"If it be asked, What is the most sacred duty and the greatest source of our security in a Republic? The answer would be, An inviolable respect for the Constitution and Laws -- the first growing out of the last. ... A sacred respect for the constitutional law is the vital principle, the sustaining energy of a free government."
- Alexander Hamilton, Essay in the American Daily Advertiser, 1794
- "They Just Didn't Understand What They Were Voting On"
- "Mississippi for Liberty" March
- National Group Blasts Charter School Bill
- School Vouchers Pass Illinois State Senate
- Nonresident Tuition Hikes May Not Raise Revenue, Rockefller Institute Study Finds
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"THEY JUST DIDN'T UNDERSTAND WHAT THEY WERE VOTING ON"
Obamacare is less than two weeks old and, already, the ramifications are obvious. The announcement of major charges to earnings by several major U.S. companies -- AT&T (which alone took a $1 billion charge against its earnings), Verizon, Caterpillar, Deere, Valero Energy, AK Steel, and 3M -- prompted Rep. Henry Waxman, chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, to demand that the executives give lawmakers internal company documents related to health care finances. The companies stated that a tax provision in the new health care law will make it far more expensive to provide prescription drug coverage to their retired employees.
Waxman sent a letter suggesting he does not accept the companies' claims. "The new law is designed to expand coverage and bring down costs, so your assertions are a matter of concern," Waxman wrote to the CEOs of some of these companies. The companies' decisions, Waxman wrote, "appear to conflict with independent analyses."
One Democratic staffer affiliated with the Waxman committee told the American Spectator that neither Rep. Waxman nor Rep. Bart Stupak had anything more than a cursory understanding of how the many sections of the bill would impact business or even individuals before they voted on the legislation. "We had memos on these issues, but none of our people, we think, looked at them," says a staffer. "When they saw the stories last week about the charges some of the companies were taking, they were genuinely surprised and assumed that the companies were just doing this to embarrass them. They really believed this bill would immediately lower costs. They just didn't understand what they were voting on."
Read more at the Washington Examiner and The American Spectator
"MISSISSIPPI FOR LIBERTY" MARCH
SATURDAY, APRIL 17, 2010
Gates open at 9:00 AM at the Mississippi Fairgrounds in Jackson, with a patriotic costume contest for kids, a raffle prize for adults, speakers, music, food, drinks.
The march will begin at the Mississippi Fairgrounds in Jackson at 11:30 AM and go to the State Capitol (about a half-mile walk), where keynote speakers, including MCPP President Forest Thigpen, will begin about 1:00 PM on the South Lawn of the Capitol.
The purpose of this event is to promote the need for limited government, fiscal accountability, and free markets.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
NATIONAL GROUP BLASTS CHARTER SCHOOL BILL
Todd Ziebarth, vice president for state advocacy and support for the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, released the following statement blasting the charter school bill that passed the Mississippi Legislature. [MCPP agrees with the views expressed in this statement.]
"In 1997, Mississippi enacted what was widely considered to be the nation's weakest charter school law because it only allowed six traditional public schools to convert to charter schools while failing to allow any brand new charter schools to start from scratch. It was mercifully allowed to die in 2009. During the 12 years that the law was on the books, only one traditional public school converted to a public charter school.
"Believe it or not, the Mississippi Legislature has just passed a charter school bill – SB 2293 – that is actually worse than the 1997 law. Even the bill's sponsor refused to sign the conference committee report for it. Not only is the bill confined to conversions, but it also includes numerous additional restrictions that weren't in the 1997 law. It truly sets a new low in charter school law. It is safe to say that not a single public charter school will actually open because of the bill.
"Despite countless hours of working to educate legislators and ease the mistrust that stems from years of a segregated past, the efforts of charter supporters apparently went unheeded. Significant gaps remain between the myths and realities about public charter schools that will have to be closed in order for the promise of public charter schools to be realized in the state."
"The good news is that this bill has not become law yet. Governor Haley Barbour can veto it. We emphatically request that he do just that."
Read Article
Source: Mississippi Business Journal
SCHOOL VOUCHERS PASS ILLINOIS STATE SENATE
Illinois state senators approved a school voucher measure by a vote of 33-20 on Thursday, March 25. Sponsored by Rev. Sen. James Meeks, the bill would create a pilot school voucher program for students in struggling Chicago public schools. It next faces the Illinois House of Representatives.
Read More
Source: The Foundation for Educational Choice
NONRESIDENT TUITION HIKES MAY NOT RAISE REVENUE, ROCKEFELLER INSTITUTE STUDY FINDS
Increases in nonresident tuition and fees do not always yield increases in total revenues for universities, and may reduce out-of-state enrollments enough to offset some or all new income from such students, two education scholars conclude in a new Rockefeller Institute of Government report.
The report comes as leaders in Mississippi and other states consider increases in tuition for students from outside their states. This report used data from State University of New York (SUNY) colleges and universities.
"Prospective students are essentially customers who are going to decide to enroll only if they think the education they will receive is worth the asking price," authors Craig W. Abbey and Allison Armour-Garb write in the report. "If the price goes too high, enrollment could drop enough to cancel out the increased revenue per student."
The report is now available on the Institute's Web site.
Source: The Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government
Mississippi Center for Public Policy's mission is to advance the ideals of limited government, free markets, and strong traditional families by influencing public policy, informing the media, and equipping the public with information and perspective to help them understand and defend their liberty.
Mississippi Center for Public Policy's vision is for Mississippi to be a place where entrepreneurs are free to pursue their dreams, parents are free to direct the education and upbringing of their children, government functions according to the principles that enhance freedom, and all Mississippians are free from dependence on government for their daily needs.
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