It’s Friday!
Quotes of Note
“Man loves the marvelous. It has an irresistible charm for him. He is always ready to leave that with which he is familiar to pursue vain inventions. He lends himself to his own deception.” – Napoleon Bonaparte
“Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened.” – Winston Churchill
Foster Care
The Georgia State Senate is studying a plan to reform the foster care system. Rick Jackson, Tarren Bragdon, Bill Hancock and It’s Friday!
Quotes of Note
“Man loves the marvelous. It has an irresistible charm for him. He is always ready to leave that with which he is familiar to pursue vain inventions. He lends himself to his own deception.” – Napoleon Bonaparte
“Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened.” – Winston Churchill
Foster Care
Transportation
One way or another? This week the Atlanta Braves announced plans to build a new $672 million, 42,000-seat stadium at Interstates 75 and 285, leaving downtown Atlanta after nearly 50 years. We see this as a “perfect storm” to enhance regional bus service and finally eschew costly, fixed-guideway service that won’t benefit the region as a whole. So we’re wondering how much of the transportation pie will be consumed after the Atlanta Business Chronicle’s report that Cobb County is planning to begin a trolley line that would connect Cumberland-area businesses with the new stadium.
Brown’s technological triumphs: Atlanta-based UPS is saving time and fuel by installing new software that would infuse a computer-generated route with driver feedback, among other sources. Called on-road integrated optimization and navigation (ORION), the software accounts for geographic obstacles, customer requests and data about past deliveries before suggesting a route. Just as they do today, drivers would download the route to their hand-held computers. Other savings: discouraging drivers from taking left-turns on their routes, which saves millions of gallons of gas, and implementing keyless trucks so drivers don’t waste time searching for keys. Source: Washington Post
Health care
Healthy start: The states that have thus far refused to expand Medicaid are actually thinking more clearly about where taxpayers will be a decade from now, says Reason Magazine’s Nick Gillespie.
Medicine’s technological triumphs: By 2020, the United States will face a physician shortage of more than 91,500 physicians, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. The expansion of health information technology (IT), however, may have the ability to ease the effects of the physician shortage by significantly reducing the demand for in-person physician care, according to a literature review recently published in Health Affairs. (Also Read the Foundation’s recent commentary, “Telemedicine, a Telling Sign of Health Care’s Future.”) Source: Becker’s Hospital Review
Premiums: Find out what the premiums on the Georgia exchange will look like in your county here. The premiums are broken down by state, county, plan type and provider.
Education
School choice parents want more than high standardized test scores, according to a new report authored by two Foundation Senior Fellows James P. Kelly and Benjamin Scafidi for the Friedman Foundation for Educational Excellence. Foundation Editor Mike Klein writes about the new Friedman report on the Forum and we also published an excerpt in which Kelly and Scafidi discuss the alarming social indicators that threaten America’s youth today.
Economy
Private Investment: AT&T, Verizon, Exxon, Chevron, Intel and Walmart invested almost $75 billion in the U.S. in 2012, “an astonishing total almost twice the GDP of Wyoming,” according to the Progressive Policy Institute’s “Investment Heroes” research series. “That so many companies are choosing to invest elsewhere – or not at all – makes it all the more important to recognize those that are placing their bets on America’s future,” say the authors.
Freedom in decline: The latest Economic Freedom of the World report reveals that the United States continues its tumble from the top of the rankings, sliding from 2nd in 2000 to 17th in this year’s report. As coauthor Fred McMahon explains, “We’ve seen overspending, weakening rule of law, and regulatory overkill on the part of the U.S. government, causing its economic freedom score to plummet in recent years. This is a stark contrast from 2000, when the U.S. was considered a bastion of economic freedom.”
“Everything we do on the NYSE should be focused on: Are we making it a better environment for individual investors and people who manage individual investors’ retirement accounts?” – Jeffrey Sprecher, CEO of Atlanta-based IntercontinentalExchange, which took ownership of the New York Stock Exchange this week
Media and social media
Foundation in the news: Foundation President Kelly McCutchen was quoted extensively on Medicaid expansion in Jim Galloway’s Political Insider blog in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “The [Obama] administration seems to be willing to play Russian roulette and say, we’re going to stop serving all these rural hospitals unless you expand Medicaid,” he said. “It’s like the fiscal cliff – who’s going to blink first?”
YouTube: We have more than 32,000 views on our YouTube channel already. View Foundation events at http://tinyurl.com/b7a3mzk.
Facebook: The Foundation’s Facebook page has 2,160 “likes.” Join us at facebook.com/GeorgiaPolicy to view daily policy news, views, updates, Quotes of Note and event photos. Ask your high school or college student to like the Foundation’s Student Outreach Scholarship page on Facebook at facebook.com/GeorgiaPolicySOSProgram.
The Foundation’s Twitter account is closing in on 1,100 followers! Get your Foundation news at twitter.com/gppf.
The Forum: This week in The Forum, the Foundation’s blog, “Checking Up On Health,” by Benita Dodd shares news about the hazards of too much sleep, ObamaCare, superbugs and hepatitis C. Find this and other recent posts at georgiapolicy.org/category/the-forum/.
Visit www.georgiapolicy.org to read our latest commentary, “Why You Can’t Keep Your Health Care Plan,” by Trent Leonard.
Have a great weekend.
