Recently the suburban Daily Herald newspaper published a letter from a Naperville man named Glen Brown. In the letter (see below) Mr. Brown wonders why there is so much attention being paid to pension reform (SB 512) when there are so many more urgent items that should be addressed by our intrepid legislators. In fact [...]
Anatomy of a Teacher’s Letter-to-the-Editor: Guess who Thinks Higher Taxes are a Good Idea?
November 3, 2011 By
Illinois’ Budget: From Worst to ‘Worster’
November 3, 2011 By
From Real Clear Markets: What could be worse in Illinois right now? It’s November and ‘Da Bears’ are barely above .500, while the hated Packers are undefeated and the Lions (the Lions?!) are positioning themselves for a playoff run. Here’s what could be worse. Illinois’ state budget, filled with gimmicks, constructed for years on promises [...]
Blame Our Failing Schools for Occupy Wall Street
November 3, 2011 By
From Bruce Thorton: Having taught in a state university for thirty years, I’m not surprised by the ignorance on display among the Occupy Wall Street protestors. From kindergarten to university, for decades our schools have abandoned the teaching of basic facts and foundational thinking skills, and replaced both with leftish received wisdom and stale mythologies, [...]
Unions Continue to Swindle the Public
November 3, 2011 By
From UnionWatch.org: Unions are still treacherous, but with a generous helping of legislative malfeasance, their tactics are more subtle. “On the Waterfront” portrayed union power at its rawest. In the 1950s, the unions typically got their way with nothing less than brute force. But today the tactics are different. In “Pretty Boy Floyd,” Woody Guthrie [...]
Labor Department Official Advises Unions to Circumvent Disclosure Rules
November 3, 2011 By
From Big Government: In April we exposed Obama’s overseer of union financial disclosure and his personal conflicts-of-interest. Now we have well-sourced evidence that Director John Lund is telling union officials to bypass Department of Labor investigators and work with him personally. Imagine if U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Mary Schapiro invited delinquent reporting [...]
The Promise of Online Learning and Education Savings Accounts
From NCPA: The growth of online learning solutions changes the discussion of choice in education — the conversation moves from choosing a school to choosing individual services that specifically meet a student’s needs. Combined with Education Savings Accounts (ESAs), these advances in online learning create the foundation for unparalleled customization in a child’s education, providing [...]