THE PIONEER BLOG

Editorial Staff

Public Statement Regarding the MBTA’s Lack of Transparency

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The future finances of the MBTA’s employees depend on solid management of their pensions. Pioneer’s research points to real challenges due to sharp deterioration in the funding level of those pension funds. While we have been able to unearth troubling trends and several causes, as Pioneer Senior Fellow on Finance Iliya Atanasov has stated, “the insufficient transparency makes it impossible to know all the causes of their deteriorating financial condition.” Pioneer is deeply concerned by two patterns arising from the T’s own responses to “Have the MBTA’s Retirement Plans Gone Off the Rails?” First, it is alarming just how oblivious T officials are to the financial condition of the MBTA’s retirement fund. Joseph Pesaturo’s statement that the MBTA funds 100 […]

Joshua Archambault

One Small Step Toward Consumer-Oriented Reform in Massachusetts Healthcare

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Last week a little noticed but highly significant healthcare policy decision was made in the Commonwealth, and Pioneer Institute is proud to have been a long-time advocate for this consumer-friendly reform. Building on our research on the low cost, high-quaity care that can be offered at convenient care/limited service clinics, the state moved to allow more basic services to be offered in these settings. (Think CVS, Wal-Greens, Shop & Shop, and dozens of other retail based locations.) Last summer, Pioneer Institute joined with Associated Industries of Massachusetts, National Federation of Independent Businesses/Massachusetts, and the Retailers Association of Massachusetts in submitting written testimony to the Massachusetts Department of Public health in support of regulatory changes to expand services available at limited service clinics to include […]

Greg Sullivan

Open Letter to the Commissioners of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission

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Gaming Commission’s Enhanced Ethics Code On October 24, 2013, Dierdre Roney, General Counsel of the State Ethics Commission, responded to a request for advice from Stephen Crosby, Chairman of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, about whether Mr. Crosby should recuse himself from participating in matters concerning the awarding of a casino license in Everett Massachusetts.  Chairman Crosby had previously filed disclosures on August 22, 2013 and October 25, 2013 stating in relevant part that “[Paul Lohnes], a part owner of a property in Everett that would be purchased by a casino developer if that property is awarded a license” had “invested in my company about 30 years ago; that business relationship ended 23 years ago.” General Counsel Roney’s letter in response to Chairman […]

Greg Sullivan

Gaming the Gaming Commission’s “Enhanced Code of Ethics”?

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The Boston Globe published stories on November 21st and December 8th revealing that Steve Crosby, Chairman of the Gaming Commission, had a previous seven-year business partnership with Paul Lohnes, part-owner of a land parcel in Everett that is the proposed site of a casino in competition to win the sole casino license in Eastern Massachusetts. According to the Globe stories, Chairman Crosby and Mr. Lohnes have had a forty-year relationship and Mr. Lohnes had provided crucial investment money to Crosby’s company when it was struggling. According to the Globe stories, a partnership including Crosby’s former business partner purchased the Everett site in 2009 at a price of $8 million. Subsequently, according to the Globe stories, the property was put under […]

Sandra Stotsky

Support for Common Core’s Fuzzy Math Doesn’t Add Up (by Sandra Stotsky)

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Unless high school students can prepare for a calculus course in grade 12 or as college freshmen, they are unlikely to become science, engineering, or mathematics majors.  Common Core doesn’t let them.  James Milgram’s analysis in Lowering the Bar makes that very clear. Interestingly, Jason Zimba, the lead writer of the Core’s math standards, noted as much at the March 2010 meeting of the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education.  He explained that Common Core’s version of college readiness means getting kids ready for non-selective community and state colleges.  According to the official minutes of the meeting: “Mr. Zimba said that the concept of college readiness is minimal and focuses on non-selective colleges.”  Just in case that isn’t clear […]

Jim Stergios

Detroit Breakdown

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The New York Times today is reporting that Detroit is eligible to shed billions in debt in the largest public bankruptcy ever in the United States, a federal judge ruled Tuesday, while also finding that the public pensions could be reduced during reorganization despite a provision in Michigan’s Constitution. and that Under the ruling, the vastly diminished city… will be allowed to search for a way to pay off some portion of its debts and to restore essential services to tolerable levels under court supervision. The goal, according to Kevyn Orr, an emergency manager appointed by the state of Michigan, is to emerge from court protection next year with a formal plan for starting over. Beth Healy of the Boston Globe […]

Jim Stergios

Common Core, the Gettysburg Address & human intent

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(H/t to Civil War Daily Gazette) History will always be a blurry image, whether in real time today, or our understanding of it in the past.  The picture above of President Lincoln at the platform in Gettysburg strikes me as powerful for all that I know and what I can only imagine of the scene and the moment in time. The battle of ideas over how we educate our young is moving fast.  The nationwide controversy about Common Core and what it means for kids in the classroom is now garnering hundreds of news articles (mainly negative) every week.  That is the result of mounting pressure from parents, teachers, and legislative staff regarding the the quality of the content and the […]

