Free Republic

If you live in Chicago, you might be thinking about buying a gun to protect yourself, your family, your home, or your business against rioters, looters, and assorted violent criminals. But before you can exercise your Second Amendment rights in Illinois, you need permission from the state police, a process that can take months. Contrary to a state law that requires approval or denial of an application for a firearm owner's identification (FOID) card within 30 days, Illinois residents often wait two or three times as long. Such delays are plainly unconstitutional, according to a federal lawsuit filed last month...

While national political campaigns and politicians are regularly featured in the news for their accomplishments on the right, one small state-based think tank is quietly grinding away victory after victory. The Goldwater Institute was already a leading state-based think tank when libertarian lawyer Clint Bolick came on board five years ago to launch a litigation division. Since then, Bolick has greatly expanded the reach of the right-leaning think tank, filing lawsuits against all levels of government to protect taxpayers and businesses from government overreach. Bolick's favorite line, which he says with a grin, is, “I get paid to sue government...

Health insurance opt-out proposal gets Oklahoma House’s OK BY MICHAEL MCNUTT Published: April 29, 2010 The House of Representatives easily passed a measure Wednesday that would allow Oklahomans to opt out of the national health care system, which the legislation’s author called "European, Canadian-style, socialized medicine crammed down our throats.” House Joint Resolution 1054 won House approval 71-27 and now goes to the Senate. "We fought a war against national socialism and lost a lot of good people under Hitler’s tirade,” said Rep. Mike Ritze, the author of HJR 1054. "We have this legislation to protect our citizens from being...

Last week was tempestuous among defenders of the embattled school choice programs for disabled and foster children. Following an East Valley Tribune report and an article published here by Tim Keller of the Institute for Justice reporting that Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne had decided not to award vouchers next year, Horne responded with a memorandum provocatively entitled “Lies from the Goldwater Institute” denying that he had done so. The Arizona Republic weighed in for Horne, blasting Keller and the Goldwater Institute for assertions that were “insulting” and untrue. Horne and the Republic simply are wrong. Though the Court...

Two political rivals have united behind the idea of putting more information in the hands of taxpayers. John McCain and Barack Obama have joined with two other senators to introduce S 3077, the Strengthening Transparency and Accountability in Federal Spending Act of 2008. This follows on the heels of a law passed in 2006 that created the website, USASpending.gov, up and running right now and full of good information, as the Arizona Republic has pointed out. Among other pieces of information is that Arizona benefitted from $5 billion in federal contracts in 2000. By 2007, that had doubled to more...

Every 26 seconds, a student drops out of high school in the United States. National test scores reveal that half of all low-income fourth graders cannot read. Given such alarming statistics, you’d think that helping at-risk kids would be the top education-related priority on Capitol Hill. Apparently not. As far as Congress is concerned, the real problem with public education in America is that it’s not environmentally friendly enough. Last Wednesday, the House passed the “21st Century Green High-Performing Public School Facilities Act.” The Congressional Budget Office projects the program would cost $20.3 billion over five years. For years, the...

Arizona's scholarship programs for children with disabilities and children in foster care have given hope to hundreds of children. Hope for a good education. Hope for a better future. For hundreds of children receiving scholarships this hope has become reality. Sadly, Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne told the East Valley Tribune that their hopes are coming to an end: No new scholarships will issue for next school year. This comes on the heels of a May 15, 2008, decision from the Arizona Court of Appeals saying that the scholarship programs violate the Arizona Constitution. But the Court of Appeals...

Arizona is awash in federal money. In fiscal year (FY) 2007, Arizona received close to $8.5 billion in federal funds. This money funds programs that most Arizonans are familiar with, such as Medicaid and the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). Even though the inflow of federal dollars appears attractive, there is a catch: As federal dollars flow in, state dollars are fixed to ever-growing demands connected to these programs. In 2000, the State of Arizona used general funds at close to $463 million for Medicaid alone. By 2005, that figure had risen to $914 million, and it is projected...

It is inherently dangerous to confer the coercive powers of government upon a guild. Exhibit A: the Arizona State Bar, which is on a rampage to suppress free-speech rights. The Bar has initiated several complaints against Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas in regard to his critical comments about Superior Court judges and his office’s efforts to recuse a judge for allegedly failing to enforce a voter initiative. Wise and temperate or not, such criticisms are at the core of constitutionally protected speech, and the Bar’s campaign against Thomas is sure to chill the exercise of those rights. Thomas enlisted several...

A recent editorial in the Arizona Daily Star takes the view that payday loans should be outlawed in Arizona, as scheduled, in 2010. Payday loans are very small loans that accept future paychecks as collateral and charge high fees and rates of interest. . While I agree with the Star that it's not good for people to be using payday loans on a regular basis, I think the choice should be left to individuals, not government. Generally, it's a bad idea to finance a business startup with credit cards. But I know a millionaire who did exactly that to get...

