Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman coined the adage, "There's no such thing as a free lunch." What he meant, of course, is that nothing in life is free. When we get a product or service we call "free," it simply means that someone else paid for it. (more…)

Yesterday's rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court did NOT create a fundamental right for same-sex couples to marry. Mississippi's laws regarding the definition of marriage are not affected by these rulings. In fact, the Court seemed to reinforce the right of states to define marriage for the purpose of their own laws. (more…)

Government poverty programs usually start with a small nucleus of people who, most everyone agrees, really need help. Then just beyond that nucleus, there is a group of people who almost qualify but make just a little too much money. So wouldn’t compassion demand that you expand the program just a little to include them? When you do that, you’ve now created a bigger circle, meaning even more people just beyond the line, and the pressure builds to include those people. And so it goes, eventually encompassing vast groups of people who would never have been defined as being “needy” when the program first began. (more…)

Most rational people are concerned about the unconscionable burden of debt being placed on our children and grandchildren by the federal government. The explosion in federal spending is largely due to the rapid and unsustainable growth in entitlement programs. (more…)

Fact 1: Medicaid harms patients by providing low-quality care

The goal of Medicaid should be to provide high-quality health care at an affordable price. Medicaid fails to do that.
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Education: Best bills of the session

The 2013 session was heralded as the education session and revealed quite a bit about how far the legislature was willing to go - or not go - in pursuit of fundamental education reform. To their credit, legislators passed a modest charter school bill that allows charters in D and F districts. In addition, they passed a bill ending social promotion for third graders who cannot read. (more…)

It is a travesty that a majority of the Senate Education Committee would consider the CEO of one of Mississippi's greatest success stories to be unworthy to serve on the State Board of Education.

Maybe the education establishment is afraid that Bomgar might try to apply the same innovation to the education system that he has to the technology sector. (more…)

Charter schools are nonprofit educational organizations that are public schools. As such, they:
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This morning, the Senate passed the conference report on charter schools by a vote of 34-18, which sends the measure to the governor for his signature. The House approved the conference report yesterday by a vote of 62-56. This is far from a perfect bill, but it is a good start and will give some Mississippi children an opportunity to receive a quality education that they would not have had otherwise. In politics, (more…)