MORE ARTICLES
Vitamin Parents Part 2: Twin Moms Converting a Decent Traditional School Experience Into a “Wow” Homeschool OneSeptember 26, 2024 - 11:50 am
Edward Achorn on Abraham Lincoln, the Civil War, & SlaverySeptember 25, 2024 - 11:45 am
Vitamin Parents Part 1: Twin Moms Converting a Decent Traditional School Experience Into a “Wow” Homeschool OneSeptember 19, 2024 - 12:21 pm
PRI’s Lance Izumi on The Great Classroom CollapseSeptember 18, 2024 - 7:20 am
Learning From California: Policy Lessons From Golden State ExodusSeptember 17, 2024 - 10:35 am
Is Massachusetts at a Turning Point – 10 Data Points That Give Me PauseSeptember 12, 2024 - 3:57 pm
From Stress to Success: How Daniella Transformed Her Son’s Learning with ESA FundsSeptember 12, 2024 - 11:46 am
AFC’s Denisha Allen on School Choice & Black Minds MatterSeptember 12, 2024 - 9:54 am
New England Short Circuit: Distorted Incentives Drive Energy Prices Up and Reliability DownSeptember 10, 2024 - 10:30 am
From Garden to Table: How Alicia Garcia Reshapes Home Ec with ESAsSeptember 5, 2024 - 11:59 am
Municipal Healthcare Endgame?
/0 Comments/in Blog, News /byI would never underestimate the negotiating guile of the major labor unions, but it does appear we are reaching the endgame stage of the municipal healthcare debate. After a negotiated consensus reform several years ago to put municipal workers into the GIC failed to get a strong level of acceptance, it was clear that something more had to be done. A number of Mayors (including Menino) advocated for control over plan design, even threatening a ballot referendum (hope Denise Provost can stop them!) The Governor’s budget (see Section 6, here) put in place a somewhat vague process to (eventually) force workers into the GIC. The House Ways and Means Budget was much more explicit (see section 46, here), providing clear […]
It’s not what you say, it’s how you cloak it
/2 Comments/in Better Government, Blog, News /byIt has been said before, but it bears repeating: Control the language of the debate and you control the debate. Witness President Obama’s studious effort to take control of the debate Wednesday in his speech on how he would slow the runaway federal budget deficit. Like most politicians who want to raise taxes, the president will do almost any rhetorical tap dance to avoid saying the word unless it takes the general form of, “tax breaks for the wealthy” or “unaffordable tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires.” We have as many euphemisms for raising taxes as Eskimos have for snow. Unions insist that “revenues” must be on the table in any debate on deficits. Gov. Deval Patrick talks about preserving […]
Governor Deval Patrick’s Missing Chapter on Transparency
/0 Comments/in Blog, Healthcare, News, Transparency /byGovernor Deval Patrick’s new autobiography, “A Reason to Believe: Lessons from an Improbable Life”, is an inspiring story, detailing his rise from Chicago impoverishment to his current job as governor of the Commonwealth. While frank about his personal heroes and inspirations, the book skims over his political battles and the decisions he faced in his first term. Even health care reform, of which Massachusetts has in many ways been an early adopter and champion, received negligible mention. Unfortunately, while his personal story is remarkable, his policies haven’t been a very open book. On vital issues of both local and national importance, I’ve seen pushback, opacity and silence. Starting in January of this year, working with the Pioneer Institute, I’ve filed […]
Gov Patrick Confused on Economics on “Daily Show”
/0 Comments/in Blog, Blog: Healthcare, Healthcare /byGovernor Patrick was on Comedy Central’s “Daily Show” Tuesday night to promote his new memoir. But the joke may be on us, if his flawed understanding of healthcare economics on the show translate into policy. The Daily Show – Deval Patrick Tags: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook Stewart began an exchange on the Massachusetts reform by pushing back on the notion that markets can work in health insurance (with the clear implication that health insurers are currently operating in a free market system). Governor Patrick responded that double digit [health insurance] premium increases are the result of markets “without parameters.” Hmmm. Would benefit mandates, guarantee issue policies, thousands of pages of state regulation […]
Siblings and the Boston School Lottery
/0 Comments/in Blog, News /byIf you’ve got young kids in the city, the Boston Public Schools lottery is on your mind. Boston Magazine’s Amy Traverso detailed multiple strategies for dealing with it in last month’s issue. And the Boston Globe has given the process the full ‘package’ treatment in print and on the web. This year’s first round of assignments went out two weeks ago and participants have been mulling their options ever since. It’s a damnably complex process (how many other lotteries have extensive econometric literature on them?) as is the range of outcomes – a dizzying mix of acceptance at desired schools, acceptance at marginally acceptable schools, outright rejection, and varying levels of waitlist purgatory. For some, it’s the final straw before […]