Arizona's scholarship programs for children with disabilities and children in foster care have given hope to hundreds of children. Hope for a good education. Hope for a better future. For hundreds of children receiving scholarships, this hope has become reality. Sadly, Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne has decided to take away their hope. Tom Horne has decided to put the programs "on hold." He says he does not intend to issue scholarships to any families next year. Horne's justification is a May 15, 2008 decision from the Arizona Court of Appeals, which ruled that the scholarship programs violate the...

Sunday’s Arizona Republic had a cover story on Phoenix-area traffic congestion that reaffirmed my belief that we’re stuck in traffic because we’re stuck in some very limiting ways of thinking. The article described four major traffic bottlenecks and the improvements that are planned to alleviate them. Funding for each project, or lack thereof, was shown. The article was so depressing that desperate readers (and commuters) could easily reach the wrong conclusion that a tax increase to fund transportation improvements is a good idea. By focusing on the trees--four very real bottlenecks--The Arizona Republic missed the forest, which is that Phoenix...

AIMS has suffered what ought to be its final indignity. The legislature passed "AIMS Augmentation" in order to allow 6,000 high school seniors to graduate despite an inability to pass what at most amounts to a test of basic skills. If you can't pass a tenth grade level test, the original thinking went, you don't deserve to graduate from high school. A diploma should mean something, and students need an incentive to work hard. After delaying the graduation requirement several times, the legislature has effectively killed it through easily obtained bonus points. Using AIMS as an exit exam was never...

In "'Stimulus' and the States" (Wall Street Journal, April 24), Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano blames Congress for state budget deficits: "Even if the federal government paid up on only a few of its debts mentioned here, Arizona would not be in deficit this year." Without question, unfunded federal mandates have plagued the states for years, but overall they constitute less than 2% of state budgets. Most state spending rests squarely in the hands of our state capitols. Like most of the southwest, Arizona has been rolling in cash thanks to historic economic expansion. Three of the past five years saw...

When will we learn that expensive, politically easy reforms to fix our failing schools just don't get the job done? The Roosevelt School District in south Phoenix, now officially designated a "failing" district, is facing a takeover by the state Board of Education. How could this happen? A decade ago, Roosevelt was the prevailing party in the landmark court decision that led to the state taking on the primary responsibility for school capital funding. Advocates claimed, with little opposition, that it was "obvious" that inadequate facilities were a significant cause of Roosevelt's academic problems. Roosevelt won its case but lost...

The Arizona Republic reports that a recent study shows Arizona has a relatively high share of "bad" jobs. These are jobs that pay less than $34,000 per year and have no health or retirement benefits. This study complements another study concerned with income inequality that points out how income in Arizona has become more unequal in recent years than in the 1980s. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities recommends higher minimum wages and more spending on unemployment insurance as ways to reduce inequality. The facts don't support that assumption, however. Income inequality has generally increased in Arizona, and the...

Subsidies Fuel Ethanol Craze Policymakers should end ethanol subsidies by the next Iowa Caucus? By Tom Patterson Now that the Iowa caucuses are over, can we finally have a sensible discussion about the federal government's obsession with ethanol? Weirdness seems to be taking over the minds of normally sane people when candidates including Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney claim to believe that agricultural subsidies are necessary for "food security." Are markets so wildly inefficient that unless government pays the farmers, they will quit producing food and we'll all go hungry? Washington politicians are so enthused about ethanol they not only...

Next month, voters in Utah will go to the polls to decide whether to give parents the opportunity to choose the best school for their children. The National Education Association is pouring resources into the state to defeat the initiative. Signed into law by Governor Jon Huntsman, Jr., in February, the Parent Choice in Education Act would offer tuition scholarships to each of Utah's 500,000 public school students and to all low-income children currently attending private schools. The scholarships would be worth between $500 and $3,000, with students from lower-income families receiving greater assistance. By 2020, every child in the...

In June, the Goldwater Institute released A Test of Credibility. The essence of the argument: Arizona's Terra Nova exam produces unrealistically high scores (above the national average in every subject and grade level), when national tests show Arizona consistently below the national average. Both results can not be true. ADE recently issued a response filled with misconceptions. The Goldwater Institute will soon post a response to the ADE's critique on its website. If you'd like to get to the bottom of this issue in a hurry, however, simply look at Figure 1 below. Figure 1 compares Arizona's performance on the...

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez recently announced plans for a new curriculum for all Venezuela schools. Criticizing the old school model as "colonial, capitalist, and soul-destroying," Chavez promised a new model: "We want to create our own ideology collectively." Private schools will also be forced to embrace the new curriculum and those that don't comply will be closed or nationalized. Exactly what the new curriculum will contain remains unclear, but one can guess it will closely follow Chavez's ideology. The Associated Press recently obtained a copy of a Venezuelan university curriculum; it consisted of required readings from Karl Marx and Fidel...