Kelly McCutchen and Benita Dodd
FRIDAY FACTS is made possible by the generosity of the Georgia Public Policy Foundation’s donors. If you enjoy the FRIDAY FACTS, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to help advance our important mission by clicking here. Visit our Web site at www.georgiapolicy.org. Join The Forum at http://forum.georgiapolicy.org/. Become a fan of the Foundation on Facebook and follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/gppf.
“>Michael Cusick testifed this week on a private, local solution based on Florida’s successful reforms. Video of the testimony is available at the links above and written summaries are available at these links: Jackson, Bragdon and Hancock.
Transportation
One way or another? This week the Atlanta Braves announced plans to build a new $672 million, 42,000-seat stadium at Interstates 75 and 285, leaving downtown Atlanta after nearly 50 years. We see this as a “perfect storm” to enhance regional bus service and finally eschew costly, fixed-guideway service that won’t benefit the region as a whole. So we’re wondering how much of the transportation pie will be consumed after the Atlanta Business Chronicle’s report that Cobb County is planning to begin a trolley line that would connect Cumberland-area businesses with the new stadium.
Brown’s technological triumphs: Atlanta-based UPS is saving time and fuel by installing new software that would infuse a computer-generated route with driver feedback, among other sources. Called on-road integrated optimization and navigation (ORION), the software accounts for geographic obstacles, customer requests and data about past deliveries before suggesting a route. Just as they do today, drivers would download the route to their hand-held computers. Other savings: discouraging drivers from taking left-turns on their routes, which saves millions of gallons of gas, and implementing keyless trucks so drivers don’t waste time searching for keys. Source: Washington Post
Health care
Healthy start: The states that have thus far refused to expand Medicaid are actually thinking more clearly about where taxpayers will be a decade from now, says Reason Magazine’s Nick Gillespie.
Medicine’s technological triumphs: By 2020, the United States will face a physician shortage of more than 91,500 physicians, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. The expansion of health information technology (IT), however, may have the ability to ease the effects of the physician shortage by significantly reducing the demand for in-person physician care, according to a literature review recently published in Health Affairs. (Also Read the Foundation’s recent commentary, “Telemedicine, a Telling Sign of Health Care’s Future.”) Source: Becker’s Hospital Review
Premiums: Find out what the premiums on the Georgia exchange will look like in your county here. The premiums are broken down by state, county, plan type and provider.
Education
School choice parents want more than high standardized test scores, according to a new report authored by two Foundation Senior Fellows James P. Kelly and Benjamin Scafidi for the Friedman Foundation for Educational Excellence. Foundation Editor Mike Klein writes about the new Friedman report on the Forum and we also published an excerpt in which Kelly and Scafidi discuss the alarming social indicators that threaten America’s youth today.
Economy
Private Investment: AT&T, Verizon, Exxon, Chevron, Intel and Walmart invested almost $75 billion in the U.S. in 2012, “an astonishing total almost twice the GDP of Wyoming,” according to the Progressive Policy Institute’s “Investment Heroes” research series. “That so many companies are choosing to invest elsewhere – or not at all – makes it all the more important to recognize those that are placing their bets on America’s future,” say the authors.
Freedom in decline: The latest Economic Freedom of the World report reveals that the United States continues its tumble from the top of the rankings, sliding from 2nd in 2000 to 17th in this year’s report. As coauthor Fred McMahon explains, “We’ve seen overspending, weakening rule of law, and regulatory overkill on the part of the U.S. government, causing its economic freedom score to plummet in recent years. This is a stark contrast from 2000, when the U.S. was considered a bastion of economic freedom.”
“Everything we do on the NYSE should be focused on: Are we making it a better environment for individual investors and people who manage individual investors’ retirement accounts?” – Jeffrey Sprecher, CEO of Atlanta-based IntercontinentalExchange, which took ownership of the New York Stock Exchange this week
Media and social media
Foundation in the news: Foundation President Kelly McCutchen was quoted extensively on Medicaid expansion in Jim Galloway’s Political Insider blog in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “The [Obama] administration seems to be willing to play Russian roulette and say, we’re going to stop serving all these rural hospitals unless you expand Medicaid,” he said. “It’s like the fiscal cliff – who’s going to blink first?”
YouTube: We have more than 32,000 views on our YouTube channel already. View Foundation events at http://tinyurl.com/b7a3mzk.
Facebook: The Foundation’s Facebook page has 2,160 “likes.” Join us at facebook.com/GeorgiaPolicy to view daily policy news, views, updates, Quotes of Note and event photos. Ask your high school or college student to like the Foundation’s Student Outreach Scholarship page on Facebook at facebook.com/GeorgiaPolicySOSProgram.
The Foundation’s Twitter account is closing in on 1,100 followers! Get your Foundation news at twitter.com/gppf.
The Forum: This week in The Forum, the Foundation’s blog, “Checking Up On Health,” by Benita Dodd shares news about the hazards of too much sleep, ObamaCare, superbugs and hepatitis C. Find this and other recent posts at georgiapolicy.org/category/the-forum/.
Visit www.georgiapolicy.org to read our latest commentary, “Why You Can’t Keep Your Health Care Plan,” by Trent Leonard.
Have a great weekend.
Kelly McCutchen and Benita Dodd
FRIDAY FACTS is made possible by the generosity of the Georgia Public Policy Foundation’s donors. If you enjoy the FRIDAY FACTS, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to help advance our important mission by clicking here. Visit our Web site at www.georgiapolicy.org. Join The Forum at http://forum.georgiapolicy.org/. Become a fan of the Foundation on Facebook and follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/gppf.
