August 23, 2013
It’s Friday!
The deadline is MONDAY to register for “Georgia Transportation: The Next Frontier,” a noon Policy Briefing Luncheon at the Georgian Club on Wednesday, August 28. Senior Fellow Baruch Feigenbaum, Reason Foundation transportation analyst, will unveil a new study on transportation proposals for metro Atlanta and Georgia. $30. Information: http://tinyurl.com/msf7j3z. Registration: http://tinyurl.com/ln9lmhv.
Quotes of Note
“When the government goes into business it lays a tax on everybody else in that business, and uses the money that it collects from its competitors to establish a monopoly and drive them out of business.” – Calvin Coolidge
“A gentle word, a kind look, a good-natured smile can work wonders and accomplish miracles. There is a secret pride in every human heart that revolts at tyranny. You may order and drive an individual, but you cannot make him respect you.” – William Hazlitt
“Caring about somebody doesn’t mean making it easy for them. Caring is helping them to develop their traits and talents.” – Lou Holtz
“All the greatest things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word: Freedom; Justice; Honour; Duty; Mercy; Hope.” – Winston Churchill
Correction: An alert reader has pointed out that last week’s quote of note was incorrectly attributed to Henry Ford when it was, in fact, from “Anon.” We stand corrected.
Events
Mark your calendar: Georgia’s Digital Economy is the focus of a half-day event on Monday, September 16, at the Georgia Tech Global Learning Center. The discussions, hosted by the Foundation and Google, include an all-star entrepreneurship panel, a discussion of the patent troll problem and how Georgia is leading the way in digital learning. The event begins with some fun Google product demos, breakfast and networking at 8am. There is no charge for admission, but registration is required. Details to follow.
October 11: Register now for the fourth annual Georgia Legislative Policy Forum, which takes place Friday, October 11, at the Renaissance Waverly Atlanta. Last year, hundreds of Georgia’s legislators, businesspeople and interested citizens attended to hear national policy experts discuss free-market solutions to Georgia’s challenges. Information: http://tinyurl.com/lma9kpt.
Regulation
Bureaucratic busywork: Federal government-wide, the time spent on paperwork documenting onerous regulations adds up to 10.3 billion hours, according to the Daily Caller News Foundation. “You’re looking at anywhere between $300 and $700 billion a year in paperwork costs,” said Sam Batkins of the American Action Forum, which released a report on the cost of regulations. He notes that just with the Dodd-Frank law and the Affordable Care Act, “that’s 500 new regulations alone.” Paying fewer government workers for fewer hours spent dealing with paperwork could save taxpayers up to $3.1 billion a year, according to the report.
Education
Spending: When asked to estimate per-pupil expenditure levels, the public guessed $6,680 per pupil, roughly half of the actual amount of $12,637 spent on average per pupil, according to the seventh annual Education Next national education survey.
Knowledge shortfall: A new Gallup poll finds 62 percent of Americans haven’t heard of the Common Core State Standards. Of those who have, fewer than half believe the new academic goals in English/language arts and math will make America more competitive in the world. (Read the Foundation’s analysis of Common Core in Georgia here.)The poll also found 68 percent of those surveyed support charter schools and 52 percent think students receive a better education at public charter schools than at traditional public schools.
Taxes
Mindboggling: The National Taxpayers Union Foundation has a list of the top 10 most mindboggling taxes, among them taxes on bagels and blueberries, tanning, tattoos and tethered hot air balloon rides.
Health Care
Other people’s money: Even if ObamaCare were implemented flawlessly it wouldn’t address one of the core problems in health care: third-party payment. A Wall Street Journal op-ed by Dr. Jeffrey Singer of the Cato Institute highlights how a man saved $17,000 on minor surgery by not using insurance. The author urges policy to “drop the focus on prepaid health plans and return to the days of real health insurance – that covers major, unforeseen events, leaving the everyday expenses to the consumer – just like auto and homeowners’ insurance.
Media and social media
Kelly McCutchen’s commentary on pro-growth tax reform was published in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Sunday edition and his commentary on alternatives to expanding Medicaid was published in the Athens Banner-Herald on August 17.
YouTube: Foundation panelists at the Heartland Institute’s Emerging Issues Forum in Atlanta included Senior Fellow Dr. Christine Ries and Foundation Vice President Benita Dodd. View the panel discussions and other Foundation videos on the Foundation’s YouTube channel at http://tinyurl.com/agkm5h5.
Facebook: The Foundation’s Facebook page has 2,121 “likes” Join us at facebook.com/GeorgiaPolicy to view daily policy news, views, updates, Quotes of Note and event photos.
More than 1,000 Twitter followers get their Foundation news at twitter.com/gppf. Ask your high school or college student to like the Foundation’s Student Outreach Scholarship page on Facebook at facebook.com/GeorgiaPolicySOSProgram.
The Forum: In “Checking Up On Health,” Benita Dodd shares a portrait of the newly insured and articles about the “gaming” potential in ObamaCare and technologies in health care. Find this and other recent posts in The Forum, the Foundation’s blog, are at georgiapolicy.org/category/the-forum/.
Visit www.georgiapolicy.org to read our latest commentary, “Transportation Needs Innovation, Especially in Funding,” by Benita Dodd.
Have a great weekend.
Kelly McCutchen and Benita Dodd
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