One of my heros, Mike Munger, has a great piece on recycling in Durham here. His case is fairly simple: if it’s a valuable resource, someone will pay you to take it away. If it’s garbage, you have to pay someone to take it away. The price system is the only standard of value we [...]
Monthly Archives: September 2007
- Sep28
Elon “Poll” again… (updated)
Well, it’s that time again for the results of the latest Elon University "poll" to be released. See this AP article here. (I use the term poll very lightly, it should be more accurately called a survey.) The media will once again fawn over the poll and report the results as a snapshot of the [...]
- Sep28
Fairness and the Dream Act
According to U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), “It just isn’t fair” that illegal immigrants can’t receive amnesty and taxpayer subsidized college tuition to boot. The message behind all this … illegal immigrants are a protected class, a victim class. Thus illegals deserve in-state college tuition rates, even in those states where U.S. citizens who [...]
- Sep28
Crusty Old Fitzsimon Piece makes Observer
For some reason, the Charlotte Observer decided to run an old piece from Chris Fitzsimon — one that we debunked more than a month ago! In it, he argues that the General Assembly and Governor haven’t been raiding the Highway Trust Fund. And he’s either lying or ignorant of the truth. I think the former, [...]
- Sep28
Socialized Healthcare: A Warning from Kentucky
Jim Waters from the Bluegrass Institute in Kentucky writes today what should serve as a warning to those here in NC that think the best remedy for our health care system is more government. He recounts Kentucky’s failed experiment with "universal health care" which began back in 1994: It was called the Kentucky Health Care [...]
- Sep28
Policy Watch’s Chief Scientist Offers “Reality Check”
Rob Schofield, ever one to drop hyperbole bombs on fact and rational argument, doesn’t get through the first paragraph of this "reality check" before offering us names David Duke and John Birch. Not surprising from the camp that accuses reasonable anthropogenic climate skeptics of being "holocaust deniers" and "flat earthers." (The level of groupthink has [...]
- Sep28
Colleges and Civics Literacy: A Failing Grade
That college seniors know so little about America’s history and political thought is something many of us have long suspected. What we may not have known is that some of the most expensive and highly regarded colleges and universities in the country are some of the worst at teaching about our nation’s history and our [...]
- Sep28
Me Fail English? That’s Unpossible
Remember the announcment from a couple of days ago by Eddie Davis (the teachers union’s head grammarian) that he would run for Superintendent of Public Instruction? Over at The Soup, Miss Dish adds a few more layers of irony than we could dig up in our original post. The Red Clay Citizen was quick to [...]
- Sep28
For the NRDC, the Truth Must Sting
(Cross-posted from EnvironmentNC.) Joel Schwartz dissects the NRDC ozone "study" Heat Advisory with much gusto. Here’s a sliver from his conclusion over at Planet Gore: Heat Advisory is a cynical exercise in manipulation and fear-mongering masquerading as science. Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised that NRDC manufactures bogus increases in ozone in order to scare people [...]
- 1Sep27
Think-Tank Equity
In case you missed yesterday’s John Hood post on NC think tanks, here’s a choice bit: I’ve just started a new assessment, but my guess is that the proportions will not have changed much in the past couple of years. Oddly, many politicos in Raleigh are under the impression that conservative and free-market groups in [...]