Daily Archives: September 28, 2011

NC residential schools: Student performance

Written on September 28, 2011 at 10:04 pm, by

State and DHHS Percent Proficient 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 State DHHS State DHHS State DHHS State DHHS Reading Grades 3-8 Composite Multiple Choice All Students 86.7% 11.3% 87.4% 7.1% 56.8% <5% 68.7% <5% HI 62.2% 10.0% 65.3% <5% 26.3% 38.7% <5% VI 80.8% 40.0% 78.2% Too Small 47.5% 61.7% 25.0% NCEXTEND2 All Students 19.2% <5%Continue Reading

MIT economist: First step to helping the poor and least employable is to price them out of the work force

Written on September 28, 2011 at 1:13 pm, by

Of course, Paul Osterman—who is busy promoting a book—doesn’t put his case in those terms, but other economists would overwhelmingly agree that that is what he is actually promoting. Per CNN: Getting the economy going will require more than just creating a large number of low-wage positions, said Paul Osterman, economics professor at MIT. RaisingContinue Reading

ObamaCare already driving up premiums

Written on September 28, 2011 at 1:11 pm, by

A Kaiser Family Foundation study shows that health-insurance premiums for American employees spiked 9 percent this year compared to 2010. If you read the Foundation’s press release on the study, spinsters subtly try to divert attention from ObamaCare’s impact on the premium jump. In fact, the lead researcher goes out of his way to praiseContinue Reading

Audio of Perdue’s elections remark

Written on September 28, 2011 at 11:48 am, by

Thanks to the N&O, we now have audio of Gov. Bev Perdue’s “joke” that congressional elections should be suspended. The only thing missing is a laugh track. Update: Upon further reflection, it appears that Perdue’s approach to humor is so deadpan even *she* didn’t realize she was joking. Proverbs 26:18-19 applies: “Like a madman shootingContinue Reading

Obamacare has reached the Supreme Court

Written on September 28, 2011 at 11:20 am, by

No thanks to the Obama administration: The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) [has filed] a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court appealing the 11th Circuit’s Obamacare decision. … [W]ith this petition, the NFIB jumped ahead of Eric Holder’s slow-moving DOJ (which until Monday had done everything it could to slow-walk this case filed byContinue Reading

Rep. Paul Ryan’s universal health coverage proposal, the anti-Obamacare

Written on September 28, 2011 at 11:09 am, by

Read about it in Forbes: Ryan proposed a variation of John Goodman and Mark Pauly’s proposal to provide universal coverage through a refundable tax credit: “Patient-centered reform means replacing the inefficient tax treatment of employer-provided health care with a portable, refundable tax credit that you can take with you from job to job, allowing youContinue Reading

The Farce of Non-Partisan Elections

Written on September 28, 2011 at 8:46 am, by

It is time to end the charade of non-partisan elections because they are not, never were, and never will be non-partisan. In a non-partisan race, a candidate’s party affiliation may not be on the ballot, but read any local newspaper or watch any local news program and you will know immediately whether a candidate isContinue Reading

Lots more evidence that college has been oversold

Written on September 28, 2011 at 8:33 am, by

This post at the End of the American Dream blog states the depressing truth: for many young Americans, the future is pretty bleak. They’ve gotten college degrees that are worthless, but nevertheless they have to pay off student loans. They don’t have good job prospects in our lethargic economy. They’ll have to pay high taxesContinue Reading