Joshua Archambault

“Barrier-Free Care”: An Idea That Should Hit the Wall in Committee

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House Bill 2084, “An Act Relative to Keep People Healthy By Removing Barriers to Cost-effective Care,” joins the list of well-intentioned, but ill-conceived healthcare reform ideas in Massachusetts. No one likes paying money when they visit the doctor, and certainly those with chronic conditions should be able to receive the care they need, but is making some services “free” the answer? While I give the non-profit Health Care for All (HCFA) credit for trying to think creatively about how to make care affordable, they missed the mark with this bill. It ignores basic economics and fails to fix the problem it claims to address. The bill received a hearing last month in front of the Joint Committee on Public Health, […]

Editorial Staff

The Gettysburg Address at 150: Reflections from Civil War Historian James McPherson

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Today, as the nation commemorates one of history’s most famous speeches, Pioneer Institute proudly presents an archived video and transcript of a keynote address by Pulitzer Prize-winning Civil War historian and Princeton University Professor Emeritus James M. McPherson. He spoke at “The Legacy of Lincoln: U.S. History in American Schooling,” a Pioneer forum held earlier this year, marking the 150th anniversary of both the Emancipation Proclamation and the Gettysburg Address. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQuwJz4nzxY&list=PL0BWHvcPmNxt7vs5f7v9aEksx_6TfmHRr&index=1 [wpdm_package id=390] In the video, Professor McPherson quotes from the Gettysburg Address, and shares thoughts on its significance: [quote align=”center” color=”#999999″]”‘Four score and seven years‘ in the past, said Lincoln, ‘our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty. Today, in 1863, our generation faces […]

Going Beyond in Lawrence, Mass.

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Pioneer Institute believes that all kids deserve access to a great education. That’s why we have always supported choices for parents and students, whether through interdistrict programs, vocational-technical schools, private and parochial schools, or high-quality charter schools. Earlier this year, we visited Community Day Charter Public Schools, an excellent group of schools serving grades K-8 students in Lawrence, Massachusetts. Lawrence is an older, industrial city, marked by high unemployment, a significant crime issue and a dysfunctional government. Its school district is in state receivership due to chronic underperformance and criminal malfeasance by the previous superintendent. Community Day has played a vital role in improving the prospects for children in the city. We wanted to learn more about why LCDCPS is […]

Jim Stergios on Fox & Friends: Common Core lessons politicize classrooms

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Jim Stergios discussed political propaganda in Common Core lessons for 5th grade students on Fox & Friends (Nov. 8, 2013). View his interview with Elizabeth Hasselbeck below. Here’s the original Fox report.

Sandra Stotsky

On Marc Tucker’s Credibility (by Sandra Stotsky)

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In October, members of the New Hampshire legislature heard Marc Tucker, president of the National Center on Education and the Economy, tell them more fibs than Pinocchio ever dreamed up. How many legislators will prove to be gullible Geppettos is another matter. We don’t know. But here’s an analysis of just a few paragraphs of his fib-filled comments. 1. A well-known mathematician, who was a member of the Validation Committee for the Common Core, has denounced the math standards as too low in relation to the standards set by other countries; this proves that the standards are dumbed down. They are not only lower than the standards of other countries, but also the standards of Massachusetts, Indiana, Texas, Minnesota, and […]

Joshua Archambault

In Pictures: 15 Facts Pres. Obama Needs To Know About Mass.’s Healthcare Reform

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During President Obama’s Boston visit to talk about the ACA and the Massachusetts experiment, it is important to remember some context. Here are a few pictures that help to illustrate the successes and failures of Mass reform. However, caution should be used when expecting the same results under the two laws, since the laws are different, and Massachusetts is not the same as Arizona, or Texas, or Alabama, or Ohio, or etc…. For example, read five reasons why employer behavior will not be the same under the ACA as it was under RomneyCare, Part 1 and Part 2.  But before we begin, let’s pause to recognize that the ACA will impact Massachusetts in some significant ways. ACA Comes to Massachusetts 1)     ACA Increases Costs […]

Joshua Archambault

ACA Comes to Massachusetts: Post #1: 40% Premium Increase and Higher Co-pays On the Connector

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Paul Levy has a compelling post over at his must-read blog, Not Running a Hospital. It will serve as the first post in an occasional, but ongoing, series documenting what the real impact of the ACA means in Massachusetts. For the last three years, our state leaders have been promising that the ACA will mean only improvements for the citizens of our state. Now reality is starting to set in… Do you have a personal story about the ACA you would like to share? E-mail me the details… josh [at] pioneerinst.wpengine.com I am happy to keep any story anonymous. Didn’t they promise lower costs? Ross Douthat writes in the New York Times that Americans will soon be able to get “a real look at what […]

Joshua Archambault

More Americans In 3 States Have Had Their Insurance Canceled Under ObamaCare Than Have Filed An Exchange Account In All 50

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This week the reality of the ObamaCare roll-out appeared in a set of news stories that serve as an ironic juxtaposition. Over 500,000 individuals have seen their insurance policies cancelled in just 3 states.  In all 50 states, only 476,000 applications have been “filed” in an exchange. (Even though we are still learning the true definition of “filed.”) First from Anna Gorman and Julie Appleby at Kaiser Health News: Thousands get insurance cancellation notices Florida Blue, for example, is terminating about 300,000 policies, about 80 percent of its individual policies in the state. Kaiser Permanente in California has sent notices to 160,000 people – about half of its individual business in the state. Insurer Highmark in Pittsburgh is dropping about […]