roundup: No Pension Bailout

4 ways to break out of Illinois’ pension trap

Report Archive

Diana Graham

Process for unionizing non-state workers raises red flags

CBS Chicago: Illinois’ highest-paid superintendent receives $400K per year to oversee 1,200 students